That night, Rose sat up in bed and looked at the ceiling made of stone. She smiled, before turning to her brother, who was fast asleep next to her.
Suddenly, he began to whimper. He then muttered in his sleep, in witch language, saying, "Don't turn out the lights." He kept saying that phrase over and over again. Rose remembered how little he was when the nightmares began......he still has them? She held his hand. His body began to tremble. He tossed and turned. He whimpered again, repeating the same words. Rose shook him awake.
Shadow shot up as he gasped. He looked at her. She looked at him back. "You're having those dreams again." She said.
Shadow looked down at the floor. "It was my fault they died, you know? I invited those things into my life, and it killed them. I'M the reason the house caught fire, I'M the reason they burned! I destroy things everywhere I go! Everywhere I go, I bring danger.....all because I played with those things in the woods!"
Rose sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. "Gabriel, I never believed those omens. Those ANIMALS out there are part of nature....not everyone's the same."
A tear streamed down Shadow's face. "They killed our parents!"
She shook her head. "Gabe...it's their nature.....they're just the same as any other wolf, just a different color."
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Shadow shook his head. "They watched me sleep every night, waiting for one of us to DIE."
Rose sighed.
"Now I'M one of them, one of those....black coated FREAKS!" Shadow looked at her. "Why? Why me? Is it because I represent DEATH?" he trembled.
She looked at her brother lovingly. "It's not about that at all......Gabriel, your childhood was ROUGH." She brushed his hair to comfort him. "What you became tells a story about what you've been through. There's been too much darkness and pain from that..." Rose chuckled. Shadow looked at her, and she met his gaze.
"There's a lot of yourself that you have to learn. You need to learn to embrace that.....Shadow....side of you. I've been seeing you struggle with that, lately." Shadow put his hand on his face, and Rose pulled him into a hug.
"I'm glad you've been feeling better, little brother. You scared me for a second..."
Shadow looked down at the floor again. "I know..."
"Max told me you wanted to protect your friends, but......that really fucked with you."
Shadow said nothing. Rose looked at him with love. "I don't want you to be doing anything with your powers for a while....you understand?"
Shadow nodded. "Yeah....." He looked back at her. "I can still shapeshift.....right?"
Rose nodded. "Just try to keep that temper under control when you do."
Shadow nodded again. "I'll do my best to behave....you know it's hard for me to control it sometimes...right?"
Rose grinned. "I do know that....but, you have a good support group with you...so, take their advice......and mine. Okay?"
"Yeah."
Rose fixed him a cup full of clear liquid. She then gave it to him. He looked down and smiled. "Apple cinnamon?" She smiled at him. "I added something in there to help you get better sleep. It'll prevent nightmares." He drank the liquid and looked down at the cup. "This was my favorite growing up....I've missed this."
After his cup, they talked some more and eventually went to sleep.