^{If you missed the first book - Fireflies - you might want to start there. It's here in its completion, written for Steemit. If you enjoy it, feel free to ask to be added to the subscriber list for the sequel, where new chapters are being released daily.}

Entry 15

Talia walked with determination to the only place that she thought would have answers: the pond. She closed off her sensitivity as she approached and waited for the right moment to open herself back up again. The first time that she had come here felt so long ago, when life was so different. Back then, she felt like her world had been turned upside-down, confusing and chaotic - but what she wouldn't give to go back to that stage of life. She would tell herself to pause more, breathe more, appreciate more and yes- surrender more.

The pool that Bryd had created back then was different than anything they had ever created, separately or jointly. It had a spooky, eery quality to it and they had both remarked on the unnatural feel to it. It was as if Bryd had pushed against everything tainted and only allowed a certain perfection to return. Clean and pure, it should have felt inviting, but it felt lifeless and cold.

At the time, Talia had been unnerved by his newfound ability. She wouldn't have guessed that a short time later, they would have used it in conjuction with her own new powers to put an end to Derek.

She approached the pond, standing before it, gleaming and clear. Instantaneously, she opened herself. Every sense was testing the energy around her, waiting to confirm whether or not it was Bryd's essence in the air. There was nothing here. Objects-yes, but it was as if they were picked clean of the vibrant hum that was in every other thing. It didn't scare her as it had the previous year. Disappointment and hopelessness leaked into the crevices of her broken soul. All of the empty places of her heart that had gone dead in the last year - were suddenly alive and raw and gaping. Why had she come back here? She had managed to trudge through life, burying herself deep inside a protective shell, sealing herself off to the agony of separation. Swearing that she would never return, why had she taken the chance? Why rip open the wounds now? Because of some ridiculous longing that had materialized in a dream? In these subconscious longings that would no doubt begin to torment her relentlessly?

She wanted to run away, or scream, or cry until she was spent - but she only had the energy to sink to the ground in silent despair. She looked over at the pond and considered how easy it would be to slip under the water and let it cover her like a blanket.

Maybe soon.

After Georgia. She would return home. End Derek. And finally sleep.

^{Thank you to @penderis for making my beautiful dreemgirl divider :)}

^{Font used in this post}