#mtprospect:event

He’d organised notes and instructions on what to do with his things if the worst happened, he’d done them months ago when the plague struck the town, somehow sure that he would get the disease and be struck down by it. He wanted his family to have answers, to have that closure. He didn’t want Cole and his father to come to Braddock for those answers, they would never be able to leave. He was foolish to come here, and he wouldn’t allow his father and brother to make those same mistakes. 

As he stepped outside of the building, he spotted the pale man a few metres away, wincing as he dropped what looked like human remains to the floor. He grabbed his guns, and began to charge, letting off bullet after bullet without hesitation as he approached the pale man, and the creature turned to face him. He paused briefly to reload, and how long he fought for he couldn’t tell, offloading constant rounds into the creature as he waited for that inevitable sign that he was dead, that death screech that would tell him that he succeeded and penetrated the creatures skin.  

The last sound he needed to hear was the click of the empty barrel as his last round fired off and he realised that he’d used them all. A sinking feeling landed low in his gut, and he began to feel sick as he realised that he needed to keep going. He withdrew his daggers, spinning one between his fingers as he took a step forward the pale man rounding on him without a single wound on him despite the onslaught of bullets. He took off at a run, daggers aimed and swiping at each and every piece that he could get to. 

The first wound tore of at the bandages on his chest from earlier, blood quickly coating the front of the shirt and soaking it through the rips in the fabric. He barely had the time to recover as the pale man swept his claws towards his face, his shoulder. He was losing blood too rapidly, he knew he didn’t have long. Aaron barely pulled himself up, bracing himself against the wall as he stared at the creature. 

Staring at his features, he gulped a little, trying in his last moments to think of something more pleasant then the painful death he had awaiting him. Of the people he met, his family. He’d see his mother again, and his sister. He hoped, if he got to wherever they were. He didn’t think he deserved it, yet that didn’t stop the small part of him that wanted to believe that they would end up together. He wanted to see them again. 

The last thought that went through his mind before it went black was his last words to his brother, as the pale man lifted his hand and wrapped it around his neck to lift Aaron up. He grunted, strained against the grip but he couldn’t, as he felt his body weaken before the pale man ripped his head from his shoulders. 

The last thing he remembered, was his last encounter with his brother. Smiling, happy. 

But, as his gaze dropped down into his body for, he noticed his form was glitching every few second. ‘Wait...what?’ He blinked several times...hard, trying to figure out if it was a trick of the light. The glitching persisted. “Fuck,” he hissed. Was this another nightmare? Was he still in a coma? The young witch stood up and went to rifle through the contents of his desk (which looked cleaner than normal, probably because of Kassandra) only to see his arm go directly through the desk. “What. The. Hell?” Again, he tried, and nothing. Next, he attempted to pick something up and again, his hand just phased through it, like he wasn’t even there. The glitching grew stronger before his form just vanished for a quick second, enveloped in complete darkness. ‘What is happening?’ As panic washed over him, nothing happened. No insane winds kicked up around him, everything was just still. 

She was in the dark, but she felt a warmth that was very different than the embrace of death. Death was so peaceful. She didn’t know where she was or if her grandmother was really there keeping her company. She didn’t know how long she had been gone. It didn’t even matter really because she was dead and gone. The world would soon forget about her and she was okay with that for some reason. 

The world is quiet here.

Time was lost in death. She felt like she could barely even remember Oliver and her Night Howlers. How long ago was it that she and her sister got in trouble for practicing spells they hadn’t learned yet? When did she get mauled by that werewolf? When did she meet Oliver? How did she meet him? How long has it been since she died? Her mind was so clear in death that it felt surreal. She constantly felt like she was floating, but now something was pulling at her to bring her back down to earth. 

Her heart started to flutter inside her chest. The flutter was light and fast like a hummingbird’s wings. Soon, the beat started to slow and become more powerful, like a drum pounding inside her chest. The beat reached to her ears and rumbled inside her mind. 

Her lungs opened up and air rushed it. The shock of it all had her in a coughing fit, forcing her to sit up and put a hand to her chest. Her vision blurred from the tears welling up in her eyes. When she finally caught her breath, everything cleared up. She was somewhere familiar, but her head felt so numb. 

Isidora swung her legs over the side of her bed. She gingerly placed her feet on the cold floor. Goosebumps rose up on her skin. The heat hadn’t been turned on in the apartment for a while. She glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It had been eighteen days since she remembered going to sleep. Had she been asleep this whole time or did she really die? Why didn’t she feel sick anymore? Was it possible that she survived? She didn’t even know where to start. All she knew was that she was starving. 

