Escape From Esurio

Chapter 4: Arrival (Midnight)

Ugh... We're almost there. After the two hour car ride, I'm sore and stiff, and in desperate need of a stretch. I can see their new house in the distance. It's a small two bedroom house, sitting in the middle of the suburbs in a town no one knows. Must be why they moved here after they gave up. No one to bother them, no one who remembers, and peacefulness they couldn't get in their old house.

Pulling in, its easy to tell they've just moved in. The paint's still fresh in some places. But the driveway's full. All the relatives, close friends, and people who are close or work with Mr. and Mrs. Kari. Seems like everyone's turned up for the false funeral.

I mean, who buries an empty box? What's the point of spending money on something that'll never be used? I mean, maybe she returns one day and they've spent money uselessly on an empty box. I don't see how people can consider it a form of closure either. She's missing, not dead. It's kinda pathetic. But they expect me to pay my respects. More like drag me through painful memories I'd rather not relive. They just remind me of her, with her flowing red hair, her beautiful brown eyes, and her strange obsession to wear a bow-tie all the time.

We end up parking down the road a bit, because of the sheer number of vehicles in the parking lot and on the road. It's not a long walk, but I can feel the unintentional stares of my family burning into the back of my skull. I ignore it and keep walking, right up to the front door. I knock the slightly weird looking gargoyle like door knocker.

"Oh, hi Midnight, Kory, Mellisandra, and Cameron. We weren't sure if you would be coming today. But it's nice to see you again either way. Come in." Mrs. Kari says when she answers the door, Mr. Kari standing down the entrance way, not far behind her.

"Hello Molly, It's nice to see you again too. Wish it were under better circumstances." my mom says as we enter the house. My dad just walks over to Mr. Kari and walks into the living room with him. My mom heads into the kitchen with Mrs. Kari, and Cameron and I are left to choose which way we go.

I don't pause to see what Cameron decides to do, I just head into the living room. I see Cameron begin to follow me as I enter, then my view is obstructed by the multitude of bodies that crowd the room. I head towards a couch and manage to squat myself on one of the arms. Someone looks like they're about to rebuke me, but then someone else leans over and whispers something or other into his ear, and they back off.

I ignore all this, just sitting there staring at a fixed point and ignore the world. Block out what people say, be an island. It can't be long before we leave here to go to the burial. All I have to do is wait a few minutes and we can leave.

Those few minutes seem to fly by faster then I expected, and it seems like we're leaving before the allotted time. Someone has the completely brilliant idea that I should ride with the Kari's there. Not going to be fun.

As everyone pours outside, I'm left to stay inside until the Kari's leave, and because everyone gathered at their house, they're leaving last. I'm stuck standing around waiting as the multitude of black clad bodies swarms around me and pours out the door. It takes several minutes for the last of the crowd to make it's way out.

After the crowd is gone, the Kari's stick around for a little while to clean a little, make sure everything is still sound, before they finally decide to get into the car and drive to the funeral home, to begin the train of cars heading from the funeral home to the graveyard.

I hope for a quiet ride, but sadly, I'm disappointed. We drive for maybe five minutes before Mrs. Kari speaks up.

"So, Midnight, how's it back in Amherstbuff? How's Central? Anything new?" she asks. Amherstbuff is our town, and Central is my high school. 

"Town's the same as it has always been, dull and boring. Central even more so. And no, nothing new has happened in town. Everything is exactly the same." I say, hoping the conversation ends there.

"And are there any-" she begins, but I cut her off before she can finish her question. I can already guess what she's asking, and it's not a question I approve of, nor one I care to answer.

"If you're about to ask if there are any new girls, no there's not. Especially since I still haven't entirely given up on Dawn, like you have. And I don't expect I ever will." I say, emphasizing my opinions on them, and cutting off further conversations.

We drive in awkward silence for a few minute before someone says something. And it's the last thing you'd expect in this situation.

"You haven't seen or heard of any large, fierce looking dogs in the area, have you?" Mr. Kari says out of the blue, and Mrs. Kari and I both stare at him.

"Harold! Why would you-" she begins before Mr. Kari continues.

"Because it's bothered me for years! As I know it has you!" he says, sounding angry.

"Um, excuse me, but what are we talking about?" I interrupt, feeling as though we've stumbled upon a  soft topic. 

There is a moment of silent war between the Kari's before Mrs. Kari seems to relent and  says, "Dawn came home rambling about a large , fierce looking dog a few days before she went missing. She made a huge deal of it, and it terrified her. We thought nothing of it at the time, but for some reason Harold here believes this dog had something to do to her disappearance.  It's bothered him for all this time, so much so that he went and searched for evidence of this dog a couple of weeks before we moved away."

We sit in silent thinking as we drive, but before we can continue the conversation, we arrive at the funeral home, and the time for conversation is over. But I can't help but think about this dog...