Epilogue

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A/N:

This is just a short Epilogue, nothing much. Kinda just gives you a last bit of information on how the characters end up in life.

Sorta ;P

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I twirled the freshly picked adonis flower in my right hand's forefinger and thumb. The red pedals of the delicate being blurring into what looked like just a simple red circle with a black centre.

After spending almost an hour at the flower shop, I had finally found the perfect flower. Its' meaning fit the situation quite well, if I do say so myself.

The edge of my toes were dampened by the freshly dewed grass as I continued walking. It was currently 9:45 a.m., the sun having finally made its full self visible from behind the trees.

I never thought I'd find myself in such a predicament, or at least not for who I was here for.

The phone call I had received last week was still fresh in my mind, the oddly calm voice of the man still causing confusion to bloom in myself. Death wasn't something to be taken lightly, but he seemed unfazed by it. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was happy.

But who would be happy about their son, my old friend's, death?

Glancing down at the carefully carved stone before me, I raised a curious eyebrow at the name; 'Timothy Gregore,' it was unfamiliar to me, nor was it who I was looking for.

I continued down three more rows before I finally spotted the letter of the last name I was looking for, 'J'.

Turning down it I kept my gaze on the tombstones. I was amazed by the variety of the tombstones, some tall and others not. There were even different colours, ranging from an almost white to near black-grey.

So much thought was put into each of these, between the little message sprawled on each one and just the structure of the stone, it was enough to put some stress on someone. If you regretted your decision later, the cost to replace it was definitely one that wasn't pretty. 

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I finally spotted the grave I was here for, the one that I didn't think I'd ever visit, nor the one I still wished to see.

Stopping in front of it, I kneeled down to get a better look at the words, but choosing to remain a few feet away from it, it didn't seem quite appropriate to basically stand on the body. Even if it was, 6 ft under.

Glancing at the small font I scoff at the supposed "meaningful" message. Who in their right mind put basically put "You're dead for a reason, we're gonna move on and not care" on someone's tombstone?

I resist the urge to shake my head and instead stand, walking beside it and carefully place the adonis on the grave.

A few white flowers were sprawled around it, their pedals detached from the stem, and their colour slightly dirty. Obviously they had been here awhile, and had witnessed the light storm a few nights ago. The wind from that very storm probably had tossed them around, resulting in their now scattered state.

Stepping away from the grave I prepared to leave, but hesitated, before sitting down in front of it once again.

"I didn't write some sappy speech, if that's what you're expecting." I felt like an idiot, talking to a dead body that I couldn't even see.

I looked down in my lap, fiddling with my fingers as I continued, "Your dad was the one to call me, about a week ago. I wish I could say he sounded upset about your ah... Current state, but he wasn't. He seemed happy almost, I never thought I'd say this but, I really pity you. To have a father who doesn't care about your death. It's supposed to be a parents worst nightmare, to outlive their kids.

"But I also don't have a speck of pity for you at the same time. I mean really, dying because you got yourself locked up in a shack for a few weeks without food or water? Could you get any dumber?"

Sighing I looked up at the sky, watching as the grey clouds slowly drifted away. The only reason, besides the fact he was my friend, I had probably been truly bothered by his death, was because I'm certain he had died in the same shack from my nightmare all those years ago.

I bit my lip and started gnawing at it, knowing I'd soon draw blood. But it was a habit, one I picked up from the very person who was lying in front of me... Underground.

"I always thought you'd be more, oh I don't know, successful in life," I reached into my satchel that was strapped onto my shoulder, having almost forgot about it, and grabbed the small yearbook hidden near the bottom.

I flicked through the pages until I reached the one I was looking for, almost instantly finding his face in the bottom right hand corner. He seemed so happy, always had a smile on his face. Who would've guessed this was his fate, at the pitiful age of a teenager, to die.

"Your life had barely begun, you just got a bunch of freedoms. And you chose to hide, hide from your problems and sneak off into a shack and to waste away with alcoholic beverages surrounding you, their fluids dancing around in your blood stream."

My head snapped up to look into the sky once again, only guessing if that was where he currently was. "Why? That's all I ask. Why." My voice had grown weak, and the tears I promised myself not to shed, were beginning to form in the corners of my eyes.

I closed the yearbook and put it back in my bag, closing it as well before standing.

"I guess this is goodbye," I didn't even recognize my voice as my own anymore, "I doubt I'll visit again, by my own freewill I mean. So I hope you have a fun afterlife, partying in heaven or down in the underworld with Hades, whatever proves to be true."

Before I could change my mind, I turned and walked back the way I came. The wind started to pick up, causing the leaves on both the trees and ground to go flying. I reached the pebble path and started down it, keeping my head down the whole way.

I reached up when I had approached the black gate, grasping the cold metal bars, before turning to my left slightly. My eyes widened at what I saw.

It was very faint, but you could most certainly see it. A thin blueish-white outline, the inside an even lighter shade, of a man stood there, a cheeky smile on his face.  His left hand was raised while moving back and forth slightly in a waving motion.

I raised my free hand and waved back, not trying to hold back the small smile that tugged at my lips or the single tear that fell down my left cheek.

The man turned and started to walk towards the cemetery again, his figure becoming more and more translucent the farther he walked. He turned down a row and approached the grave I had been at a few minutes before, pointing at it and then at himself.

His message was clear, 'That is me' I simply nodded, sucking on my bottom lip as it began to quiver. "I know," I whispered, but I knew he could hear, his smile growing ever so slightly.

He reached down and allowed his hands to graze what I assumed was the red adonis, figuring out the flowers meaning. Sad memories. Since that was all he and I really shared.

As he glanced at me one more time, he nodded ever so slightly, before disappearing completely. Would I miss him? Of course, that's why I bothered saying the three words I know he wanted to hear.

"Goodbye... Riley Jacobs."

And I walked out through the gate, not turning back once.

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