Prestigent

Prestigent (Chapter 26)

I can't believe I killed Cara or Zeke. I read it over and I was so shocked I wrote such a thing. But, what's done is done. And so I present: The Aftermath...

CHAPTER 26

TOBIAS POV

The funeral came soon without a moment to mourn. We were all there, the scarce five of us that were left.

Caleb, Shauna, Evelyn, Christina, and myself.

The coffin was slowly lowered by faces I could no longer see or cared to. The world and everyone in it became foreign to me. I look over at Evelyn, her sharp eyes now soft and filled with tears. Christina nudges closer to me, her face down and pale.

The sound of damp dirt being shoveled slowly buries our hearts deeper into our chests, the coffin and the woman inside of it disappearing along with it...

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We all walk with Caleb over to his house in Millenium Park. He opens the doors and lets us all inside. Caleb sits down, slouched in his chair as if he were slowly deflating. I sit down next to him, my face down, staring at the floor.

"I am so sorry... I don't even..."

"It's- it's okay," Caleb responds, his voice catching on every word. "She's gone and I understand that but...."

I stay silent, waiting for him to say the words that never come. He would have said what I told myself many years before when Tris passed. "She's gone, but I don't want her to be. I loved her. Why did it have to be her? Could I have done something.... something to protect her?"

I walk over to the open window and look out. The Bean where Cara had died can be seen clearly, the light and images reflecting off the smooth surface. I shut the window and pull the blinds on the life we all just ended. A life with Cara...

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Everyone leaves, the number of people slowly ticking down one by one. Evelyn leaves first, then Shauna, then Christina, and soon, I am alone with Caleb.

Caleb reaches in his pocket and slowly pulls out a bloody piece of paper.

"She gave me this before she..." He hands it to me, his hands now red with blood. I open the folded piece of paper and recognize it as her section of the cloning notes. "She told me to take her blood and clone her... she wanted to contribute to science as her dying wish... I don't think I can do it alone..."

"You don't have to do it Caleb... she's gone and I'm sure she wouldn't want you to mourn... give it some time and think it through..."

I hand him back the sheet of paper. He slowly moves for the first time since the funeral and walks over to his desk. He hides it deep in a drawer, placing it with his cloning notes.

"I have to do it, for her... it was her wish... it would be the only invention we made together... I have to...."

I nod and slowly head towards the door. "Goodnight Caleb... and I'm sorry... for everything." I walk through, turning at the last second. "Don't do anything you're going to regret...." I walk out into the pouring rain and head home, walking past the Bean on the way...