Forget Me Not (Forgotten Series Companion Chapters)

Starting Anew

The whisky burned as it slid down my throat. I needed the burn, needed it to keep away the burn in my eyes. I had a very long day.

The drive to Altia had been hard, the burden I carried there had been so heavy there had been times I had to pull over because the sobs shook my shoulders too hard and the tears blurred my vision so I couldn't see. I had made it though and I had been greeted at the gates by an entire procession of priests and priestesses, their garbs black and their faces somber. They had pulled the pine box from the back of the SUV and when I thought I could leave they had bowed to me before guiding me forward.

I had walked behind Lara's body as they carried her to the interior of the small territory. Large bells had tolled in the distance and each one had echoed in my chest. The head Priestess had whispered to me that I needed to be strong for my mother, her hand warm on my arm. The words had nearly sent me to my knees but I had somehow found the strength to push forward.

I had somehow managed to help prep her body for burial, dressing her in a robe of white while moonflowers had climbed up the table to cover her, the head priestess chanting prayers over us both. I had found the strength to carry her limp body in my arms across the territory, only stopping at the place the statue of Mene held her her sword's end. I had somehow held it all in as they put a shovel in my hand and I dug the grave for the only mother that had given me love.

My tears had mixed with the soil as I had dug the grave, ignoring the rest as the helped in the task, not letting me do it alone. In the end I barely had the strength to stand up as they placed her within my arms so I could place her in the grave. I had laid her down and it had taken everything I had to not lay beside her in her grave and cling to her shell. My heart had felt so hollow with sadness that I felt like it had robbed my limbs of their strength and I had only managed to crawl out of the hole with shaking arms. I had lay beside her grave, curled up, unable to move as they started their prayers, gently covering her with earth. I had watched from my position as the grave grew more and more full, allowing her to become one with the earth.

I had been gently pulled to my feet as they helped me back to the temple. They murmured prayers for me, pulling grief from me as they gently helped me get undressed before thet helped me bathe because I felt like I couldn't move my limbs to do even the most simple tasks. I hadn't been able to see their faces, my eyes so blurred with tears I couldn't make out anything but faint forms.

They had lay me down on a cot afterwards, their prayers continuing as I drifted off to the faint chanting. I had woken up with the night already under way and then had found myself by Lara's fresh grave, pleading with her to tell me what to do. I had no place to go and no place to stay. I had pleaded and begged underneath the moonlight, the light no longer feeling warm but almost cold with sadness. I would have still been out there if one of the female priestesses hadn't found me. She had helped me to my feet, placing a bottle of whisky in my hand, and leading me towards the small bar I was currently in with the words to drown it out and it would be okay.

I guessed even the religious needed their vices. I had downed the bottle and had then gone for drinks at the bar front. I was pretty much drunk. The female bartender had kept my cup topped off and I wasn't unaware of her glances in my direction. I finished off my glass and she was once again in front of me. I stared at the scarring I could see on her shoulder as it peeked out from underneath her t-shirt.

"Can I use your phone?" I wanted to talk to someone who would understand me and I was pretty sure I had saw her using one. Unless my vision was really fuzzy and I had seen her with a pad of paper instead.

She pulled it out of her pocket. "If you wanted my number you could just ask." The female bartender winked at me and I raised an eyebrow at her as I waved for the phone she had in her hands. I needed to talk to Arlo. He wouldn't judge me for crying.