CHAPTER 512: THE LIGHT WE WAITED FOR (11)

There was trouble indeed, just not the kind they thought of. This was far beyond anything!

"Where is he?" Clara exclaimed, her voice a raspy echo of its former strength, yet filled with excitement and urgency.

They watched in horror as Clara shot out of her seat with surprising speed, her frail legs trembling under the sudden movement. Her brush clattered to the floor, forgotten, as she hurried past them ... straight past Rocky! Though her strength zapped just as quickly as it had started.

Rocky pulled Ava closer and stepped aside as Clara walked past them, still looking for him. He shuddered as in that moment he could not recognize this person, one bit. It did not even seem like senility or dementia; this scene screamed out worldly things, making the couple shake. Rocky was somehow glad that Clara could not identify him, for he did not want to find out what she wanted. It was clear that she was obsessed!

"Where is he? My son?" she called out, scanning the room as if expecting someone else to appear. "He said .... No, he didn’t say .... But he always comes when Mummy calls. He has to! What would I do if he doesn’t? ... Where is he? Will I always look like this?

First it was that ungrateful bitch who took my beauty away and now even my son doesn’t want to help me! I should have strangled them from birth! Why did I subject my body to such harm from childbirth if this was the payment I got? Why? Why? Why would Rocky neglect me?! He is just like that ungrateful girl! They only know how to take and take! They never gave anything back!"

Rocky stood frozen, his arms half-raised in disbelief. His words,

"I... I’m right here," died on his lips before they came out. Though he could not believe that his mother would say such, he had long steeled himself on the kind of woman she was.

Luckily, Clara was too wrapped up in her mind to notice anything from anyone. She walked right past, her searching eyes never even brushing his face. She moved to the corner, peered behind a curtain, then stopped to look behind a chair, like a child searching for a playmate in a game of hide and seek.

"Where is he?" she whispered again, her voice cracking.

Ava took a step back, the hairs on her arms rising. "What is going on...?"

Shelby’s face crumpled, her hand reaching for Ian, though she was in his arms.

Rocky was different .... he could barely breathe.

He turned slowly, watching their mother shuffle about the room, calling for him... without seeing him.

"I’m right here, Mum," Rocky found himself saying quietly, while looking shocked and distressed, but Ava clamped her hand on his mouth and stopped him from taking a step forward.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed, but Clara had not even heard this at all, for she didn’t stop, nor did she hear him.

It was like none of them existed.

"W-What the hell is happening?" he breathed.

Shelby, also noticing the anomaly that Ian had, whispered, "I... I think she’s stuck," she whispered. "In a memory. Or maybe in a delusion."

Ian sent a silent command to Currey. Before anyone could react, a smallish man stepped forward from the shadows, quiet and composed. His hand moved with precise intent, pressing gently on a point behind Clara’s neck. She gasped softly, eyes fluttering, and then she crumpled.

Rocky instinctively reached forward, thinking that Currey would not be able to carry Clara, but to his surprise, Currey had already caught her. With surprising ease, he cradled Clara and turned toward the bed, laying her down carefully, her hands folded over her chest, her breath slowing into a deep, peaceful rhythm.

No one spoke. There was no need to.

The strange hush lingered, heavy and reverent, as if even the walls knew not to echo too loudly in that space.

Once Clara was settled, Currey stepped back, his face unreadable.

Rocky had been prepared for anything! But in the face of this strangeness, he could not help but pity his mother a little. He glanced down at Clara’s aged form, his jaw clenched tight, but said nothing. There were no words left.

They turned away from the room one by one, their footsteps soft against the floor, going down the stairs and then to the living room.

Ian set Shelby down gently and then rose to his full height.

"When did this happen?"

Though no names had been mentioned, they knew to whom this was directed.

"Master Ian, it was ...."

Angela narrated the events from the time Clara had gone out on her own, including the strangeness related to her physique, as well as the memory issues that night and other details. She did not leave anything to chance, and by the time she was done, Ava and Rocky were perplexed, but the other three nodded in understanding. It was then that Rocky started assimilating all the words that his mother had said.

