CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
THE IMMORTAL TREE

WHY is the world rotating so damn fast?

That was all Thea could think about as she hustled outside the hospital. She couldn't keep up. Her mind couldn't keep up with the universe, her body couldn't keep up with her mind, but most of all, her heart couldn't keep up with anything.

Thea snatched her phone out of her back pocket, she was so focused on making sure she didn't shatter it with her vampire strength.

She knew who she needed to talk to, the name was practically screaming inside her head. "Carlisle?" Her voice was strained.

"Thea?" Carlisle seemed ecstatic to hear the sound of her voice, "How are you? Alice told me everything, are you alright?"

"I—I can't." Thea stuttered over her words, her voice trembled horribly. "You need to help me...Please."

"Thea, what's going on?" There was hassling on his end, almost as if he'd jumped up from wherever he sat. "Thea, talk to me."

"He's dying," Thea was surprisingly able to get the words out of her mouth, "Carlisle, please. I need you to hurry, okay? You can help him." She seemed to be trying to convince herself that everything was fine.

"Thea, I—" Carlisle paused, silence on the other end. "I can't."

Thea heard herself scoff, "You can't?"

A laugh broke from her lips. A high-pitched hysterical laugh as if Carlisle has just said the funniest thing in the history of mankind.

"What do you mean you can't?!" Thea suddenly snapped in a way she hadn't done in decades. "Suddenly you can't after all of these years of doing so? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Thea—"

Thea tightened the phone in her palm, watching as it crumbled and fell beneath her feet. Her eyes fell cold, colder than they'd ever been.

He was dead to her.

"Thea?" Arthur seemed to be slightly out of breath, a face of discomfort filled his face before it relaxed, he looked down at what was now Thea's phone, "What happened?"

"I can drive you to your chemotherapy appointments." Thea stuffed her hands in her back pockets trying to mask the anger she felt.

Suppressing.

Arthur seemed to pause, and his guilty eyes fell.

Thea's eyes turn to slits, something's wrong.

"Thea, I'm not doing the chemotherapy," Arthur admits.

Thea felt her lips part but no words came out. "What?"

"Chemotherapy is...a lot."

"You have cancer, Arthur," Thea leaned her head forward, her eyebrows raised, "You do understand that, right? Chemo can help you."

"No." Arthur became stern towards Thea in a way he'd never done before, "Chemo is going to take away everything that makes me, me. Everything you love about me now will be gone. What's the point of delaying a fate by causing myself more pain?"

No.

No. No. No.

Thea felt her shoulders slump, "I'll take you home." She turns to walk to the car but Arthur stops her.

"Thea, everything is going to be okay." Thea doesn't reply, continuing her path to her car.

✸

     Harper flinched when she heard her front door slam. Quickly closing the notebook she was writing in. Her crimsons quickly found their way to an angry Thea marching up the stairs. "Hello to you too." She rolls her eyes sarcastically, expecting a snarky remark in return only to get no response. "Thea?"

Harper followed her up the stairs and to her bedroom, "What the hell happened?"

Thea quickly took off her jean jacket and boots, "he's not thinking clearly. He's just...no." She closed her eyes, stopping her breakdown.

Harper grew worried, "Are you o—"

"No, I'm not okay!" Thea snapped at Harper, who was seeing her raw frustration, "The doctors just diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer and he doesn't have long—a few months maybe—and he doesn't want to do chemo!"

Harper sighs, slowly stepping forward, "Thea."

"I can't turn him, I don't trust myself," Thea felt her insides begin to burn. She wanted to rip off her cold skin and show the world how useless she was, even as a vampire capable of powerful things.

Thea knew she would feel guilty if she let her son die. But she also knew she'd feel even more guilt if she were the one to kill him.

Harper was frozen, there was only one other time she'd seen her sister so vulnerable. And it just so happened to be over the same person.

"Why can I never save him?" Thea genuinely whispers to herself. She questioned herself as if she was some kind of unsolvable equation.

"Thea, you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped," Harper spoke softly, careful not to trigger her.

"He does want to be helped," Thea nods frantically, trying to convince herself. "He's just not thinking straight."

"Thea, you're not thinking straight." Harper corrects, earning a glare from Thea.

"I'm trying to help him!" Thea exclaims.

Harper swallowed, "Is it him you're trying to help? Or is it yourself?"

Thea raised her head, "Get out."

"Thea—"

"Get out!" Thea yells louder to which Harper finally leaves.

Thea ran her hands through her hair, her pace speeding up as she began to panic. She snatched the locket off her neck, throwing it fully against the full-body mirror, shattering it.

Thea felt a whine leave her throat but as a vampire, no tears left her lips. She quickly made her way downstairs and into the forest, trying to prevent herself from breaking everything in sight.

The forest blurred past her, she couldn't acknowledge the beauty of everything around her. Her eyes lock in on a massive black bear. It noticed her quick speed fairly quickly and it jumped to its hind legs before Thea tackled it with all of her strength.

It bared its sharp animalistic teeth and Its long claws scratched at her, tearing away at her clothes but not capable of ripping into her indestructible skin.

Blood filled her mouth but not once did she swallow it, she only ripped away at the bear's thick fur. Thea couldn't think straight. She yanked into its throat recklessly, causing blood to stream across her entire body.

