The Hade Chronicles: Into the Shadows

Chapter 2

  “Why!” Rachel screamed, “Why did they have to go! Now we’ll never see them again!”

  A week later, they had gotten the news that the truck their parents were driving in was heading west and had been attacked, and their car driven into the sea. Now, there was a detective on the case. He said that there was video of the attack and that he was looking at it to try and figure out who had done it, because a witness said the attackers came back out of the water after driving it into a river. But the video was blurry, so he said it would be hard to figure out who it was.

  Marcus and Rachel were sitting in their parents bedroom, on the bed. Rachel's eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her hair was tangled and uncombed, which was extremely unusual for her.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay. Stop crying.” Marcus said in a reassuring voice, “They would have wanted us to stay strong in this situation.”

  “But we are never going to see them again! How can you not be upset right now?"

  “Rachel, of course I’m upset. They’re my parents just as much as they are yours. But what I am trying to say is, we need to set the example for Michael. If he sees us crying and screaming, he’ll start crying and screaming. It’s fine to cry on the inside, just don’t do it on the outside too much. For Michael’s sake. We don't need this house to just be full of sadness. We want some happiness as well. Okay?”

  “Okay.” she sniffled, "I'll- I'll try to.

  Michael, who had been in his room crying had just come into the room. Today, he was wearing all black. He knew about how Queen Victoria wore black for the rest of her reign after her husband, Albert, had died. So, Michael decided to wear black until he felt like he had mourned for them long enough.

  “We- We need to have a funeral." he sniffled. His eyes were also red. He walked like he was sleepwalking, and his hair was also a mess, maybe even messier than Rachel's hair. "It's what people do when special people die."

  Just as Michael was saying that, Detective Bernard walked in.

  He was a stocky man, with a dark goatee and long brown sideburns. He wore a black business suit, and a black cowboy hat on top of his short, rough hair. He was short, and quite stout as well. However, he was one of the best working detectives in Arizona.

  “I've just been watching the video of the attack, and I can't figure who the attackers were. There were several, but not a single face was shown enough to identify someone. And, yes, Michael is correct in saying we need a funeral,” he said to Marcus, “It is standard respect to family members when they die. But, on the other hand, there is absolutely no conformation that your parents are dead."

  Rachel felt like punching him. "Our parents truck was driven into a river!" she screamed, "And never came back out! The attackers came back out, but no one else! How is that not proof enough that they're dead!"

  “Rachel, calm down." Marcus instructed, "He's just doing his job." Turning to Detective Bernard, he continued, "Yes sir. That's very good reasoning. However, there isn't any proof they're alive either. So, I say we hold a funeral."

  “Quite right, Marcus. I didn't really think about that before." the detective said, "You kids are right. There's no way that they're still alive. They never surfaced again after the attack. The only way they could have lived is if they found oxygen underneath the water somehow. But that is extremely unlikely. So, you three were the closest to your parents, obviously. You three are going to have to work and plan it all by yourselves. I can not interfere. It is not my job."

  “Yes sir." Michael said, his head sagging, "We'll get on it right away. Thank you for your help. We really appreciate it."

  "Goodbye children." With that, Detective Bernard left the room. He got on his motorcycle outside, and left.

  "Well, who's going to do what?" Rachel asked.

  "I know just the person to ask." Marcus replied, "She'll be perfect."

*** 

  “Wait just a minute, Marcus. You want me to design your parent's funeral?”

  “Come on Marci. You’re fantastic at planning and designing parties, why not plan and design a funeral? You'd be great at it!”

  Marcus and Marci had been on their date in the park, when Marcus had asked her to plan the funeral. The park was a beautiful place, it had everything. The grass was the greenest, and the trees were the brownest. There were playgrounds for the kids, and benches for the adults to talk on.

  At that moment, they were sitting on one of the benches. They were licking ice-cream that they had gotten from the ice-cream shop across the street.

  “But Marcus, it’s your parent’s funeral,” argued Marci, "Why wouldn't you call up a professional or someone like that?”

  “Marci, you would be almost as good as a professional as well,” pleaded Marcus, “Please Marci. I know that you'll do a fantastic job! An absolutely marvelous job!”

  “No Marcus! Please stop asking me to, I don't want to mess up your parent's funeral. I mean, it's your parent's funeral for crying out loud!”

  “You won't mess it up!" Marcus said, "Please just do it. Do it for me. For your absolutely charming boyfriend. Please.”

  “Fine," Marci said, "Just know this, it's not going to be as good as you think it will."

  “Aw, come on Marci. I know that it'll be absolutely perfect. It'll be the best ever. I just know it.”

  With that, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and then walked out of the park and started the walk home.

“So, how am I going to plan this funeral?” Marci thought to herself, as Marcus was leaving. “Hmmm...”