"Are you sure that was the last person she talked to before all of this?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Ian nodded.

"What did she mean by that?"

"Master Rocky, I believe that your mother was obsessed with you because she wanted to exchange you for something...."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just what it means...." Ian threw in.

"It’s not the first time she has done it, and it will not be the last. I believe that she did not know the repercussions of her decisions, but sadly, she might never realize it."

"You mean......?"

"This has black and forbidden practices written all over it. There is nothing anyone can do for Clara in this state."

Ava was starting to feel tired, so she leaned against Rocky. "You said that this was not her first?"

"More or less .... But striking a deal with a creature that can discard her own children should tell you about what it can do."

Ava widened her eyes, as did Rocky.

"So, what can we do?"

"We.... Don’t have to do anything. She is already far too gone to be saved .... But even if she was not, Madam Clara Wendover is too much of a hazard for all the people around her, so it’ll be better for us to let her go..."

"What does too late for her mean?"

Rocky was too stunned by the words he was hearing to even try to engage in any conversation,

"She will wither away," Ian said quietly, making them all turn to look at him.

"In its literal sense," he added, his voice calm .... Maybe a little too calm.

Rocky stiffened. He was both disappointed, angry and frustrated at why his mother was always doing this, but from what Currey had said, maybe it was really time to stop hanging onto this person, before she destroyed them. Looking back, it seemed like Ava’s accident had saved him in a way, because he never had the mind to answer anyone’s call, including his mother. Just what had she wanted to take from him? "What... what do you mean by that?"

Ian didn’t answer immediately. His eyes lingered on Shelby for a while, then slowly turned toward them.

"Clara has dabbled in an art that is too much, and she cannot pay the price. She no longer belongs to this world, not fully. What tethered her has already snapped. Her mind has been set adrift long ago, but now her body will follow. She’ll fade... slowly... like dry petals falling from a dying bloom."

A cold hush fell over the hall.

Though Shelby did not like her mother’s actions, she still asked, "Is there nothing we can do?"

Ian’s expression didn’t change.

"Nothing... you can make her feel better, but I doubt that she would. Also, her physical state is going to get worse with time."

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Rocky lowered his head. His fists clenched, then released.

"Currey..."

"It’s okay, Master Rocky. It’s been arranged, and they should be here within the hour." That was enough to jolt Rocky out of his stupor. He had not even asked his question, and Currey had an answer and an arrangement?

Currey turned to Angela.

"Two nurses will be here shortly, and they will give care to Clara for as long as she remains with us..."

"...but..."

"I believe the young master will have other arrangements for you, Angela."

Angela sighed in relief, thinking that she had lost her job. Though working for Clara was difficult, she had served Clara for decades, and the pay was also good. Something struck the others in the room as odd, but it would only be later that they would come to realize.

Ava took a shaky breath, her hand rubbing slow circles over her belly.

At first, Rocky had been skeptical, but hearing the arrangements from Currey, he marvelled.

"Yes, Angela. Prepare a room for the nurses and adhere to their every request. From now on, you will help attend to. My fiancée and our baby-"

Angela’s eyes widened, and she all but suppressed the bubbling happiness. She did not even ask of whom it was, but turned to Ava and bowed deeply,

"... at your service, ma’am."

Ava’s face warmed up, and Shelby chuckled. Ian was right indeed; it took mere weeks for Clara to wither.

One night... she was gone.

They found her curled beneath the blankets, bones sharp beneath parchment-thin skin, her breath long since stopped. Her body was so light, so fragile, it took only one nurse to lift her. There was no ceremony or fanfare. It was classed as a private family gathering, and she was buried quietly, without questions or tears.

And when the nurses returned to the ward, their memories had been wiped clean, scrubbed of every oddity, every unexplainable encounter. In their minds, she had been just another patient - one of many who had been tended in her home. There was nothing strange and nothing to remember.

*********

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on Webnovel :) ~Uploaded only on webnovel by Loctovia ~