Shadow Bite || WATTYS 2017

Epilogue

The sun hangs high in the mid-day sky, its rays cutting through the baby blue colours in golden lines, a halo watching over the lazy day. The peaceful sound of water crashing against rocks at the bottom of the waterfall greets me as I roll onto my side, snuggling against the soft silk sheets wrapping me up in a cocoon on the master bed. My eyelashes whisk over my skin as they flutter open, and I try to suppress a lazy smile without much success as Asher's face fills my view span completely. His face is inches from mine and I smile wider when he leans down and our lips meet in a sweet kiss. 

"'morning beautiful..." He whispers, to which I groan and wrap my arms tightly around his neck. His chuckle rumble deep in his bare chest as his heavy weight crashes right down on top of me. 

Seven years... 

It had been seven years since my eighteenth birthday and the end of all of that chaos. 

"It's not the end." A little voice whispers at the back of my mind, but as usual and as practiced over this lengthy time, I push it back and ignore it, storing it away in the deepest crevices of my mind. "There will be one day when I will come back for you, and I will destroy everything that you love and hold d-"

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, my face morphing into concentration as I build up those blinding white walls in the centre of my mind, once again blocking his voice out. 

"Something bothering you buttercup?" I'm brought back from my trance-like state from all of that energy lost from my powers, so much power just to block out his voice again. It becomes harder and harder each and every time. I know that he's tiring me out, but I can't bring myself to let him torture my mind with his poignant and icy words, to fill my soul with cold-blooded promises of loss and destruction. 

"Buttercup?" Asher asks again, and I open my eyes to find myself drowning in those deep pools of green and blue. "Did he say something?" 

I take a deep breath and he backs away slowly as I push myself upright in bed. "No, not at all, I was just - distracted." 

I can see it in his eyes that he doesn't believe me, but when the sound of a shrill crying cuts through the heavy silence we both sigh and he quickly rolls out of bed, the memory of my lies forgotten. "I'll go check on her." 

I nod at him. "Thanks, I'll be right there." 

He doesn't meet my eyes as he exits the room. "Take your time." 

He knows that the toll of blocking out Killian is wearing me down and making me weaker by the years, but I can't afford to let him go and find him, to kill him for good. 

We've got a family now. They can't grow up without a father. 

"WELL THEY CAN'T GROW UP WITHOUT A MOTHER EITHER CAMILLA!" 

His livid voice fills my mind as the memory of that evening merely days ago replays before my eyes. I let it go with one raspy breath and let it leave my mind. I can't focus on that right now. I have to pretend that everything is good, that nothing is bothering me like an unremovable itch at the back of my mind through every second of the years going by. 

With a new heaviness to my movements I pull myself out of bed and head to the en-suite bathroom. I step under the heavy rays of water from the shower and let it wash my thoughts away. Please... just let me have this one happy day with my family... I pray to that menacing voice inside of my head. Almost as if my prayer was heard, something leaves the pressure in my head and I feel a sudden lightness to my mind. 

"I will give you this day..." 

I let the water mix with the tears streaming down my face. 

°°°°

"Ma-Mama!" I laugh happily at my two-year old son's voice as I bounce him on my knees, sitting on the rocks beside the waterfall outside, the cottage displaying a fairy-like background to our day. 

"That's right Jas, I'm your mama." I coo, to which he laughs with his sweet baby-voice and reaches his chubby little hands up to touch my face. Big blue eyes stare at me with recognition and youthful joy. 

"Oh my God don't pull my hair!" Mary's shrill voice fills my ear and I look to my side where my eleven-year old sister is holding my new-born daughter in her arms. The baby is pulling merrily at Mary's golden strands, who seems more than annoyed at her appointed babysitting duty. 

"Thanks for helping out by the way!" I call over to her with amusement, and laugh harder when she glares in my direction. 

"I'm going to charge you for a hairdresser's appointment!" She threatens, and I shake my head with amusement, looking back down at Jas cradled in my arms. 

A tear forms in the corner of my eye at the memory of Jack's other half. His twin brother. 

"Heya sista!" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Jack jumps in front of me and hastily pulls Jas from my arms. "And heya Jazzy! It's uncle Jack!" The toddler's laughter flows around us and he pokes Jack's cheeks.

"He's going to kill you for calling him that when he gets older you know that right?" I declare as I wipe grass from my shorts and stand up. 

"That won't stop me!" He calls back as he spins Jas around by his hands and sets the toddler howling with laughter down onto the ground with gentleness. 

"Where's Ash?" I cross my arms and look around, noticing his disappearance since this morning. 

"Just-" Jack doesn't meet my heavy gaze, "Just doing some pack business." 

-Jack..." I warn, and he's quickly by my side and kisses the top of my head.

"Don't worry Cami okay? He's just doing some pack business, that's all." 

"That's a very broad subject." I retort.

"Just - just trust him okay?" 

I nod without much conviction, and with a glimmer of hope in his eyes that I detect before it's gone, he spins back towards Jas and resumes their game of chase. That proves very difficult seeing as the toddler can barely walk. 

I look at them, at Mary holding my baby girl, and at the flow of the water cascading from the waterfalls, at the sun hanging high above us in the sky, at the bright forest stretching all around us and encircling the two cliffs, and back at the cottage. This is my home. 

'Everything will be alright,' I think to myself. 

°°°°

A/N: THE END.