The Echo of Silence

The Final Resting Place

Black ties; black dresses; black coats, all in memory of Selene "Cinder" Blackburn Crown. Kai found it disgusting that everything was black when Cinder was anything but.

Cinder had been a sarcastic, snarky woman in her happiest of moments, but her demeanor never could have come anything close to black. She was an electric orange, both bold and bright. She was the sunrise and the sunset, but never the darkness of the night. She had been anything but black, so perhaps that was why they had worn it: because Cinder should have been anything but dead.

It was a closed-casket funeral to say the least; Kai could still remember the way she looked as her body failed to sustain the weight of her soul. He hated that it was the last way he would ever remember her, but it was.

In the end, there was no one to blame for the horrible accident. The car crash that ended Cinder's life was a hit-and-run, the villain too cowardly to stay behind and accept the consequences for his actions. At the very least, he had been the one to call the police, but it was an anonymous call, and therefore Cinder's executioner was untraceable.

Kai wished that he knew who killed his wife so he could lay the blame on someone other than himself. He needed someone else to be angry at so he could let go once and for all. He longed for a reprieve.

The funeral was a small event, but still there were plenty of people to fill the small church theatre. Dozens of people that Kai had seen less than two years ago at his wedding reception came to extend their sorrows. It was odd to him how opposite the moods were. Once the people were excited, joyous and full of advice and words. Now everyone was somber, depressed and ever silent of anything to say.

Cinder's father was at the funeral, but had somehow avoided talking to Kai. Chandler Blackburn had never been the outgoing type of man, much like Cinder in personality where he always preferred working his auto shop rather than human interaction.

Chandler looked nothing alike Cinder, with his fair skin, blue eyes, and graying hair that had once been a dusty brown. His body was solid and muscular like Cinder's, but much larger in mass. He moved to sit in the back row—not in the front where all of Cinder's loved ones were supposed to reside.

The service began, and Kai moved to sit down beside Winter at the end of a reserved row. She grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing it as the tears flowed down her face. They never stopped.

An hour passed by in musical numbers and a eulogy by Jacin. Thorne and Winter both stood and told stories about Cinder. Kai never arose from his seat. He had been offered the opportunity to speak, but declined. He didn't much fancy bawling incomprehensibly in front of an entire church full of people.

The service ended, and everyone collectively stood as the casket was carried out. Kai did participate in this, his tears flowing heavily under the dead weight of his love. He, along with Thorne, Jacin, and Wolf were Cinder's pallbearers, and it would have been a strenuous task with just the four of them if not for Wolf's hulking frame that took over an entire side by himself. Cinder's father had been offered the position as well, but at that he had refused.

The drive to the cemetery was short— shorter than the drive that had ended Cinder's life. Her burial was longer, but not by much.

And then her casket was gone, buried under a mountain of earth, never to be seen again.

Cinder was gone.

***

"Kaito," A hand tapped Kai's shoulder, making him turn. Kai was standing in front of Cinder's grave. There was no grass or headstone, just the dusty brown of fresh dirt. Kai had thought that he was alone now, after sending Thorne, his ever-present companion away— clearly he had been wrong.