Made of Ice

Chapter 16 - Yet another goodbye

Another funeral. Another goodbye. Another day of mourning. Would Madison ever find closure? Would she ever stop feeling grief?

She felt her stomach curl up inside her as she put on her funeral dress. Today she would say goodbye to another friend of hers. Jade Miller.

She was one of the quieter ones in the group. But as she has since come to learn, Jade wasn't innocent. None of them were. That's why they're dead. And soon she would be too.

She felt that death was at her doorstep. Waiting for her. Madison wondered what people would say at her funeral. If anyone would say good things about her. Or if anyone would speak at all.

As she glided down the stairs, Liam was waiting in the hallway for her, dressed in a black suit. He looked sexy as ever. His face was full of worry and fear. But his eyes instantly lit up and a glow bounced off of him when he saw Madison. He smiled sadly at her.

"Thanks for being here." She told him, thankfully.

"Of course." He replied and they left the house, heading for the church in the middle of town.

The church was packed full of people. Madison and Liam sat near the front next to their friends. All dressed in black, they sat waiting to say goodbye to yet another friend.

Another person they had all known since kindergarten. Each one of them wondered if their fate would be the same as Jade's. And how long it would be before they were dead.

The vicar stood at the front and everyone quietened down, and the room quickly fell silent.

Madison felt heavily in her heart that this was far from over. How many friends did she need to say goodbye to, before it was her turn to die?

Her mind fell silent as the vicar spoke. "When tragedy arises in a small town like this, it's important that we come together to mourn. And to remember that we are here together. And we are alive. Jade Miller's life ended too soon. She had a whole future ahead of her. Her parents informed me that she had plenty of scholarships offered to her. Please, to the young people in this room right now, know that your future is everything. Don't let your dreams be taken away from you and don't let yourself give up on them. Jade Miller was never able to follow her dreams. But you still can. Do it for you. Do it for Jade."

Madison could sense a connection with every single person in the room. They all felt hopeful of the future but also fearful of it. She did, at least.

"I see that many of Jade's friends are here today." The vicar continued.

Madison could feel a little spotlight on her whole row as several people glanced at them.

"Things may seem hard right now. It may feel like things are impossible and the pain of losing Jade may never go away. But I promise you it will. Leave your past behind and look to the future and I promise you, you will find hope. And one day find peace."

The vicars speech resonated so strongly with Madison, that even after the funeral service was over, she found herself still sitting in the church pew.

Unable to move and so lost in thought, that she didn't notice Grace take a seat next to her.

"I miss how smart and how loyal she always was." Grace spoke softly.

"She was one of a kind, wasn't she?" Madison replied, staring at the front of the church where Jade's coffin was.

"Do you think that if we never met each other, none of this would've happened?" Grace asked her.

Madison thought about Lexi. How they all met in kindergarten but how mostly connected her and Lexi had been when she was little.