Much To Learn (2)

• You taught me the courage of stars, before you left. •

".."

Clad in funeral black from head to toe, fifteen year-old Hayley Marshall stood before a grave, staring unblinkingly at the engraved words.

'Here lies Naya "Marmee" Phillips,

A good person, a great mother and an even better soul.

You will be loved, you will be remembered, always and forever.

Rest In Peace.'

Her heart broken and her thoughts somber, Hayley thought back on the past two weeks prior to Marmee's death.

".."

Two weeks earlier,

"Marmee, you are not dying!" Hayley was pacing to and fro in her room, a grimoire firmly in her hands. "It's way too soon. You're not dying. Not on my watch."

"It's the way of the world," Sitting on the young girl's bed, Marmee looked like she had already made peace with the horrifying news.

"No, it's not," Hayley denied. "I can fix this. I know I can!"

The spell she was looking for was a very dark one, and it would take a lot from her. But Hayley didn't care. As long as Marmee was alive, nothing else really mattered.

She came to this world, alone, scared, trying to put up a good front. Marmee was the only one who gave her a hand. The older witch saved her life in more ways than one and became the mother she'd lost, the mother she didn't know she craved. She became her family.

"There it is!" Hayley exclaimed when she found the particular page. "Look, Marmee. I can do this, I can save you."

Taking the hands of the rushing witch, Marmee made Hayley sit down next to her. "I'm not afraid of death, little one," she told Hayley. "The spirits agree with me on keeping the balance of nature."

"Fuck the spirits," Tears were now streaming down Hayley's face, her hold tightening on Marmee's hands. "I don't want to lose you."

"You're not losing me," Marmee placed her left hand on Hayley's heart. "I will always be with you. In here," she then moved her hand to her head. "And in here."

"It's not the same thing," Hayley cried, emotions bottling inside of her, making the entire house shake and tremble. Hayley was tired. She was tired of losing the people she loved most.

"Calm down, calm down," Marmee took her in her arms, stroking her back in a soothing way. "It is what it is, little one. It's my time to go."

Hayley remained silent in Marmee's hands. She'd calmed down but her mind was still unfocused. No matter what happened, she would save Marmee. She would save her, even if she died trying.

".."

Hayley walked in Marmee's kitchen, sitting on her stool and looking around with dead eyes.

The house looked like it knew its owner was no longer alive. No longer among them. And it was mourning her too.

With a heavy sigh, Hayley lowered her head in her hands. She had no more tears left to cry.

Hearing a paper creak under her heel, Hayley frowned and looked down. It looked like a small letter was under her heeled boot. Leaning down, she grabbed the thing, immediately recognizing Marmee's writing.

'You're the strongest person I know, little one. And I know a lot of people.

It was just my time to go.'

Hayley's heart broke a thousand times more as she thought of her failure. Her failure to save her adoptive mother.

".."

One week earlier,

"Magia Tollox de Terras, Magia Tollox de Terras," Hayley muttered, trying to absorb the magic off a talisman Marmee had gifted her. "Come on!"

She'd found the spell to save Marmee, all that was needed now was enough magic. And once she'd absorbed the energy of the talisman, Hayley would be strong enough to keep her adoptive mother safe.

Except, nothing seemed to be working.

"Come on!" Hayley threw the necklace hard on her bed, swearing under her breath.

A cry built inside her throat, hitting her lips but she couldn't let it out. She had to keep it all in until Marmee was safe. Hayley leaned forward, her hands on her knees as she was having troubles breathing fine. In the back of her mind, she registered the trembling of the house, as if an earthquake was passing through their neighborhood but she was too focused on her own breathing to pay closer attention to it.

Looking to her left, in the huge mirror that covered her closet, Hayley was startled by her appearance. Her eyes had turned the gold of her wolf, her hair was in disarray and she looked on the verge of a breakdown. That's when she realized the earthquake was her own doing as well. Swiftly, Hayley ran to their backyard, throwing a privacy spell around it before she turned around, her arms to her sides, palms up as she screamed. She screamed her frustration and pain away, her magic lifting the leaves, pebbles and anything else from the ground while the fire that'd spread from her arms nearly burned the entire backyard.

Hayley stopped screaming when she was out of air, feeling a lightness in her mind where there had only been pression.

With a wave of her hand, she restored the yard as it had been before. Marmee would definitely freak out on her if she caught her destroying property with her magic ... again.

A new spring in her step, a determined Hayley ran back to her room. She took the ingredients that would be needed for her spell and set them up in a nook inside the kitchen.

The talisman safely tucked around her neck, Hayley smiled. She had an immortality spell to make.

Little did she know, she wouldn't succeed. Or rather, the laws of nature harshly claimed her Marmee.

".."

Inside the deadly quiet kitchen, Hayley sighed and set off to make herself some cupcakes, with Marmee special recipe inside her mind.

If she really followed Marmee's last wishes in her letter, this would be the last meal she would spend in this house anyways. In the morning, she would be setting off for Mystic Falls.

A wave of nerves hit Hayley at the thought of leaving Marmee's house. She stumbled across the kitchen, harshly opening the liquor cabinet. She knew she wasn't of age yet but if any time deserved a good trashing, it was fucking now.

When the cabinet's door swung open, a note slipped out, with Hayley catching it. It was another one of Marmee's secret notes.

'You're not old enough to drink, young girl.'

Hayley's throat closed up as she chocked under the emotions, her eyes tearing up. She turned the paper.

'Anger. Sadness. Betrayal. Hope. Joy. Laughter. Love. Experience it all.

Honey, the best part of living is feeling so live for me. Feel for me.

Do whatever you want to do in life.

Fall crazy in love, travel the world, accomplish your dreams. Remember you can't always be strong.

But most importantly, take care of yourself for I won't be there to remind you.

With a drink in hand, I'll be looking over you in the after life so do me proud my precious girl.

I love you. Always.

P.S: the secret ingredient is cinnamon since you can never remember for the life of you.'

Hayley hadn't realized but she was now on the floor, tears streaming down her face as she let out heart-wrenching wails. She cried for the fantastic mother this second life had gifted her. And she cried for the incredible woman this world had lost.

In the morning, Hayley would be strong again. She would stand tall again. She would eat, sleep, laugh and feel. She wouldn't be beaten down — tomorrow she would do all that.

But for now, crying her heart out was it. For Marmee.