The Neogene Project

Chapter 5 - Harvey

Chapter 5 - Harvey

Blake visited the graveyard again. But it was different this time. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Dr. Person had said. “Don’t you think she’d want you to get over her?” Blake had the phrase rattling around in his mind all night long. Blake honestly didn’t really know the answer. Would she have wanted him to move on? Blake didn’t know and knew that he never would.

He kicked a rock in frustration as he walked towards the grave. It went flying in the air at about sixty miles an hour and smacked into a headstone, breaking into a million peices. Blake looked over at it and cursed. Just another one of the many problems Blake now had to deal with. He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets as he trudged up the hill. He plopped himself down and began picking at the little bits of grass that were planted near Aria’s grave.

“Aria,” he whispered. “What do I do? You’re the one with the answers, Aria, you always were.” His voice wavered at the end, but Blake didn’t have the energy in him to cry today. His exhausted voice carried on, “Am I supposed to give up now? Do I try to get over you? You know that that’s not possible. It’s hard enough knowing you’re not here, but at least I can pretend you’re just on a very long vacation. But, getting over you. That’s a near impossible feat. I mean, what do you expect me to do Aria? I can’t go on living like this. You can’t expect that of me Aria. You can’t. You can’t freaking do this to me!”

His voice echoed into the still night. The blackness surrounded him. It enveloped him and crushed him, and Blake let out a tearless sob.

“Do I let go now?” he murmured. “How long do I have to hold onto you?”

He leaned against the headstone. A single tear rolled down his cheek. “I just want you back,” he said with finality.

Blake hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep at the graveyard. But he woke with a sudden jolt sent through his entire body. He was leaning against a tree, not far from Aria’s headstone, where he had moved after a few minutes of staring at the aforementioned grave. He had merely moved to the tree so that he wouldn’t have to be near the dreaded piece of stone anymore, but one thing lead to another, and soon, he was resting against it, falling asleep.

The gates were still closed, Blake noticed, which was a good thing. If he was caught in here after hours, he’d get in a lot of trouble. It was mostly still dark except for the distant horizon, which was streaked with the faintest hint of pink, since the sun was just coming up. Blake checked his phone. It was just past four in the morning. He had only been asleep for three hours at most, but he didn’t feel too groggy. Blake stood up and looked at Aria’s grave one last time before making his way to the gate. He was just about to create a blast of wind to get him over when he heard a voice behind him.

“And just what do you think you’re doing here, mister?”

Blake whipped around. A middle aged man was standing before him, wearing an old looking shirt and blue denim jeans. He could hardly make out his features because it was still dark, but he didn’t need that much light to know that the guy was very angry. He folded his arms.

Blake had no idea what to say. How had he even gotten in? The gate was clearly bolted up. Blake inspected it from where he was standing, but it looked to him like it wasn’t broken. The man tapped his foot impatiently. Blake decided to answer with the truth.

“I was visiting my friend’s grave. She died recently, but I never have time to come here, except for at night.”

“At night, when it’s against the law to be here?” The man said in a derogatory tone. “You’re in a lot of trouble, you know that?”