Dying Wish

[39] Epilogue

After December 20th, 2022, the neighborhood would revert to being a quaint and quiet place. No more disastrous property damage. No more mysterious murders or disappearances. It would be a swift, albeit welcomed thing. Most would never know why. In time, those same people would try to forget. Eventually, they would succeed and question whether any of these strange events ever happened. December 20th would be the end of everything. The day they buried Gray McCarter's casket.

On that day, Alice stayed in the graveyard longer than anyone. The world was white further than the eye could see. With every passing second this became truer; the roses became dustier, as well as her clothes. Still, there she stood. Enslaved in a trance. Numb to the frost. And everything else in this world, too. How long had it been since she tasted food, beyond the ceremony of eating to keep up appearances?

More than a month would be the safe answer.

Do you want to know about that night? Very well, then.

Almost five weeks ago...

Tiny copper-colored particles floated toward the moon in a slow, painful dispersal. Alice's body trembled. Her throat let out strained whimpers. Water fell from the sky. A single tear. Hers. The droplet dripped onto the particles when they were low and still clustered above the roof. The tear clung and rose high into the air. But it couldn't rise forever, could it? In the end, there was a plop against the roof. The tiny splash flooded her insides with anguish. Surprised? Maybe you are.

After all, one might argue Alice's most astounding ability was to cradle death in her hands and beautify it. A luxury only an immortal could perform with earnest ease. She was still immortal. But that night, the night Gray McCarter's body wither to nothing, she faced the ugliness of this thing called mortality. The pain of loss and despair. There was a scream that night. A scream to end all screams.

Oh, she tried to fight the urge to belt. To be strong. It was like she was trying to stand up for all she believed. But she was fading fast. What broke her in the end was the coin in her hand. One look at it made her feel more powerless, perhaps, than she'd ever felt in her entire existence. It was her mission to protect the Death Coin, yes. But this coin had become her way of securing happiness thereafter. With him. If her thereafter was no more, then what power did this coin actually possess?

And so, the object slid from her shaking palm. Clink was the soft sound it made against the roof. There was going to be a second sound. And there was. However, no one would ever hear it. Not even her.

Because before the bouncing coin could land, Alice palmed her face and folded her forehead into her knees. The noise from her throat was so ear-bending it called forth the fury of the coin. It's true. Ashen flakes activated the object absent her touch and destruction befell everything nearby. Lucky for the living, this included only machines. A massive surge rushed through the circuitry and caused a massive malfunction.

BOOOOOM!

Red flames ignited around her panting body. The carnage was seen from the street, where a very large crowd watched a body go into the back of an ambulance. This included Hannah. The boys Kyle, Aaron and Peter. Most would forget this night. Something told those four to always remember. It was a scarring sight. A scar on their souls.

Gray McCarter's disappearance— much like the disappearance of Daphne Batch— baffled the police. Alpha cameras recorded his last known whereabouts— the stairwell. Then, nothing. An odd scramble of the footage blocked out the truth. Unrestorable. Four weeks later, without any leads or family to contact, they presumed he died in the rooftop explosion. At least that was the story the police told. Of course, a body was never recovered. The funeral would have to be a closed casket affair.

Had it been left to Alice, there never would've been a funeral. What did she know about picking a casket, a flower arrangement, printing programs or booking a cathedral? It's different being on the planning side of the process. Not necessarily sadder. Just different. I know this because there was plenty of sadness going around Alpha.

Enrollment was too small for the loss of even a single student to go unfelt. Losing Gray was like losing a member of their family, especially after this year. After he'd changed so much. After he opened up and embraced their community. Found some friends and went to stuff. Everyone was looking forward to at least two more years of this. The things they could've shared.

The school announced the details of his service. A mistake, Alice assumed. Until she thought it over. There was someone able to blink all the arrangements into existence. He hadn't collected the Death Coin yet, either. At the church. That's where He'd do it. Where else? And that was fine with her. Alice planned to give Him the Death Coin, all right.

Cars swarmed the church. Curbside, Hannah thanked her dad for dropping herself and Alice off. He agreed to wait around the corner. They would need a ride to the cemetery for the burial. This was of little interest to Alice right now. Where was she? At the base of the massive steps. Ready to meet this challenge. Though it was blasphemy, treason and insanity, all shaped into a single deplorable ball.

No one could have known the thoughts roiling inside her skull. She was a boulder in a stream of black, her will unbothered by the swift flow. Alice's neck craned up those steps. Hannah's boots scrunched through the snow to her side. Small clouds of fog pushed out her voice. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Alice replied. She stamped inside.

The toasty cathedral was unable to melt the frost from Alice's eyes. She laid those icy orbs on an easel. This photo. Hannah complimented the quality. It was of him. Dark brown bricks created a perfect backdrop. The lid of a paper cup rose toward his lips. His eyes looked to the left. Alice recognized the photo and went to speak to the one who took it.

"Excuse me," she said.

"Yes?" Linda said in the pew. Eli was on her left.

"That was his employee of the month photo. Can I have a copy?"

"A copy?"

"Please. I just realized—" she turned to the image— "I don't have a picture of him. Not one."

"We'll get it to you," Eli said.

"Thank you. "Alice then scanned. "I don't see Gary. He's not here?"

Linda shook her head. "The owner wouldn't shut down the shop. He volunteered for the shift so a small few of us could be here. He asked us to pass along his condolences. Everyone knows he and Gray never really got along. From what I'm told, they were able to have a moment."

"Yeah. At Halloween."

This news made everyone smile. Alice then went to her seat. The service was starting.

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