Path to Secrecy

Epilogue

As the clean soil in my hands fell into the hole, the home of the coffin, the bed for the dead, I said my goodbyes for the last time. The sunrise was up like a round pool of bright magma. I glared up at it as an undefeated staring challenge that I was prepared to undertake. I blinked several times realising how I had grown to challenge everything around myself. My breaths were slow and constricted from the bundled emotions deep within my heart that resurfaced without a brush of effort. There was no one at the funeral but the men I had grown to know over the past few weeks.

I felt a small fortune of warmth wrap itself around my hand.

I walked towards the parking lot where Spencer stood with his sunglasses perked in the front of his shirt, regarding the famous suit he was always known in. He stood beside a sleek black Jaguar parked against the curb. I regarded Roy who stepped in the way, pulling at the door handle of the car before waiting for me to step in.

"Vee?"

I looked down at the young man who looked too similar to his father, the men following my line of sight. The fine eyebrows. The sharp nose. The thin lips stretched into small smile. The fitted suit that threw out his features. Bending down on one knee, I disregarded the dirt that stained the pencil skirt covering my knees, the black loose top shuffling from the early morning breeze. My hair was let down in its locks, freely flowing in the air as I smiled at my baby brother who seemed to grow off his age, merely hitting my waist height whenever he'd stood beside me. "Where are we going?"

I patted his hair, caressing his cheek before grabbing his shoulders and stretching a smile that was painful enough to pull off. I briefly looked over at the two graves, side by side, that both held my slumbering parents. "Home, baby. Home."

I stood back up watching as Axl sprinted through the car door, Roy instantly lifting the boy so he could dive into the back seat. I stepped closer and passed Roy who offered me a grieving look, gritting his jaw before I looked away. I looked out of the window of passing houses, tree after tree, road marks after road marks. Silent in the ride without the blasting of an air conditioner or the tweeting of the radio on an unknown channel. I could feel Roy's eyes on me from the rear view mirror as he drove but I adamantly gazed out the window, leaning my head against the headrest with my arms folded. Axl clipped off his seat belt, sitting on his knees before leaning against the window with his nose perked against it.

"Oh-oh Vee! Veeeeeeee!"

I looked over at Axl with a tired sigh. "Yeah?"

He grinned at me, the wiggle of his eyebrows before speaking with a jabbered accent. "I shpy wif my little eye some-fing beginning wif S."

I instantly held my breath, staring at my baby brother with a ray of memory enlightening my mind. I bit down on my lip, staring out the window as my eyes warmed with unshed, excruciating tears that caused my heartbeat to feel like a painful explosion. I could sense his curiosity as he shuffled on the seat to get closer to me, pulling at my arm. I gulped heavily, a sound of a sob so close to slipping from my lips. I held my breath, my shoulder shaking as a rack of emotion built inside my chest, my breathing constricting.

"Um sky?" Dayton intervened, turning in his seat. He smiled at my baby brother, Axl defiantly shaking his head as response with his arms folded and a pout, a smile threatening to take over. I discretely pressed the inner corner of my eye, something that caught Dayton's eye.

I slipped into the early season of snow falling from the sky, my flats sufficing useless warmth against the ice. I watched as Axl jumped out of the car before giggling into the bundles of snow packed against the side of the driveway. I strolled to the back of the car, opening the trunk and picking up the small suitcase and my duffle that salvaged some clothing from nearby vintage stores. They were neatly tucked in and I picked up the sling before tossing it over my shoulder and grabbing the handle of Axl's suitcase. Roy magically appeared beside me. "Need some help?" He questioned his hand reaching towards the suitcase handle in mine.