Innocence Auction (Book 1)

Chapter 16

Amabella

The sound of the alarm cut through my peaceful slumber and I sat up with a groan, before leaning over and silencing the demon thing. Soft snores could still be heard in the room and I looked around in panic before my eyes landed on Abel's sleeping form. 'Oh that's right, he had kidnapped me from my room. Not that I had resisted much' I thought in amusement as I headed out of bed. Scanning my phone, I had a message from my father. I sighed and opened it...

'Good morning Amabella. Thank you again for extending the invitation to your mothers funeral to myself and my new family. I understand how hard that must have been for you. Especially considering the circumstances. I know we are not on good terms yet, but I just wanted to let you know that I will be here for you today. Helping you get through one of the worst days of your life. I will not intrude by coming to our old family home. Instead I will meet you at the church. Stay strong my little warrior.'

I groaned as tears formed in my eyes. The slightly pleasant mood I had woken up in, ebbed away as my father's words swam around in my mind. Reminding me of what day it was. The day. My mother's funeral. Tears fell down my cheeks as I headed towards the bathroom to take a shower. I did not bother texting my father back and honestly I did not think he expected a response anyway. I had only reached out to him to tell him about my mother's passing and when her funeral was, because it had been one of her last wishes. To try and mend the bond between us. And at the time, that was the closest I could do. Because I was in no fit state to try and tackle healing that painful and festering wound. The wound that was my father. Even if Abel had managed to smooth things over with us weeks ago, it did not remove the years of pain and neglect I felt towards him. I knew that would take time. And a lot of working on myself. Something I could not handle right now. I was barely handling life right now. Hence why Abel had come to rescue me, yet again last night. I picked up the duffel bag Abel had packed for me and brought it along to the bathroom.

Closing the door, I began to empty the contents of the bag. As I did so my heart leapt into my throat. The floral dress my mother had loved so much on me, the very same one I had intended to wear to her funeral, was staring back at me. It was almost like Abel had knew when he had packed the bag. But there was no way he could have. He did not know that; he did not even know my mother. It was purely a coincidence. He had obviously just gathered some of my clothes. But it was one hell of a creepy coincidence. I sighed and turned on the shower before stepping into the glorious heat of it. I set about washing my hair and body before the tears re-formed in my eyes. Moments later they fell in full on sobs as I sunk to the floor of the shower and let the water wash away my tears as fast as they fell.

I was not sure how long I had been sitting there for, but the water had long since gone cold and my body had begun to tremble from both sobs and cold. I sighed and pulled my weary body off the floor and turned off the shower. I then carefully stepped out the shower and began the task of getting myself dried and dressed. Once I had my underwear on, I hesitated in putting on my dress. The very dress that symbolised what was to come. The final day I would spend with my mother. The day I had to say goodbye for good. Not just until we meet again. Fresh tears formed in my eyes and I shook my head to clear them before pulling on the dress. It was white, strappy, and floral and stopped mid-thigh, the complete opposite of usual funeral attire. But then that had been what she had wanted. No black. So that is what I had done. I had picked the dress she loved the most and decided it was the most fitting for the occasion. That way if she were looking down on me like priests and such said, she would see me wearing the dress she loved. After I was finally dressed, I applied a light layer of makeup to hide the puffiness of my face and left my hair to fall down my back in wet loose brown waves. My mother had always preferred my hair down.

I stepped out of the bathroom a moment later, lost in thoughts of my mother. In fact I was so lost in thought, I walked into a solid warm wall. Wait, warm? I looked up into Abel's brown eyes. I blushed slightly and muttered an apology as I stepped out of his way. He offered me a small smile before he entered the bathroom I had just exited. I headed to the kitchen a few moments later and set about making a coffee to wake me up. While I waited for the coffee to filter, I went to collect my phone. Reaching my phone I was pleased to see no one else had messaged. I did not think I could handle any pity messages today. I knew they were all sent with good intentions, but it did not help. It was just a constant reminder of who I had lost. Something I really did not need. The hole in my heart was enough of a reminder, without others digging in a metaphorical knife.