Chapter 6

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Between Heaven and Hell

Copyright © 2012 by Carla Meyer

All Rights Reserved

 

 

CHAPTER 6

 

Joey and Meredith walked into Graceland, a cemetery of history and tradition for almost a century and a half. Joey remembered when he was younger; his parents had pre-planned their burial at Graceland, so he didn’t have to search for the place where his family rested. It was a beautiful place, even as sad and sorrowful as it may be. The lake stretched out as a blanket of emerald and cerulean, the treetops allowing a dazzling glisten to rest on its surface. Joey smiled at the resting place of his parents and kneeled down next to their tombstones. Lucinda Maria Olsen and Jeremy Olsen, both passed away September 7th, 2005.

He traced the marble stone with his fingertips, and a soft, inaudible sob fled his lips. Meredith moved closer to him and placed a tender hand on his shoulder. She couldn’t relate to his loss; couldn’t relate to his hurting, but she could be there with Joey, be there for him and she could console him and allow his tears to rest on her shoulder.

Next to their tombstones, was another with the same marble stone, smaller in size but it was still the same. Joey Olsen, it read and he shook his head at the writing. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be there, wasn’t supposed to be sitting there looking at his own tombstone. He was supposed to have died, just as his parents had.

There was no tombstone for Phoebe Olsen though.

He spent almost an hour just sitting there, trembling and sobbing over his parents. He was a twenty-two year old man, yet he felt like a fragile child, trapped inside the darkness, lost through the haze of nonexistence. He felt as though he had lost a part of him, and perhaps a part of him was still trapped in Hell, but the loss and sorrow he felt while looking at the engraving of his parents’ names in the marble stone made it all more realistic, all too flamboyant for Joey to keep looking. He hadn’t realized his sobs had grown more audible. Meredith was hunched next to him, holding him tenderly around the shoulders.

“I’m alone,” he said, though his sobs made it sound more as though he was letting out a moan. “They didn’t even bother with Phoebe; they didn’t even care to keep her memory alive with my parents’.”

“Perhaps there’s hope Joey. Perhaps—“

“I don’t believe she is alive,” he said monotonously and stood up from the supple grass. He started walking away from the tombstones and Meredith followed promptly. “I’m alone,” he said again and curled his burning palms into fists. He had never felt the urge to inflict pain upon someone as he did at that moment.

“You’re not alone,” said Meredith, catching his hand as he walked. “Not really,” she said and she smiled hopefully, almost in anticipation up at Joey. He met her bottomless dark eyes and saw nothing but concern and care in them. It was all he needed to compose his anger, all he required to stay level-headed.

“Thank you,” was all he could manage to say and in silence they walked away from Graceland.

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