Sacred Bloodlines by Wendy Owens

couldn’t believe he had even allowed the words to escape his lips.  He had never shared that with anyone.  He continued to stare at the floor in hopes his tears would dry up.
    “Why would you blame yourself?”  Sophie asked in a soft and caring tone.
    At last, Gabe looked up at her, his eyes barely able to dam the swelling rush of salty tears.  “I have always gotten these feelings when something bad was going to happen.”
    “Auguries,” Sophie interjected.
    “Yeah, I guess,” Gabe replied, recognizing the term from earlier conversations.  “I had gotten a feeling that night when my parents suggested the candy run, but I didn’t say anything.”
    “Gabe, you were so young.  You didn’t know and even if you had said something, you don’t know if they would have listened to you.  It’s not your fault.”  Sophie insisted gently.
    Gabe looked into the fire, replaying the night in his head.  He was remembering clearly for the first time.  Maybe this sharing thing had something to it.  
    “My arms were overflowing with sweet treats.  We didn’t notice what was going on at the register.  A man had come in a few moments before.  The stranger had demanded cash from the register and apparently he had a gun.  Not realizing what was happening we made our way to the cashier when I saw an entire container of pixie sticks.”  Gabe shook his head, no longer able to hold back the tears of shame and helplessness.
    Sophie inched closer to Gabe, wrapping her arm around him in a comforting way.  
    “I know.” She added, trying to relay her familiarity with the loss.
    “It was my fault…”  Gabe whispered.
    “Gabe, what do you mean?”  Sophie asked.
    “When I saw the pixie sticks, I reached for them and a box of milk duds that was balancing in my arms fell to the floor with a rattle.  I don’t know, I guess the noise startled the man.  He turned and pointed the gun at me.  Seeing the danger I was in, my dad...”  Gabe’s chest heaved as he struggled to tell the story.  The entire violent scene was playing out in his mind.  
    “He was just trying to protect me, you know?”  Gabe added.
    Sophie nodded, rubbing her hand along Gabe’s back in a circular motion.  Gabe continued, “When my dad yelled my name and moved towards me, the man shot both my parents.  He was just trying to protect me.  If I hadn’t dropped that box, he may have never noticed us.”
    “You can’t do that,” Sophie said trying to comfort Gabe.  “If you play out all of the ‘what ifs’ in your head, it will drive you crazy.”
    “That bastard killed them and then let me live, I don’t understand why he... I wish he would have...”  Gabe felt a tear roll down his cheek.
    “Gabe” Sophie interrupted.  “It wasn’t your fault.  You were a kid; there was no way you could have known.”  
    Gabe nodded, knowing deep down what Sophie was saying was true but wondering why he couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling of blame he had carried with him all of these years.
    “My dad left us when I was little.”  Sophie began her story in an effort to illustrate to Gabe there were some things you can’t blame yourself for.  “It was always just me and my mom.  Don’t get me wrong, she was all I ever needed.  She was amazing.  When I was nine, my mom told me she wanted to throw me the biggest and best birthday party any nine year old girl ever had.”  Sophie said looking at Gabe, her eyes also filling up.  
    “There were streamers, balloons, confetti, and the biggest birthday cake I had ever seen.  She had invited all our friends and family.  She even hired a clown.  It was going to be the most amazing event in my life.  Two men had arrived to inflate the bouncy house when my mom got a call that the cake delivery driver was sick and they needed us to pick up our own order.”  Sophie let out a heavy sigh as she thought of that day.
    “My mom called everyone she could think of to pick the cake