Decemberunderground

Death is never expected. It’s never given a set day, hour, minute, or second. It’s thrust upon us like a casting net, trapping all of us in a sea of sorrow. Gathered here in this one room, were all that were trapped in the casting net. All had one thing in common. They knew the dead.

As said, death is never expected. Avery’s brother never saw it coming, and neither did anyone else. Driving down the dark streets, close to the hour of midnight isn’t necessarily a safe procedure for anyone; especially someone on a motorcycle.

A single idiot not paying attention to the signs on the road was the one thing separating Avery’s brother from life and death. Death prevailed.

Everyone questioned why he was riding his motorcycle in December, the dead of winter. Avery’s brother simply said why not. ‘Why not’ bought him a one way ticket to the valley of lifeless, cold shadows.

Avery scanned the room of everyone dressed in black. They all looked the same. Their faces were drained of all color, their eyes were dead and hollow, and their movements were slow. Everyone was stuck in the molasses of grief.

Occasionally, a comforting hand would find its way to her shoulder, rubbing circles, and followed by sympathetic eyes boring into her own. Most of the time, she shrugged it off. She wanted nothing to do with sympathies from others. She was sad, but in a way, she felt her brother deserved this.

“How are you doing?” Her best friend’s voice drifted through her ear canals.

Avery shrugged. “Fine, I suppose. Everyone has been very caring and sympathetic.”

Her friend, Hadley, nodded. “Adalynn’s here. Did you see?” Hadley pointed across the room at Avery’s brother’s girlfriend.

Avery saw her but looked past her and stared at the man she was with. “Who is that with her?” Avery asked. She examined him carefully. He was the only one in the room who looked as dark as she. He had black hair, long bangs that swooped to the side and covered half his face. The rest of his hair was cut short. He wore an all-black suit, but not a tuxedo suit. This was different. He wore makeup, which made him stand out from the crowd. His eyelashes were long, and gracing his lips was a tiny, silver ring.

“That’s Adalynn’s brother, Davey. I really don’t know why he tagged along.” Hadley admitted. “He’s really kind of strange. I’ve never heard him talk before, to anyone. He seems very reserved.”

Avery just stared at him, and couldn’t look away, even when she saw him catch her stare. He blended in with the rest of the fish caught in the net. He moved slow, and showed no other emotion.

As the crowd began to thin out, Avery looked for him. She wanted to approach him, and gain the possibility of him speaking to her. But he had disappeared, as well as his sister. She was never going to see him again.

When everyone had left the room, Avery approached the casket containing her brother’s still, frozen body. She looked down at his closed eyes, and remembered what he had told her once: Kiss my eyes, and lay me to sleep.

She elongated her neck and lowered her head into the open casket. She pressed a kiss on each of his eyelids, leaving a red mark from her lipstick. She closed the casket and turned around to see Davey standing there watching her. He had witnessed the whole thing.