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It wasn’t meant to be like this

Stephanie Edgley’s funeral was a somber occasion. The service was long, and the speeches were dull. Everyone grieved for the sweet, smart, and kind girl they thought they had known, shedding tears she’d no doubt have mocked and laying bouquets she’d have scorned.

Valkyrie Cain would have hated it.

Halfway through one of the more tedious speeches, the church doors swung open, revealing a tall, thin man with pasty skin, wearing what could only be described as an exquisite suit. Beside him stood a blonde woman in black leathers, her face tear-streaked. On her arm was another tall man,slightly shorter than the first,his scarf pulled high up his neck, his skin waxy.

They filed through the door and took seats at the back of the church. Behind them, more people appeared in the doorway: a stunning woman with raven hair and a face covered by a shimmering black veil, followed by four muscular, weathered men who sat beside the man with the waxy skin. As the congregation’s attention drifted toward them, a mixture of glares and curious glances spread through the room. After all, the only detail made public about Stephanie Edgley’s death was that she,much like her uncle before her, had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

An hour later, the coffin, a gorgeous mahogany piece Desmond Edgley recognised from one of the funeral homes on Cemetery Road, was carried out to the graveyard and buried in a rather coveted plot beneath a willow tree. He remembered how it had inexplicably appeared on he and his wife Melissa’s doorstep the previous week.

Another hour passed. The cemetery stood barren, devoid of all living things. All that remained was the girl’s grave and beside it, the tall man in his exquisite suit.

After several minutes, he raised his head. The pasty skin slid away, revealing the skull beneath.

For the first time since he had found her, dressed in a gorgeous black gown, hair knotted, his own revolver in her hand and his own bullet in her brain, the skeleton’s jaw opened.

“The Requiem Ball is next week,” his velvety voice washed over her gravestone. “I was going to surprise you. We were going to match. We were going to look stunning.”

“It didn’t have to be like this, there would have been another way, I would have found one.” But to the man’s dismay he wasn’t sure he believed it.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, you know.” His voice quivered for the first time in centuries. “We were supposed to adventure, save the world together. And eventually, I was supposed to give my life for yours. There was so much I wanted to give you.”

No response.

“You are a remarkable girl. Your life was the only thing worthy of taking my excuse for one. The only thing.” The man’s head lowered once again.
“I love you Valkyrie Cain, you were like my daughter, my very best friend.
I miss you so much already.”

No response.

“I’ll see you soon.” History, the man decided, had a funny way of repeating itself.

The man removed his hat and placed it gently on the grave. As he turned away, a small bird landed atop it.

A sparrow.