The she wolf pulled on a clean outfit consisting of loose fitting pants and a t shirt. She turned on the heat in the apartment and went to the kitchen to start cooking something. Isidora tried to remember what happened, but it was a huge blank. Maybe it’s because you haven’t eaten real food in days, she thought to herself. She shrugged the thoughts away and followed what her stomach was telling her. 

As she pushed the scrambled eggs around in a pan, she heard footsteps approach the door. Isidora looked up at the front door and grinned as Oliver came in. He looked worn out and tired, but he still gave her a small smile. 

“Hey, Ollie. I was hungry and I was feeling better so I made some scrambled eggs and toast. Want some? There’s more than enough.”

Dying was easier than expected. Isidora thought she’d put up a fight at the end and maybe she did, but the last thing she remembered was wrapping herself up in a blanket and falling asleep. Before that, she remembered saying goodbye to Oliver as he left to check on Piper. He was torn up, but she got him to calm down, as she always did. Once the door shut, Isidora had taken a sip of her tea and leaned back on the couch to read her book. Somewhere during that time, she fell asleep, which soon became the predicted coma. 

At first, she dreamed. She dreamed of her family. She had one last conversation with her mother, father, and sister. Even if it wasn’t real, Isidora was glad she got to talk to them again. She wondered if she had her witch powers again if she could have saved people. She hated that she was sick and couldn’t volunteer and help others. Instead, she was confined to a bed, waiting out the plague, desperately hoping that she’d live. 

“¿Qué haces, cariña?”

Everything was bright and almost blinding. There was a glow to everything and it all felt warm and tingly. Isidora looked up and turned to focus on the voice that seemed so familiar. “Bela?” Isidora’s smile grew bigger when she saw that it was her grandmother who died a couple of years before Isidora became a werewolf. 

“¡Cariña! ¿Cómo estás?” the older woman asked. She embraced her granddaughter tightly.

“Is this heaven?” Isidora asked, hoping that maybe it was. She had no idea where she would go once she died. 

“No sé. Esto es ni cielo ni infierno, pajarita,” she said. “No estás muerto todavía.”

Isidora’s smile faded. “This isn’t real, is it?” Her grandmother gave her a sad smile and shook her head. Isidora looked up and saw them in Chapman Park, where she’d go with Oliver for walks for his dog, Poe. She sat down with her grandmother on a bench. “This is probably all in my head, but is Heaven real?”

“Hay mucho más que el cielo y el infierno, cariña,” her grandmother told her. “Esta enfermedad es más allá de nuestro mundo.”

“I miss you, bela,” Isidora said. She leaned against the back of the bench. “I’m going to miss a lot. I don’t like that I’m going to miss so much.” She wiped her eyes as tears started to fall. “I’ll miss mamá and papá and Nita. I’ll miss all the people I’ve met in Braddock...Piper, Hache, Rachel, Mal, Mark...” She bit her lower lip and held back tears. “Oliver. I’ll miss him as much as I miss you.”

“¿Lo amas?“

Isidora nodded. “He’s my best friend. I don’t think I’ll find anyone else like him. I don’t want to leave him behind,” she said. “He’s a good guy, but I worry about what will happen to him when I die.”

“Tienes una opción para hacer, pajarita,” her grandmother said. 

“A choice?”

“Puedes venir conmigo ahora o luchar contra esta enfermedad.”

She let out a sigh and shook her head. “I’m tired of fighting this disease.”

“Es su decisión de quedarse conmigo o volver atrás.”

Isidora smiled at her grandmother and moved to sit closer to her. “I thought the choice would be harder. It should be. I should want to stay alive after everything I’ve been through.” A few tears fell down her face. She didn’t even bother wiping them away. “Does it hurt?” she asked. She felt numb all over. 

“Para nada, parajita,” her grandmother told her. The older woman turned her head to give Isidora a kiss on her forehead. “Yo tendré cuidado de ti, siempre. Te quiero.”

“Te quiero, bela,” Isidora said. She smiled sadly and closed her eyes. A warmth enveloped her as her grandmother hugged her. She expected it to be cold. They always said death would be cold and she had been so, so cold ever since she caught the infection. Everything was warm and fuzzy though. But it was dark. A darker night than Isidora had ever seen.