Chapter 5

Twilight fell upon the garden and my sisters had already gone home for the evening. I was sitting in the rocking chair nursing Rio while Edge stared out of the window as if he was waiting for something....or someone. He had been doing that for a while and I began to worry.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him with concern.

Edge turned to me, his eyes shining with tears. I rarely saw him with tears in his eyes, and I wondered what was going on inside of his head. All he answered me with was, "Don't worry about it."

He walked away from the window slowly, looking broken and disappointed. He was probably disappointed about what I didn't know, but I needed to find out even if he refused to tell me. If was going to be with me, we needed to be honest with each other, and he never lied to me or kept a secret away from me before. He sighed and walked away from the window, climbing up the stairs to our bedroom. I decided to follow him, wanting to know whatever he was hiding.

I made a stop to the nursery to put Rio in her crib. I knew the poor thing was tired since it had been quite a long day for her. I walked into the master bedroom and found Edge with his hands pressed against the window. I watched in despair as he stared outside like he was lacking something in his life. I sauntered up to him slowly and placed my hands on his shoulders, kissing his neck. He seemed to appreciate it as he brought his own hand and squeezed mine tightly.

"I don't want you to worry about me, Aurora," he said. "I'll be fine."

"I can't help it," I replied sadly. "I care so much about you, and I don't want to see you hurting. It bothers me. Tell me what's wrong, Edge."

"I.... I can't."

"Why not?" I asked in suspicion.

"It's too painful to explain," he said. "I don't want you feeling sorry for me."

"If you won't tell me now," I said, "when will you tell me?"

Edge turned around and replied, "Eventually. I've just had....a really draining day, you know?"

"Would you like to go to bed?" I asked.

"No, I'm going out to the garden," he replied, kissing my lips. "Don't wait for me."

"All right."

I watched him leave the room with a sluggishness in his step. I stayed at the window and watched him enter the garden, staring at the full moon. I pressed my nose against the pane and kept vigil over him as if I was his guardian angel, the depression sinking in as I wondered what could be running through his mind. Suddenly, I saw him pluck a white rose from a bush, and my heart stopped. A white rose symbolized death, especially of a woman. I realized that something happened when my sisters were out visiting me, and I had to rush home.

As I was running out of the bedroom door, something stopped me. It was like a force that made me physically inert, and I slid to the floor with tears in my eyes. I closed my eyes and clutched the heart-shaped pendant that my mother had given to me as a birthday present the year before.

Chapter 6
Chapter 4