Tear after tear.

Rip after rip.

Like an animal.

Like a monster.

Both she and the Bear released unrecognizable noises until the bear fell dead.

And a piece of Thea did too.

✸

     For the first time in a long time, Thea isolated herself. Harper tried sparking up a conversation but Thea's responses were short and dry. A simple "okay." seemed to be the only word that left her mouth.

Thea lay on her bed, the side of her face pressed into a pillow that provided little to no form of comfort. No warmth to take away the chilling air that lingered for far too long.

Harper knocked on her door before coming in.

"Why knock if you're just going to barge in?" Thea's voice was slightly being absorbed by the pillow but thanks to Harper's vampire hearing, she heard it clear as day.

"Wow, nine words today? That's a new record." Harper ignores Thea's aggressive start to the conversation. "You need to come downstairs."

No response.

"Thea," Harper warned.

Thea didn't move.

"Arthur is downstairs."

Silence ensued for a moment before Thea shifted slightly. "What?"

"He's downstairs and he wants to talk to you."

Thea closed her eyes, shutting them tight. And for the first time in three days, she got up out of bed.

Harper leaned against the doorframe as she watched Thea drag her feet towards her. "Carlisle called again, just so you're aware."

"I don't care." Thea spat, walking past Harper without glancing at her.

"Alice has been calling even more." Harper turned only her neck, "Do you care about that?"

Thea didn't respond, walking down the stairs to see Arthur sitting on the couch.

She could already see the difference in his physique. He was undoubtedly skinnier, his skin lacked some liveliness.

Thea would be lying if she said she didn't feel the need the need to smile when seeing his face. "Hi," she greeted softly.

Arthur stood, his smile didn't change on bit, "Hello...I'm assuming you're still upset with me."

Thea didn't know exactly. She appeared to be furious at the entire world, but most of all, herself. "I..."

"You don't have to say anything," Arthur shrugs understandingly. He suddenly digs into his jacket pocket, a folded-up piece of paper in hand.

Thea frowns, "What is that?" When he hands it to her, she stops, "What am I looking at?"

"A list of things I would like to do before..." Thea snaps her eyes up to him, Arthur didn't need to finish the sentence. "And it would be my honor if I could do these things with you." He smiles happily.

Thea would've cried at this moment if it was possible, instead her eyes glossed over and a faint smile spread across her lips. "Number one, go to the art gallery."

Arthur stuffed his hands in his pockets, "We never made it to the opening but if you're up for it, we could go right now."

Thea bit on her lip, looking out the living room window to see snow had finally fallen. "...okay. Yeah, let's do it."

✸

     "Hmm, look at that," Arthur admires the painting they stood in front of. The canvas seemed to be blurred smudges of a variety of shades of green, with smudges of primary colors that represent flowers. To the left of the canvas was the tall build of a man who had his back turned away from the sunlight in front of him.

Thea admired the painting as well. She enjoyed the simple silence in the art gallery, if they'd come here opening night it would've been filled with the overwhelming sound of overlapping voices.

But this.

Just the simple sound of Arthur's voice with faint echoes due to the gallery's large walls, settled Thea in a way she didn't know she needed.

They stepped down further, capturing the sight of a withered-up tree. Its trunks bent and snapped, its leaves barely hung on but the roots of the tree were strong. It was one with the soil, forever standing as everything around it slowly fell.

Thea's black eyes examined the beauty of the painting.

"The Immortal Tree." Arthur reads the title of the painting, a smile spread across his lips. "Strange, although the body in breaking the roots cling on. Seems...lonely almost."

Thea felt her smile fade, "Arthur, can I ask you a question?"

"Mhm." Arthur removes his eyes from the painting for only a split second.

"If you could...be immortal. Live forever...would you?" Thea asked, but a piece of her already knew the answer.

Arthur took a deep breath, genuinely thinking about the question. "I don't think I could live rooted in one place forever, especially if there's no one to share it with."

"What if there was?" Thea snapped her eyes his way. "...Someone to share it with."

Arthur chuckles lightly, "I think that forever isn't this...gift...that people make it out to be. It'll get to a point where you're no longer living, simply surviving and I think you know me well enough to know I don't want to survive but live. And even if there was someone to share it with, when things aren't forever it makes you cherish things more. Take that away and it's destined to become superficial."

Thea bit the inside of her cheek. The desperation and anger that began to boil the second she found out her son was ill was beginning to come to an end, in some form.

Fear was a hard pill to swallow. One that Thea had been afraid of her entire life. She thought nothing could become scarier than that, but she was wrong.

Understanding was a hell of a lot scarier than anything she'd ever seen.

Knowing what she knew now, it would be selfish to take away everything that made Arthur who he was. What kind of mother would do that to their child? 

Thea stayed silent, simply placing her head on his shoulder. And he laid his own head on top of hers.

A comfortable silence.

ragerwrites, Man, I loved writing this chapter! Also just realized this will be the second longest act thus far, I hope y'all don't mind it😭.

What's your favorite thing about this chapter?

Also, I miss Thea and Alice so much! Ugh! I'm gonna get them back together, I promise!

I'm trying to update as much as I can right now because break is almost over and I know once I get back into this school, I'm going to be MIA on here!

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