𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

THIRTY-TWO

xxxii. The Necklace

For all her life, Aurora had known loneliness. It came in the form of mutters and half-witted jokes that left her mouth yet never reached another ear. They were the kind of jokes that made no sense, but she still laughed, if only to feel some sense of acceptance and safety from the demons that lived in her mind. But, never before had she been able to recognize its presence, as it always chose to hide within the recesses of her mind, behind the childhood memories she regarded as her friends - the same friends that assisted her in the arena in the moments of her timely death. If it weren't for them and their beautiful smiles of hope and happiness, she surely would've been dead.

Many of the memories she focused on were with Finnick, whether that be their mindless conversations on the beach or the nights they'd spend together crying about anything and everything. He brought happiness in the days when happiness felt impossible.

But under no circumstances did she allow herself to remember him. The boy that haunted her for years and years, preying on everything she had once known about the world. The boy that protected her from every intrusive thought that crossed her mind and from every bruise that had banished her skin. The boy who wore a shark tooth necklace as though it were diamond.

Zale Evans.

He was the only one who Aurora believed she truly loved with every part of her being. And at one point, he had been the only one she would've sacrificed everything for. It was only a shame that he would've done the same.

Aurora stood in his room in their small wooden beach house. In her hand laid her brother's famous shark tooth necklace, and with a solemn gaze, she remembered his bright smile and giddy laughter from when he had first received it from their late grandfather as a gift for his birthday. Oh, how childhood came and left quicker than any of them could've imagined.

"Stupid boy," she muttered under her breath before closing her fist around the rope.

It wasn't long before she ran out of the empty house and onto the beach to search for her missing brother. The sun burned brighter than ever on that warm afternoon, scorching her toes and the freckles on her cheeks. She didn't mind it much as her eyes scanned the shore to find that not a single person was on the beach. It was empty, leaving her mind to think of the one other place he could've been.

Their father's boat.

As little children, their parents would take them sailing, sometimes even miles away from shore. Aurora could remember the warm breeze in the air blowing through her soft brown hair, the sun shining onto her chubby little cheeks that were sore from the constant smiles. As time passed, their mother had stopped joining them, too busy with work. Then it was their father, leaving only the two siblings to venture out into the seas, on their own.

Nearing the boat that was tied to the docks, Aurora could see a small head of pitch-black hair peeking over the edge. With a sigh, she walked over to the boat to find her brother slumped against the floor, his head leaning back against the edge.