Taint, Time and Tangents✔️

≑ Chapter Thirty Four

To wherethewildthingsr_, for the patience and all there is to be thankful for :)

∞ 34 ∞

CALLIE

"...you will be in everyone's hearts. Smile upon us and watch over us. May you rest in peace... Phoebe."

The collected voice of the pastor slithered swiftly down the hill, cascading through the frigid green fingers - a morning dew glistening on their tips. Winter wind brought with it drones of prayers and silent sobs from the mourners.

The small hill behind the Cosher's house overlooking a valley turned out to be Phoebe's favorite spot. This was the place she was brought to by her parents for her first walk, first solid meal, first birthday, first shifting and first Thanksgiving. This was the place that witnessed them all - maybe even all her firsts with Zeke. They decided by then, the place of her first sunrise should also be the place of her life's sunset.

Black and white fabric wrapped everyone's body, flitting slightly with the wind as sunglasses glinted under the sun. Handkerchiefs sponged every damp cheeks as everyone quietly cried over the girl who had once showered the school with beauty and charm. Well, it was the case for some, but few of the people gathered at the foot of the hill were just looking ahead, glancing at their watches from time to time, perhaps waiting for the burial to end. A number of people from the back were just gossiping and some was staring at nothing, their face stoic. It made me wonder why they bothered coming here.

I trailed my eyes upward, towards the peak of the hill - towards the people who genuinely cared for the serenity of this ceremony. From below - from the cramped space between Nikki and a large trimmed bush lining the perimeter of the three-storey house of the Cosher's, I stared at their backs facing us with heads down. Three dark blonde heads watched lumps of earth being shoved and piled up over the dark coffin. I remembered Phoebe saying that she got her brunette hair from her grandmother, earning her a childhood nickname 'Bugs Brunnie' from Isaiah.

As the last shovel of soil was stacked and flattened before the dark gray tombstone, Phoebe's mother, with lighter shade of blonde tied hair firmly at the back of her head, held the arm of the guy beside her for support as her shoulders trembled, crying.

My eyes were immediately drawn to that guy, wearing a dark suit with his silver hair standing out among the line of blondes. The place closest to Phoebe was reserved for his family but the Cosher couple insisted for his presence alongside them.

Within those two years, Zeke has burrowed himself in their hearts and slowly etched his name in their family tree. The deep affection for their's daughter's lifetime partner gradually turned to a parents' love to a son. I heard he spent most of his breaks with them, from welcoming New Year and celebrating birthdays to tiny moments as family dinner and backyard barbecue party; he has always been beside Phoebe, making sure she eats, enjoys the event and not get herself drunk.

The Cosher couple loved Zeke so much, even after learning that those two years were just threads of woven lies, it didn't falter their decision on having him close in Phoebe's last rites.

The slender digits of November wind brushed my bare legs as I watched his left hand encircled the shoulders of the sobbing mother. I looked down, guilt and sorrow nibbling my heart. It was my fault that these people were mourning over the death of a girl - the girl who tried to save me, whispered her final words to my ears and looked at my eyes as she took her last breath. To make up for her mistakes, she faced the dark cloak of death just like her mate.

Phoebe and Jace said their farewells to the world for our twisted love, gambling their own happy ending for an uncertain love story of a heartless werewolf and a half-winged angel.