Status: Completed.

Far from Home.

Slaving To The Grind.

Emily drew in a deep and shaky breathe as she clipped her necklace around her neck. She couldn't bring herself to look in the mirror, knowing that even with the make up, she probably still looked like a terrible mess.

She had opted for a simple black dress with nylons to match. There was nothing special about how she looked today. Her hair hung straight down just an inch or two below her shoulder blades.

Even though it had cost her a little more, the funeral was a very private, very small little thing. Emily made sure that no one else other than the funeral workers, a pastor, and Brian were in attendance. If it was up to her, she'd bury Lucy herself so that way it could just be her and Brian, because no one knew Lucy like they did.

It felt wrong to have other people in attendance, other than themselves. No one was close to Lucy in the sense that they deserved to see this mournful thing.

"Em," Brian quietly whispered as he came up behind her. He set a hand on her waist, looking at her through the mirror infront of them. With his other hand, he tilted her chin up and she met his gaze,"Are you ready?"

She turned around and looked up at Brian, hugging him tightly. "No. But I guess I really don't have a choice."

"Lucy needs to be laid to rest, baby. And I doubt she'll be able to live peacefully without us bidding her farewell." Brian kissed her head, rubbing her back. Something that he'd been doing a lot, lately.

Emily dabbed at her makeup, trying to wipe her tears away without smudging her eyeliner and mascara. She straightened herself up and kissed Brian's cheek, leaving a red lipstick print. A small smile made it's way to her face as she grabbed some toilet paper and wiped at the red stain.

"I love you." She whispered softly as she tossed away the crumple, and grabbed his hand,"C'mon. Let's go show our babygirl that we love her, too."

Brian squeezed her hand as they both made their way out to the car. Emily made sure to grab the pink and yellow hibiscus flower bouquet that they'd purchased for her funeral.

The ride to the cemetery was just a little over an hour long. Once again, Emily had paid extra just to have the funeral home meet them at the cemetery instead of getting their police escort. She wanted something private and just for them.

Emily had to stay in the car for a while longer before she collected herself as best as she could. With Brian's arm secured tightly around her, they both walked to the burial site of their daughter.

The pastor gave a lovely sermon, even though he probably said the same thing at each one, it also made Emily's heart soften up.

When the words "May she rest in peace, and dwell in the loveliness of the afterlife" escaped his mouth, the tears poured from Emily's eyes, and quiet sobs escaped her lips. She didn't hold them in - She wanted Lucy to see just how much she loved her, and just how much she would miss her.

Brian had finally given in. This was the moment he feared, burying his only child. His perfect little baby girl. He let his tears flow and allowed the quiet choked gasps to be heard.

Emily was far too gone to bring herself to move her feet. Brian tightened his grip and made her move forward - Helping her throw the bright flowers ontop of her coffin.

"I love you, baby." Brian barely heard the almost inaudible words from his fiance. He squeezed her and kissed her forehead, before repeating the same words to his daughter as the coffin was lowered. The lively flowers seemed to almost grow dark and dull when they touched the top of Lucy's coffin. Could they be as upset as Brian and Emily were?

The couple stayed at the burial site until Emily's eyes began to droop shut. She'd cried so much, she was nearly drained of energy.

Brian smiled softly and picked her up, carrying her to the car. He set her in the passengers seat, not bothering with her seatbelt, and carefully drove home at a slow thirty miles per hour.

Due to the reduced speed, they had arrived home two hours later. It was just around nine o'clock at night, and Brian fiddled with the key and doorknob, trying to open the door. The fact that Emily was fast asleep in his arms wasn't really helping. But he wouldn't dare wake her up. It'd been a long and hard day for her.

When he finally got the door open, Brian let out a sigh of relief, and kicked it shut behind him. He placed Emily into their bed, carefully removing her shoes. He left her in her dress, jewelry and make up, afraid that if he tried to get those off, she would wake up and begin the waterfall of tears.

He was too worn out to deal with that, right now. As heartless as it sounded, he wanted some rest. He wanted to dwell in his emotions and try to get over them quickly.

As much as he loved Lucy and cared for her, she was in a better place. He couldn't be hung up on her, forever. As soon as her killer was caught, however, he'd be high on the one emotion he hadn't felt in a while. Anger. He'd beat the hell out of the son of a bitch who defiled his daughter and took her life away.

Maybe he'd end his life, too - An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Hammurabi's code might've been created hundreds of years ago, but it was one of the few things from that time that made absolute sense to him.

He'd get whatever Brian gave him.

Brian closed the door behind him as quietly as he could and made his way to the kitchen. Emily hadn't let him keep alcohol in the house when Lucy was around, and Brian understood that entirely. Lucy was adventurous. She liked to move around and open anything - If she found the alcohol and drank it, Brian would've never forgave himself.

But ever since her passing, Brian had spent half of his paychecks - The ones he saved up for Lucy's fifth birthday present - on booze. He never got too drunk, just buzzed. Enough to help him forget about his problems and sleep.

Tonight would be another one of those nights. He grabbed a bottle from the back of the cabinet near the fridge. It was rum. Not something that Brian would've usually turned to, but he was too lazy to dig any deeper. Rum was strong, and he would surely fall asleep faster than usual. He poured a tall glass of the alcohol, before deciding to grab the bottle.

He sat back on the couch, his head tilted back as he emptied the cup down his throat. The rum tasted a little bitter to him, he nearly gagged but he forced his taste buds through it.

Just barely forty minutes later, Brian was seeing double. The glass that he had fell onto the floor just about ten minutes ago, surprisingly not breaking. He clutched the bottle tightly in his fingers, letting his eyes droop shut.

