Strained

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"We need to bury him," I told the others. I was still lying on the ground with Clay pulled up onto my lap. He finally looked at peace. There was a sense of serenity on his face, which had never been there when he was alive. It hurt beyond recognition, staring down at his pale dead body. I didn't want to leave him. He had been left alone most of his life, it didn't seem fair to leave him now. But I knew I wouldn't be able to take his body with us. 

The Gallows was the perfect place to bury him. The soil had magical properties in it, so it helped me think easy knowing he would be taken care of. It was silly, but I felt like our Goddess would make sure he would be okay. I wanted him to be reincarnated, but that choice wasn't mine to make. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was even possible or if Daniel and I were the only beings Cursed enough to be reincarnated. I think Clay deserves another chance. I only hope in his next life he finds true peace. 

I wonder if I'll ever see him again. I hope so. 

"We need to bury all of them," Daniel said deadpanned. His face void of any emotion. He dragged Briar's body over to the pile of dead bodies. The pile was larger than any of us expected, toppling at least five body-highs. It was morbid. As accurately predicted by Clay, all of the Cursed Ones born before 1850 died after the Curse was broken.

All of their blood drained from their bodies until they died. It was horrible and graphic, something I didn't wish on anyone. Naomi was still alive, but she: along with Lara, Lisa, Giu, and the others from Naomi's Army were tied up. Daniel was taking them back to his house. I didn't ask what they were planning on doing with them. Mainly, I didn't want to know, but the other half was that I was in shock. I was reeling from Clay's murder. Not to mention, seeing Briar decapitated hadn't been exactly exciting to watch.

"We need to dig a really big hole," Erik commented. I couldn't tell I fit was sarcastic or serious -- that was where we were with the plan. 

"The Lycans can help with that," Ivelyn pointed at the three Lycans who were already digging. Thanks to their great size they were able to dig a fairly big hole fairly quickly.

"We can't just bury them and hope no one finds their bodies!" Mir cried out, disgusted by the thought of just ditching their bodies. I didn't like the idea either. Some of them had been on our side and it was sad to see them gone. Briar had been amongst some of the fallen. Thankfully, Rosa was still alive. She had been born in 1919, which made she was safe from random-death and she had survived the fight with Naomi's Army.

Still, there were almost fifty dead bodies we needed to dispose of.

"I'm not burying Clay in a giant pile," I commented coolly. Daniel stared at me in silence. I think he was trying to decide whether or not to talk to me. He must have known it would end in an argument. He decided not to address me. He threw Briar's body over his shoulder and tossed it into the hole the Lycans had dug.

I flinched by his action. It was so cold -- so not Daniel.

"Well, you can bury him wherever you want," Ivelyn told me over her shoulder. "I can use my fire to burn the bodies, which as gross as it sounds will help us in the evidence-department," Ivelyn had a good point. As horrible as it sounded, we would need to burn the bodies. We couldn't have all of these deaths come back to us. 

"That's a good idea," Kate nodded. She was by the table, packing things up. It was then, I noticed I was the only one not helping. It took me forever to get up. It meant, letting go of Clay. The tears came, running down my cheeks. Clay's last words spun on rotation in my mind. I felt them all over again. His advice, to stop being so afraid to be me and to have my powers.

I wish I would have met Clay sooner. It felt like I just met him and now he was gone. Everyone always left me. 

I started to dig a hole for Clay's body. I picked a spot under a willow tree. As I dug, which wasn't very effective, it started to snow. At first, it was small fragile snowflakes. Then, they got bigger and bigger until they were the size of fifty-cent coins. The temperature drop was obvious now. The ground was covered with a couple of inches of snow and it was increased with each second.