Beginning after the End

-PART FOUR-

She's only five years old and unaffected by death. A little innocent light that brings so much joy. But that will soon change and I hate it.

"Hey, why are they burying my Knight? he can't make those thrilling articles in the ground! Stop!" she screams. The people who weren't already crying allowed tears to drip down their faces. "Stop it!" She screams, tears streaming down her face. "Why he's lying on that ugly bed! Stop!"

Unexpectedly, Lock bends down and hugs Gray. "Gray, she's going to sleep." Lock whispers, "Don't be so loud or you'll wake him." Gray cuddles Lock and wails. He strokes her hair and her back lovingly. That just overpowers me.

We stood at the front of the funeral. Everyone's heads were down. Maybe it was them showing respect of maybe there were too afraid to look at what was coming. The coffin was pulled from its specialize case by a white mighty stallion.

His own stallion.

The silence dwelled as it entered the church. A six good-looking men wearing black suits pulled out Drain's coffin from its case. It wobbled as they carried it to the front and gently placed it down. The coffin was dark bloody stained cherry and it was perfectly polished. It had a golden cushioned and silky lining. It seemed inviting. It was good to know that at least my Drain was resting in a comfortable place. I held Gray's shaky hand the whole time. She wiped tears onto her sleeve and rested on Lock's chest. I kept it together until they passed a picture of him to everyone and that's when all the memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. His face seemed so alive and happy and I couldn't help but wonder what he looked like under that closed wooden box. I stared blankly at it hoping that a miracle would happen and he would rise again and come back to the world, come back to us.

But nothing happened.

he was gone.

It's crazy how things can turn upside down for you. You see the person every day and suddenly, they're gone and when they go, a part of you goes with them too. Who knew where he was going to end up if there even was a heaven. I liked to believe that the place is inviting and calm and there's nothing but good in it.

I start crying loudly causing a chain reaction in the small group. Soon everyone who loved my Drain are sobbing uncontrollably. I walk up to the makeshift stage and begin my little speech,

"Knight-drain Pendelton Chase. Closest called him Knight and others called him Pendelton, but I prefer calling him Drain. My drain was kind and didn't hesitate to help someone in need. His helpful spirit got him into multiple trouble but I don't think he ever regretted any. I-" I pause clearing my throat from the tears, "I always telling him that… that one time his goodness will kill him… and… uhh… it happened" I pause because I could taste the bitterness of my own tears, "I won't ever let him out my heart, he will stay in here in peace. I love you, my Drain… always" I place my hand on my heart. My tears soaking the dress I'm wearing.

"Don't cry sister! brother is just asleep," she cries trying to make me happier. I give her a sad smile and nod while walking off the mini so-called stage. Slowly his coffin gets lowered into the hole. The closest relatives take turns with the spade, covering him inch by inch with dirt.

Bye my Drain. I will miss you...

"Stop the fucking drama!" everyone stops their sobbing and cries though there's a little noise coming from everyone specially to Gray. The people immediately turn a gaze to the direction where the voice came from.

Mr. and Mrs. Richardson

Mr. Chase manage to stand and go to their directions but Mrs. Richardson pull a gun from her pocket.

"Those Psychopaths" I heard Lock murmured

"what do you want?... Isn't that enough that our sons get their justice?" Old Chase stated.

A nasty loud laugh came from Mrs. Richardson while holding the gun. Mr. Richardson do nothing and blankly stared at Drain's Coffin.

I know what he's going to do

I can't let this happen

I decided to go where the semi-buried casket located, positioned like I was protecting it from bad guys.

"your Son, Drain killed my Copper!... Your son only gets his justice he's been mourning for! Not my son's!" Mr. Richardson blankly stated as he slowly walking towards Drain's coffin.

"Your Son, is my son too. Copper is Blade!" as Mr. Chase shout, everyone grasps out of tension. The peaceful ceremony destroys by these two psychos.

"Don't you dare going near Drain's" I stated reaching the gun at the back part of my thighs.

"nah! Blade is ours from the beginning that Sheldon give him to us" Mr. Richardson murmured. He's like an obsessed teenage boy who desperately wants drugs.

