Solstice

Chapter 14

            Glancing down at Alice’s grave, I couldn’t hold the tears any longer so I bury my face in Sam’s chest. Val was the worst but she was trying her best from crying. Daniel wasn’t there anymore as a shoulder to cry on. Alice’s grave was next to Gran’s grave. Jamie was there but she was hidden because Bibiana and Maryanne were at the funeral too. They might recognize her. The group was there too. Sam, for the first time I saw him wearing dark casual clothes which he looked good in. So were the rest of his friends.

            The night of Solstice, I barely said a word to Val about Daniel’s death. There were circles around her eyes from lack of sleep and crying too much. She moved on. In the morning, she asked whether anyone else was dead. I didn’t look into her eyes but I nodded. I told her it was Daniel. Sam told me that Daniel sacrificed himself to protect Val from a wolf that nearly killed her from behind. Val didn’t touch her breakfast and locked herself in her room until lunch. I sent Amanda home after breakfast. She seemed to be a little quiet after what happened yesterday. Sam told me that her father was also a part of the pack. He died on Solstice. I still wondered how he managed to hug Amanda without killing her . . .

            I wore the very same black dress I wore for Jamie’s funeral. Valerie left a rose on Alice’s grave after I did. She walked away as soon as the coffin was buried. Jamie was staring at her grave after the funeral. I went over next to her.

            I began to feel guilty. It was my fault that she was a wolf. If only I hadn’t forced mum to let me go to Australia. If only I didn’t go to The Curve with her. If only I had done nothing to not cause chaos. If only, if only, if only. Richard was watching me all this time. Richard was watching my every move without my knowledge.

            “I’m sorry. It’s my entire fault. Because of me, you’re dead to the world. I didn’t know my uncle,” I twisted his name because he was related to me, “was watching me all this time. If you want, you don’t have to live with me anymore. You can do anything you want,” I said, looking at her gravestone. Ever since she turned into a wolf, Sam or I had to watch whatever she eat because she might still be having humans. After Alice’s death, I offered Jamie to stay with me in an empty room in the big house.

            She put her hands around me. “Let bygones be bygones. It’s not you fault. You didn’t know. Stop blaming yourself.”

            “I can’t help it. I will always think of it as my fault.”

            She raised an eyebrow. “You love to get yourself blamed and punished. No wonder you’re always following orders from teachers.”

            I let myself to smile and rolled my eyes. “Hey, everyone doesn’t pay attention to them and I was the only one who did.”

            “Stop talking big. I paid attention to teachers too. In fact, before you came along, I was the teacher’s pet.”

            I laughed. “Who is talking big now?”

            She punched me lightly in the shoulder. We went home and get back to our lives.

            We did our best to make everything back in order. Val and I hunted. I took Pierre hunting sometimes; he was able to help me find wolves. We kept breeding horses in the farm. We went to school. I took photograph for the school editorial board. Val was one of the popular girls in her class after she began living life. She will never forget Daniel. I hung a portrait of Alice next to Richard’s in the living room and wrote down every single detail of Solstice in Gran’s journal. Jamie started a blog which she uploads her drawings and comic on her new laptop that I bought her. Sam and the group were back to their normal lives.