Chapter 6 We have a deal!

She stood there for hours, in her chair , with her eyes closed and holding her mother's necklace. Calm and cold as if this was not happening.

This is the way Patrick found her when he came back to her room.

“Hey!” he whispered .”Why are you staying here alone when outside the sun is so warm?”

Sarah opened her eyes and smiled at him, but not as she was doing on a normal day. She forced herself to look like she would not die today.

Why make Patrick sad ? Just as that Bible verse said “ Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:25-34)”

It’s enough that she feels like shit, he doesn’t deserve to feel as well.

“You didn’t leave back to your pack yet?” she asked him and stood on her feet.

“No, I will go there tomorrow, but today I wanted to stay a little bit more with you.” Patrick said.

“ Would you accompany me to the forest this afternoon?” and he looked at her smiling, making her think at the doctor’s words. The chain food. He is the top and he is beyond happy, while she is on the bottom struggling to live her last day on earth with dignity.

“So?” He asked her again seeing that she was a little bit lost in her own thoughts.

“Yes, I would like that” she whispered, touching her mother's necklace subconsciously.

“Is beautiful!” Patrick said, coming near and looking at it.

“Yes, it is. It was my mom’s.” and she walks away from him. “Are we going?” she asks him.

“Of course, let’s have our walk like usual,” he said and took the lead, grabbing her arm and holding her closer to him.

“That’s a good idea” and this time Sarah agreed with a strong smile that was also fake but to Patrick it seemed so normal that he just started to walk.

“I always like this territory” Patrick said looking around while they were walking around the forest. This place has a good vibe, you know?”

“It has” Sarah said shortly, trying to compose herself and look normal.

“You are sad today,” suddenly Patrick said but seeing him like this Sarah changed the topic.

“Of course I am Patrick. Every time we went on a walk you gave me something” and she smiled at him, making him laugh.

“Shit! You are right. Today I came with bare hands. Shame on me!” he said laughing.

“I would have liked to eat something sweetly” Sarah said giggling, but this was not her giggle, it was a sound of inner desperation.

“Tell me what you would have liked to eat and I will bring it to you next time, in double size to compensate for the fact that today I didn’t bring anything.” and he laughs seeing her thinking and frowning.

“I would have liked to eat candy!” She stated, ”Eating candies makes me happy!”

“I promise that I will bring you a lot of candies next time!”

“There will be no next time” Sarah said in her mind but she just looked at him and continued.

“It must be the sweetest candy you will find in your pack, or I will not eat it!”

“We have a deal!” Patrick said and took her hand in his hand.

“Let’s go this way!” and he pulled her after him but the road took them to the crystal lake where Tania just died a few days ago and seeing this place, Patrick exclaimed.

“I have never seen a place more beautiful than this!” but just a look at Sarah and he knew that something was not right.

“Sarah,” he whispered. “What’s going on?”

“This is the place,” she whispered, looking at the deep waters. “Here is the place where my mother died.”

“Shit!” And Patrick turned her so she would not face the lake.

“I am so sorry I didn’t realize that this was the place where everything happened. Let’s go from here!” and he grabbed her and tried to make her leave, but Sarah stood unmoved.

“Let’s go, Sarah!” Patrick insisted. “ I will take you back home!”

“Can you leave me alone, please?” she whispered, turning her face and looking in his eyes.

“No, I can't, this is not a place to be alone after all that happened here.”

“Look at me , Patrick,” Sarah said. “I am fine, but I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to my mom. I just need a few moments alone with her, because this fantastic crystal lake that you like so much for me is her grave.”

And Patrick realized what she just said and putting his hands on her shoulders said:

“Just don’t be late or I will be worried about you”

“I promise that I will come back as soon as I have this little time with my mom. I just want to tell her how much I miss her '' And she just gave him a small smile, the first authentic smile, because this is a sad one.

“Alright,” Patrick said and went back to the pack , looking back numerous times, until Sarah was not in his view anymore.

“I am back ,mom,” Sarah whispered, sitting on the grass near the lake with her knees tight to her chest.

“A lot of things have happened since you left me here alone, but I know why you did it. I understand now and I want you to know that I am not mad at you anymore for doing it.”

And she looked at the water that has no tacke of waves and it looks like a gigantic mirror.

“Do you want to find something ?” and she just closed her eyes and lay on her back on the grass facing the sky.

“We will see tonight, mom. They got me. You were right! You were so right…”

And she feels like some invisible tears that never flowed on her face start to muffle her voice.

“I am sorry just because I met a guy that I thought was worthy. He is so good , mom! And he is nice to me when the rest of the world is not. You would have liked him, I am sure”

And just thinking of Patrick she whispered.

“I just...I don’t want to die today. I want to live, mom. I want to run away from this place” and she opens her eyes, looking at the flying birds in the sky, at the clouds that flow freely where the wind is driving them.

“I want to run from here!” she said heartbroken “But I know that is impossible. You would have run from here, if it was possible, wouldn't it?”

“What if we will ask Patrick to help us?” Gal asked.

“I wanted to tell him about this countless times today” Sarah said “But what if he can’t? We have only two more hours . If he knows about this and he will not be able to help us, don’t you think that he will blame himself and feel guilty?”

“Shit you are right! He will never be able to get over this, he is just a good guy with a big heart!”

“I think that too” and looking at her watch she stands up and whispers waving to the lake.

“See you soon mom!”

“Let’s end this, Gal.” she said and went back home.

“I am afraid,” Gal whispered. “I didn’t even have my first shift,” the poor wolf howls.

“I am not. I am not afraid of death. When mom tried to kill me I was not afraid that she would succeed, I was afraid that when Patrick would find out he would be sad. As sad as I was when mom died. “

“I will miss him too.” Gal said. “You are right, Sarah. Let's end this and have our piece, because in this world it seems that we will never find it.”

And she walked back home, praying to the goddess to help Patrick after she died.

But when she was approaching the packhouse, just as happened in the morning she heard beta Jim Thompson, her father's younger brother.

“She must know something and will run away for sure, she is just like her mother. She will never let us get her. She will find a way to run and ruin everything!”

And Sarah just stood there because she knows who he is talking with, and her heart almost stops hearing Patrick say:

“She won’t. We've been together just now, and she said she'll be right back. She just needs some time to settle her mind but she will come back.”

“Sarah…”Gal whispered and her mind is on fire, all her thoughts are running and a lot of things start to come in her mind. A lot of memories with Patrick, every single word he ever told her now looks different.

“No, we can't trust her. I must send someone to get her back .” and he mindlink Mark to search for her but Patrick stops him.

“This isn't her first time to donate blood, Jim. If she wanted to escape, she would have run away since the first time. Why would she run now when everything is almost over ? Don’t you think that you are overreacting?”

“I..” Jim Thompson started to stutter. “Alright, I will trust you if you said that you watched her and she is fine with this.” but at the same time he mindlink Mark and tells him to search for her, ignoring Patrick's words.

And while they started to walk away, Sarah just stood there and she couldn't believe what she heard.

“How big is this lie, Gal?”

“I don’t know , but the bigger the lie is, the easier it is to believe it.” Sarah said feeling how she becomes more and more pale because after all this, her heart can’t find the force to beat anymore.

“He lied us…He lied us too.”