Soulless

The funeral.

Two days later, it was the day of Cerise's mothers funeral. It was the last time she could see her mother, and despite the tears, she wasn't going to miss that opportunity. So, fighting back a sea of emotions, she pulled on a black dress, which she had never been fond of, for obvious reasons, slipped on her ash black boots, glided her pale hands into gloves, and walked outside, where, atmospherically, it had begun to lightly drizzle with rain, the clouds turning an ominous shade of deep grey, and thunder grumbling in the distance. Her mothers coffin, made of rosewood and decorated with an array of wild flowers, stood open to the weather, worsening by the minute, and next to it, stood Azura , the maid who had been living with them, holding a bundle of lavender in her hands, whispering words too quietly for anyone, especially Cerise to hear, and, dubbing them as words of sorrow, and speak of cherished memories, Cerise lander her attention elsewhere. Specifically, onto a boy, she had never seen before, who looked only slightly older than her. His head was topped with a mess of black hair, and his eyes, gazing down at the ground, as if the very dirt held the meaning to life, shone light blue, like crystals in the sun, now hidden by a cluster of clouds, and, noticing her gaze upon him, he stepped gracefully towards her. "Admiring the view, are we?" He said jokily, chuckling softly to himself, "My name is William, William Penhallow, and you are the daughter of her, are you not?" He said looking back at her mothers coffin.
"Yes. Yes, I am, and my name is Cerise Abdiel Rose, daughter of Jane Ava Sterling, and Christopher Tiberius Rose, it's nice to meet you Will."

During the remainder of the funeral, Cerise stood by Will's side as if she were a prisoner in shackles, but to her, his presence, despite being completely new to her, felt oddly comforting, and he didn't seem to mind her trailing behind him everywhere, if anything, he found it strangely amusing, but, because of her grief, he didn't want to taunt her about it. At one point, Will went of to see his father, and like she had been doing all afternoon, she followed him. She found in front of her a tall man, with a slender figure, and pale skin, like her own, and most noticeably, a kind face looking down, pitifully on her, she usually hated pity, but from him, she didn't seem to find it annoying, "Ah, Miss Cerise, you were the one following my son around?" He crouched down until he was face to face with her, a smile spread across his face, "I am indeed sorry for your loss, and I hope that you will find that you're grieving may fade after time. Your mother, Jane, has been a dear friend of mine, for a great number of years now, and I owed her a lot for her help towards me, of which I hope to tell you of, but another time. I see you have met my son, William, he is a smart boy, and I hope you two will become friends, as I understand, you might meet each other many a time in the future. But besides," Mr Penhallow glances away, and then down at his wrist, where a watch sits, "I must be going, and as you know, William will be staying at your house is week, because of my business trip."
"My house, since when? Sorry Mr Penhallow, but I was unaware of this news." Cerise's words were laced with surprise and shock, "well then I must go find him, and take him to his room, Azura will find him one." She said as she spun around, gathered the layers of black skirts, and walked hastily away, in search of Will.