Hide and Seek

Rain, silence, black clothes. Hazel stood with her family and a few friends before her husband’s grave. She sniffled to hold back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. Icelynn, her daughter held her hands, oblivious of what was happening. Hazel placed her hands over her mouth as she watched the coffin lower to the ground. Everyone placed different flowers on the grave and walked away. Hazel stood there, she didn't care about the rain, she only wanted her husband back. Her mum rushed out and picked up little Icelynn to prevent a cold. They left Hazel to mourn her husband in the rain. “Sebastian.” She yelled in the rain. Her voice echoed in the empty cemetery. She crouched down on her knees, her hair scattered all over her face. While she sobbed in the rain, she didn’t know that some men in black suits, stood at a distance and watched her closely. They gave a report of every action she took. They stared keenly at her. After crying, she stood up gently and strolled to her car. She hopped in and her driver drove straight to her family's house, where they arranged a little dinner for Sebastian’s burial. She walked in, drenched from the rain. She walked down the hallway to change her clothes. As she got close to her room, she heard whispers. “Whore.” “She’s only putting on a show, so we’d think she cares.” “I'm sure she's glad he's passed away, she can freely w***e around the city.” “Oh, I feel pity for her daughter, being raised y a w***e, so unfortunate.” “Sebastian, God receive his soul. He was a good man. I heard he died from over dose.” “I heard she gave him drugs so he could last longer.” “She’s a s*x freak.” Hazel gasped, she tried to suppress her cries, and she held onto the nearby table to support her stance. Nathan Cole, who was passing by, saw her and ran to hold her from falling. “Haze.” He called her, just the way he usually does. She felt shivers immediately when his skin came in contact with hers. She shouldn't feel that way towards him, not in this situation, she thought. She stared at him and pulled away gently. Her heart raced, as she stared at him. She wasn't supposed to feel these emotions towards Nathan, he was her family’s lawyer and an acquaintance of her late husband. “I…I’m okay.” She managed to say. She sniffed and wiped her tears. Nathan walked towards the ladies speaking amongst themselves about Hazel cruelly, he gave them stern looks and they walked away, one of them whispered, “I heard they used to be together too.” Nathan ignored her whisper and stared at Hazel. Icelynn walked towards them. “Mummy.” She called. Nathan saw the panicked look on Hazel’s face. He knew she didn't want Icelynn to see her all messed up. Nathan approached Icelynn and held her little hands. “Mummy wants to take a shower, she’ll get you once she's done, let's go down and join Grand Ma and Grand Pa,” Nathan said. “Okay.” Icelynn nodded. Camilla and Meghan hastily walked up to them. “Hazie.” They chorused. Camilla was Hazel’s cousin and Meghan was their friend. “ I think she needs to be alone for now to grieve,” Nathan said to them. They nodded. “Will you be okay, Hazie?” Camilla asked. Hazel nodded slowly. “If you need anything, just give us a call,” Meghan said. “Sure.” Hazel sighed. “Easy Haze,” Nathan whispered to her and left with Icelynn and the girls. Hazel walked gently inside her room and shut the door behind her. Downstairs, Hazel’s parents Mr and Mrs Claire Dawson had the maids organise the table for dinner, Sebastian’s parents were present too. Everyone sat at the table, and they conducted a ritual for Sebastian’s death before they began to eat. After the dinner, the guests left, just Sebastian’s family, Nathan, Camilla, Meghan and Hazel’s family left. “We’ll be leaving for Spain tomorrow.”Mary, Sebastian’s mother, broke the silence. “Oh…” Dawson nodded. “We’d like to take Ice with us.” Luke, Sebastian’s dad said. “You can't do that,” Claire said sternly. “She’s our granddaughter.” “She’s ours too and her mother is here,” Claire stated. “Ice can't grow here with Hazel,” Luke added. “Why?” Dawson asked. Luke stared at Mary and rubbed his palms together. “Hazel is..is…” Claire intruded, “A w***e?” Claire laughed sarcastically. “Yet your son f****d her and got married to her.” “You said it yourself,” Mary muttered. “Hazel is not a w***e and Ice isn't going anywhere,” Dawson said. “Ice can't grow up here, everyone knows Hazel is a w***e, I don't know how Sebastian was able to tame her,” Luke yelled. “She couldn't even come down for dinner to honour Sebastian. Who knows if she was f*****g someone while we were here mourning Sebastian?” Mary raised her voice. “Enough,” Nathan banged the table, “You won't speak of Hazel that way, nor Sebastian. You don't know what she's going through right now, she's too f*****g young to be a widow, she just got out of college, can you both hear yourselves? How would you feel if they spoke badly of Sebastian? Isn't she like your daughter too?” Mary eyed Nathan. “ I guess she f****d you too.” “You won't accuse me of sleeping with a woman who was married. Else be ready to face the law.” Nathan said coldly, he picked Icelynn who was asleep from the couch and placed her over his shoulder. “Settle whatever this is, I'm going to keep Icelynn in her room and leave.” Nathan said and walked away. “Aunt, you should rest, Mr Luke and Mrs Mary will be leaving now,” Camilla said. “We will continue this in court.” Mr Luke said and left with his wife. Hazel was still in her room. She screamed out loud. Sebastian just died two days ago, the autopsy result is yet to be out. Everything happened so fast. They met when she was in high school, she was sixteen, and he was seventeen. That was the year she had Icelynn. When she turned eighteen they got married and lived in her family's house, until recently they bought a house as she graduated from college at twenty-two. Sebastian was good to her, he stayed even when she was called all sorts of names, they had planned their life together, but death stole him from her. They just bought their home and were about to move in the night when he died. After crying for more than an hour, she couldn't cry anymore, she stared at their framed picture sitting on the table. She heard the phone beep again, it had been beeping every night, the phone belonged to Sebastian, and it wasn't his main phone. She stood up from the cold ground and walked towards the closet where she kept it, she answered the call, but there was no response. “Hello,” she called faintly. There was no answer. “Answer you f*****g cunt.” She screamed in frustration and tossed the phone back in the closet and walked into her bathroom to shower, that was when the person spoke up. “Sebastian wasn't a saint.”