Found Obsession

Chapter 87: Days turned into a car accident

Rose knelt in the crypt, her arms wrapped tightly around a cold, unresponsive body. The faint glow of the candles flickered, then dimmed until the crypt was plunged into near darkness.

"Raven," she whispered, her voice trembling, "are you going to sleep longer?"

Her mother's words began snapping into her head like shards of glass: He commited suicide.

Her sobs escaped her, raw and unrelenting, each one echoing in the dark crypt as if the walls themselves mourned with her. Tears streamed down her face.

Rose cried herself to sleep.

November 27, 2005

Her mind stirred first, nudging her awake. It was time—time to face the truth. Her chest tightened as her thoughts settled on the inevitable: Raven was gone.

Rose opened her eyes, blurry from exhaustion and tears. She turned her gaze to him. Raven lay still, looking so peaceful it was almost unbearable. Her tears returned, rolling silently down her cheeks. She brushed them away with trembling fingers, though the effort felt futile.

Sliding off the crypt floor, she knelt beside him. Her cries broke the silence as she spoke to him, her voice cracking with anger, grief, and guilt. "You idiot," she sobbed. "You absolute idiot. Why would you do this?" Her fists clenched, and she pressed them against her chest as the sobs racked her body. "I'm sorry, Raven. I'm so, so sorry."

Her voice grew quieter, desperate as she leaned over him. "Please," she whispered. "Please come back."

But the stillness of the crypt remained unbroken. The truth she'd been resisting pressed harder against her, an unbearable weight she couldn't escape.

Raven wasn't coming back.

The realization settled heavily in her chest, like a stone sinking into deep waters. Rose stood slowly, her legs shaky. She stared at his lifeless form, her mind swimming with memories, questions, and regrets.

Reaching into her purse, Rose retrieved the death certificate she'd been carrying, her fingers trembling as she unfolded it. "Let it hurt," she whispered to herself, her voice soft but firm, as if trying to give herself permission to feel the full weight of the loss.

She knelt again, gathering Raven's belongings—his wallet, phone, and watch. One by one, she placed them inside with him, her movements deliberate. As she worked, her eyes fell on the chess pieces tucked into his belongings: the two kings.

Rose froze. Her fingers hovered over the pieces as her mind raced. She couldn't understand why Raven had taken both kings. The memory of his attempts to tell her the truth flashed through her mind, followed by her mother's insistence: "Don't tell anyone where Raven was taken. It was good the clipboards were changed."

She shuddered, clutching the chess pieces in her hand, her thoughts spiraling. "Why did her father want Raven?" she murmured to herself, her voice shaky. She gripped the pieces tightly, the implications swirling in her mind but eluding clarity.

Rose took a deep, trembling breath, the ache under her arm reminding her of her state. She stared at Raven, her heart breaking all over again.

"I'll keep you safe," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Clutching the two kings tightly in her hand, she let a few more tears fall before reaching out and slowly closing the lid of the crypt. The sound echoed through the damp space, final and heavy.

Her hands lingered on the edge for a moment, unwilling to part, but then she stepped back. She hurried out, afraid that if she stayed any longer, she wouldn't be able to leave.