Chapter One - A funeral to remember
Hello! This is Chapter One of The Reapers Mark, an original story by moi. Chapters 2,3,4 and 5 are all up on wattpad, and the link will be at the bottom. The entire story is being released on wattpad, completely free to read! If you do enjoy, please leave a vote and a comment because it means a lot and makes my day. Happy reading!
January 1st 2008, 10 years ago
"C'mon Sadie. Mum isn't going to be happy if she finds us up here, playing with that. All the guests are downstairs," Dee wines, glancing nervously at Sadie's closed bedroom door. Sadie rolls her eyes, and I copy dutifully, watching her brown eyes gracefully dismiss Dee's concern.
"Shut up, Dee. Just because you don't want to open Nana's present when she said we could, doesn't mean I don't," Sadie responds, nudging me in the ribs, as we shared a look conveying how ridiculous we thought Dee was being.
"Mum wouldn't want us too! She doesn't even like Nana," Dee said feebly, but she was relenting now. She let her own brown eyes, identical to Sadie's, flicker away from the door for a moment. Sadie was already over it, twisting and prancing before her mirror. Nestled atop her blonde locks was her Nana's birthday present for her; a pretty pale pink tiara, supported by hot pink feathers and sporting some kind of fake jewel. Despite the tackiness of the accessory, the shimmery material of the crown contrasted beautifully against Sadie's dark skin, and I felt as though a princess stood before me.
"I'm the Queen of the castle!" Sadie shouted as loudly as she could, flooding Dee's eyes with worry of being caught once again.
"We can play Queens. I'll be the Queen, and you can be the peasants," Sadie demanded proudly, pointing first at Dee and then at me.
"But Sadie," I pouted. "Can't I be your princess?"
Sadie scoffed at me, turning back to look at herself in the mirror. Spotlights dotted round its antique wooden edge gave her just the right lighting, too. Everything about Sadie's room made me feel as though she really was a queen, and I was a peasant. I wasn't poor, not by a long shot, but Sadie had everything. Her canopy bed was pushed against the wall at the back of her room, her wardrobe next to her windowsill seat, which overlooked the fluffy pink rug decorating her carpet. The moment she got it, I had begged and pleaded with my mum to get me the same one. She had relented, but no matter how expensive the rug in my room was, it wasn't the same. It didn't have the same feel, the same shade of pink.
"Girls!" Sadie and Dee's mum, Ruth, had all but knocked the door in. Ruth was the most stunning woman I think I'd ever seen. She was certainly prettier than my mum. Her dark skin glowed effortlessly, whether it be from the golden dress she was wearing or if she was just naturally gorgeous. Her black, thick hair was swept back into an elegant topknot, but despite her regal beauty she had a deep frown etched into her face.
"You need to be downstairs! All your friends and the party guests are outside in the pool and you're- Sadie, did you open a present early?" Ruth screeched. She didn't sound like me, or like Dee or Sadie because she was was born in the USA and her thick American accent had stayed with her even after living in England for more than 10 years. Sadie's dad didn't sound like that, but then again Sadie's dad wasn't African-American. He'd lived in England his whole life, and he was the palest, whitest man I'd ever met. Sadie likes to say Dee looks more like him and Sadie looks more like her mum, but I know she's wrong because they're identical twins.
Dee had a very smug look on her face; one I knew would set Sadie off if her mum wasn't in the room.
"Come downstairs! All three of you! Right this second!" Ruth yelled. Dee flounced after her mum proudly, dancing down the stairs after her.
I went to follow, but Sadie grabbed my arm.
"I wish we didn't have to go downstairs. You're the only guest I actually like here, Mae," Sadie smiled. I gave my her a small, embarrassed smile back. Sadie was my best friend, for now, and forever and ever.
