Cry Wolf

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Five

"Aw, do you need a helmet?" Scarlett teased. "I can put some training wheels on it if you want to take it for a spin."

"Very funny." Caroline rolled her eyes playfully. "This is the bike that I learned to ride on. I just didn't know my mom kept it. It used to have these training wheels on the back with lights that would flash every time you pedaled. Then one day, my mom took them off and said it was time to be a big girl. You can imagine the princess-sized tantrum that followed. But I managed to ride the bike without training wheels for the first time, until Eliza decided to be funny to see what would happen if she pushed me."

"How... un-Eliza of her." Scarlett chuckled.

"She was, like, three." Caroline reminded. "Eliza actually used to be a complete demon as a child."

"I just can't picture it." Scarlett laughed softly.

"You know that you don't have to do all this, right?" Caroline sighed. "If you have someplace else you'd rather be--"

"I don't." Scarlett muttered. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Care."

---

The three Gilbert siblings talked and reminisced about 'the good old days', enjoying their last day together before Jeremy would willingly get shipped off to art school now that he had graduated high school.

The conversation took a slight turn when Jeremy turned to Elena.

"Let me have your car."

"No way in hell." Elena scoffed, shaking her head, but Jeremy looked close to a mini tantrum as he gave Elena a look.

"Oh, come on. I'm moving to a new town, starting a new life. I need a car."

"And it has to be mine? Why can't you just take Sam's?" Elena questioned, and Samara gave her a clear look that read 'don't you dare bring me into this'.

"Why can't you just share Sam's?" Jeremy shot back. "Or just compel yourself a new one."

"Oh, God." Elena groaned, chuckling slightly. "How many cars you think we've destroyed? Like, more than the average family, right?"

"Mom and dad's station wagon. That's one." Jeremy counted, holding up one finger.

"That SUV." Samara added. Jeremy nodded and held up a second finger.

"Katherine wrapped my car around a light post. That's three." He remembered, holding up a third finger.

"They really didn't give us many fries, did they?" Elena pouted as she stared down at the small portion of fries in her hand that all three siblings were sharing.

"Yeah, they did. You just ate them all." Jeremy snickered, remembering how Elena's hunger, in her stoned daze, had quadrupled and she'd wolfed down the majority of their shared fries.

---

Scarlett was out on the porch of the cabin, staring out at the trees and the sun, when Caroline walked over.

"They're running a little late. Apparently, my mom chose today to tackle an entire career worth of cold cases."

"You sound sad." Scarlett commented. "It's just one more day where you can give your mom her dream send-off. She'll love spending her final moments here."

"I know." Caroline sighed. "I just wanted it to be perfect, you know? I just wanted--"

"Control?" Scarlett chuckled. "You can't control death, Care. But knowing you, you'd at least try."

"I'm glad you're here, Scar." Caroline smiled softly. "I don't know if I would be able to get through this on my own."

"You're my friend, Care." Scarlett shrugged, her heart aching as she said those words. "I'd do absolutely anything in the world to see you happy."