"We know that Drain wasn't dead… Let us prove were right! The great Pendelton wasn't dead… that fucking coffin was empty" he's hysterically run towards me, just as I pull my gun, he twisted my left arm and throw me in a corner.

"Lycko!" Lock shout as he hurriedly goes towards my direction and help me stand.

"you bastard!" Lock punch him before he could flip the casket upside down

Just that moment the agent of Mr. Chase came and grab the two. The ceremony remains peaceful after that dramatic incidents. Other people leave the funeral after Drain's coffin buried fully. Others go to the hall where Mr. Mayor and his wife are there. Lock and I together with Gray was still in front of Drain's grave. I look at Lock and he just gave me a weak smile, Gray got my attention, she's peacefully asleep through the arms of her mortal enemy, she always calls Lock as "Knight's monkey-liked best friend".

There was a steadiness to her, as if all the storms in the world were a whispering breeze if she was there. She was kind and clever, just like her brother, perhaps that's what people's assumption towards her. It was as if she knew she was born to be a queen of the earth, one who helped others, using her brain to fix whatever needed fixing just like Drain's, just a fierce independence and confident with the air of a warrior. A carbon clone copy sort-of a little clone of my Drain. From her face down with her attitudes its Knight-drain Pendelton's. Her eyes spoke of a beautiful soul and her movements told of a need for nurture. I knew right then, that all she needed was Drain's first love, always. Something steady to hold onto and in time those eyes would shine as they were born to. And perhaps in that rescuing of her Drain was rescuing himself too. Her hair was as waves of pure earth, softly reflecting the light of the sun; each strand moving freely in an ocean born breeze, a compliment to her stillness. With eyes of river waters, in glossy serenity, her aura seeped into the summer air between us. And in that moment, in that fraction of time, her smile was in every God given feature.

I'm sorry Gray

We have to do this

For everyone's sake

Specially for you

"Hey, Penny for your thoughts?" As Lock sit down on the bench and lay Gray at his thighs

"hmmm. I'm just thinking how's Gray… Drain was Gray's second father" I sigh as I stated those lines "Is this even right?"

"Just trust Knight… Lycko, Knight never fails" I know Lock was tired, I can see it through his eyes.

"is my brother already awake?" we both look at Gray's direction

"not yet… hmmm… do you want to go home?" Lock ask her casually

"nah! I'll wait Knight to wake up" she said adorably. I start to feel a little pain in my chest.

This isn't right

"Uncle is waiting you at the hall… he probably gets mad if you stay here… let's go?" as Lock let those lines out of his mouth, Gray would have done nothing but follow. Lock picked her up and went to the hall. As we said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Chase we go straight to Lock's car and pulled the road going to the quarter. Silence covers the two of us, wondering if all of this would be over, we both know that our fight is just the beginning of everything, we were too tired to remember everything that happened today. It was late afternoon but it seemed like it was already midnight because of the tiredness.

We arrived at the quarters calmly, nothing suspicious and nothing mysterious. We go straightly to the room where it is. We sat in front of each other. A moment later, Lock handed me a glass of cold honey-rum formulated by Pendelton itself.

Breaking the silence, I handed him the bloody bullet that I've collected from Copper's room, his eyes widened in shock and blink a little.

"So you go there… and broke in?" savoring the precious rum gives my system relaxation. I just nodded, the rum turns down the volume on my thoughts. It brings memories of good times past, and I let myself dwell in them rather than think. And in that moment I am here and not, existing in two perfect moments. Somehow it steadies me, gives me the resolve to go on.

"What have you discovered then?"

"Formaldehyde… they have… maybe gallons of it… located on Copper's room" trying to be casual

"For whom?... the record shows that Richardson's are mysterious, it shows that they only have one child… I guess that was Blade… I mean Copper" he reads his know like he was sure on everything that is written on that vintage type paper. "are they using it to Copper's body?" he murmurs asking me the same question I've kept asking myself "oh wait! You're a forensic… HAHA! Maybe you know a little?"

Idiot!

Too tired to argue, I gaze on him and nodded, sipping a rum makes me more brave, "At first, astonishing shock was on me about those professional dirty things I've saw on Copper's room" leaning my attention to the glass of rum, eyed the amber liquid and the golden glow of the glass-like cubes. poking them with my perfectly manicured nail to hear them jingle in the pre-dawn silence. I watched, entranced, as they bounce back up- remaining mostly submerged like mini icebergs.

