The sound of something snapping from behind pauses me from questioning what Caesar meant. A branch crackles along with the rustling of leaves, followed by a pair of footsteps running. Though Caesar remains facing forward, completely still despite the intrusion, I turn to look for the intruder.

Nothing.
Perhaps an animal? But the footsteps, they sounded too heavy. Glancing back to Caesar, his tall frame no longer stands besides me. He's gone.

How did he...?

But?

Searching around, I try to locate him in view knowing he couldn't' have gone far. He brought me here for a reason, there's no way he could have vanished. It's time. His words reverberated along my ears, though his lack of explanation leaves it as nothing more than another question in my mind.

Footsteps patter from behind me once more. Too loud to be any animal or tricks of the brain. This time I whip my body around to catch sight of who the being is, hoping to see Caesar, but once again, nothing.

Managing to find my way out of the woods, my trip home goes by rather briefly before another set of footsteps again stops me in my tracks along with the calling of my name.

"Serelia!" A voice from a distance shouts out, my eyes turning to make contact with Levana. Steadily meeting her halfway, she throws her arms around me in an embrace before continuing. "I've been looking for you, I haven't seen you in days. Please, I can't stand you being angry with me, I need you too much. I'm so sorry for what happened, just please..."

"Hey, I'm not mad. I'm sorry I haven't reached out, I've been... There's been a lot going on. I should have texted you back," I pull back and her arms loosen around.

"I thought you were still mad about what happened in the car, I promise I didn't mean for that to happen. I know how bad everything was for you, it won't ever happen again, I swear," she pauses and I nod at her, a silent gesture to accept her apologies.

I had honestly forgotten about the incident, everything has been happening so suddenly with Caesar and the coma. I know my panic must have made her think I was angry, but there was never any way I could stay mad at Levana. Not after how much she's helped me.

"It's okay, Levana. I'm not mad, I promise," and this time she nods in response.

"Are you okay? Where have you been?" She moves to my side and we begin walking along the concrete that connects to the town's park.

"Honestly, it's been a spiral of chaos and confusion," I say, keeping my gaze ahead and trying my best from having to explain it all. "How are you?"

She's silent for a moment, possibly debating on whether she believes me or not, but goes on as if she does. "Um... pretty busy, too," she rushes out in a single breath before perking up. "You know what the best medicine is for life... the mall!" She grabs my arms and drags me forward, rambling about the latest gossip and all the shops she wants to go to despite being 'a broke student,' all the way to the mall.

"What do you think?" I wiggle the current top in between my hands.

"Eh," Levana shrugs, "not your color. A bit too... eighties." She pulls the long-sleeve lime-colored top with the bell-like sleeves from my grip before shoving a burgundy lace corset top in replacement. "Try this one instead."

"For what? The clubs we're not allowed in?" I joke but still hold the top in front of my abdomen looking in the mirror. Grabbing the half-finished milkshake from the stool next to us, I sip the rest of the chocolate drink inside.

"Dude, are you drinking that or making out with it," Levana teases back and I flip her off while swallowing the last bit of it.

"I quite literally haven't eaten anything in days, sorry if I'm a little hungry," a snicker sounds from my mouth before setting the now-empty cup back down.

"Well I don't want to clean up that mess, and I'm sure neither do the workers here," she goes on, but passes me a couple of her leftover burger which I gladly accept.

Levana proceeds to drag me throughout the mall with bags slinging across both of our arms, indents marking deep into my skin from the weighted plastic. After a few hours of talking and shopping, and a quick car ride of our favorite songs, I now stand in front of my house fishing in one of the many bags for my keys.

Levana waves out of her window as I step inside, an overwhelming weight drains the energy right out of me as I walk into the room. No. I'm not ready. Having a few normal hours left me craving more. Needing more. My head is telling me to stay as far away as possible. From the forest and the calls that always whisper. From Caesar and his impossible riddles. Hell if I can stay awake forever to avoid another dream. Not having to worry about any dangers and wolves.

The whispers speak their hushed voices, but the more I tread into the living room, the more I can hear them. Hear him. The one voice louder than the others. He's here.

Despite the undeviating whispers, the house remains silent, all of the lights are off and any movement remains steady. But I know he's here. Somewhere.

