I stirred my cup of coffee, staring at my phone. The camera showed me, a tired, strangely calm girl. My hair was an absolute mess and I had gunk in my eyes.

So why didn't I pick it up? Simple, I didn't want to. I wasn't traumatized or anything. Okay sure, the previous night was something else. With the storm having a massive fist fight with the earth, my mother speaking some greek-oracle-damnation type stuff... Let's just say I didn't sleep all that easy. However, I wasn't the one gonna die or anything.

Just saying.

Plus I had other things on my mind.

I waited for my mother to wake up while drinking my coffee. There were many times where I wanted to pull out and do something normal for a change but I decided against it.

When my mother eventually did get up she found me staring at the passage way. She took one long look at me and then put the kettle on for herself.

"Morning." She greeted nonchalantly.
I greeted back. She took another long look this time out the window. "I see the world is feeling better this morning."

Yeah, no kidding, I thought. "Look, mom-"

"You want to see if you can talk to Zake without everyone being here?" She guessed, not even bothering to gaze at me. "You want to know stuff about you specifically?"

I nodded. She was my mother and my mother knew me. Mother knows best. She pointed at the kettle and went to sit down on the couch. Pretty straight forward, make me a cup of coffee and we'll try.

A few minutes later I had brought her coffee in her cliché 'World's best mother' mug and set it before her. She smiled.

"Keep the mug in your hands, my child." I frowned. Looking at the mug, it looked a bit cheery for the things we were doing but then again I guess a person could say the same about a potted plant. "What do you want to know?"

"Why me? Out of everyone, me?" I immediately answered.

She closed her eyes for a second longer than usual and in a blink I could feel it too. See it too. The world seemed brighter. In any words to describe what I could see would be inadequate but you know those movies with picturesque? Where everything is the perfect shade and the viewer wished they lived there in order to experience that? In a way, that's how it was. Unreal.

Yet it was the sensation that was the most surprising because it wasn't. For the last few days now, whether I was in class, the bathroom or in my room, I had felt this sensation. A warm, protective feeling that I had put down to things happening at that time. Being done with homework, break coming up, my boyfriend but now it was clear who was doing it all along.

"You gave him a purpose." My mother mumbled. "It was clear he never stood a chance and, even at times where you angered him, he couldn't blame you. You had replaced him because he wasn't worth you."

"But why?" I shouted, my emotions making me forget it was my mother I was shouting at. "Everyone else is doing the same. So why me? I hurt you too. I never saw how much you changed and now you are gone!"

My mother gripped my hands which were trembling. "You didn't pretend and maybe I was fooling myself. Maybe I was just desperate to have you back and show you the truth. Alas our time again never came. Goodbye Shay."

"Mom?" I asked confused. Her grip loosened and she looked shocked to see me.

"Shay? What..." She suddenly looked away and almost immediately that sensation passed. Once more we were in the real world. "That's never happened before."

"What hasn't?" But she didn't answer, instead pointing to my phone.

"You should get that."

I frowned and reached for my phone. Besides the missed call, there was just one message.

Kete: Shay, we have a plan tonight. I think it's gonna be the end.