The Starling Saviour

Chapter 25

The atmosphere at the gym was drab as we grew to accept the fact that Isaac had passed. It felt too surreal, as if it was all a dream. But it was all real.

The funeral was a small affair, but many came to pay their respects. We tried to keep it quiet, but we soon realised that Isaac had touched many lives in Starling. Not only his colleagues from Queen Consolidated were there, but the Queen and Lance family were too, Tommy by their side, holding Laurel's hand, as if they were in... Love.

'Isaac was... A brilliant friend,' I spoke at the altar, fighting my tears through the eulogy. 'He taught me many things; resilience, bravery, and confidence. I'd known Isaac ever since I was at university, and although we drifted apart for a while, we were reunited once again through this city.'

Looking up at the mourners, I found my faith in numbers. They all were here to remember Isaac, and rightly so - although they didn't know it, Isaac had helped them all so much and defended their city; when Laurel had been followed by a gang after visiting the SCPD, Isaac had joined me and Ted in fighting the group off before they could even touch Laurel. When Queen Consolidated had been under ambush, Isaac had risked life and limb to save the infrastructure of the company. And now he had fallen because of one, stupid drug dealer.

'I'm sorry,' I cried, running out of the church.

It was too overwhelming. I couldn't cope. I had never been to a funeral before, and my first one was too upsetting for me to stay up there. At least Merlyn hadn't been there to rub it in my face.

Oh wait, he was.

It was like he was trying to make fun of us, imposing the sanctuary of the church with his presence. Putting my head down and trying to ignore him, I concentrated on remembering the good times I had with Isaac, no matter how many bad incidents we had experienced together. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

The funeral was soon over, and the congregation joined me outside as they proceeded out. Many people approached me to give me some indication that they were sorry for me, but I knew they were just doing this out of politeness.

'I'm sorry for your loss, Aria,' Tommy said as it was his turn to pay his respects.

'Is that all you've got?' I muttered quietly, but Tommy clearly could hear me.

'I'm sorry, Aria, but I hardly knew the guy,' Tommy said, slightly annoyed but trying to keep calm. 'I came because of you. To support you.'

'Fair enough,' I said monotonously. 'But Tommy, why are you realIy here? You must have a reason other than that.'

'I don't know how else to say this,' Tommy started seriously, more serious than he had ever been. 'Ollie's still alive.'

'Oliver's dead,' I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

'How do you know?' Tommy hissed under his breath. 'He only went missing. The other day I got an alert from Oliver's email account. He's alive, Aria. I know it.'

'Someone could've hacked into his account!' I exclaimed quietly as we walked to a hidden part of the church grounds. 'Just to mess with you. You can't fall for that.'

I wanted to tell Tommy why I knew Oliver was dead, but I couldn't. Those memories from the island were still too painful for me to relive, and mourning more than one friend in a day was too much for me to handle.