For once, sleep didn't come quickly to him. He couldn't count how many times he opened and closed his eyes, trying to force the sandman to pay him a visit.

"God fucking damn it," He growled, putting the bottle to his lips.

It was empty.

With an elongated and aggravated sigh, Brian stood back up, tossing the bottle into the trash. It broke and he whipped around, eyes focused on the hallway. He stared for along ten minutes but Emily never came into sight.

"Thank Christ," He ran a hand through his hair and went back to the booze cabinet, grabbing another random bottle. It was a bottle he'd been saving for something a little more... Celebratory.

Horilka - Russian Vodka. It was one of those alcoholic beverages that was produced with different amounts of alcohol. There were the weaker produces, the 20% alcohol produces and the 40% produces. Much to Brian's luck, at the moment, he'd gotten his hands on the 40%.

"If I'm not fucking sleeping like a baby in twenty minutes, I'm going down to the god damn bar." He loosened his tie, before tossing it onto the recliner, and sat back down on the couch. He turned the bottle over in his hands, his liver nearly screaming at him to stop the abuse,"I need this. I so fucking need this."

And without another thought, Brian uncapped the bottle and drank it - The liquid burning the holy hell out of his throat. He could've sworn he felt it hitting his stomach, the liquid from the alcohol colliding with his already churning stomach acid.

The action was ugly.

Brian stood up, dropping the bottle onto the couch. It spilled all over the cushions and dripped onto the floor, but that was the least of his worries. He ran towards the sink, holding back his vomit, but he didn't make it. He stopped in the middle of the kitchen and bent over, bracing himself on his knee's. The vomit burned his mouth coming out, just as bad as the alcohol had burned going in.

A string of curses left his mouth once the vomit took a quick two second break, before he retched again. His vomit was an ugly brown color - It came out from his nostrils, now, too.

What felt like an hour later, almost, but was only several minutes later, Brian stopped vomiting. He felt so weak and so helpless. With a grunt, Brian collapsed into his own vomit; He felt beyond pathetic. He picked his head up just enough to glance down the hallway.

It was a dream - He knew it was.

His eyes had portrayed Lucy in her pale blue nightgown, rubbing her eye. She had Jangles in her right arm and was clutching him tightly to her as she looked down at her father.

"Daddy? What are you doing?"

Brian grew rigid. He knew this was just his drunken mind playing tricks on him, but he didn't know his shit face state of mind could give him a hallucination this real. "I-I-I..." He trailed off, blubbering.

"Daddy, you look like a mess."

He tried to push himself up but ended up falling right back into his vomit.

Lucy shook her head."Oh, daddy. What happened to you?"

"Baby girl-"

"Jangles doesn't like you, right now. He said that you're nothing but a drunk. What's that mean? Jangles won't tell me what it means... He just said that I'm better off not around you, anymore."

Brian almost shouted 'Fuck Jangles!' but he composed himself. Jangles was right. He was a drunk. Lucy was right. He was a mess.

"You know, daddy, I miss you. And I miss mommy, too. But it's so pretty where I am. Everything's white and bright. I've made a bunch of new friends up here, and I even have someone taking care of me. He likes to play with me and Jangles, and he said he knows you."

"Jimmy?" Brian asked, staring at his daughter.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, daddy. He's really crazy but he's really funny. He helped me get here to you. But he also said that it was a good idea to tell you that I love you and I'm okay. I'm happy. He said you needed to hear that. I didn't know why at first... But now, I think I do." Lucy scanned the scene of the kitchen and living room.

"Baby, Lucy-"

Once again, Brian was cut off. "Daddy, I have to go. But before I do, I love you and I miss you a bunch. And I think Jangles does too, even if he's mad at you. Tell mommy I love her too, okay? And that I miss her. But I'm okay where I am, now. Bye, daddy."

And just like that, she disappeared. Brian blinked several times before the tears rolled down his face. They weren't tears of sadness, no, not anymore. They were tears of acceptance.

The hallucination he'd just had... He needed that. He needed to know that Lucy was okay, and it warmed his heart to an unbelievable state of comfort that she was happy, and that Jimmy was taking care of her.

Even after passing on, Jimmy was still proving he was a good man, that he was indeed Brian's best friend. Out of nowhere, Brian suddenly felt a little stronger. He was able to get himself up onto his own two feet. He walked to the kitchen and wet a dishcloth, wiping up his vomit. With a bleached mop, Brian cleaned the floors to a new level of perfection.

He picked up the empty alcohol bottles and wiped up the spills, scrubbing the stain out of the cushions.

Brian stopped infront of his alcohol cabinet and stared at it for a long moment, before he grabbed every single bottle, tossing it into the trashcan. "I'm done. I'm done being a slob, Lucy, I'm so sorry. I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm sorry. I love you, and I miss you, too. Tell Jimmy that I love him and that I miss him too - And tell him that I said thank you. You treat him like your daddy, okay? He's my best friend and one of the best people you'll ever meet. I promise I'll get the man who did this to you. He'll pay for what he did. I swear on my life, baby girl."

With a quiet sniffle, Brian grabbed a bottle of water and dissolved an alca-seltzer into it, downing it to the very last drop. Instead of the couch, he opted for the recliner and quickly fell asleep with a giant smile on his face, for once.
♠ ♠ ♠
This chapter wasn't really what I planned out.
But, hey, it came out the way it did.
And I'm very glad, because I like this chapter a lot better than my original idea.
Sorry for the lack of updates, I tend to procrastinate out of habit a lot.
But I hope to hopefully update another chapter today.
No promises.
Comments are always welcome! xx