Darkly and Eternally Yours

Chapter 9

5 days later...

"Here, have some water." I held out the glass, brimming with water in front of Dianna. She finally looked away from the window, her eyelids hung heavy, drooping down and the crest-fallen expression in her features, just seemed so alien in her face. Regardless, she still managed to look beautiful, like a broken-hearted angel who just fell from the sky. She took the glass from me grudgingly and without another word, resumed staring through the window.

She had been like this since the car crash. At first, she kept breaking down, she would completely lose it, and fall into a state of trembling mess. It was hard to hold her up when I was down too; I cared about Mrs. Maury too. I wanted to scream, cry and bring her back. I was right there when it happened; I could have saved her, if I only knew. God, I regret that so much, but maybe I'm just saying it now, maybe I couldn't have done anything. But, the what if's... They kept whispering in my ear that I could have saved her, things could have ended differently.

I sighed and looked at Dianna again; now, she was in a numb state. She didn't break down anymore or show any kind of emotional outbursts. She just sat by the window, blankly staring through it. I knew what that was like, I had been there before and it was horrible. I didn't want my best friend to go through that, she was always happy and bitchy. Never sad, never so... broken. This was the first time I had seen her like this and it shattered me from the inside. I walked over to her and hugged her tight, wishing I was a sponge, with the ability to absorb all the grief from her. She put an arm around me, hugging me back, letting me rest my head on her shoulder.

She didn't have any real family. Her father was rich, but a major asshole, he left Dianna's mother for another woman who he eventually married. He didn't only abandon her mother; he left Dianna and her six year younger brother too, with no warning. He just gave them money every year to get through. Her mother died shortly after the divorce because of a heart disease, leaving them with her Dad and his new gold- digging wife.

Mrs. Maury was like a mother to both of us, a mother we both never had, and now even she was taken away from us. More than grief, I felt anguish, anger radiated through me, tinting my skin red. Why? Did we not deserve to live a happy life? Would it be too damn much to just give us something we love? For once? Why was it that everything, everyone I loved always taken away from me? Blood hot anger unfurled inside me, through my every vein, like a wildfire. I was tired of being left alone. Was I never, not once, worth it?

"The funeral's being held tomorrow, we're going right? Her jerk of a husband is holding it. Funny how her death finally caught his attention." Dianna said, brushing her hand through my hair.

"We're definitely going, it's the last time we see her." I said, staring at the hardwood floor.

She nodded, "Death can be so cruel, I mean if you're gonna take away people's lives in odd times, why don't you take the bad ones? The selfish ones? Why do you take away the people who are still loved, and needed?"

"Because, that's just how death is."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This place is crammed with carnations." Dianna observed, as we walked by the table.

"Yeah, you know how this town is, no one gave a s**t about her when she was alive, buried in troubles. Now that she's gone, they suddenly pretend like they cared about her so much. Like who the hell are they trying to show?" I rolled my eyes.

"People are messed up." She said, placing her bouquet of white roses, elegantly on the table.

"Yeah, well everyone is."

The service started and we sat down on the bench, singing church hymns, praying. Despite, the cause of this ceremony, it was beautiful. We saw Max, Martin and Mary at the front, Mary sniffling and the boys silently sobbing, my heart soared at the sight.

After the service ended, everyone took their turns to bid their final goodbyes to the casket. Dianna stayed, she wanted to be the last one to bid farewell. After everyone left, Dianna timidly walked over and whispered words to the casket, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Glad you girls could make it." I heard Mr. Maury say, walking over to me.

"Yeah we were close we had to." I said, my gaze anchored at the casket.

"I understand." He nodded.

"What will happen to the kids?" I asked.

"They'll be with me, of course. Both of their parents are not dead." He said, disgusting amusement in his tone.

"Oh really? Because I think they are, and they have a good reason to thinks so too, you were dead to them, the moment you decided to abandon them, and you call yourself a parent?" I said, my tone laced with hatred.

"I had my reasons." The sick bastard said, looking taken back by my words.

"Yeah, your selfish reasons." I said, as Dianna walked over to us.

"Hey Dianna, I was just telling Kiara how glad I am that you showed up here." He said, feigning gratitude, pretending that we never had the conversation we just did.

