Street Signs

BRIELLE I lost the most special person in my life. What more did I have to lose? I lighted the candle and put it on the grave as I said my prayers. I was at Mom's sepulcher, holding a bouquet while tears shed down through my cheeks. I had planned to visit her since it was Saturday, and I didn't have any class. It was almost four years since she died of a brain tumor, and she was only forty-two years old at that time. Sharp pain lanced through my head the moment I saw her lying on the bed at the mortuary— pale and lifeless. It felt like my whole body had been beaten and every movement caused some muscle or bone to ache. It was a sore and I couldn't accept the fact that she was already gone since I was only at the age of eighteen at that time. I still wanted to spend more time with her, but life was just like that— not unfair, but challenging. However, over the years, I was healing time by time. My father and my younger brother served as my strength, my inspiration to continue living even though life sucks. I placed as well on the grave the bouquet I was holding and spoke my gratitude for the last time. I was about to leave when in time, my phone vibrated. I looked at the caller's ID, it was Zayden, my boyfriend for over four years. He also had brought hope to me when I was being empty, mourning over Mommy. In him, I found friendship and love. I pressed the green button. "Hello," I said. "Brielle, where are you?" he asked. There was a hurry in his voice; there might be something attacking him. "I'm here at the cemetery, but I'm about to leave. Why?" "Come meet me here at Abbey Street. I have something very important to tell you." "Why don't you just say it now?" "Brielle, it's important! Just come here as soon as possible. I'll be waiting for you." I still had something to say but he already ended up the call, so I had no choice but to meet him. I got in my car and drove as fast as I could. While on the way, I couldn't help myself but think about what was wrong with him and why did he act like that all of a sudden. Zayden wasn't the man who would easily get worried about things, but I knew something was strange by just the moment I heard his voice on the next line. On the road, thunder aroused that caused me to pause from driving. When it stopped, I continued, but it was followed again with another one. The clouds turned gloomy then, and instantly, the rain had started to fall. "s**t," I whispered, "wrong timing." I quickly got the phone in my bag and called my man. He answered it in just seconds, fortunately. "Hey, you still there?" I asked. "Yeah, it's raining here. I don't have my umbrella with me. So please, make it faster." "Alright, I'll be there in five minutes," I said. "Just go wherever you can cover your-" I wasn't able to continue what I was saying when a groan on the other line reached my aural. "Zay? Zayden?" I gazed at my phone as it gave me a pucker between my eyebrows. I tried calling him again, but he didn't answer. I felt the soft panic that could grow or fade depending on what I would see next. I drove even faster though the road was wet and could harm me at any time. As I'd told him, I had arrived there in five minutes. I got my umbrella before I went out of the car. The rain just continued falling and it seemed like it had no plans to subside. I called him again while on the way to assure the spot where he was staying, but again, he didn't answer. I thought his phone might just lose its battery because it wasn't ringing, but deep inside, my heart was beating so fast because there might be something worse than that. That moan... I hoped it wasn't from him. In time, a crowd near me caught my attention. There were police automobiles there, so I assumed there was an investigation happening. I went there to see the matter, and I wasn't mistaken, the cops were investigating a crime. I turned a gaze to the victim who was badly wounded and blooded, but then- I just dropped my umbrella. "Zayden!" I yelled as I ran towards him, but the cops prevented me from entering the area and keep on telling me I wasn't allowed to go there. "Please let me in, he's my boyfriend!" I shouted. I didn't stop shouting just for them to let me enter in, but I already did everything, they still didn't allow me to come near him and hug him. "Ma'am, sorry, just please stay out there," one of the cops said. My knees were so weak and I was getting numb and numb each time. I didn't know what to do while seeing my man just like that. Since the officers were so strict, they guarded me just to make sure I wouldn't scandalize. I sat on the ground, letting the big drops of rain touch my skin while crying over Zayden. I first met him in this street; he was dancing with his group and he got my attention. I just watched