Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 16: Aqua

Aqua's grandma sat in the living room, knitting and listening to her granddaughter's cries fill the empty house. Her heart broke for Aqua. If only she could take away her pain... She glance down at her palm and made it into a fist. She fought the idea of telling Aqua, but always convinced herself otherwise.

She looked at a picture of her son and granddaughter that laid on the kitchen counter. She put her knitting down and put the frame face down so she didn't have to see it anymore. Her son was dead. She gulped down a sob and returned to the rocking chair. "Be strong for Aqua." She whispered to herself. Her poor granddaughter, she lost her mother and now her father. How much more suffering will she have to go through? She knew with the curse she has, so much more.

Another set of wails came from Aqua's room which brought tears to her own eyes. She couldn't take this anymore. She knew soon, very soon, she would have to tell Aqua the truth.

I laid on my bed, sobbing. The sorrow I was facing seemed to squeeze my heart, making it hard to breath. I kept replaying the scene in my head. I watched my father's dead body hit the ground and the blood seep from the hole in his head. I watched the doctors pull me away from him as I screamed. But the scariest thing, was that my father's eyes glowed red and something like stitches snaked up his back. I shuttered just thinking about it. I blew my nose into a tissue and then threw it in the general direction of the trash, not caring if it missed. "Oh, Aqua!" I jumped at the sound of my grandma's voice. She stepped over the giant mountain of used tissues and sat down on my bed next to her. "Grandma, what am I going to do?" I sobbed into her shirt and she rubbed my back. My lip trembled and I let the tears flow down my face. I'm pretty sure snot was mixed with my tears as well which now makes me want to barf just thinking about it. "Exactly what you did when mom died. Take it one day at a time." She said softly. I blinked away the tears and swallowed the giant lump in my throat. "Can I go to the ocean?" I whispered. Grandma laughed. "Of course my dear, you always were a water baby." That brought up sad memories of my dad. But I quickly pushed them away. I need to move on.

The day of the funeral was just plain old brutal. I stood in my black, lacy dress with gray flats on my feet, and gave my speech about my dad. My Aunts and Uncles were all there, my grandpa died many years ago so he's not here, obviously. "My dad was the hardest working man I ever knew." I started. I looked out at the small crowd and then at the blue sky. If you listened hard enough, you could hear the faint roar of the ocean. "When my mom died a while back, he took on another job to provide for me." I took a shaky breath. "Even though he was sad, I always knew he loved me and cared for me. And it really showed." I said, closing my eyes. The vision of my dad's body hitting the polished floor sent shivers up my spine. "He didn't deserve the fate he got. He should've lived so much longer. But we don't always get what we want, he taught me that." I paused. "I love you dad." I stepped away from the crowd and took my seat. My family clapped and people cried. Then we buried him. I watched sadly as they lowered his body into the ground and then I picked up a handful of dirt. I threw it on top of the casket and whispered a promise that I won't even tell you. I backed up and held onto my grandma. She hugged me. "This will all end soon." She said as she kissed my forehead. God, I hope so.