With small and slow steps, one after the other, I check each room and try to maintain a sense of alarm.

I'm up here. Caesar says, a hint of amusement in his voice, though it registers in my head. This isn't some horror movie. Come upstairs. I'm tired of waiting.

Though I know he can sense me here, I tiptoe to the staircase and raise my foot to climb the first step, stopping myself before I could touch the ground. My stomach churns, the unknown of what awaits piling heavy on my chest. I want to release the long train of protests trapped in my throat, to erase all of my memories and thoughts and forget anything that has happened up until now. I should have ignored it from the very beginning, but these are the consequences of listening to the whispers.

No. It's time, as Caesar said. I need to come to terms that this is my life and that my life was never meant to be normal. That this is what needs to happen.

With a rustling sigh, I place my foot along the first step and climb up to my bedroom. My hand lies on the brass knob, the metal warm under my fingertips, and push open the door to what will inevitably be my fate.

Aside from a cool rush of air as I step inside, an open window which I know was not that way when I was last here, I take my stride into the empty room. With crickets chirping their soft son outside, the wooden floorboard creaks behind me, causing a sharp turn of my body back to face the door and there he stands.

Caesar. In the same clothes, his same eyes, same smirk.

"Took you long enough," he leans against my wall beside my mirror, his arms crossed and his eyes filled with levity. "Did you miss me?" His tone is one of arrogance, matched with his smug posture.

"Why are you here?" The words squeak from my mouth, a cringe immediately crosses my face and causes him to grin wider.

"We never finished our earlier chat," his voice is stoic as he speaks, mystery radiating from his presence.

"What chat? You said a total of four words."

His eyes show a quick flash of impress before shifting back to their neutral state. "It's time," he repeats himself from earlier.

"Not this again," I mutter. "Time for what?"

"Time you know the truth," his words trail out flat. "Who you are, the real you."

"I just want to be normal," my fingers fiddle amongst themselves and I peer down at the ground between us.

Caesar takes a step towards me, "Nothing about you is normal, Serelia." His closeness draws my eyes up to him, with only a bit more than a foot distancing his face from mine.

"So tell me," my head tilts awaiting his next response.

"Not here. We have to go to the place where it all started."

"And how do I know if I can trust you," I question, though I know I won't have any other choice. "That you won't kill me or something?"

His smirk again places on his lips, "If I wanted to kill you, why would I have saved you?" My eyebrows brush together in a furrow which leads him to going on. "I could have let that other wolf rip your throat out, but I didn't. I think that leaves some room for trust here."

His response doesn't ease me and he takes another step closer, his breath hot against my face and the smell of cinnamon and pine needles overwhelm my nose.

The smirk in his expression drops into seriousness, almost a silent plea. "You can trust me, Serelia. You know me. From that pretty little head of yours." His hand grabs ahold of mine, his fingers sending a spark in my own. His much larger hand is rough but gentle, making mine seem dainty in comparison. He tugs me to the mirror, the one I had fallen through the last time I was in this room. "Look into your eyes," he whispers in my ears as he stands behind me. The burning sun trapped in my eyes glows like orbs as they illuminate into the reflection. "Now touch the glass."

My palm reaches up once again onto the cold and flat surface. Immediately upon impact, the bedroom around me is replaced by a forest. Except this time, instead of being surrounded by malefic wolves, flowers bunch around my feet and there's a heavy scent of wet grass powering down my nose.

"You are a part of all this. You are nature. This, right here," Caesar shuffles beside me, his head tipping upward and watching the swaying leaves above. "This is your destiny. Your home. You need to accept this—this place, this life, in order to ever be able to accept yourself."

Taking in the evergreen trees that stretch on forever, my eyes flutter closed and I take a sharp inhale. Opening my eyes, I'm met with Caesar's intense ones and nod my head. "Okay."

"You need to believe, Serelia. I need you to believe."

The ferocity of his eyes sends shudders down my spine, his unwavering gaze never breaking.

"Believe in what?"

"Believe in me." His expression for the first time is guileless. No indication of arrogance or amusement, but sadness and pain, broken. The same eyes I've seen when I look in the mirror. There are no words that I can think of to respond, and instead give a slight nod.

"It's time," he says one more time, but this time, I know what he means.

***

Until then,

-Xxx