Insanity (Sequel To Madness)

Distant Memories

~*Three Days Later In District 16*~

I have a hand to the bottom of my neck as I walk up the steps to the home Rebecca had allowed us to use. The dark oak door stands in front of me, Shane had held it open for Mark and I last time we were here. I trace the edges of the door and all the curves of the small markings that line it.
"You okay, Violet?" Mark asks me, placing a hand on my shoulder gently. I nod and take in a deep breath while I slowly let my hands slide down the door to the handle. I grip it and tap my thumb on it for a few seconds before I turn it and open the door. I stand there just staring inside the darkness of the dimly lit home. Mark once again places his hand on my shoulder and looks at me closely.
"We can ask for a different home, Violet. Or we can go back to Main District. Nobody is judging us on our next move here." Mark tells me calmly while he gives me reassuring nods.
"I know. But I have to finish Liam's funeral before we go back, Shane would have wanted that finished." I explain while once again turning my head to stare inside.
"You still have to set up Jack's funeral, and now Shane's. You don't have to do Liam's, that isn't your responsibility." Mark replies while turning my body towards him so I am forced to stare back at him when he speaks. I try to look down at the ground and let out a heavy sigh.
"I know. I know that, Mark. I just don't want to leave Shane's work unfinished. He always hated leaving things halfway done." I mutter my response. Mark lifts my head so I look him eye to eye. His eyes, even for their dark color, have such a light kindness in them.
"Stop saying things like that, Violet. Not everything will become your responsibility now. You own the Main District, let's go home and focus on that." Mark suggests while giving me a hopeful smile, one that shows he wishes me to agree with him. But, I have to shake my head.
"No. Liam was Shane's best friend, I want to help Rebecca with this." I respond while shaking his hands off me like I had before. I turn myself back towards the house entrance, and this time I go in. My heals make a clicking nose against the tile floor, it makes it seem so loud since this house is so empty now. I let out a sigh while looking around the halls. My eyes land on one door, the room that Shane and I had shared at the end of the hall. Everything I brought is in there, I'll have to go in at some point. I'm just not sure I I'm ready to, since that room is the last one Shane was in a few mornings ago to get ready for the meeting. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and rolling over in my single bed. I had rubbed my eyes and let out a yawn before I realized that my husband was awake too and he smiled at me.
"Sleep okay?" He had questioned me, which made me smile. He outstretched his hand out of his bed towards me, and I had grabbed it and held his hand through the night. Our hands had set connected between our beds all night, and I fell asleep quite quickly after that. Shane was always so kind to me, and I loved that about him. I only now realize that through m thoughts, my body led me to stand outside the bedroom door. I gently place my hand on the knob and tap my fingers on it anxiously. I nod slowly to myself, I already know what's in there, and nothing can prepare me for it. With a slight shrug I open the door and let out a deep breath that I had held in the whole time. The room is exactly as it was before I left. One of Shane's ties sits on his bed where he had thrown it. He was indecisive and tried on a few before allowing me to pick which one he ended up wearing. That was his process recently. He would nervously tie a new one around his neck and I would giggle at his nervousness.
"What's wrong?" I would ask while grabbing his arm and leaning my head against it. His eyebrows would furrow for a moment and then he would smile while looking at me through the mirror in the bathroom.
"Nothing can ever be wrong as long as I live. I own the Main District, and all others, we'll always be alright." He would reassure me while nodding along to his own words. I would smile and give him a kiss on the cheek before going to his suitcase to look through his different ties. He must have brought 4 different ones in his bag and I would look at each before smiling and taking one to him. I would put my fingers next to his and untie the one around his neck currently and replace it with my choice.
"This one looks good." I would say while smiling up at him, hoping that would take off his nervous edge. And it always did. Shane would smile back at me and plant a very small kiss on my forehead before going to finish getting dressed for the day. At the thought if this memory I find myself touching my forehead, as if I could still feel his small kisses that he always left there for me. A tear escapes my eye and it slides down my smiling cheeks. I pick up the tie from his bed and softly press it against my forehead.
"I'm going to miss you, Shane Lancaster, the man who owned all business." I whisper softly while hugging the tie to myself and sobbing softly into it.