Part Three- Chapter 29
"A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us."
- Henri J.M. Nouwen
SWIFT FALLS,
ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF SERENE PACK, 1998
Using the thin stick branch that he was holding, Paulo pushed aside the bushes so that he could march ahead.
He had a mission to do today and nothing could stop him. Not even the fact that he didn't know where exactly he was going. He just had a vision, where he could clearly here the sounds of water flowing from the huge waterfalls and faint, sounds of person breathing.
All Paulo knew was that Stephen Sanders was alive. It had been thirty years since he left. No one had seen or heard from him. Some say, they had seen him. Richard, Stephen's younger brother, had gone crazy after hearing such news. He would immediately rush there, only to be disappointed for days when that person turned out to be someone else.
Some say, he is dead but no one was sure.
Paulo, too used to believe others words but now he knew all those news were lies. Stephen had never been seen after he left and he was not dead.
Paulo, a soothsayer, had always been curious to know, where the young Alpha had gone. He wanted to see the future of this young Alpha but it never worked. He just couldn't see Stephen's future. He couldn't figure out where he went.
It was humorous and intriguing for Paulo because he could see everyone's future. But Stephen... nothing!
Something had always been protecting the young Alpha. Something very powerful to which Paulo was of no match!
Until last week, Paulo did not know what it was. But now he knew- it was the Nature Goddess herself. She wanted Stephen for some purpose and he had been under her protection all these years.
What Paulo could not understand was why suddenly he was getting this vision. Why could he always see and hear the constant flow of water? Though now, Paulo knew the nature Goddess wanted something from him too and that is why, the vision.
That is why he was going to the Swift Falls. Alone. He needed answers for many questions that had been haunting him from years.
After trekking for another hour, Paulo threw his head back and let out a sigh when he heard the sounds of water flowing.
He was here. Near the waterfalls!
Within no time, he reached the plunge-segmented Swift Waterfalls. It was a beauty. There were nearly three falls and each moved in their own style. The place was relaxing and that's why it attracted a lot of tourists. He collected a handful of water and gulped it down, soothing his dry throat.
Later, he stood facing the waterfall and closing his eyes, he smiled in relief.
That's when the vision's hit him. He couldn't see where exactly, but he could hear the sounds of a person breathing.
As his eyes flew open, he took a step back.
Stephen was here. But Paulo did not know where. Was he buried under the ground? Enveloped by a tree trunk? Or covered by the rocks?
Where was he?
Paulo looked here and there; nonetheless he still couldn't see Stephen. He tried to hear the sounds of a person breathing, but he couldn't. He could hear it only in his vision.
Paulo covered his face with his hands and almost gave up, until he realized something. He could not hear Stephen... but Stephen could certainly hear him.
Standing straight, he took in a deep breath and began talking loudly, looking nowhere in particular.
"I know you are here Stephen. I know you can hear me. I do not know how long you have been here. I do not know why you are here. Why you gave up everything to come-"
Paulo stopped talking, the moment he grasped what he said.
Stephen gave up everything! He sacrificed everything. His title, his family, his pack, his wealth, his... oh dear Goddess! He sacrificed his life.
He was the ultimate sacrifice!
Why did he do it? He had everything... a very good life and one day, he suddenly gives it up. Why the sacrifice?
To enter through the gates of heaven?
No... no. This was for something else! But what?
Paulo shook in fear the moment he heard sounds something cracking. At first, he thought it was an earthquake. Only when he felt no tremors did he realize that it was sounds of rocks cracking. His eyes drifted to where he could hear it and then, he watched in fascination, as more cracks framed on a giant rock, through which the water was shooting downwards.
Slowly, the rocks came apart and completely hidden behind those rocks was a standing Stephen Sanders. It was as if, the rocks were covering him from everyone... everything!
Stephen wasn't the boy Paulo, once remembered him. He looked old and frail. He was naked and bone thin. His skin was covered by mud and long dreadlocks of his hair, had lost the glow. His eyes were closed and he looked... dead!
Except he wasn't because he was still breathing. But it was weak, barely audible.
Paulo's eyes clouded and he gulped, wondering why would Stephen do this to himself? This looked painful. It felt like a punishment!
Did Stephen sacrifice everything to live like this? Without food, without water, without light?
No. He did not deserve this. Stephen was a good man and he did not deserve this.
Wiping his tears, Paulo shook his head and decide to help Stephen. However, he could not move. Without him even realizing, he had his feet buried under the rock in which he was standing.
"No" Paulo screamed and tried to move. However, it was of no use. He was aware that he was being prevented by the Goddess herself, although he did not know why?
"Stephen" he called but there was no response. That is when Paulo recognized something. Something which seemed very odd!
The water was shooting from a height of nearly eight hundred feet, and hitting Stephen on the body, yet he wasn't responding to it. No living person could bear such a heavy blow of water. Yet Stephen... it was like he could not even sense it.
Was Stephen really alive?
Paulo blocked all the noise around him and tried to tune in on Stephen's breathing.
There was a slow intake of breath and then another slow exhale. A slow intake. Another slow exhale. A slow, very deep intake was followed by an exhale, which was Stephen's last one.
Paulo screamed when Stephen's body slumped on the ground.
This time when he moved, there was nothing stopping him. He held Stephen and tried to wake him up. It was of no use because Stephen Sanders was dead.
Paulo did not how long he sat there, with Stephen's head in his lap. In the end, lowering his head, Paulo placed a gentle kiss on Stephen's forehead. That is when the next vision hit him!
It was of an infant crying in his crib and a woman gently picking the infant up in her arms and soothing him. The face of the woman wasn't visible to Paulo, but he could clearly see the baby boy in her arms.
That's when Paulo knew who was going to be born again.
Paulo himself cremated Stephen's body. He knew the Goddess had sent him here for that very purpose.
While watching the flames rise high in the sky, Paulo figured out everything. Stephen had given up his whole life to be born again for some purpose.
That very purpose is why Goddess had chosen him. That very purpose is the reason why he gave up everything in this life.
In his next life, he would be no ordinary wolf.
He would be invincible!
He would be- An Apex Predator.
That was his purpose. Paulo chuckled humorlessly and shook his head. If an Apex Predator is going to be born, then something extremely dreadful is going to happen before his birth.
He stayed there for a day and then sprinkled Stephen's ashes on the pool of water. Later, when he walked away, he swore to never tell a soul about what he had seen.