Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Thirty-Eight

CHAPTER THIRTY- EIGHT

LAKE

Piper's funeral took several days to be arranged because Serina had to reach out to Piper's parents back in Maine. After doing some research, Serina found out missiles had destroyed Piper's town also, killing Piper's parents. Talk about bad luck. That family seemed to have the worst. At least her parents wouldn't have to endure the heartache of losing their child. That was the only benefit.

Before the funeral ceremony, Serina gave us clothing for this occasion, fancy dresses, and suits. It was more like a black-tie event than a funeral. My dress was black, silver, and boxy. The only thing I liked about it was the frayed sleeves. The train was way too long. I didn't hesitate to cut it, so the trim fell just below my knees. Aya's dress was identical, except it was navy blue. She seemed to like it. I don't know why. Issa agreed with me. She cut hers into a long shirt and decided to wear leggings underneath it.

"It's a funeral, not a fashion show," Aya remarked as she brushed her hair.

"I know, but this material is just so itchy," Issa replied.

Rayne was lying on the couch with sunglasses and a hoodie over her dress. It looked like she trying to sleep off a hangover.

Issa pointed to Rayne. "What's that?"

"A grumpy Rayne," I joked.

"Grumpy Rayne is going to kick your butts," she said, joking back.

"Come on, we've got to go," I said.

She grunted in frustration as she rolled over on the couch and stood up. Rayne's moodiness was too much sometimes. I understood where she was coming from, but we all had our own issues to deal with. Serina expected us to act like a team, but that was difficult when some people didn't want to participate. 

"Why are we all still standing here?" Rayne asked viciously. "I thought we've got to go."

"After you, grumpy pants." I smiled and let her go before me.

The funeral was to take place at the tallest building downtown, but I thought it was an odd place for a funeral. We took a long journey to the roof of the building via the elevator. As we rode the transparent elevator, I looked up, noticing a flat circular clear disk floating in the air.

"What's that?" Aya asked pointing to the disk.

"That's where the service will take place. Once the boys arrive," Serina informed us.

We waited awkwardly in silence. I glanced over at Rayne's high tops. She had done some kind of intricate design on them with markers. It was quite beautiful, actually. I turned my attention back toward Aya, noticing that the boys had arrived. All of them were in suits. Soren stood out like a sore thumb, with his lung bushy hair un-brushed. His hair was similar to Trevor's in style, except Trevor's was brushed back neatly. I didn't mind Soren's messy hair. It was kind of refreshing.

"Great, now that we're all here, we can go up to the pillar," Serina said.

Where was the pillar? Was it the disk? Serina stepped down on a button on the disk, and the floor underneath us levitated. It was unusual.

"What if we fall off?" I asked.

Serina smiled, slightly. "You won't. There are invisible barriers protecting us."

I didn't believe her. I thought it was just something she was saying to give me peace of mind.

"You don't believe me?" Serina pointed out and walked toward the edge of the disk. She fell back, and I held my breath, expecting her body to fall down several hundred flights onto the concrete. Instead, she bounced back. It was true. There was a barrier. "See? I wasn't making it up," she spoke softly.

Strackers started to make their presence known. I was wondering when they would show up. The Strackers held an unusually shaped coffin, carrying it to the center of the room, before setting it down on the middle of the disk.

"We would appreciate it if you all would close your eyes as we open up the casket," Serina said.

"Gloriam he emortius...." A Stracker repeated.

Then he said something else in Sciusian that I could not make out.

"You may reopen you eyes," Serina said.

The first thing I did after opening my eyes was look directly at the coffin. Piper's body was inside a see-through rectangle filled with what looked like an aqua colored jelly. It too was floating above until it just hovered inches over the coffin. There were several candles outlining the coffin. Each of us were instructed to blow one out and mutter the words, "may your soul find rest."

As I took in a deep breath to blow out the flame, a strange chill came over me. Something that made each of my bones feel cold.

"Lake..." I heard an echo in my head. I blew out the candle and the echo got louder. "Lake, can you hear me?" The voice was female. It took me a second, but I recognized it. It was Piper's voice, but how? How was she communicating with me?

"I can hear you," I whispered out loud, even though I didn't mean to actually talk. "Good," she replied.

"Who killed you?" I asked, this time in my head.

"Be careful who you trust," Piper said again and then stopped speaking. What did that even me? We already knew Taylor was a traitor.

"Please step back," one of the Strackers ordered and they aligned themselves around the coffin with their hands extended out.

The body and the jelly levitated up in the air, as the Strackers chanted Sciusian phrases over and over again. It was something like I've never seen before.

Once the body was far gone, Serina turned to us. "Her body will spend twenty-four-hours in the atmosphere, so that the soul may leave the body. After the period is over, we will bury her in the cemetery in the old town," she explained to us.

After the funeral, Aya and I went to the soda fountain. She had been going on and on about it but didn't want to try it alone. We had only heard about soda fountains from history. We had similar shops back home. They served ice cream and stuff, but they were fully automated. This soda fountain had actual Sciusians working there. I ordered a shake – Sciusian green tea ice cream blended with a sugar cookie. Aya ordered a cherry soda float with coffee ice cream.

I took a sip of mine. Delicious. Then turned to Aya, "There's something I need to tell you."

Aya nodded. "Yes."

"At Piper's funeral..." I started. "I heard voices. At first, I thought I was going crazy. I thought it was just me but it wasn't."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Piper was talking to me. Like in my head," I said. "She told me to be careful of who I trust."

"Who, Tayler?" Aya asked. "We already caught her."

I shook my head. "I think it has to be someone else."

"Like who?"

"I don't know. All I know is it's one of us."

Issa rushed in panting and her forehead full of sweat.

"Oh, there you are, Aya. I have been looking all over," Issa said.

"Issa, what's up?" I asked

"I found the Architect," Issa said. "Brennan and I. We found him."

EDITED: 03/04/2020