Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 17-1

On that morning, the sun was shining on the cemetery with such intensity that my eyes could hardly get used to the light again. An atmosphere of calm and peace reigned in that place, emptied of any population at that time of the day. I closed my eyes for a moment as if to better appreciate the heat that spread over my skin. It had been almost twelve days since we had returned to Los Angeles, and it was still difficult for us to find our routines again. I watched my two friends on the other side of Victoria's grave. Asarys wore a red bandana around her head and frantically chewed gum. I frowned when my eyes dropped to her ripped jeans and her mid-high boots with a metal sole and the lacing cord that passed through it.

"Are you sure this was all necessary?" I asked hesitantly.

"What?" retorted Lexy, annoyed, staring at me from behind her little round sunglasses with orange lenses. "Victoria wanted a more rock 'n' roll burial, right?"

I crossed my arms, looking up and down.

"Your leather jacket under this overwhelming heat, as well as the fake ring in your nose, isn't it...isn't it a little too much?"

"No, it's rock!" she replied, clicking her tongue.

I turned my head to Asarys, who resumed chewing her gum while glaring at me. Exasperated by their sassy biker looks, I rolled my eyes, then pulled my phone out of my pants pocket for the hundredth time.

"Still no calls or texts?" Lexy asked me, who seemed sorry for me.

Disappointed, I shook my head and pursed my lips.

"Maybe he needs time," Asarys tried to reassure me. "You two almost died there. It's not nothing, and then there must be a mountain of things to settle with the city authorities as well as the FBI. "

"Yes, well, a text costs nothing!" replied Lexy abruptly, placing her hands on her hips.

"You're right, his silence is unbearable. I really need him right now. L.A has become peaceful again, we finally have a truce. Why is he ignoring me like this? He and Ray no longer talk. I don't know if his change in behavior towards me is because of that."

"Go see him tonight at the loft and ask for an explanation," suggested Asarys.

"That's what I planned to do. Okay, let's continue the ceremony!"

"Come on, dude, blow us up!" Lexy exclaimed to the young man standing at the base of the grave.

The guitarist, with his face pierced by numerous piercings and dressed in leather, took a deep puff on his cigarette before switching on a machine that served as an amplifier, which he plugged into his instrument. The rocker then made his electric guitar resonate throughout the cemetery with the famous sound of Joan Jett's, "I Love Rock 'N Roll," accompanied by Lexy and Asarys, who began to sing the words of the famous song loudly. At the chorus, I allowed myself to be carried away, too, forgetting for an instant the pain that howled in the bottom of my heart.