The Paths That Tie (Clementine x Violet)

{21}

Clementine had never gone to any funerals whilst her parents were alive, nor did she ever have to go to another while in Lee's care. However, the one time she did attend a service...

...The smell of death would forever linger in her memories, tucked away  with the memory of her parent's funeral.

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"That's Diana and Ed's kid right there. Poor girl. I heard that when she learned the news, she passed out right on the spot and hit her head. Had to be taken to the hospital soon after, as it was a pretty hard fall. Then due to minor memory loss, had to be reminded once more of her loss. What a terrible fate." A blurred face spoke, with a raspy voice indicating the speaker was older.

"Losing both parents on the same day? I couldn't imagine what that would do to a person. Especially a kid." Another voice croaked, clearly holding back tears.

"I'm not surprised. Having a child before marriage? This is the lord's way of punishing them." An older voice exclaimed, followed by whispers to most likely attempt cover it up from the child in the front's ears.

However, the reality was that nothing was being processed fully through her mind. Everything was numb and full of static. The only thing that was made definite, was the lingering smell of decay and death that protruded from the two caskets before Clementine.

Slowly rising from the wooden bench that was below her, Clementine dragged her way towards her parents  in a natural manner. While the adults watching her had recommended she didn't look at the bodies and payed respects from a far, something deep within her had risen up and seemingly moved her feet for her towards the deceased people she had once known.

In the moments that she was able to look into the caskets before being spotted and dragged away, Clementine didn't cry.

Clementine didn't feel sad.

Clementine could only recall the memory of her parents dancing to the song that they played one time during breakfast. A happy memory to surpress the feelings of sadness she was supposed to be feeling.

The same memory that would come to  bless her dreams.

It was as if her brain was being possesed in a way to deny the emotion of sadness in that moment.

It was as if someone was refusing for her to cry.

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When the blackened door slowly creaked open from Clementine's push and the all too familiar smell of death wafted once more, her mind seemed to instantly warp itself into the memory of that gloomy day of her parent's funeral.

With a dazed expression, Clementine stood in the doorway with unbudging legs, looking straight into the nothingness of the pitch black room.

"Hey, Clem? Are you okay? What's wrong?" A voice seemed to reach out in the distance to ask, to which Clementine unknowingly ignored.

'Clementine...Your friend needs you now. Wake up.'

With the pressure of a hand on her shoulder jolting her to conciousness, Clementine sharply turned her head towards the hand's direction. Before she knew it, she was face to face with the familiar sage colored eyes Clementine had grown to be fond of.

"Do you want me to go ahead of you? It's alright. I don't mind." Violet whispered, in a soothing way to calm Clementine's visual distress.

Shaking her head slightly, Clementine responded while turning back on her phone's flashlight. "I'll be fine. Just stay behind me, okay?"