Chapter 53 The Funeral
Marcus died that day, causing the annual competition to be called off. It was suspended or perhaps postponed, if it would ever be held again.
Everyone was shocked by Marcus’s sudden death.
His mother, Anna, cried bitterly during the funeral. Some students attended. Oliver and I were among them, but something inside me felt deeply unsettled.
Marcus and I were not close, yet I couldn’t believe an innocent soul had been lost.
Adrian’s words echoed relentlessly in my head: There’s nothing you can do to save him… he’s dead already.
They haunted every corner of my thoughts.
Questions and curiosity tangled painfully in my mind. His death mirrored Sally’s strange behavior, ravens… and that phrase.
Ravens are better than people.
Was it a chant? A parable? An ancient quote?
“What is he doing here?!” Anna cried loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
She was pointing at Felix.
Felix stood there with a broken ankle, leaning on a walking stick., and his right arm bandaged. One of his friends sat in a wheelchair, Marcus had broken his spine. The other friend, the one who had run away, stood beside them, perfectly fine, pushing the wheelchair.
I had expected Sheriff Fitzroy to investigate Marcus’s death. Or at least to be present at the funeral.
“I—I…” Felix faltered, unsure of what to say.
“You’re what?” Anna lunged forward, but another woman quickly held her back. “Calm down, Anna. They are just children.”
“Children?” Anna snapped. “My son died because of him! You never let him be!”
“Anna?” the woman called gently.
“It’s disrespectful to show your face here, you murderer!” Anna cried. “How dare you!”
“I didn’t kill your son,” Felix said, his voice barely audible.
“Yes, you did!” she screamed. “If you had left him alone, we wouldn’t be here! I wouldn’t be standing at my son’s funeral—”
She broke down completely.
“Anyone,” the woman said firmly. “Please escort them out.”
She guided Anna away as Anna’s face remained soaked with tears of pain and loss.
I sat still beside Oliver. Everyone wore black. My expression remained plain, unreadable.
“Are you alright?” Oliver asked softly.
I hesitated. Then I turned to him. My face was swollen, though I knew I hadn’t cried nearly as much as Anna.
I exhaled. “I’ll be back in a second.”
I stood.
“Lexie,” Oliver called.
I didn’t listen.
He watched me until I disappeared.
“How dare that woman,” one of Felix’s friends muttered.
Felix leaned against the wall for support, digging into his pocket. “She should be grateful we even came to his funeral,” the other on wheelchair added.
Felix pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and tried to light it.
His friends froze, eyes widening in shock.
He finally lit it and blew smoke into the air. Noticing their stares, he arched a brow. “What?”
“You’re smoking…” the one standing whispered.
“In a church,” I finished from behind them.
They all turned sharply.
“Why’s she here?” one of his friends asked.
Felix, still unbothered, exhaled smoke again.
Fearless, I stepped forward. “You know you shouldn’t do that here,” I said calmly.
“This isn’t Gravenmoor Academy.”
“Yes,” I agreed, then took the cigarette before it reached his mouth. “It’s a church, and Marcus’ funeral.”
“Can’t I have that now?” he asked, smirking. “I don’t share.”
I dropped it to the floor and crushed it under my foot. “You should be apologizing to him instead of smoking.”
“Ohhh…” his friends murmured, hands covering their mouths.
Felix smirked. “What audacity,” he muttered, stepping closer with the help of his walking stick. “Hey, I don’t mind the fact that you’re a council member, I can put bruises on this tiny, pretty face of yours without—”
“I’d love to see you try.” I knew the voice. Oliver’s.
I didn’t turn.
Felix saw the firmness in Oliver’s eyes and stepped back slightly, though his smirk remained.
He pointed his left index finger at me, his right was useless. “You’re lucky I’m not in the mood today. I bet your boyfriend wouldn’t recognize you.”
Oliver stepped beside me. “I’d love to see you lay a finger on her,” he repeated.
They locked eyes.
Then Felix scoffed. “Maybe another time.”
He walked between us, deliberately bumping Oliver’s shoulder. Oliver moved to grab him, but my gaze stopped him.
Felix left with his friends.
Oliver turned to me. “Double L… are you okay?”
I looked straight into his eyes. “Does anything seem okay to you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Oliver opened his mouth, but the words never came.
I hadn’t meant to say that, but it was already said.
“Lexie, I—”
I walked past him, heading outside.
He didn’t follow.
Unexpectedly, tears streamed down my face, sliding to my chin. I shouldn’t have let that happen. A sudden pain and sadness overwhelmed me, feelings I thought I wasn’t allowed to have.
“Lexie?”
I turned. It was Adrian.
I quickly wiped my tears and sniffed. “You came?” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said gently. “I knew I’d find you here… like this.”
My control broke completely.
“You were right,” I said through tears.
He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. “It’s okay, Lexie. It wasn’t your fault.”
I cried freely then, his coat absorbing my tears. I cried as though I had lost something precious, something innocent.
From the church threshold, Oliver stood watching us from afar.
His expression remained plain.
Unreadable.