Page 116 of A Soul to Steal

Just as he opened his mouth to thank him, a strange sound caught his attention. He’d never heard anything like it before.

Curious about it, since it was sunny overhead and didn’t appear to be an approaching Demon, Gideon picked up the pace.

The trees opened up, the forest falling behind them, as vast blue glittered all throughout in the distance. At the edge of the sand, his lips parted with awe at the serene scene before them.

Waves crashed against the shore, frothing and bubbling white as they crawled up the shoreline, only to recede. For as far as the eye could see, water reached into the distance before almost mixing with the blue horizon, as though the ocean and sky blended. A soft wind rustled his clothes and hair as he took in the briny scent.

“Oh wow,” Gideon rasped, drawing his gaze from the left, where more beach spanned, all the way to the right, where the land became an incline. Rocks jutted at the foot of a massive cliff that circled the coast. “I’ve never been to a beach before.”

“Do not go near the water,” Aleron warned, coming up beside him. “Demons sometimes hide beneath the sand.”

Gideon sighed, wishing he hadn’t learnt that. It took away from the calming magnificence of what he saw, but it did stop the urge to roll his pants up and go splashing. He wouldn’t have cared if the water froze his toes.

He crept closer until he found a spot where sand had gusted onto grass, then lowered himself down.

“Come, sit,” Gideon said, nodding to the spot next to him. He took off his boots and dug his toes into the yellow, gritty sand. “Enjoy this with me. I’d like to stay awhile, since I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

As though all he needed was permission, Aleron plonked his butt on the ground with his feet spread out before him. He was forced to lean forward slightly, since his tail feathers made it difficult, but it didn’t appear uncomfortable in his slouched position.

He ignored Aleron’s weird talon-tipped, four-toed feet shoving into his view, especially when they twitched and closed.

After a while of staring at the beach, Gideon closed his eyes. He took in the rolling crash of the waves, the sound and scent of the wind, the heat of the sun warming his chilled skin. Tiredness overcame him, not physically, but emotionally. In its own way, it was soothing. Each wave that gurgled back to the sea, stealing bits of sand, was like a balm for his spirit.

This is... peaceful.

If the world had permitted it, he may have stayed there forever. Just him, Aleron, and the sea. Only after the thought occurred did he realise that he’d included the Duskwalker in that fantasy.

I guess he’s growing on me.Hard not to after the past two days.People always thought I was happy because I didn’t share my troubles.Only Beau and Emerie discovered just how much life often encumbered him, and were privy to his past mistakes.

They were the ones who knew him to be sombre underneath the mask of his cheer. Aleron hadn’t really been sheltered from any of it, and yet... he was still here.

Gideon opened his eyes to take in the world he’d never touched before. Lifting his toes, he watched the sand drizzle off his feet before digging them back under. He never would have guessed sand could sparkle or be so rough. It looked like yellow salt.

“Something has been bothering me,” Gideon muttered, turning his head up when a particularly large wave crashed.

When Aleron tipped his head, and then twisted it towards him, he considered deflecting to a different topic. Sharing his innermost thoughts felt odd, but if they really were together forever... would it be so bad if he leaned on Aleron? The idea didn’t bring him joy, mainly because he wasn’t sure if he could trust Aleron with the wounded parts of himself.

He’d only entrusted two people with his troubles, and even then, he’d only shared parts of them.

A brief glance at the Duskwalker showed he’d looked forward to the horizon. He wasn’t pressuring Gideon to continue, now that silence had taken over, instead letting him come to his own decision.

Perhaps that was why he continued.

“I keep thinking back to the day I died.” He continued to play with the sand, using it as a way to fidget through his uncertainty. “I keep wondering if I had just not gone home that night, maybe I wouldn’t have died. I usually lived between my home and my...friend’splace.”

He didn’t expand on his relationship with Beau, simply because he no longer wished to accidentally hurt Aleron with it – if he understood what a boyfriend meant. Beau was eight years in the past.

He wished he knew how to move on from him, from his old life. He was beginning to genuinely want to.

“I only went home that day because I missed my parents and Emerie, but if I’d just stayed at my friend’s place, I wouldn’t have cornered her outside. We wouldn’t have argued in the middle of the night just beyond the porch steps. The Demon may not have tried to take off with her had she just snuck back inside like she’d been intending to. Yet... I also keep wondering if I didn’t go home, would Emerie have been taken anyway, without me being able to save her? I don’t think I would have been able to cope if I learned she had died. Even now, just the idea of living a life where I didn’t save her, hurts my chest so much I’m worried my heart might give out.”

“Why are you lingering on ‘what ifs’ when you cannot change what has happened?” Aleron asked quietly, yet a deep note of melancholy radiated in his voice. “Is being here with... Why do you hurt yourself with these thoughts?”

Damnit. I hurt his feelings again.Shame prickled the nape of his neck, but he hadn’t truly meant to hurt Aleron.He probably thinks I’m saying this because of him.

“I don’t know,” Gideon grumbled, rubbing his neck to soothe it. “I honestly can’t help them. I guess I would just like to know if I made the right choice or not. I guess a part of it is because I would like to go back to my old life, but also... I get this feeling that I ruined Emerie’s life. She was a pretty happy person, but after what you told me we’d learned of her in Tenebris... I feel so guilty that I left her behind. I feel like I failed her and the parents who took me in after the ones I had died. It’s hard to let go of those feelings of guilt, and wonder if I could have spared everyone the pain that was caused from that night. So many people would have been affected, like our friends and colleagues. It goes beyond us, and it would have impacted everyone we’dever come into contact with. Demon attacks have that effect on human towns.”

A silence fell over them, one that was weighty and filled with sorrow. Aleron’s hand lifted and reached out, but he hesitated and pulled it back. He laid it back between his outstretched legs.

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