"Hey...I know that look. What is it?" Joshua asked, anticipating her answer. He recognised both her tone and the expression on her face. The last time she had used it was when she had informed him of Grandma Hooper's passing.
"It....it's our mother....she uh...she died this evening." Julianna stated, unable to keep her voice steady.
From that moment on, everything changed for the Warwick twins. Turns out that their mother had died on that fateful evening at the hands of alcohol itself. No accidents. No supernatural beings. Just her liver had given up.
Marcus had been running the events of the past week through his head. It had been exactly one week since they had defeated the shadow creatures and one week since Julianna and Joshua had lost their mother. Every night since, Julianna had been climbing through Marcus's bedroom window seeking comfort and stability, despite them not being together at the current time, he didn't have the heart to deny her of that. Of course, this wasn't the room that he had grown up in, he hadn't spoken to his mother since that morning. He now lived with his Grandfather, George, in one of the nicest houses in town.
Something else had also happened that night. Eric's witch girlfriend, Maria, had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. However through the course of the week this baby already began to show signs that it was no ordinary child. He was, after all, the son of a witch and a werewolf. Marcus often wondered how their supernatural status would play a part in how the baby turned out. They had named him Kristopher.
As for Marcus himself, so much had happened in that one night that he barely had a chance to work through his own drama. He had been so busy comforting both Julianna and Joshua, because as expected, they were a wreck after receiving the news. It had meant that they were now left in the care Kayla, which wasn't a pleasant thought for either of them. Then he was called out to help Eric, who was in desperate need of someone to fetch baby items for their son. Marcus happily obliged since if it weren't for Maria, he wouldn't be breathing right now.
During the whole week, he had made sure that everyone else was taken care of so much to the point where he accidentally neglected his own needs. So that is what he was doing now. He was still grieving for his sister, and he was heartbroken over the breakdown of his relationship with Julianna. He wanted nothing more than to have her back in his arms again. This time he would do whatever it took to keep her. That is if he ever got another chance with her.
There was also the fact that he felt very different since he almost died. Now he felt stronger and his wolf side had been acting up a lot recently.
Finally having a moment to himself, he began to unpack all of his belongings into his new room. This room was much bigger than the one he'd had. The bed was on the far side of the room. There was also a dresser, a walk in closet, a desk with a laptop upon it and a TV that was hung onto the wall. He felt lucky, even though his heart ached for the house he had grown up in.
After he had finished unpacking, he decided to take a quick shower. He even had his own bathroom that was just for him in this house. He felt much more refreshed after the shower. It was a brand new day and he hoped that it would be the beginning of getting all of their lives back on track. Just as he had finished getting dressed, his phone rang, and his ringtone, which was Linkin Park's 'Leave Out All The Rest', filled the silence. Rushing over to the desk where his phone sat, he quickly swiped to answer.
"Hey bro...so Jules and I were thinking something." Joshua began on the other end of the line.
"Okay...let's hear it. What were you thinking?" Marcus asked curiously.
"So as you know each of us have suffered great losses recently. You lost Layla, Eric lost his mother and Julianna and I lost our mother..." Joshua began, holding back the good part for a moment.
"Yes. Please don't remind me of those tragedies." Marcus replied, feeling slightly saddened by the list of people that they had lost along the way.
"Anyways we were thinking we should have a little ceremony. Since my mum's funeral was crowded by all her drinking buddies and your parents wouldn't let you anywhere near Layla's funeral, and I doubt Eric's mum even got a send off, we just thought that we should have a little get together where we can say goodbye to our lost loved ones in a peaceful way without any drama. We can start healing afterwards. I think we need this Marcus, we need closure." Joshua explained, and went on to explain how Julianna was out buying candles and flying lanterns and a teddy bear that could be written on.
"I think that's a great idea bro. What time and place were you thinking?" Marcus asked, liking the idea of this little send off. He felt like Joshua was right, that he did need it. They all did.
"Tonight. 8:00pm. In your family's tomb." Joshua informed. After Marcus agreed, they ended the call. This gave Marcus a few hours to get himself ready. To prepare himself mentally.
Going into his closet, he paused for a moment confused. He spun around as he felt someone touch him. However looking around the room, no one was there. Thinking it was just his imagination he turned his attention back to his closet. This time he definitely knew something was off as he heard his name being called into the empty room.
"Marcus." The voice whispered sinisterly.
Leaving him feeling as though he was losing his mind. Surely it had to be in his head, right? Everything was over. There was no threat now. Right?