UNTIL DAWN

Chapter Seven

All burials look the same.

People dressed in black, some of them crying while others pitying the rest of the family.

And there are those who come just to find someone to put the blame on.

That's what my dad's relatives were there for. I was glad that my heart was numb because the looks of hate and disdain they were sending me were unbearable. Long gone were warm smiles and hugs I used to get from my granny when Jamie was still alive. They were now regretting not sending me very far far away from their son. I jinxed another family member.

The last time we were here mom's relatives were sending me the same look but i was too young and hurt to notice.

Dad was holding me dear at his side as we watched helplessly but he was not crying. He was just being strong for my sake. Everyone was blaming me, calling me bad luck to the family.

Because I survived.

That day I remember leaving dad's side for a second to greet our big aunt who used to come home with brownies and she used to give me more than Jamie's because she said that I was her favorite. When I spotted her and our eyes met for a second I gave her my usual innocent smile because I thought that there was another person left who loved me apart from my father but she didn't smile back. She didn't hug me.

Little me was confused but dad was taking me back to where he was sitting without saying anything to her the second he realized what was happening. He might have heard them talking about me. She hated me as well.

No one ever came back home after that day.

They didn't want me to jinx the rest of their families.

A pathetic girl who survived the whole tragedy was blamed for the curse.

When I looked up, the sky was gloomy but there was no rain. That memory was still fresh but I was kind of numb.

How could I ever forget how my life turned upside down since that day?

I watched in silence as they lowered dad's coffin in the cold lonely ground. The sound it made hitting the hard ground made me flinch. I frowned. I didn't want to feel.

I was left alone. No one would cook chicken soup for me if I ever came down with the flu. The feeling of anguish threatened to come back but I clenched my hands tightly, nails digging deep in my palms.

I felt a familial cologne enveloping me. Bringing me back to earth. Ace's long warm coat enveloped me with his scent and I snuggled in up close to smell more of his cologne. People started to dissipate after saying their final farewell and adding more flowers. Dad was going to stay alone in that cold place. Mom had Jamie and my unborn baby sister beside her but dad was all alone. Maybe I should book a grave near him. He would love telling me more of his ridiculous old stories. I almost smiled at the memory but I couldn't... didn't want to.

One minute we were at the graveyard and another I was being ushered in the back of the car. I looked in the car window and saw a stranger looking back at me.

Tears were falling silently and her face was pale like a ghost's.

I soon realized that the pale stranger was me. So I cried without knowing. I should have looked pitiful like a girl who has nothing left.

What a pity!

Inside the car, Ace wiped my tears and held my hand on his lap. He drew circles on it subconsciously as we drove in the bustling city, who was unaware that a strange girl lost one last person she had as family. Pathetic right?