The Time Hopper

Laid To Rest

It was one singular moment of resolve that allowed me to plunge the knife into her neck, and then it was gone and I was left with nothing but blood and horror. It was too late to take it back, even as in a panic I yanked it back out and covered the slice in her neck with my palm to try and stem the bleeding as a panicked yell came from somewhere. From me. There was so much blood and Kat's eyes were so wide open but there still wasn't any trace of soul in them, not even panic as her mouth opened and closed as blood filled her throat and entered her lungs. I let my hand fall away from her neck because I didn't want to prolong this, I wanted to wake up from this nightmare already, I wanted to take Kat's place. But it wasn't going to happen. I couldn't end this for myself, not while Obsivian and Consequences were free to wreak their havoc on the next generation. 

I felt my mind disconnect from what was happen as I held Kat as close as I could, one hand stroking her hair, humming a song she liked as she began to jerk as her life drained from her. Tears were running down my cheeks, warm and cooling rapidly as a breeze washed over me. I felt her blood spill over me, pulse after pulse, so much of it that it soaked through my clothes and covered my skin and still pooled beneath us, horribly hot as she twitched and bucked in my arms. I hummed louder to try and drown out the sounds of gurgling and choking on her own blood. I couldn't look as she died, just holding my sister and praying that it would just stop, that she would just die already, because this was taking so long and it was so horrible. 

It took her minutes to die, not seconds. I had thought it would be quicker, but the blood kept pouring and she kept jerking and gurgling. In the back of my mind, I knew that I should do something, snap her neck or put my knife through her eye or whatever to make this go faster, but I couldn't act on it. My limbs were lead as I looked out over the lake, waiting as the convulsions began to come less and less, until the gurgling stopped and the twitches finally fell still. Even then, I couldn't make myself look down at her. Or move at all, even though I knew that I had to. I had to... lay her to rest. I would only be able to manage a shallow grave, a stone cairn, the type that they had used hundreds of years ago in Europe. I had seen it before. My mind was happy to think about that as I stared across the lake, ignoring the body in the arm and the blood covering me. 

I spent at least an hour sat like that, until my arms were exhausted and the blood had dried or soaked into the earth below. Tears fell the whole time as my mind reeled in shock, haunting me with memories of Kat, from the first time we had met as children to the panic on her face in the seconds before we were captured. I knew that I didn't have time to grieve, that I needed to move, but I didn't care. I half wanted Felix to find me, because the only thing that made this horrible emptiness and pain go away was a fiery, burning rage that was beginning to rise in my gut. Finally, it made me begin to shake with fury, and I gently laid Kat on the ground and stood up. 

Accusingly, I looked around in the forest line, wanting Felix or another of Obsivian's minions to be there. I could feel my magic crackling at my fingertips, a new sensation to it. It was never this erratic; it usually balanced out my nature, but now it seemed just as hot and angry as I was. But there was no one there. Instead, I had to turn my energy to making a cairn for my sister. 

I could probably use my magic for this, I knew that. Disintegrate the rocks, lay her down and reform them, but it seemed wrong. I found a nice place under a weeping willow tree, and began to clear rocks from a large patch and put them to one side. When all the stones and rocks were gone, the sandy soil was fairly loose and easy to clear with my hands. The moon continued to pass through the sky as I clawed a shallow grave into the ground, until the ground turned damp from the lake water that had leached through nearby.

As carefully as I could, I shouldered the body, stumbling under the weight to the grave. I dropped to my knees and laid her down gently, taking a moment to arrange her so her arms were folded over her chest and her eyes were closed. Fresh tears began to fall as I pressed a kiss to her cold forehead and whispered one last apology. I began the arduous task of piling the soil back on, covering her up until there was a thin layer and I could begin to pile rocks around her. I had to get more from across the beach, until she was completely covered in a mound of stone. I found a yellow flower nearby and picked it, nestling it among the stones and pressing one last kiss to the grave before setting off again.