"Embalming Chemical, mixture of chemicals others may know this as embalming fluid, used to preserve deceased individuals until the funeral, other times may indefinitely. Fluid usually contains mixture of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, humectants and wetting agents, and other solvents that can be used. The chemical formaldehyde used to preserve bodies by changes the tissue on a molecular level so that the bacteria can't feed on the tissue. A forensic scientist like me could say that this chemical can tears apart the constructs of your tissue. This substance may mistakenly know as formalin refers specifically to 37% aqueous formaldehyde and most embalmer mistakenly do such procedure using this one not commonly used in funeral embalming but rather in the preservation of anatomical specimens."

I saw his shocked and uncertain expression from my peripheral vision, he seems like he's absorbing the information that I stated to him. "You're a fucking smart brat!"

"The million-dollar question that still inside my brain… did the Richardson's have Copper's Cadaver and preserved it?" I straightly utter

"How do they know about that preserving stuffs?... with a plenty amount of liquid, it must've for years." He utters as he drinks up the last drop of rum remaining to his glass and poured another on. "Is it too dangerous for them to perform such activity on their horror-like house?... also, it's too dangerous for them no professionalism performs a series of tasks involving that formaldehyde thingy… am I right?"

Wrapping my long fingers around the glass, I felt my heat leach into the drink. Rum. The elixir of life, I raised the glass to sip, feeling the keen burn on my tongue and throat, a burn that made me recoil as a girl. Yet now it was a feeling I longed for right from the end of this day.

"Yes, in fact, the so-called process might be toxic. Specially those individuals who doesn't have any full knowledge on doing illegal medical procedures. It is also give the body a life-like appearance for public viewing. Formaldehyde is a potential human carcinogen, and can be lethal if a person is exposed to high concentrations. Its fumes can also irritate the eyes, nose, and throat."

"Did you find Copper's body?"

"Nah. I immediately ran out from that room when I hear some footsteps"

"I'm on with this bullet, I just give it to our forensic team with those other bloody stuffs that knight give to me before" I nodded

…

-BEFORE THE KNIGHT FACE THE PSYCHOTIC CULPRIT-

-FLASHBACK-

After the great Pendelton receives an anonymous threat on the parking space if his building, he ran towards the direction of Pita Club Bomber Shop, as the rain angrily ranged, he ran as fast as he could to reach where Lock stays. A minutes of running and he finally arrived. Lock hand him a towel, since the rain was too heavy for the citizens to walk in Lock decided to take an early out.

"you're soaking wet… mate, are you even conscious?... it's raining and here you are running freely like a dumb bastard" angrily hissing in front of his best buddy.

"I know…"

"You know? Yet you didn't use your car, stupid"

"The road was slippery, I'm in a rush" before Lock can utter a word, the great Pendelton handed him a box which all the evidences he has been collected on the abandoned house was lying.

"I broke-in the house that the article stated"

"Shit… the 1720 article?"

"yes"

"what—"

"I found this evidences that may help us to know who might kill Blade" while he was speaking he immediately go to his bunker's location and Lock followed him.

He opens the box "Can you please bring it to our forensic team and test those blood sample came from the knives" he handed the first plastic zip lock containing the said object. "and this one, can you examine if the bullets of this gun has any relation to this bullets" a separate plastic were the two supposedly different bullets located with a name tags.

Seems the great Pendelton on the town of Realm know how to play dirty

"how about this necklace mate?" Lock curiously murmur "It's precious"

"Give it to Lycko if you two have any moment"

"Im on it"

As that moment, the great Pendelton held his way back to his quarter's parking space. He handed the same box with him but has some different things inside.

How smart Pendelton is.

Facing the door of his unit seems very skeptical to reach. waited desperately for more instructions. But there were no more notifications and no more call. Nor did the he has any strong leads. minutes passed, he decided to knock against his highly waxed mahogany door.

when the door opened, Pendelton's girlfriend hugged him. The look on her face seems to be astonishingly curious about what had happened to his boyfriend. He immediately shocks as the sudden paleness bulged on Lycko's face as if she had seen a corpse being resurrected.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

…

It could have been water in the glass but it wasn't. It wasn't and everyone knew it. Even at the middle of the night that transparent liquid that bathed ice was rum and that wasn't even the start of it.