"Of course." She replied.

They fell into a brief conversation, but my eyes caught on something, there was the same figure, in the dark cloak, standing, looking over the casket. It bent over the casket and looked like it was whispering something in Mrs. Maury's ear. I looked around to see if anyone was witnessing this freakish scene, but no one was even there. So this time, I didn't call anyone, instead I walked over to it, and had that familiar feeling again, I knew this figure.

"Adrian!" I called out, it froze, mid-movement. It slowly looked up and I saw his grey eyes, Adrian's eyes, and before I knew it, he disappeared into a black smoke, just like a ghost. DISAPPEARED! JUST LIKE THAT!

"Kiara! Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something." Dianna called out, walking over to me.

"I don't know what the hell I just saw." I said, my body still rigid in shock, eyes wide.

"Let's go home." She said.

"Di, I just saw Adrian." I said, my eyes still pinned to the spot where he was.

"Where?" She asked, looking for him.

"He was there, bent over her casket, he did something in her ear and then disappeared in black smoke." I said, panicked.

"Kiara, what the hell. Do you hear yourself? He disappeared? In black smoke?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Look I know this sounds crazy, but I SAW him with my own eyes, he was wearing the same black cloak, that he was wearing yesterday." I frantically reasoned to her.

"K, your mind is just playing tricks on you, you're sad, you're stressed, these things happen." She said, pulling me over to the car.

"No, you don't understand, I KNOW I saw him." I told her.

I knew what I saw, I wasn't crazy and my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I HAD to find him, I needed answers that only he contained.

After we went home, Dianna fell asleep in the couch, with a bottle of whiskey in her hands, and I decided that this was the right time to find him. So the first place I went to was the bar that I first saw him in.

But there was no sign of him there, not that I was expecting for him to wait there for me with a cosmo, but no one knew about him either and so I left the bar and decided to go to the library, People seemed to know him really well there.

"Hey there, is Simmy working tonight?" I asked the elderly woman at the information desk.

"No, not tonight, had a family emergency. May I help you?" She asked.

"I was actually here for Adrian Blackwood, would you by any chance know his address?" I asked, coating my voice with sugar.

"Ah, Mr. Blackwood's son. I'm sorry but we can't give you our client's personal information, to anyone but family. It's against our policy." She said.

"But it's urgent, it's work related, the company's in some really deep trouble and we really need to get a hold of him. I couldn't get him through his phone and I lost his house address, I would really appreciate it, if you give me the address." I said, pleading her.

But she still did not look convinced, "I'm sorry but I cannot help you." She said, looking away.

I sighed in frustration and slipped her a twenty dollar bill; she raised an eyebrow at me, considering it and raise another finger indicating another note. I sighed in annoyance and gave her another. "Now can you help me?" I asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"You crazy ex- girlfriends." She muttered under her breath before scribbling down his address in a paper.

I bolted out of the building with the paper hoping it was the correct one. The area seemed pretty unpopular; I had never been there before.

I scanned through the houses as I arrived at the street, the entire street looked empty, like there was no soul in this neighborhood. It's aura sent chills down my spine and the fact that it was night, didn't make it any less creepier.

I finally stopped at the house number thirty-nine, it was at the end of the street and it looked barren and lifeless too. What was up with this neighborhood? Adrian's house was big, but simple, it had overgrown trees around it, no one seemed to look after the front yard or the house at all.

I got out of the car and walked over to his door, praying he would be at home.

I knocked, no answer

I knocked again, still no answer

I twisted the doorknob, and to my bewilderment, it opened.

It was pitch black inside, I could see absolutely nothing except for the moon illuminating the doorway. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed huge furniture, scattered around the entire room, covered in white sheets, with layer of dust on them. This place looked ancient; it didn't looked like anyone lived here at all.

As I cautiously walked around, I felt a sense of heat coming from somewhere inside the house. I followed the trail, investigating where the source was and I found myself in a room, lit by the fireplace.

It looked like a living room, the fireplace, blazing with flames, sitting on a plush chair; beside it was Adrian, with a scotch in his hand.

His eyes were fixed on the flames, licking each other.

"Why are you here?" He asked, in a voice that betrayed no emotions.

"Who the hell are you?"