X Marks The Spot

Chapter One

I gripped the red, glass bottle tightly as I intently stared at it. I was currently sitting at the curb of the beach wondering what the bottle was for, or why Mark wanted me to have such a thing. I remembered Annie's words as they replayed in my head. My mind flashed back to the day of the funeral.

"Ariel are you ready to go?" my mother asked with a worried face. I nodded . After I had been informed about Mark's death, I didn't bother speaking to anyone. I hardly ate, and only left my room whenever I needed to use the bathroom. Realizing my mom was still waiting, I slipped on my black flats and walked out to the car. My eight year old sister, Lily had already been waiting in the car with my father. She greeted me with a smile. Trying to return it, the corners of my lips twitched, but suddenly fell back into place as I remembered we were on our way to the cemetery.

After a 10 minute drive with nothing but silence, we finally arrived. I stepped out of the car clasping my hand with my mother's. My body was shaking and I felt like I was going to break down and cry just like I had done on the first day. I wasn't prepared to face Mark or his family. I wasn't even prepared to face the fact that Mark was truly dead. He was everything to me. My lover, my soul mate, and my match made in heaven. But I had to go on. I was going to have to face it someday and it needed to be now. We spotted Annie and Henry and made our way towards them. Annie's eyes were puffed red and dried tears stained her white, pale face."H-H-Hi." I greeted shakily, surprised I was even speaking. "Hello honey. How have you been?"Annie asked. I gulped opening my mouth to answer, but nothing came out as I tried to blink back unshed tears. Noticing my sudden reaction, my mother lead me to a brown, wooden bench just several feet away from the unfilled grave.

"If you don't want to watch the burial you don't have to. You can stay here and wait until they finish burying him completely" my mother reassured me. I wasn't sure if I'd wanted to see him go, to finally accept the fact that he's never coming back. But what kind of girlfriend doesn't go see her dead boyfriend before he finally departs.

Being the weak person I am, I decided to stay back and wait until the burial was over. After that, I'd talk to Mark all I want. I heard the priest recite a couple of prayers only a few feet away. I didn't notice I had been crying, until the taste of my salty tears had reached my lips. Tears kept spilling as I grasped onto the white roses I had brought with me. "Why'd it have to be Mark?" I thought. If only he was next on that donor list, he would have made it.

Slightly moving my gaze from the ground, I noticed my mother had approached me. With a sad, apologetic façade she informed me that Mark's burial was over and that I could go over and talk to him as much as I needed. Getting up I made my way towards his grave. I knelt down and sat on my knees, placing the white roses in the process. I didn't know where to start. It took me a couple of minutes until I finally had the courage to speak up.

"Hey Mark. How's it going up there....." "I miss you.. a lot......Remember that one time you promised me you'd never leave. I wish you hadn't made that pact. I keep thinking you're on a trip and you'll be coming back in a couple of days. Why'd you have to go? You were the one there to cheer me up when I was gloomy and sad. You were the one who was there to always make me laugh, especially with thos cheesy jokes of yours. You were everything to me. I don't know what to do now that you're gone." I felt tears roll down my cheeks, and somehow I couldn't stop crying.

"Don't worry, I won't try to do anything. I know you'd want me to be happy. So I'm going to try my best to do that. I won't promise you, but I will try my hardest." " The day I heard you needed a heart transplant, I was devastated. You were in a severe condition, but they still kept you second on that list. However I kept my hopes high."

"You were a strong man. I know it, and so does everyone else. Don't have too much fun without me. From now on you'll be my angel watching over me. I love you, I always have." I felt my heart ache as I said those last words.

I stayed silent for a couple of minutes until I heard footsteps coming closer. Glancing up I notice it's Annie. I stand up dusting off the dirt that had gotten onto my black dress. "Hey" I said in a soft tone, making it come out as a whisper. "Hello, sweetie." she replied. "Ariel, there's something I've got that belongs to you." I perked up. What could she have that happened to be mine?

She handed me a glass bottle that had been painted completely red. It was covered in a large letter "A" sticker and sealed with a cork. I had never seen that bottle in my life. "Mark wanted you to have it. He told me he had made it for you and he hopes you have fun." she claimed with a glum expression. Mark wanted you to have it...Mark wanted you to have it...

The sound of giggles and whispers rang through my ears snapping me back to reality. I peered up to see a happy couple passing by, giggling over something. That reminded me of someone. Me. Mark. Us. We used to be like that. We used to take those romantic walks down the beach. He used to make me laugh over the stupidest things. He held my hand whenever we walked. Why couldn't I have that now. Why did he have to go. It wasn't fair. He should have been first on that list . Rage filled within me. I was mad. I couldn't take it. Everything was going perfectly fine until Mark had to come up with coronary artery disease. If only he could've kept fighting for just a bit longer, maybe he would have lasted for the next heart. My anger took over and I suddenly found myself picking up the red bottle and throwing it across the blacktop. It shattered to pieces right before my eyes. Noticing what I had done, I began to sob.

After quite a while of sobbing, I decided to pick up the pieces of glass. Whilst doing so I began to hallucinate seeing the red glass melting off into red liquid. Or so I thought. Turns out I accidentally cut my hand. Blood was oozing out and I needed to stop it somehow. Before I could head home, a folded brown slip caught my eye. I gently picked it up and began to open it when I heard someone panting behind me. Turning around I glanced up to see Lily. "Mom says dinner's ready," she informed me. "Heyy what's that? Is that blood?" she asked pointing to my injured hand. "Its nothing." I said shoving my hand into the pocket of my hoodie. I didn't want anyone worrying over a small injury.

"Ok then, you coming or what?" she called out. I realized she had already started walking back home. "I'm coming," I claimed. As I got up I stuffed the folded brown paper into the pocket of my jeans and caught up to Lily as we both continued to walk home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(A/N)

This is not edited. Well sorta..

How was that for chapter one? It's a bit short, but this is my first real story, hopefully! I'll begin to work on chapter 2 as soon as possible. I finished writing this at 4 a.m. This is how much I'm dedicated! Hoping for a great story.

Comment/ Vote/ Fan

Your feedback is appreciated!!

 If anyone's interested in making me a cover, I'd be glad! Just message me!

-Danielle