CHASING ASH (GXG MAFIA) BURN THE DEVIL SEQUEL

Chapter Two

"Baby, wake up, we're here" George says as he taps my shoulder gently. I rub my fatigue away before opening my eyes. The winter chill hits my cheeks as I open the door to be met with Adeline putting her hand up for me to take it. Grabbing onto her little glove, we all walk up to the black gates that secure the cemetery. Our feet crunch in unison against the little layer of snow, creating a path of return. Her little feet sink into the snow as she struggles to keep up with our pace. "Come here, princess" he calls out as he picks Adeline up and places her over his shoulders.

I hold onto the bouquets of flowers in my hands as we arrive at the white-marbled tombstone. I cave my body down once I'm aligned with his grave. His face smiles back at me as I place my fingers across the cold stone. "Hi, papa," I utter with a slight crack in my voice. I breathe harshly in an attempt to push down the tears that want to escape. It's been 6 years and yet whenever his face appears in my mind, I can't help but cry. I can't get over the grief, and I don't think I ever will. People say that the grief is temporary, but they're wrong. It never leaves you.

George gets the hint as he leaves me to talk with him. Leaving me in quietude, I lay the flowers down onto the ground beneath me. "I'm sorry I haven't come sooner, I've been pretty busy," I explained with a chuckle.

"I miss you so much," I confess. I hold my chest as the pain in my heart makes me let endless tears escape my eyes. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault." I sob out as my body caves to kneel over his grave. I place my head over my arms that are separating me from the cold grave, begging for his forgiveness. "I should have protected you" is all I can utter in between messy tears, my knees digging into the little rocks on the ground. The salty taste in my mouth causes me to sniffle away the blend of snot and tears infiltrating my face. "I would do anything to hold you again, just once" I beg.

Tiny, warm hands wrap around my back, embracing me as if my father himself sent her. "Don't cry, mama" Adeline comforts, gently rubbing her little hands over my back. I lose all my composure and let all the suffocated cries I've held in over the years finally come out. My back rises and lowers as my lungs pant for air. "Shh," she whispers.

George steps in and lifts my body up, pulling me into his chest. "Just breathe, baby, just breathe. You're okay" he assures softly while wrapping his arms around me. I feel so safe in his embrace. The sound of his heart beating against my temple makes the rush through my veins steady, letting me regulate my breathing. "There you go, baby. Deep breaths for me, deep breaths" he comforts. His voice sounds like a beautiful tune to my ears. I follow his demonstration of deep breaths, slowly regaining my control.

"I just want him back" I express, my words making my breaths hitch once again.

George softly shushes me, "I know baby, I know." he consoles as he separates the strands of my hair from my forehead, ungluing them from the sweat that's formed. "Let's go home, okay?" he suggests with his fingers trailing through my hair. I nod in compliance before opening my eyes to look up at him. "Let's get you up off the floor, sweetie" he voices before standing up and elongating his arm to help me off the floor.

Stopping in our track to the car, I remember who the second bouquet of flowers was for. "Wait, let me quickly drop the flowers before we go" I mentioned as I turned my body towards the queue of graves behind us.

"Baby, she doesn't need flowers, I'm sure she's got plenty" George tries to reason, but it's to no avail.

I shake my head in dismissal, "No, we're already here. Wait in the car, I'll be back in two seconds" I brush my hands off his arm and walk away, leaving George and Adeline to surrender and walk to the car. In a brisk hurry, I make my way through the rows of tombstones, scanning for her family name. "Lambert, Lambert... "I whisper to myself as I look around, trying to find her surname. "Ha, there we go, Antoine lambert, James lambert, Carm-" I stop thinking out loud once my eyes fall onto the high, black grave with her name on it. Carmilla Valeriya Lambert. 28/12/1986 - 07/02/2017.

