Lola sat in the town square on a bench in the roundabout. She held her coffee cup and looked at the people roaming around in peace. The university students were jumping gleefully over the town's annual Harvest Moon fest- they were putting up lights with various colors in the trees and decorating the benches. The town shops were all preparing their windows and facades.
Lola smiled, watching everyone laugh. Dressed in coats with mittens and scarves, they took to town with a joy that only the small-town festivities could bring.
Couples held hands and walked under the streetlights. The bakery had put on a pumpkin event for the children where they carved their own pumpkins, and a prize was given to the best one.
"Lola."
She was pulled away from her thoughts and shifted on the bench. Jax stood behind her, his voice was low and a hint of fear seeped into her name when he spoke. He walked around and took a seat.
"Hi," she said and smiled.
She hadn't seen him all afternoon and tried her best to forget about their issues but after seeing Lavina being cozy with Mrs. Blackwood it reminded her of what she didn't have- a relationship with anyone in that family other than Jax. After having had lunch with Melissa in town, Melissa went home to meet up with her parents and Lola came to the roundabout- anything to avoid being at the mansion with the tension they had right now.
So she came here, pretending everything was normal for a moment before reality caught up.
"How are you doing?" Jax asked.
A child started crying over by the pumpkin station. Ms. Gibson gave her a lollipop and kissed her finger to make it all better and the girl pouted but continued carving the pumpkin.
After the sugar kicked in, the girl started laughing and playing with the pumpkin guts, pressing them between her hands.
"I'm breathing," Lola answered.
"I forgot to ask you earlier, but your wounds..."
Lola turned her head and looked at Jax. "They're healed," she said. Disbelief formed in her words because she couldn't understand how her flesh healed itself again.
"I thought they might have."
Lola's brows furrowed.
"This morning, when you touched me..." she said.
Jax narrowed his eyes on his hands and nodded.
"It was to see if the wounds were there."
Lola scoffed and flicked her tongue while shifting stiffly on the bench. "Why not just ask me?"
"Because the truth doesn't come very easily for you, Lola," he said, his voice rising an octave.
"And what- you've never seen me naked?!"
They were gaining attention from unwanted listeners.
"I didn't want to... I didn't..." Jax's words twisted on his tongue.
Lola smiled but the pain in her eyes gave her away- it was a pain you couldn't hide with a pretty smile.
"You didn't want to see me naked," she whispered.
"I needed answers," Jax said commandingly. He didn't think that his words would make everything okay, but it was the truth nonetheless.
"And what answers did you get?" Lola asked snidely.
The sound of everyone else stopped, the ominous clouds pulled together on the darkened sky, and the air grew thicker around them.
"Your blood is the answer. It heals not only vampires and werewolves but also humans. Your blood is healing you."
Lola shook her head. "That's not possible," she said in frustration.
Jax's head snapped to the side, and he watched her inquisitively.
"When I first went out there with my dad and the vampires were there, he bit me," she said and rolled up her sleeve, "right here." She showed Jax the scar from the wound. "He cut into my wrist with a knife and another sunk his fangs into me, and it didn't heal."
Jax grabbed her wrist and pulled his thumb over the scar. His brows pinched together, and a wrinkle formed on his forehead as he looked up with narrow eyes.
"It should've," Jax said. His eyes flickered around and landed on the children by the pumpkin station. He disappeared into his thoughts and quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket. Jax dialed a number and put the phone to his ear while standing up and turning to Lola, "one sec," he said to the person on the phone.
Lola shrugged in confusion and Jax grabbed her hand.
"I have to go but be careful and stay where the people are at all times. Remember that you're never alone and if anything happens you scream," he reluctantly turned around and started barking orders into the phone.
Lola sat there like a question mark, rubbing the scar and watching his back as he left. She shrugged her shoulders at the loneliness, welcoming it back into her soul.
It had been gone for a long time. Piece by piece, it had shattered and withered away in Jax's presence. The nightmares had been kept at bay and sleep had been silent-serene nothingness.
Lola had grown accustomed to having him close and to be sheltered. Her eyes closed, and she wallowed in the pain as though a piece of her soul had come home.
Why did she ever let herself forget how this felt? To be alone in a world full of people who would never see her.
It was dark and painful, but it was hers. Lola stood up and tossed the cup in the bin. She walked from the roundabout onto the grass and stood under the sky for a minute.
"You can come now, take me. I'm alone," Lola said into the wind.
At this point, she didn't care. Only death and destruction followed her life in Wild Cliff, and seeing everyone live their lives made her realize how quickly it could be taken from them if she stayed.
Melissa and Jax will be fine.
The world turned around her, shifting quicker and quicker until she got dizzy.
"Excuse me."
A tap on her shoulder and that deep voice had Lola jumping around and screaming. She clutched her chest in panic and stared at the stranger.
"Oh my god," she panted.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he said and reached out his hand as he fell back a step.
"Umm, no it's fine," she said. "How can I help you?"
When her heart slowed to a healthy pace and her vision cleared up, she could see his pleasant appearance. A long black wool coat and combed back thick hair. Sparking blue eyes that gazed with an uncanny kindness.
"I was actually going to ask you that," he said, scratching the back of his head and laughing nervously. "You seemed a little...stuck," he said.
Lola realized that he was referring to her speech with the wind and that she had stood staring at a dark sky for several minutes.
"Oh, that. No, I'm good. I was just breathing, taking a break," she explained.
"A break from what?"
Lola chuckled. "Life," she said and winced from how cheesy that sounded but if this stranger knew what her life had been like for the past months, he would understand the truth in her answer.
He looked at her. Her answer made him drop his shoulders, and his feet landed heavier on the ground.
"I get that. Everyone needs a break from life sometimes," he confessed soothingly.
"Lola!" Someone screamed in the back, but Lola couldn't take her eyes away from him.
There was something about the guy that resonated with the unheard parts of herself.
"Lola!" Melissa came running over with a bright smile."Who is this?" she asked.
The guy glanced at Melissa and then did a double-take.
"Hi. I'm Ed," he said and stepped back as though her mere presence scared him.
"Hello, Ed. I'm Melissa," she said giddily.
Lola looked between the two. She witnessed how their eyes sparkled and words pressed against their closed lips but never left. their bodies jerked, wanting to get closer but neither was about to make a move on the other. Lola watched and internally screamed when she saw the rosy color creeping up on Melissa's cheeks.
"Melissa and I were just about to get a coffee, would you like to join us?" Lola asked.
"We were?" Melissa looked confused but caught on to the subtle hint on Lola's face. "Oh yeah, we were," Melissa said.
An ear-to-ear smile spread on her face, and Ed looked equally joyful over the invitation.
"I'd love to. I- I have no other plans," he said and the biggest smile stretched on his face.
They walked to Wild Cliff Cafe. It was the first time Lola had stepped inside after marrying Jax.
Ellen wasn't behind the counter and instead, there was a new girl Lola had seen around town before. She was younger, a high school student.
Ed was kind enough to order and pay and his eyes lingered on the barista behind the desk. Ed watched as she prepared the coffee and flickered his eyes over her face.
They took a seat next to the window. Ed turned his head and his eyes took in the streets outside.
"Is something wrong?" Melissa asked.
His head snapped back, and he smiled. "Nothing," he leaned his elbows on the table, tell me about yourself."