Rune Pavlov is the kind of person who instantly evokes images of sunshine and rainbows. Despite her turbulent past and years spent confined within the four walls of her home, she manages to find a spark of hope in the darkest of corners. Her innocen...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
1 Week Before the Funeral
I hear my name being called—no, shouted at me—but the words are distorted, muffled by the ringing in my ears. My hands are breaking her ribs. My movements are frantic. Her body is still warm to the touch.
"Rune, CPR won't work, hun. She's gone," I hear my uncle's delicate words, and I feel the grief settle in my bones.
It's sickening, intolerable, grueling—everything all at once. I feel the sob stretch my lungs from not being able to exhale any oxygen, and my hands come to a halt as I collapse onto her chest. I'm warm, but not from her body heat. The blood is soaking into my clothes.
I feel arms pulling me away from her, and I'm spun into the arms of another, another that is not my mom. I want my mom even if it's just for a few more seconds.
My uncle wraps his arms around my shoulders, as they shake with grief. His arms are tight and grounding.
I take one last look at my mom.
Three bullet holes.
The sirens were shut off once she was pronounced DOA. The zip of the body bag echoes through my soul as they shield her from me. From the rest of her life that she still had to live.
☆☆☆
The Funeral
When we arrived at the burial site, it was gloomy and just barely raining—a stark contrast to the earlier downpour that greeted me and my alarm. There were hundreds of people, yet I couldn't trust a single one of them. I know who killed my mother—so does everyone else here.
My father.
I've never met him, just heard the stories. He's been in prison since I was 2, and I couldn't even name all the charges if I remembered them. I do know he wanted my mother dead. All the hitmen who failed to kill her led back to my father. So, for the last 19 years, my mom has sheltered me to no end. Trying to keep me safe from him and whatever business he had.
Some people here are part of his family who claim to "love my mom", and evidently, they also think I'm stupid. Someone here knows more than they're letting on. Someone here is in contact with him, and my eyes are scanning around to find who's watching me from a distance.
Once the service is over, I walk up to the closed casket. It's decorated with beautiful red and white roses. My mother hated roses, but my uncle picked the flower arrangement. As the guests are leaving, I feel eyes on me.
My uncle walks up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder.
"Rune, we have to go. Now," I hear him whisper, close behind me.
I glance upward, and across the pond, just a few yards away, I see a man. Cloaked entirely in black, he stands there, gaze fixed unwaveringly on me.
He keeps his eyes on me as I place my rose and nod at the funeral service to begin lowering her casket into the ground. When I look back up, the man is gone. I knew someone would be watching. My father is a dangerous man and I never doubted he would have eyes on me, even if they weren't his eyes. The only thing that scares me is—
I have never seen that man.
———————————————————— FIRST CHAPTER OF MY FIRST BOOK EVER IS DONE! I'm so excited to start this journey. Please feel free to fill the comment section with humor or love. Also, do not be afraid to point out mistakes!! I will correct them and delete your comment immediately after, thanks!💕