Her emerald, green eyes stare back at me as a little string in my heart pulls on itself. I never knew she had a middle name. "Beloved sister and friend" is all that is written under her name. It seems so empty compared to her neighboring graves which have endless messages written over them. My heart aches to hear her voice again, my mind aches to smell her perfume again. I swallow down the lump threatening to evade my throat as I step away from her grave and direct my eyes to the white marble one next to hers.

Genevieve Anika Lambert 08/07/1989 - 07/02/2017. I cave my body down to lay the white roses on her stone. "I hope you are in a good place, you were always the gentle soul we all needed." I whisper with a reminiscing, soft grin, my eyes focused on the quotes of loved ones that are carved all around the circled image of her gentle face. A single creak of a leaf makes my body jolt up in fear. My body freezes once my eyes travel over the top of Genevieve's tombstone, Carmilla's body is leaned against the willow tree in the distance. A shiver slithers down my spine as our eyes meet. Her once pale skin is now painted in a bronze glow. Can you tan in hell? It would make sense. Her body is still shaped so godly, her skin wrapped in a light gray suit, accompanied by a brown trench coat. She's not real, Jane, snap out of it. But she's still there. Carmilla's head tilts slightly with her famous smile, her hand slowly lifts and moves in a greeting motion. I always see her in my dreams – or should I say nightmares, but this is the first time I'm seeing her so clearly. She feels so real. The way her eyes wrinkle ever so slightly when her top lip raises to the sides makes me shudder. I want her to leave. I want this horrible hallucination to disappear. My body slowly retreats away from Genevieve's tomb as I spin my body into the direction of the exit. I'm not taking any chances, just in case she's real and I'm not losing my mind.

Once I reach the gates, I glance back at the lonely tree and she is gone. I breathe out heavily as if I forgot to breathe throughout this whole reunion. Without giving her a chance to change my decision that she is not real, I sprint towards the car, opening its door like my life depended on it. "Drive, just drive!" I order in a snap as I throw the seatbelt on.

George obeys and speeds off quickly. "Are you going to explain to me why we are speeding?" he asks me with a baffled tone.

I ponder on whether I should let him in on my sightings but come to the conclusion that he will just think I'm losing it and send me to a mental hospital. "It was giving me the hibbie jibbies" I explained with my head tilted back in a pant. His face turns to me momentarily, analyzing me to figure out whether he believes my explanation or not. "There was a creepy old man there, he kept staring at me" I excuse in a bluff. God, please let him believe me.

He nods in belief with a little chuckle as he steadies the speed of the car, "You worried me, by the speed of your run, I thought some serial killer with a knife was chasing you or something" George voices as we turn away from the cemetery. I shake my head with a sneer at his words. "You never know, the south of France is very dangerous" he says with a slight undertone chuckle.

I purse my lips to evade the chuckle creeping in "Oh shut up, it was creepy" I rebuke as I shake my head. I need to get out of this town. "I'm excited to head back home tomorrow" I say, changing the topic of discussion. Just one more night and then I can get back to real life.

"I'm not, Michael keeps aggravating me with this case" George moans with an exhausted sigh, his index finger tapping against the leather steering wheel.

I glance over to see his furrowed brow, "the divorce case? I thought you were almost finished with it" I inquired. The world of law has never interested me but getting the inside scoop on celebrity divorces through my lawyer husband was definitely a plus.

George spins his head slightly to face me, his expression lets me know I'm really going to enjoy the next piece of information that he is about to give me. "There is a second mistress and now she wants to up the divorce settlement" he reveals while making sure to mouth the word mistress to avoid the uncomfortable questions for curious Adeline in the back.

I let out an audible gasp at the news, "No, are you serious?" He nods with a bitten smile as he turns his attention back to the road. "This is going to be so bad once the public finds out, there is no way we're getting season two of Starry Knight now" I complain as I process what he has just said. He bursts into laughter at my revelation as it echoes onto Adeline that wants to be involved. Their conjoined laughter makes me join them in unison. "This is a very valid thing to be upset by!" I defend in between catching my breaths. No one would believe us if I told them the day we've had after seeing our fits of chuckles and giggles.