The Peace Offering

THIRTY-THREE

River

Black. A great deal of haunting black that day. Everything and everyone in the church was covered in black. Maxine was laid to rest in her black coffin which was situated at the chancel. She was dressed in a long-sleeved lace black dress, her jet black tresses neatly arranged in a way that equally covered her chest. Her hands elegantly clasped a bouquet of crimson roses against her midsection. Her face appeared serene, although still slightly blue from the drowning. Even in death, she was stunning.

I was seated in the front row with Gabby, Britt and my grandmother. Rain had wanted to come but when I lashed out at her in the morning, I saw her swallowing back tears before retreating to her bedroom. The boys from school came too in their black suits and sat right behind us. None of them were their usual rowdy and cheerful selves; all of them were silent and gloomy. I even caught a glimpse of Marco tearing. I fought back my own urge to weep when Robbie reached out to give me an empathic squeeze on the shoulder.

Maxine's father stood by the entrance of the church, shaking hands and hugging the friends and relatives of the deceased. He didn't look much like her, except for the very light skin probably. The man was tall, with slicked back dark brown hair accompanied with a suave stubble around the edges of his square face. Beside him stood Maxine's stepmother, a blonde middle-aged woman who had her hair pinned up in a formal neat bun with the face that seemed like she had one too many botox injections to appear natural. No wonder Maxine couldn't get herself to get along with her. The woman's face was just too distracting.

I bit my lip when I heard the muffled voices of the people around me. Their topic of discussion centered on Maxine. It was part of the reason why I disappeared on purpose when it was time for Maxine's coffin to be lowered into her grave. My grief was already overwhelming, and hearing these people gossip about my girlfriend in my presence even if they didn't know of our relationship status crushed me. I couldn't bear to stick around much longer.

Everyone tried to reach me since the moment I went MIA before the committal and after the whole funeral. I ignored calls and texts from Britt, Gabby, Robbie and everyone who knew of my relationship with Maxine. I stayed in bed, only getting up for nature's calls or when I heard grandma place a metal tray outside my door during lunch and dinner. For weeks my grandmother tried to coax me to get out for some sun, my sister knocked on my door everyday to apologise melodramatically and Maxine's friends even waited in my house for the moment that my bedroom door would open and they would try to persuade me to go out with them.

Little did they know that I did go out of my room, even out of my house, every night with a couple of spellbooks and candles packed in my backpack. I would sneak into the cemetery where Maxine was buried by climbing over the fence near her grave. I would arrange my candles around her grave and sit in the center of it. When midnight struck, I opened my spellbooks and began my ritual. My ritual to bring her back to me.

I had gone mad. But this untamed madness that stirred within me at least reduced the pain with each passing day. This madness helped with soothing the gnawing guilt I had to live with for the rest of my life. Not that I was planning to live out the rest of my life. Not that I could anymore anyway, with all these rituals every night draining my energy and my blood away.

"Stop this right now," Maxine urged. I opened my eyes after all the chanting. There she was sitting across me. Every night when I performed the ritual, I would only either see glimpses of her around the graveyard or I would manage to catch her standing rooted to the ground from a distance. But that night was different, she appeared right before me and I could see her features clearly. She even communicated with me.

"Max, listen to me. I've come to explain. I want to be with you," I croaked, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. I ignored the thick blood flowing down from the middle of my right palm. My head started to feel dizzy and my vision blurred. My body fully collapsed on the top of the grave and now Maxine was lying next to me, her eyes expressionless.

"Let me go, Milton," she spoke softly yet firmly.

Despite feeling even more light-headed than a few moments ago, I managed to shift my body and my spine rested fully on top of Maxine's grave. I raised my right hand slowly to examine my palm and droplets of blood landed on my face continuously. I blinked at every drop I felt and a smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.

"No. Not yet. Never," I whispered. My heartbeat slowed down, my windpipe began closing in on me and I could barely breathe. Blue streaks of veins surfaced on my skin, slowly spreading through my whole body. Everything felt numb suddenly. The last thing I felt was Maxine's frigid lips on my forehead, before I gasped for my last breath and my surroundings darkened.

"Sleep well, my love," she purred in my ear.

THE END