ColorBlind (Book #2 of S.H.A.D.E.) ✔

Funeral

Live in this moment,
Like there is no past,
All that matters is to be who you are
-Epica

29.

2 days later

I'm parked alongside the road, in my lime green mustang, a little ways down the street, but I still have a clear view of her as she sits on the front lawn with some friends, in the shade of a tree doing their nails. I watch her laugh and playfully punch one of her friends in the shoulder.

However, there is still a sadness in her that is visible to those who know to look for it. She seems to go through the motions at times, or when she laughs, she pauses and her face looks anguished that she is enjoying herself while her older sister is still missing, and is probably dead by now. It's clear she misses Jane.

But they have to move on. Jane isn't coming back.

I couldn't renter their lives, a shell of a person, a murderer. Ebony -- who has seen and done terrible things. I would put them in even more danger.

...And speaking of danger.

I look to see if the shadow is still peering at the girls from around the corner of the house. As my mother walks out with a pitcher of orange juice and freshly baked cookies to offer the girls, the Shade -- a Green-- slinks further out, sizing my sister up.

She's no longer small, no longer wearing yellow rain boots. She's old enough to be snatched away, unlike Sofia, who I checked on about a week a go. I don't know if my sister has powers like Sofia and I, but S.H.A.D.E. will not be getting her either way.

I grab Bellona and dart into the nearby woods, racing through the backyards of the neighborhood, jumping over hedges and heaving myself over fences. It isn't long before I come around my family's home, sneaking up behind the Green and wrapping my hand around her mouth to stifle her cries, choking her with the hilt of my axe.

I hear my mother and sister laughing as I choke the girl out. We are so close right now, yet worlds away.

Once the Green is dead, I drag the body into the woods, hack it up with my axe, and throw the limbs into a large carrying bag I have brought. It's heavy as hell, but I lug it all the way back to the car and shove it into the trunk.

I wipe my brow as I climb back into the Mustang, and sit there again for a second, just observing the people who are my family.

I won't be coming back here unless necessary. I won't be going back to watch Copper's family either. I have, in this short while, recruited a few people who were almost abducted by the Greens. After I saved them, I offered them either protection or a chance to fight. I was surprised at how many leapt at the chance to face the Demons.

They think it's a romantic endeavor, a storybook thing that has happened to them where they get to be a hero. Although I warn them, I can see in the light in their eyes that they will not know the horror of their choice until it is staring them in the face. However, I am grateful that the few I have now have agreed to look out for mine and Copper's family while I travel the world, following the Greens, stealing their would-be victims from them.

I stare for another good minute, before starting the car. I won't be coming back. This is goodbye to these people, hopefully, if the Demons or S.H.A.D.E. do not succeed in harming them.

I drive by the house, and the girls all stare longingly at my mustang as I go by. I see her face for half a second, but the look of recognition that crosses my sister's features is undeniable. I see her stand up and sprint to the curb, staring after me with her mouth wide open in shock, but I zip out of the neighborhood.

Even if she did clearly see my face, she will tell herself she was seeing things. That Jane is gone.

This is Jane's funeral.

I have to hurry back to L.A. anyway.  I have another funeral to attend...

****
The early afternoon air is crisp, the scent of winter permeating the woods I walk through.

I hug my jacket around me as I approach Indigo and Onyx, who are standing beside the pyre they have constructed. We have to get rid of the body, and I wouldn't want there to be an unmarked grave anyway.

The corpse is wrapped in a few white bedsheets, nothing visible, sitting atop the wood pile. An empty vessel without a soul, or a caterpillar in a cocoon, morphing into something else.

"Do you want to light it?" Indigo asks me, and I can tell he's trying to mask his pity for me, because he knows I can't bear to be looked at that way.

I nod, taking the lighter from him.

Onyx has doused the body in gasoline. All that's left is to ignite it.

My hands shake as I approach. I want to say something to consecrate this moment, but there are no words that I can find.

"The bravest Red I ever knew, and probably one of the bravest people to have lived on this earth," Onyx says for me, and I smile at him with pity, knowing this must be hell for him.

A hand comes down on my shoulder, strong and supportive.

I look up at Copper and he gives me a sad smile, but nods for me to go ahead.

We light Scarlet's pyre together, and all four of us stand around and cry without reserve or shame.

This is for everyone, I think. This is a funeral for everyone who has died and will die fighting for humankind.

I will not be idle like Gold had thought. I will not desert the people who need me.

There is rumors about a group of Psychics in New York who are fighting the Demons, who are working outside of S.H.A.D.E.

I will find them, and I will join them. Perhaps humanity will stand a chance if we continue to grow-- if we work together.

Humans are flawed, and greedy, and petty. But we are also resilient, and strong, and we love fiercely, so much so that we are willing to die to protect what we hold dear in our hearts. We take strength in others, in solidarity, in working together, and that is how we will defeat the Demons. That is why S.H.A.D.E. will fall.

I watch the flames dance around Scarlet's body, and I can't help thinking that she has risen again somehow, somewhere. That all of them have, just beyond my reach. There are things I must open my mind to.

Gods... Ghosts... other worlds.

"But Earth is our home," I murmur resolutely.

"Earth, to me, is all that matters right here and now."

Copper's arms wrap around my waist, hugging me from behind, and I take relief in how much stronger he is getting again.

"And we will defend it together."

He kisses my cheek and I grin over my shoulder at him. "Of course."

Together, we will save this world, or die trying.

The End