Requiem (Book 5)

13

Walking in the door, I called out for Josh, but there was no answer. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I walked slowly through my house.

When I saw the blood splattered across the floor in the kitchen, my mind flashed back to the moment I had seen my mother dying. Time moved in slow motion as I ran into the kitchen. Her body was splayed out with a knife in her stomach. And when I looked up, I saw Garett leaning against the counter nonchalantly.

"What did you do to her?" I screamed and lunged at him.

He moved to the side and laughed. "Go ahead. Try me. But you know you aren't strong enough."

"Why?" I collapsed onto my knees. "Why Hannah?"

Garett shrugged. "Because she was easily accessible. You ruined weeks of research, years of hunting, when you took Isaiah from me. So, I'll take something that means a lot away from you."

"Not something, a person! She isn't some monster, something that goes bump in the night, Garett. She's human. She was human, until you took her life," I cried. "You're a murderer."

"Maybe so," he shrugged. "But I'm getting out of this godforsaken town with my brother. You ought to watch your back, though. There are other Hunters out there other than me and your brother."

"Where is Josh? What have you done with him?" I shrieked.

"He's fine," Garett batted his hand at me. "Knocked out in his room."

I could feel tears coming to my eyes, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he had hurt me.

"You should have killed me when you got the chance," Garett said as he walked slowly by me. "Now, you lost, and I won."

I stopped listening to him as I knelt next to my aunt. When I had stared at her bloodied body for a moment, I grabbed my phone and called Isaiah.

"Do you need me after all?" he asked, his tone jovial.

"Isaiah..." was all I said.

"I'll be right over," and the phone clicked.

It seemed like hours of me just kneeling on the floor until he came running in. I didn't move from staring at her.

"Oh my god, Claudia," he whispered. "What happened?"

Prying my eyes from her, I looked up at him. "Garett happened."

He closed his eyes a second. "We need to call the cops, Claudia."

I nodded a little and he called the police.

"Where's Josh?" he asked.

"Garett said he was up in his room, that he knocked him out," I told him.

"I'm going to go get him," said Isaiah. "You need to get out of this room."

Walking away, he went upstairs. I knew he was right, that I should move away from her body, but I just couldn't. Everything was a blur as the sirens came wailing from far away to closer and closer. Isaiah came up behind me just as the police and EMTs poured into the house. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled my body up and against him. Time slowed down as he held me and picked me up and took me out of the house. He set me down on the sidewalk and I just sat there.

"Claudia, please," he pleaded with me. "Say something."

I looked up at him. "She's dead, Isaiah."

He sighed heavily and sat down on the sidewalk next to me. "I know."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. "The only family Josh and I had left is dead, and it's my fault."

"This is not your fault," he said flatly. "It isn't."

"Klaus warned me about letting Garett live," I said. "He said that I would have to be ready to deal with the repercussions, and I thought I was."

"You let him live," Isaiah said quietly. "That doesn't make you responsible for his actions. It makes you merciful and just, not terrible."

"If I had killed him, or let Ansel kill him, Hannah would still be alive," I said. "This isn't me pitying myself, Isaiah, this is simply what's the truth. If I wouldn't have been there, not even if I had changed my actions, but if I had listened to what they told me and not been there, Ansel would have killed Garett, and my aunt Hannah would still be alive."

"You can't think of it that way," he said. "That isn't true."

"Isn't it?" I asked.

"I believe in destiny, don't you?" Isaiah asked.

"Not with this," I snapped. "Don't give me that crap about it being her time or something. This was murder, and that means it wasn't right in any way. Not in the timing or anything else."

He nodded. "Fine. I won't say that. But it still isn't your fault."

"Is Josh alive?" I asked and he nodded. "Awake?"

Isaiah looked over and I followed his eyes to my neighbor's porch. Mrs. Heller was sitting next to him. He was limp but breathing, unconscious.

"I don't know if I can tell him. I can't face him," I said. "He already thinks everything that has happened is my fault, and I suppose he's right."

"Listen to me," he grabbed my chin and turned my face to his. "I'm going to give you some tough love here, but you need it. I am sorry for you, but I do not pity you. Claudia, you are strong and so you are above pity. I am not going to listen to you blame yourself for this. It isn't your fault. So stop saying it is."

Silently, I looked away from him and saw as they brought Hannah's body out on a stretcher. But she was gone. I could tell. Her spirit had departed. I could no longer feel her presence. So I turned back to Isaiah.

"She's dead, Isaiah. I can feel it," I said.

"Come here," he whispered and I leaned my body into him.

"She's dead," I started to cry, and Isaiah just held my tightly.