Forgotten

Prologue

The harsh wind whipped my hair across my face as I stood staring straight ahead without actually seeing. Unknown faces came up to me to offer their condolences and such, telling me they were there for me and they felt horrible, but I didn't feel their warmth or empty promises. It felt as though my body was covered with a layer of frost that was never going to thaw, my body was so used to being cold that I didn't even notice the freezing rain pelting my skin.

The people who weren't offering their "sincerest apologies" just offered me strange looks. I guess it had to do with my lack of tears. Most people would be shedding at least a tear if not more if they were in my position, right? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't squeeze out a single drop; I was simply dried out.

My arms hung limply at my side and I watched as water droplets soaked the fresh mounds of earth. An irony taste began to fill my mouth and I realized that I had been biting my lip. I didn't mind though, I welcomed the pain. At least it was a feeling. Anything is better than this emptiness; I'm as hollow as those Easter bunny chocolates without the sweet covering.

"Katerina?" My eyes slowly looked up to the plump woman in front of me. She was shorter than me and had a pear like figure. Her face was shrouded with a black hat covered in a matching veil; little black roses decorated the hat in a circle around the top. Through her veil you could see only a couple of her features. Her plump cheeks caused her eyes to squint and her thin lips were stuck in a forced closed-mouth smile. Her overly plucked eyebrows were creased together, feigning concern. Her body was adorned with a black knee length dress that was too tight around her waist, the fabric straiened to make it around her stomach and looked as though it was extremely stretched out. The dress came up to her collarbone and ended in a white frill around the collar. Her black sheer sleeves ended around her hands, which were covered in a silky fabric. Her legs were hidden in black tights and she had her feet tucked away in black chunky boots.

I blinked at her unable to form a proper response; I couldn't even part my lips. She pursed together her thin lips, making them look nonexistent, for not responding. "We must be going now." My eyes continued to stare at her for a couple more seconds and then went back to their original spot. She let out a sigh of exasperation and started to mutter. I heard the faint sound of buttons being pressed and the clicks of her pointy fingernails. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this. You need to come get her. She needs her family and whatever you're doing can wait. I don't care, she won't speak to me, or anyone else for that matter, and you might as well try. I expect you to be here in the next 10 minutes, if you're not we'll go back and discuss these custody agreements." She snapped her phone shut and rustled around with something.

The soft thuds of her feet followed her as she walked away leaving me alone. My eyes focused on the grey stones in front of me and read the engravings: 'Rick Lopez: 1972-2013',  'Jackie Lopez: 1977-2013', and 'Liam Lopez: 2006-2013'. I should be next to them; I shouldn't be out here looking at their graves, my place was along side them; it will always be.  

"Hey Rina," A familiar voice called my attention and I lazily turned my head over to them. A man in dark jeans and a light blue button up shirt was standing under a large black umbrella without a single drop on him. His shirt clung to him but it still fit, wasn't too small or too big. His head was balding but shaved down so that you could clearly see his scalp, though you could see little black dots that went around his head completely missing the top. His face looked extremely aged, his mouth was surrounded by wrinkles along with his eyes and his forehead. Through all this his eyes still contained this boyish gleam to them. He smiled at me showing off the small gap between his two front teeth. He looked at what I was staring at and nodded, one for every stone, and pulled a black newspaper cap from behind him to place on his head. "It's time to go now sweetie." My uncle tried to coax me towards him.

Like the social worker, I ignored him and went back to staring at what used to be fresh dirt, now it was a deep black and was seeping down. The rain's attack halted and I looked up to see what was covering me, a black plastic barrier against the water was shielding me and my uncle stood to my side holding it over me; he made sure to keep himself completely underneath it so my right shoulder and on was still getting soaked. "It's time to leave now." He repeated in a much more forceful voice. His large arm wrapped around my thin frame and he forced me to turn around and walk with him.

It felt as though I had a ball and chain around my ankles, my feet were heavy as I reluctantly trudged along with him to his sleek black car. He opened my door for me and waited for me to get in, the seats made a weird sound as my wet body sat. After I was nestled into my seat he made his way around to his side and got in. His bony fingers turned the ignition and the car roared to life, at the sound of his engine purring he turned to me and flashed me a toothy grin, "Ready to go?"

I kept my lips sealed shut and just stared at him; under my hard stare he looked around awkwardly and sucked on his teeth. "Alright, let's go." He muttered.

How can he be so happy? His sister was buried behind us, along with his nephew, and he's acting as if this is some normal outing. As if something traumatic hadn't happened. As if my life hadn't come crashing down around me.

He pulled the car away from the curb and began our journey down to my new home. The windshield was being pelted with water and the hard sound of the rain was the only thing filling the silence. I felt his gaze on me but I couldn't meet it, the only thing I could look at was the rear-view mirror. The reflection showed my family's final resting spot becoming smaller and smaller until it had disappeared on the horizon.

No matter how much I tried to convince myself, I was still there with them at that cemetery. My soul would always be buried along with them; until I could meet them again I'll only be an empty shell waiting to be reunited with them.

A/N:

New story I'm thinking about doing, it's definatley going to be different then my other two stories. So tell me what you guys think and if you'd be interested in reading it!