SHADOW

Uncertain

They say someone's presence isn't truly appreciated until it's taken away from them.

I never took that to heart because I knew all good things eventually came to an and, and that included the human life, but I felt like I was dying.

I wanted her, and I couldn't explain why to myself. I had been spending so much time and energy on her, that I hadn't realized the dependency that I had created with her. The goal was to make it so she couldn't be without me, but instead I did it to myself.

It had been almost 2 weeks since that fateful day. I had taken her home and that was it. She did as she had promised. I hadn't seen her since; mostly on my part. I respected her wishes and refrained from bothering her, at least while she was conscious. While she was sleeping was a different story.

I resorted to spending time with her while she was laying peacefully in bed, unaware of the outside world.

A few of the nights I was left utterly disappointed when her bed was empty. I didn't know where she went when she wasn't home. I hadn't scoured the spots she frequented because there was no point. She wasn't ready to see me.

She couldn't be swayed. The only thing that would rectify this was the truth. And the truth was complicated and messy. The truth would only muddle the future of us more than it already was.

I wish she knew how much she wasn't ready, then maybe she'd understand why I was so reluctant to tell‒ then maybe she'd leave it alone.

I folded both arms behind my head as I stared up at the sun that beat down on me from a clearing in the trees. The grass beneath me was soft and wispy, a contrast to the surrounding forest that was filled with wet mud and thick tree roots poking through the ground.

The amethyst ring I kept on my pointer finger glowed under the rays. I held up my hand, tilting it, letting the light glint off of the stone at different angles.

It was deadly quiet in the clearing, nothing but the natural sounds of birds chirping, and the periodic rustling of the grass to fill the silence.

Just like every good thing that had transpired in the recent past, it came to an end. My solitude was intruded upon by the one person I didn't care to see or explain myself to.

"I thought I'd find you here."

I didn't bother to look in his direction. "Why're you here?"

"I can't check on my only daughter?"

"No dad, you can't. Why're you here?"

He sat down beside me, his hazel eyes boring holes into the side of my face.

"I don't know, Robby. I felt like something was wrong and I was right. Your energy isn't right. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"After a century of dealing with you, I know when you're lying. Is it something with that girl?"

"She saw," I conceded.

I never confided in Vlad anymore. We just didn't see eye to eye anymore. All I ever was met with was judgement.

"Saw what?"

I met his eyes for the first time. He held that fatherly look of concern that I had always hated. I didn't need a guide or a savior anymore, but he still felt that it was his duty to protect me.

"My eyes, Vlad. She saw my eyes. And now she won't-"

He cut me off with a swift hand motion, that same look gracing his face that I had seen so many times before. "How could you let her see you like that?? Where is she?"