Scattering Lilac Ashes

Chapter Ninety-Four

Lila's sleep had not been restful in the slightest. Her dreams seemed to be filled with imagery of Piper, and the way she'd been murdered, alongside Asher being swept away by a tidal wave at the beach with Marlene maliciously laughing nearby. Normally, her dreams were hectic in the strange department, but this seemed easy to interpret. Her anxiety surrounding Piper, Asher, and Marlene had coherently leaked into her dreams.

She opened her groggy eyes, looking immediately for her phone to see if Asher had sent her a message, or opened any of hers. As expected, he hadn't.

Looking at the time, it seemed that Lila had managed to miss her parents after having not seen them the night before since Clare delivered her dinner to her. She wondered as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes if they wanted to say something to her regarding Piper. If they did, it would have to wait until they got home this afternoon.

Clare was eating something in the kitchen when Lila shuffled her way into it, yawning.

"Morning," Clare said, her voice cheery. "Glad to see you're awake. I was about to come up and wake you."

"Glad to see you're awake too, Clare."

Clare grinned before turning her attention to her phone. "You might want to eat something light if you're hungry. Jumping around all morning until noon will do a number on your stomach."

"So, what're you eating then?"

"Just some apple slices and a coffee," Clare replied, glancing up at Lila and wiggling a slice in the air. "We'll grab something fun for lunch on the way back, so you'll starve if you don't have breakfast but not for too long at least."

"Something fun?"

"Yeah, something different. Usually, when we're too lazy to cook, we go for the tried-and-true Maccas, or KFC, or Red Rooster, or something. Let's try something new."

Lila nodded with another yawn. "Sounds good."

She selected an apple from the fruit basket sitting just in front of Clare, pulling out a suitable knife amongst the myriad of dented, mismatched kitchenware to cut it up with. She placed the apple on the board, raising the knife into the prime position for a decent slice when the imagery of Piper's murder reappeared in her mind's eye. She dropped the knife onto the kitchen counter with a clatter, narrowly missing her hand and dry retching.

"You okay?"

Clare was beside her in a flash, already rubbing Lila's back by the time she recognised her sister's presence. Clare gingerly moved the knife away with her free hand, her eyes jittery with concern as they took in Lila's pale face.

"Y-Yeah," Lila leaned over the counter, inhaling deeply. She hadn't expected that at all. Somehow, her face felt wet with tears.

"Here, sit down," Clare gently guided Lila to the chair opposite hers. "I'll cut it up."

The only sound in the kitchen, as Lila wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, was the chop of the knife passing through the apple before connecting with the bamboo board underneath. Clare rinsed the knife before arranging the slices onto a small plate in the shape of a crude flower and placing it neatly before Lila.

"Thanks," Lila said weakly, staring at the plate.

Clare eyed Lila carefully as she sat down opposite her, holding her coffee cup with both hands. Lila avoided Clare's critical gaze as she took her time choosing a slice. She'd never been close to Piper, and instead would have preferred for Piper to not have ever made herself known to Lila – so why was she feeling this way? Was it to do with the visceral violence of her death?