Of Immortals and Men | COMPLETE

Chapter 24 Goodbye and Hello

Chapter 24

Goodbye and Hello

“I have been here many times before…”

~Sia~

  

        Of course it was raining, how could it not? On such a glum day it was only natural. All around the Glendale Cemetery people had gathered—but not just any—they were all familiar with one individual. The passing of Margery Whyte had stirred a lot of emotions. The entire school of Fall’s Academy had attended. Not one student was absent, and it made Exsavior contemplate Margery’s altruism.

        The soft droplets of water that caressed his cheeks and grass seemed almost like tears falling from the sky. Slowly, he stared up at the grey clouds as Lily clung to his arm with one hand and David’s with the other.

        Surprisingly enough, she was doing ok, but when David had left her alone to walk towards the casket, she almost fell to the ground. It worried them both, but David believed it to be just fatigue.

        Once again, Exsavior shifted his stare back to the coffin in front of him. It was sleek and brown, elegant in its own way, and he hoped to never reach it. Walking endlessly for an eternity and unable to reach the bin seemed to be a more pleasant idea than having to face Margery’s deathbed.

        The whimpers and sobs filled his ears, but he remained unmoved by them, refusing to show his emotions in front of strangers—strangers that stared at him in an uninviting manner.

        ‘This is just all too familiar…’

        Unfortunately, time went as it should, and the seconds ran their course, allowing the three of them to ultimately reach the coffin. David handed the flowers to his mother, who had picked them carefully for the event. Slowly, as if afraid she’d do it wrong, Lily placed them on top while sobbing a little harder when she remembered it was a closed casket. Margery’s body wasn’t apt for viewing.

      “Azaleas—purple and pink—just how you like them, Marge. May heaven be filled with their petals.” With that said and done, David motioned her to continue moving, and Lily unwillingly did so. She kissed her palm and placed it on the bin in her own way of goodbye. Exsavior let her go as he remained frozen in front of the wooden coffin.

        Alone to his thoughts, he pondered over everything that had happened—and he remembered his first day in the city.

        “I’m sure you helped everyone else here more than you did me, but I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you did for me. No one else would have worried like you did.”

      They surged like a heated flare of hopelessness; the tears searched for an escape, but he fought them back.

        ‘I grew attached to you, and you died. Why? Why does this always happen?’

        A tap on his shoulder and the feeling of someone standing next to him was his only means of comfort, and he did not look to know that Isabel and David had approached him.

        With him they stood, the three watching the bin; two of them trying to decipher what their friend was possibly feeling.

        They could not begin to imagine what Exsavior was reliving.