--------------- Chapter 12 ---------------------
Have you ever seen,
The sun's light failing,
Dropping, seeping,
Leaking from the sky,
Like blood from the fatal wound,
Like sap from the damaged tree,
Like water from the broken pipe,
Leaking drip by drip by drip,
Tentacles reaching out to pull in,
The last dregs of sunlit clouds,
To quieten the last bird,
As the animal mourns its passing,
Dispersing like dust on the autumn breeze,
Blown to distant places,
To trouble you another day,
Tomorrow perhaps, like every other day.
Emma scribbled 'Sunset' as a title to the quick poem she had jotted down as a chill breeze about her shoulders reminded her that day had passed and she hadn't brought out her coat. The trees around her were yellowing, seemingly as she watched, putting on their autumn colours, making her think of the scenes of her dreams. Where a young blond child with sparking eyes leapt from treetops and disappeared into shadows and an older blond with the same sparking eyes did things to her that would make the trees blush. She sighed. Two weeks. Two weeks since she had seen her smile, felt her touch, been held in her arms.
Rogers had been left in one of the worst ghettos Brennan could think of with false ID on him and no memory of his life so far. Emma shuddered at the memory of what Brennan had said as they had left him there. "It's kinda scary isn't it. The things Adam can do." It was obvious of course, with hindsight, that Adam had to have told them something to reassure them that the people they were letting free would not return to Sanctuary with ill intent, something to explain their strange behaviour. But somehow she hadn't thought that he would take the heat himself. Claiming that he had memory altering drugs to save Emma from the disapproval of her friends. Had it been the best thing to do. He was their leader. Their trust in him needed to be absolute. Brennan's fear of what control Adam had over them had taken a huge bite of her heart where guilt and confusion had been gnawing since she had first realised the full extent of her newly mutated powers.
Though she was cold she didn't want to go inside. She had been avoiding the others as often as she could since she Rogers had left, not wanting to share their anger and pain as Shalimar continued 'sleeping'. Brennan was guilty, filled with fear that it had been his fault because it had been his lightening bolt which had taken her down. Adam had tried to convince him that if he had not stopped her Shalimar might have died right then and there of a heart attack or stroke, her body having reached breaking point. But he was not to be convinced and his emotions were so strong they were almost painful to her, keeping her from sleep and taking away her appetite. Or perhaps her inability to eat had stemmed from other things. So much was happening, she was finding it hard to keep track of her own emotions, let alone those of the others.
She shivered as another gust of wind rattled through the tree she had found to sit in, shaking the thick branches and causing the leaves to raise a chorus of rustling. She was sure she heard something else, perhaps a squirrel or a bird in the trees around her. She sat still and listened. The leaves settled again. A bird chattered in a far tree.
A face appeared beside her that caused her heart to raise to her throat.
"It's kinda cold out here. What do you say we go inside?" Shalimar asked.
AN: The poem belongs to me (can ya tell?) hence the lack of accreditation. Tell me what you think.
