The Silence Between

He listened to her words, his head drooping, and he selfishly wanted to reject them. He wanted to wallow in his guilt and misery, damn it, and all she was doing was making him feel even more confused and lost. He just wanted his brother back. He wanted this day to have never happened. He wanted... he wanted his family to be free from the burden that Ebony had become. "I want you to take Ebony," he said in a rush. "I can't do this anymore - I can't keep putting my family through all the pain that pack and it's stupid name has caused them. It killed my ancestors, it broke my mother, it set my sisters against each other.. and now.." His voice broke and he went silent. "Will you help me bury my brother?" he asked in a very small voice.