1. Pilot

4.5K 56 39
                                    

Camila

"Remember ten o' clock sharp. Do you understand, Camila?" Simon's voice played once over in my mind as I stared down at my interlocked fingers. Just thinking over his words and how my body- my will, would bend under his orders, began to make my head throb. I inhaled slowly, the stale air teasing my nostrils and I did my best not to scrunch up my nose.

"Miss are you okay?" Leonardo, my chauffeur, stood at my side holding the door open, the sunlight outlining his stature.

"Yeah- yes, I am fine Leonardo. Thank you for driving me to my destination," he held his hand for me to step out of the vehicle. I took hold of it, taking one step and then another out of the long white Hummer.

"Miss, it will rain soon. Would you like a umbrella?" Leonardo eyed my outfit and then eyed the location I would soon be stepping foot. I knew it was more than the fact it was going to rain that worried Leonardo, it was the fact I was wearing white from head to toe and where I was heading to was not exactly the place the took the color so welcoming.

"No thank you, Leonardo. You can go take your break. I will call you if I am in need of your assistance." I said as I turned slowly to face the location Simon had given Leonardo.

"Yes Miss. You are welcome," Leonardo departed with a head gesture and before I knew it I stood before black steel gates. The gates were the very sign of how the environment would change once I crossed the gates. I took one step forward and eyed my surroundings. There was no one around me that I felt even remotely familiar with.

I made my way past the gates, that made me cringe as I pushed them back to get in. I wanted so badly just dash out of the place, it was unnatural for anyone like me- my kind to step in a place like this. I walked as best as I could with white pumps on on top of the uneven asphalt black path. All around me stood the permanent four sided homes of many, each labeled with a quote or phrase intimate between the home owner and those who came to visit. My eyes glanced around at the set homes I never got to rest in, I had cheated that home. I had not noticed that I had stopped walking until my nose began to get overwhelmed with the smell off decaying flowers, the watery smell of dew on the grass and most of all death.

I walked faster, keeping my ears in high alert for the familiar sound of Simon's voice. But the more I walked the more it seemed that Simon was no where to be found. The more I felt like I was hitting the heart of the cemetery, the more I felt like the atmosphere was suffocating me.

"You made it," I heard the wind carry the words away but my ears had been so keen to register them. I turned sharply to my left and with the shades I kept on, my eyes being sensitive with the sunlight lately, my eyes locked on the figure that was none other than Simon. His back was towards me, but I knew the words were meant for me. I trudged up hill, away from the asphalt path on to the grass and walking between the eerie graves.

As I reached the summit of the hill, my nose before anything else was capable of differentiating between friend and food. Just as I had been capable of registering them, they lifted their eyes from the white marble coffin for a brief moment to look at me. I kept my eyes on the white marble coffin, that had a silver plaque on the end engraved with words. I focused more on the words and I read them mentally:

"In the loving memory of the girl who loved with all her heart and was loved right back with the same intensity."

Mackenzie Daniels- Schneider

July 4, 1995 - September 3. 2013

The words seemed do pure and heart touching but I could find something in myself to be able to sympathize with the rest of those who grieved. I did not know how me coming to a funeral was going to help me in any way.

"It might help trigger memories and help you remember things," I began to recall Simon's explanation, "If it does, make sure to let me know. I need to make sure everything goes well with you. I am now the one in charge of your well being." I narrowed my eyes on the plaque trying to force myself to remember something, anything. Her name seemed familiar, but after that I just drew a blank. What did it matter now? She had died. Death had gotten a hold of her. It was human fatality. What would it help for me to remember my best friend?

"Camila, you're going to the cemetery to pay your respects to your best friend." I had crossed my arms over my chest and Simon as I remembered had not even taken a look at me before he spoke again, "And don't you sass me with 'I have amnesia, how would I know?' I'm telling you, when you actually remember all of this...you're going to regret not going." Simon had then walked away, his eyes always on something else and when landing on my own diverting his gaze. "Oh...remember ten o' clock sharp. Do you understand, Camila?" So here I was, ten o' clock sharp.

"Camila, you're on time," I felt a hand on my shoulder and I knew that I had obeyed.

*****

First Chapter of The Only Way. How do you like Camila?

The Only Way ✓Where stories live. Discover now