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It was raining. A light, warm rain. A rain that she didn't deem appropriate for the task ahead. It should have been storming, lightening and thunder rumbling overhead, the rain lashing out at everything it touched. If it had been storming, maybe she wouldn't have memorized the exact colour of his casket.
Mahogany.
Through her tears, it was all she could see. Her friends flanked her on either side, but she couldn't see them anymore. The deep, reddish brown colour would be her last memory of the man she was burying. It swam before her eyes, twisting into shapes she could never imagine, beautiful, seamless shapes. A sob caught in her throat as she stared, wondering if maybe, just maybe, he was trying to reach her. Then she shook her head and all the shapes were lost. They retreated back into the cold, hard box before her.
A hand gently rubbed her shoulder. Her crying ceased and she stiffened beneath the hand, only for a brief moment, but it was enough. She heard him sigh in frustration and begin to turn away. It angered her that he thought he had the right to be bitter. It upset her that he was only with them because he still loved them, not because he grieved for the same loss they did.
She twisted and stared at he walked away, stared at the dark material covering his back. Her eyes burned with unshed tears; hot, angry tears that she struggled to hold back. With a final, futile effort, she called out to him, hoping she would see sadness on his face. Seeing an emotion, any emotion other than anger, would make everything okay again. Even if for a tiny second, his sorrow would make the future seem brighter.
He turned back to her, staring at her with dark eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of the words he was going to say. A bitterness flooded his eyes that she had never known before and the dam that held back her tears finally broke once more. She stood in front of the grave, silent sobs wracking her body. She reached out with her eyes, pleading with the man who was about to walk away. When he didn't respond, she stretched her hand toward him, curling her fingers slightly.
The others kept silent, waiting for her to finish. They knew if anyone could bring him back, it would be her.
His eyes slid in focus from her to the casket behind her. For a moment she thought she saw something other than hatred in his eyes, but then it was gone.
"Please." She whispered.
He looked back at her and slowly shook his head. "You don't understand. It's because of him that . . . it's all his fault."
Her hand dropped to her side, going limp. She had lost him.
She stared for a long while, trying to remember what it had been that she had loved so much. But everything about him that had made him a champion was lost. His family was lost to him with one simple action, an action she could never take back. With a defeated look in her eye, she turned back to the grave.
As the casket was lowered into the ground, she listened for his footsteps as he walked away. He was gone before it reached the soil bottom of the hole and she found that she no longer cared. She had tried and that was all anyone could expect of her. The man she was burying had tried to save a life and all it had gotten him was a mahogany casket.
She straightened her shoulders and walked toward the edge of the rectangle hole. It was deep and dark and yet she could still see the box shining up at her. She smiled. It was the man inside that made it shine, the man inside who could light up a room with his smile. And he was gone, taken from them forever.
She picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it into the grave. Her friends did the same, then the other woman grasped her hand and they both smiled again.
The grave diggers patted the dirt down on top of the grave, then replaced the sod over it. She walked over the sod to the headstone and knelt before it. A single red rose slipped from her hand, to land on the grass at her feet. She touched the stone gently, feeling the cool crevices beneath her fingers. A smile touched her lips one last time before she stood to leave.
As she turned toward her car, she saw him standing on a hill top some distance away. He was watching over them, as he always did. His anger was apparent, even from the hill that seemed so far away. She frowned at him, knowing he couldn't see it, but wishing he could. He was a champion, he was supposed to understand. He should have been able to forgive.
She ducked into her car, forcing him from her mind. She pulled away from the cemetery and began to drive home, making herself forget the vampire that stood on the hill top.
In her mind, she had buried two men that day.
End
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