Jade stands along with the crowd, distracted as she watches them hum, sway and sing along to a gloomy tune; Gabriel beside her and taking a hold of her hand so that Jade knew he was there. His hand feels warm to the touch but with the way her heart beat too quickly, it could be attributed to her fingers being too cold.
She shrugs and slips her hands out of his grip, "I'm fine." she whispers quietly in his direction. Despite being surrounded by her family, her mind was somewhere far, far away from the church that she was in. It was lost and trapped in a time and place a few months ago where her life was changed forever.
"Althea? I'm home!" the woman called out as soon as she steps through the threshold, like she had always done everyday, before shrugging off her damp coat. It had been raining hard the past few days and with relentless nagging from her girlfriend, Jade finally agreed to bring a coat and umbrella with her to work.
Unsure if she had missed an answer from the woman, Jade turned left and continued into the kitchen. "I'm gonna make dinner! Any requests?" she asks before getting started with dinner. She had gotten better at cooking and was now able to make real meals that ranged from porkchops, stir-fried vegetables and even roasted chicken; most were decent but sometime she would accidentally burn them especially if Althea was being too playful.
Something about seeing Jade in the kitchen always did bring out a fun side of her. Like a kid excited to eat her favorite meal.
Whenever Jade got home and there was no food ready, Althea would almost always be exhausted from work so Jade thought nothing of the woman's absence as she cooked. When she was humming along to a song in her head and Jade reached out towards the knife rack, she noticed one of the knives missing from the inserts.
Her eyebrows crease together tightly and she looks around the kitchen for the missing knife but there was no trace of it. Restless, Jade also decided to check the living room and the table out on the balcony in case it had somehow gotten there but it wasn't.
Confused and beginning to worry, Jade stops at the foot of the stairs and calls loudly, "Althea? Are you awake?"
No answer.
"Althea!"
Her heart suddenly begins to hammer in her chest and she jogs up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time and ignoring the burn on her muscles from the sudden effort it took to fly towards the room. When she gets there, she notices the door was left ajar.
"Althea?" She voiced out before gently pushing the door open.
Before she could even get it completely open, something on the floor catches her eye. Something crimson was scattered on the floor and when she finally pushes the door open, she sees a hooded figure holding a knife--
"Jade?" Gabriel's voice yanks Jade from her memory and back to the present where people had already begun to leave the church.
She had gone through almost an hour of traditional Catholic service simply lost in her own mind and she didn't even notice.
"Hmm?" She hummed softly, her eyes meeting his in a desperate attempt to swim up from the nostalgia.
"Are you okay, shobe? You seem... distracted." concern colored his voice as Gabriel pulls Jade towards the parking lot, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Completely okay." Jade lies unconvincingly.
Gabriel nods and smiles tightly, "if you say so. If you need anything, you know you can always tell me, right? I mean, I know things are... hard... right now with Alth--" "Ahiya...!" Jade interrupts, "I'm okay. Just a lot of things on my mind."
He smiles and nudges Jade gently, "It'll be over soon and then you can move on to the next part of your life."
"Do you think they'll let me?"
The older man smiles and kisses her head affectionately, "whether or not they do has never stopped you before. You need to get out of that house, Jade. It's only holding you back."