him dance until the end of the music, and I was unconscious that he had noticed me. I didn't expect it, but he came near me and asked my name. Since he was a good guy for me, I told him it right away. I could still remember his lips telling me my name was as cute as I was. My tears were flowing right through my cheeks while remembering all my good and bad times with him. I wasn't expecting for this to happen, that he would die in the exact place where we met first. If ever I knew, I could have prevented this. I was still wailing when the ambulance carried Zayden. I wouldn't know this if not because of the police who told me. Even though my head was aching, I came along with them, never minding if driving all by myself would give me harm. The moment I entered the hospital, my memories with Mom were brought back into my mind. It was the same case as the history. How could I bear this? "Where's my son, Hija?" Zayden's mom, Aunt Yadora, who had just arrived, asked me. Her whole body was shaking and her face was so red. "A-aunty..." I stuttered. I couldn't breathe properly. I didn't know how would I tell them everything because even I was still clueless about my boyfriend's death. Since I couldn't give her a decent answer, the physicians and polices handled it for me. "He's inside, Ma'am," the doctor pointed out the room beside us. Uncle Hernan, Zayden's father, together with Aunt Yadora, ran towards the door and opened it. A loud cry had aroused in the room as soon as they entered. Hearing those screaming made my tears run down swiftly through my burning cheeks. How could be this happening? "He was dead on arrival," the doctor declared. With the wounds he had taken, it wasn't surprising anymore that Zayden fell into quietus. Nevertheless, I was wide-eyed, feeling my shattering apart. Things were not registering in my mind or mayhap, I couldn't just accept the fact that he was already gone. "We are still conducting further investigation. But anyway, we found this in the victim's pocket," a cop said as he handed a small box to Aunt Yadora. Aunty was just crying until she finally got the box. She slowly opened it with her hands shaking, and when she finally knew what was inside of it, she turned around at me. "I think it's for you, Brielle," she mouthed. I immediately opened the box and to my surprise, there was a ring in it. I cried a river knowing that it was the ring I had always liked. I had been dreaming of him wearing it on my wedding finger. Was he supposed to propose to me? I slowly sat down until my knees already touched the ground. As the tears started falling again, Tita hugged me. The next night, I went back to Abbey. It was supposed to be scheduled in the morning, but we had a viewing of Zay's dead body that took place at the funeral parlor, making sure he had the best possible presentation. When I finally arrived at the street, my tears began to shed again. It was only 8:30 in the evening, but there were no more people passing by the road because of what had happened. Still, I could smell the blood of pain and anger. I wanted to shout, but I wanted to control myself. Nothing would happen if I would just cry and sat there. And so, I went to the exact spot where I saw Zayden lying; the trail of his blood was still there. I looked at it carefully when in time, a beam of light flashed in front of me. I wiped my eyes and blinked many times because I thought I might just hallucinate. When I looked at it again, the light had already disappeared. "Maybe it's just a hallucination," I whispered. But, no... In just a few seconds, something on the ground had just lighted. It was appearing gold and it seemed like it had a pattern or form. I gazed at it carefully, and I wasn't mistaken. In a short time, the light disappeared after it created a sign. A sign? Since it was somewhat dark at my spot, I turned on the flashlight of my phone to see it. There was a sign, but I didn't know what was the meaning of it. I was trying to figure it out. The symbol was a circle with a moon-like figure on its side. A line was placed at the center of it, and on its left side were two lines also, that had different sizes. It got me confused. It was my first time seeing a sign like that, and I couldn't even give a simple connotation of it. I decided to take a picture of it, so I could show it to someone I know, but as I was capturing it, a light appeared again. The light seemed to be writing something on the ground and beside the sign. I just observed it until it was done curving the message. I found it hard to read the letters because of their cute font size, so I leaned my face closer to the ground just to see them. When I was finally done reading them, my eyebrows puckered in confusion and disbelief. "A SIGN FOR ZAYDEN'S DEATH."