Lock swirled the whiskey in his glass, listening to the chinking of the ice cubes, breathing in a fragrance that only years in an oak barrel can achieve. Seems the worries of his day were beginning to fade, even before the first taste. Just watching its gentle vortex was hypnotizing enough. There was no case to solve, no friend to mourn, no kid to worry over. It was our one vice and intended to make a virtue of it, savor it, not race to the bottom of the bottle like we had after the funeral. When the liquid settled he brought it to his weather-cracked lips and let the amber fluid sit in his mouth a while before swallowing. He closed his eyes, dwelling only on the flavor.

I know that feeling and God it was good.

Then he'd retune his ears to the light jazz he'd put on a few minutes earlier, there was saxophone in it, how that instrument arrived in his brain seeming to bypass his ears he didn't know, but it always did.

Lock notices that I was staring observing his every moves and tactics, how he savor Drain's original formulated rum.

Drain was really being professional on his own simple ways.

"Knight want me to give you this precious one" as he handed me a black elegant box

A necklace

"Lovely isn't it?" he chuckles as he examines my expression as I open the box and see the present inside.

"When did he gave you this?" I curiously asked him while drinking my glass of alcohol

"The day when we go to Castillo"

I let out a sigh and stared at the necklace. A tears suddenly starts to escape from my eyes, running to my cheeks like it was a race.

How can Drain make me feel this way?

"Hey! Don't cry! You silly… Knight could kill me if he knows that you cry at my arms" he hysterically worried yet cracks a joke.

I chuckle as I hear his name.

"Yeah! He'll kill you" like a psychotic bitch, I was crying while laughing.

"is everything… going to be fine?" a serious question escape from my mouth.

"yeah. Just trust him"

"I'm afraid that he'll be gone forever… what if he'll never come back?" hysterically ask while controlling myself not to cry yet I failed. I burst into tears, not just any normal tears, I mourn and cry out a river. "It's fucking difficult, Lock! It's hard… not seeing him… not even touching" instead of uttering any word, Lock comforted me in his arms

"Shhhh!! Hush down sister… everything will be going just fine… we just have to trust him… we just have to trust one another" as he taps my head and slowly caressing it.

"Not all of them will know your pain and struggles… and they should not even know any… because not all of them will understand, not all of them will care, not all of them will celebrate with you"

"Just trust him Angelycko… trust Knight-drain… he is with you, in your ups and downs, he's proud of you… Knight-drain is going to be alright"

Just like a magic word, I hush a little and stop mourning.

"You're drunk silly!" he patted my head and remove his arms that wrapped around me. "I'll go to my room sister; do you want me to accompany you?" I just tilt my head as a sign that I don't want to. Just like that I was left here in the office dumb founded.

The harsh scent of alcohol can be smelt. I know it, and so does no one else. No one sees me struggling to keep my balance, and I know I'm struggling to keep it. It's like some sort of outer body experience. My legs don't work as I tell them. Neither do my hands, or my fingers. Somewhere, deep inside I know my brain is sending signals telling me what to do. Whether or not my body is listening in a different story. I can feel it moving. I can feel it doing what it wants.

Can I stop it?

We all know the answer to that. It's doing as it pleases. I try to walk down the hallway to my room, but my legs are telling me otherwise. They are swaying exactly left and right.

No specific direction

No matter how many steps I take, I'm no closer to where I want to be. Then all goes dark. Suddenly, my fighting spirit seems she doesn't want to give up. Trying to walk though it was really hard. The world is revolving at three-sixty degrees, to be exact.

I reach my room

I can sense it because of its smell.

As I got onto my room immediately lay down on my bed. Relaxation flows all over my body as I let my body relax and close my eyes to feel the sensations I want.

"Just trust him Angelycko… trust Knight-drain… he is with you, in your ups and downs, he's proud of you… Knight-drain is going to be alright"

The last line I remember before it went dark

Knight-drain is going to be alright