Chapter 8. Gray Skies

It was the day of the funeral.

I had spent the past two days holed up in my bedroom, only leaving to check up on Echo and to allow her to stretch out her wings.

The skies were gray and cloudy, a stark difference from the past couple of days which had bright blue skies and sunny days.

It was hard to feel sad about the death of my family. Unlike the way I easily got along with my pet owl, the dead Audric clearly didn't like his family very much.

With the way they treated him, I couldn't even blame him.

The sky darkened further as I got dressed in the three-piece suit that my Aunt had gotten for me.

The cufflinks had the crest of my family which was a crow with green eyes, it looked ominous.

I wasn't too nervous but I decided to skip breakfast simply because it was weird to eat before going to a funeral where my entire family would be getting buried in.

I had no idea who would be attending the funeral. I doubted that any of my living relatives would be interested in showing up to the funeral of a family that had shamed their name.

If anything, I was more nervous about how we would be getting to the funeral grounds.

Aunt Vannessa showed up quite early, dressed in suffocatingly black clothes. I was dressed the same too so I couldn't complain.

I wanted to complain though about the fact that I was trussed up in a three-piece suit. 

I was going to watch what was left of my family get buried six feet in the ground, why did I have to be dressed like I was receiving some important award?

She also came in a black car, it was an old model but clearly very expensive for its time.

Aunt Vannessa said little to me which was fine with me, I had no idea what to say either.

We both got into the back seat of the car.

She was dressed in an overflowing black dress that trailed as she walked, with a thin black lace veil covering her eyes, her pointy hat keeping it in place.

I thought my outfit was weird but I had less to say after she showed up.

A solemn-looking man in a black overcoat and a top hat drove the car. Aunt Vannessa said nothing to him so I kept quiet as well.

The funeral was held in a mystical-looking grove, a small wooded area surrounded by sprawling fields.

 There were other graves around so I guessed that this belonged to the Albeline family.

When we arrived, the sky was overcast and threatening to rain. I wasn't sad but it reminded me too much of how I died.

"Audric, have this." My Aunt offered me a black umbrella which I gratefully collected.

I should have thought ahead and gotten one before I even left the Manor, it would suck to get soaked through in the three-piece suit I had on.

"Thank you, Aunt." I muttered, stepping out of the back seat after she did.

That was the most we spoke to each other for the entire ride. I didn't need to be able to see her face to know that her face was puffy and pale from crying.

I couldn't blame her, my mom was her only sister, she might have not approved of her life choices but she still loved her.

There were already people dressed in black standing around the freshly dug graves.

I couldn't recognize any of them, it was a little hard because they all had hats and scarves on, obscuring their features.

The people gathered around were only a handful, barely 20 of them. It stung even though I knew the reason why.

The people they had affiliations with were not only the cause of their deaths but they wouldn't have cared to attend their funerals.

I was talking like I was any better off. I wondered how many people would attend my funeral back in my world.

My mom and sister knew lots of people so there would probably be a sizable amount of sympathizers.

Death brought people together so my old friends would definitely show up, regret and disappointment hidden behind sympathetic expressions.

I was glad not to be there. I choked back laughter at my senseless thoughts, there was no way I could attend my own funeral.

My Aunt standing beside me took this as me silently crying and moved closer to me, giving me a side hug in a bid to comfort me.

I almost felt bad. Almost, it was better for her if she thought she was helping me out anyway.

The funeral progressed quickly like the people attending couldn't wait to leave.

My Aunt finally let me go to step forward to make a speech. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach.

I wouldn't be asked to make a speech, right? No one told me anything about giving a speech at the funeral of three strangers I barely knew.

Fortunately, after Aunt Vannessa finished her long and tear-filled speech, it was time to put the coffins in the freshly dug earth.

Only a couple of other people had given speeches, I paid no attention to them because it was evident from their speeches that their relationship with my dead parents was distant at best.

All of them really had nothing to say and were done as soon as they began.

The coffins were levitated down the holes, one at a time.

I was relieved that I wasn't asked to say goodbye to them one last time before they were dropped down, I didn't want nightmares.

I stepped forward with Aunt Vannessa however to pour in the first handfuls of dirt in each grave.

We were the only relatives present, the rest were friends of Aunt Vannessa and work colleagues of my dad.

Soon the coffins were all covered up, the holes in the earth filled neatly to the brim.

The only things left were the pure white marble gravestones sticking out of the earth, like sore thumbs.

A moment of silence was announced to pay respects to the dead. It was indeed silent for a minute or two and then lightning flashed across the sky, heralding a loud rumble of thunder.

Almost instantly, it started to rain. It was so abrupt that it caused a ruckus amidst the well-prepared funeral guests.

There were squeals and yelps as everyone hurried to open up their umbrellas. They tried to resume the moment of silence but nature had interrupted and ruined it, almost like it was against paying respects to my dead family.

The rain stopped as soon as it had started, the sky returning to heavy hanging gray clouds like there hadn't been a torrent of rainfall mere moments ago.

The funeral ended even faster, almost everyone walking away as soon as they were allowed to.

Only a couple of people approached us, Aunt Vannessa's closest friends who only mumbled some vague words of sympathy to me before avoiding me entirely.

They probably only talked to me because Aunt Vannessa asked them to.

The only person that held a conversation with me was my father's secretary.

Dirk Baldric.

A hunched-over, balding Wizard that looked like he was anywhere from 40 to 70 years old.

His thinning hair was a dark brown and his beady, milky brown eyes stared at me as he earnestly sympathized over the death of my entire family.

"I am deeply sorry for your loss, young Master Audric." His voice was scratchy and unpleasant to the ears. "It is terrible that you had to lose your memory due to your tragedy." He sighed tragically at this moment.

I just couldn't help wondering why the hell he would bring that up.

"If you have any questions or inquiries, don't hesitate to ask me. Your father put me in charge of the family's finances so you don't need to worry about that now, just concentrate on your school work…"

For someone who looked like he was an intern to be a grim reaper he sure talked a lot.

I nodded and said the right things, shaking Secretary Baldric's hand before he left.

The man was a walking red flag. Firstly, I was now wary of people who referred to me as 'Young Master Audric'.

Secondly, how did he know that I lost my memories? That information was quite private, I doubted my Aunt would tell him.

Thirdly, he made sure to remind me that my dad put him in charge of the family's cash, straight up telling me not to meddle.

I wouldn't, not because I gave any fucks about his opinions but because I was currently too busy and under-equipped to deal with the family's investments and finances which basically fell to me as the only surviving member.

I planned to keep an eye on him though, just like Malark he was going on my watchlist.

///Author's Note///

+ please vote with power stones to support the author.

+ join the discord server as well

https://discord.gg/x9Z6FTuP8h