Prophecy

Prologue

Leaves rained down from the sky as a strong autumn breeze blew through the trees, harassing the branches and scattering the dry, crisp leaves to the wind, adding some colour to the otherwise monochrome scene that stood before them. The small gathering of mourners that stood huddled around the grave side all wore varying outfits of the expected black, each of them hunched against a cruel wind that only seemed to worsen the already gloomy mood.
Destiny Bay always did look good in the autumn time though, the brightly coloured leaves on the trees setting the whole town alive with colour where it stood proudly on the shoreline of the roiling dark ocean, its rich, dark blue a stark contrast to the warm palette that the leaves provided. If you bypassed the mourners, the scene was almost pretty, even the little cemetery, set in the bottom of the valley, was picturesque, the neat rows of graves lined up and old willow trees lining one edge as if weeping for the dead.
The wind rustled through the trees again, scattering a few more leaves to the ground and several people drew their collars closer or held their coats a little tighter. As the Reverend wrapped up his speech some members of the small congregation began to wander slowly through the little village cemetery, back towards the promised warmth of the church’s community room and its electric fire. Several people shook hands with the Reverend, the way someone who has known a man their whole life would, and he spoke kindly to one or two of the remaining guests before he too made his way through the maze of crooked headstones to go inside, away from the bitterly cold winds.
As ominous grey clouds swept across the sky, threatening rain with each passing moment, only one guest remained by the grave. A woman, slight and unassuming to the point that not many people had even noticed her presence at the back of the small yet close-knit gathering. She let out a long sigh as she pulled down the hood of her coat, releasing an avalanche of sleek, raven black hair that was part taken up, half-hazardly tethered and plaited against her head, then left to fall perfectly straight down her back. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she reached up to brush the tips of her fingers across to wipe at it, leaving behind a smudge from the heavy black eyeliner that framed her eyes.
'You promised you'd never leave me,' she whispered gently, the sound almost inaudible as the wind shrieked again as if able to feel her pain and trying to outdo it.
Her tears began to fall more freely now and for a long while she stood in silence by the grave side. After a few more muttered words, she wiped away the tears once more on the sleeve of her long black coat, turned and brushed her hand softly across the top of the new marble headstone, shaking her head as if in response to something no one else could hear then stood to leave. Turning to the one at the side of the newly dug grave she repeated her actions, whispering into the almost silent air around her.
'I love you, and I'll never forget.'
As she turned to walk away, she looked up, a slight movement having caught her eye. A single white feather floated down gently where the wind seemed to have died down to allow her grief its moment, landing softly on the edge of the newly erected gravestone. The woman stood still for a few seconds looking at the feather, before looking up towards the heavy cloud cover in wonderment. She reached out to retrieve the large, yet delicate looking feather and noticed the tiny flecks of blue that shot through the stunning white of the body.
Pocketing her treasure and tucking her hands deep in her pockets to warm her frozen fingers she slowly made her way up the hill behind Destiny Bay's community cemetery, heading straight for the woods that stood tall at the border of the community land. As she approached, a figure stepped out and the girl stepped straight into her arms, sobbing.
'They're together now, you know that's how she wanted it,' the newcomer said in a gentle voice.
'I know,' she replied, pulling her hand free and holding it out to reveal the feather and looking up to meet her gaze.
A low laugh broke the silence as they both smiled.
'Seems fitting,' she answered, taking it from her gently to turn it over in her fingers before handing it back just as carefully, ‘Maybe it’s hers.’
The second woman cocked her head in thought and the first’s eyes glazed over.
‘Do you think?’ she began before stopping herself with a shake of her head, ‘That’s not how things work, Belle.’
‘We don’t know that, we have no idea whether the Fates intervened again. I like to think of Dylan as having his now, even if it’s not true, I liked the way he looked with wings like his fathers’.’
She shook her head in response but didn’t argue back again. Each to their own. Instead, she changed the conversation.
'Emily was here, and so was Aunt Carrie Ann and her husband and Ella May. They all look so old now, I don’t think Mum looked that old. No one even saw me; Carrie Ann didn’t know I was coming. I never replied to the message she sent yesterday,' she said, closing her hand tightly around the feather to prevent it from blowing away.
'No one was looking for you, and if they had seen you, they wouldn’t recognise you. It's been what? Over fifty years since they last saw you properly. They'd be expecting an old woman too,' she laughed, 'The years have been good to you, Gracie, you sure don’t look your age. It’s probably better Carrie Ann didn’t see you, she’d have wanted to speak to you.'
They both laughed at her words and then Gracie blew out a deep breath as she looked up into the familiar eyes of her grandmother. They were sisters now; it was time to start living that life. Belle reached up gently to dry the last of Gracie’s tears and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her fingertips brushing the inky black feather that was plaited into her hair before dropping it back to her own side with a smile.
Belle held out her hand and Gracie slid hers into it as they stood side by side, looking down on the cemetery and out across the Bay to where the ocean spread out like a dark blanket before them.
'What now?'
'We move on, it's time for a new town, Gracie.'
‘But we’ll come back?’ Gracie established, ‘One day?’
‘One day, when there’s no one left here that could remember us. Then we can come back.’ Belle reassured her.
With a firm nod, Gracie held up her hand, clenched tightly around her treasure still and opened her hand, blowing gently to release the feather that they both knew to be too big to be a birds, but neither admitting they thought it to be angelic, into the wind. Gracie knew that things didn’t work like that. Her father had turned down the offer of his wings in exchange for a guardianship role over her and her mother, and her mother had been mortal. Neither of them had wings now. It wasn’t theirs. But it was someone’s. She squeezed Belle’s hand after one last look at the cemetery and then they turned and walked into the woods, away from Gracie's parents, and away from Belle's son.

Serena had gotten what she had always wished for, an eternity with her angel. With Dylan. Now it was time for Gracie to keep the promise she’d made to her parents long ago. It was time to live her life.