January 2nd 2018, present day
Nobody had ever called me Mae before Sadie did. Nobody has ever called me it since... well, since. Sadie was my best friend. Just like she was a sister, and a daughter, and a cheerleader and a student. Sadie was so many things, so many labels and titles and known so well by everybody. But now she's just dead. People who used to pretend to know her, pretend to care – they'll forget about this tragic accident, this awful misfortune. Then she'll only be a memory.
But not to me. Not to me, or to Dee, Sadie's twin sister and my best friend. Not to us. To us, Sadie is still very much alive. I will still glimpse her in the empty seat she left behind in every classroom, her barren bedroom with boxes upon boxes of her things contained inside. Sadie will not be dead to me, not when she was always so alive.
The funeral was exactly how she would've wanted it. The whole school attended – of course they did. Sadie was a crown jewel for Lode Secondary, head cheerleader, proud fundraiser and probably valedictorian if she had lived on. I'd only ever read about entire schools or armies or work forces turning up to a funeral before, but of course it would be at Sadie's funeral that I actually witnessed it for myself.
The graveyard was stunning; rows upon rows of neat black and white polished marble headstones, all hidden deep within the outskirts of woodland. Canopying trees lined the area, and flowers weren't just lying atop the headstones, they were planted all around, the dew they wore glistening in the weak sunlight. On this particular day, all I could see surrounding them were people in black clothes. Black umbrella's, despite the lack of rain and black sunhats, despite the lack of sun, and then just one woman wearing white. Ruth Crest. Of course Ruth would turn up to her daughters funeral wearing white. Even now she had to have the attention, make a statement, be the odd one out. I could see her from the corner of my eye, sobbing on the arm of her new boyfriend as she very obviously avoided Richard, Sadie and Dee's dad. I could see him too, far behind Ruth and holding a flask (in which would be alcohol of levels that are inappropriate for a funeral) standing by Dee. Dee wasn't crying, but I could tell even from where I was stood in front of everybody, that she wanted too. Wishing I could go over and comfort her, I took a deep breath. Ruth wasn't the only one not wearing black. Neither were the rugby team nor cheerleading squad from our school, instead wearing our uniforms in 'solidarity' as put by the school. The cheerleading squad, which I was now the captain of.
We stood silently and solemnly in front of her soon-to-be-grave. Jonas, the captain of the rugby team, stood beside me sporting the same school colours I did. I didn't know him all that well, but I appreciated the small smile he offered in comfort, the movement tugging at his handsome, blonde-haired, blue-eyed features. I smiled back, a small one, but still the biggest I could muster. Then, slowly, I returned to the side of Gina, another cheerleader and 'friend' of Sadie's.
All I could do was stare straight ahead, straight past the coffin where Sadie lay inside, the coffin that would soon be open and leaving her on display. Stare at all the faces around me, some I recognized and some I didn't. Stare at the strange figures ahead of me, shielded and sheltered by the trees. A tall, lanky blonde boy beside a girl with pink hair, a boy with green hair and one with black hair. I couldn't make out much of who they were, but it struck me as odd. They must be from my school, but I'd never seen them before and I didn't think Sadie would have been caught dead with people who dressed and held themselves as they did.
Well. I guess she had been now.
Time whipped by in a blur, and for most of the priest's speech I tuned out. I knew he would make a beautiful tribute – he ran the Church Choir that Sadie used to sing in. She had the voice of an angel, and especially in the days leading up to her death, she went to Church a lot.
As if suddenly my ears had fined tuned and my eyes had refocused, Dee's voice graced the crowd. I lifted my chin slightly, her intense gaze focused directly on me as she swallowed thickly. She lifted her chin slightly too, a response. A promise to hold our heads high, especially important in the days that were to follow.
"Sadie was my sister. Before now, I'd never recognized our identical faces. Because she was still Sadie and I was still Mandy. But now I will see her whenever I look in the mirror and I will catch glimpses of her when people call me by the wrong name," Dee's voice rang out above us, the tiny podium and microphone she stood at amplifying everything she said. I knew she'd pre-planned this speech, a dramatic work of art that would pay reminder to how Sadie made a scene out of anything and everything. A speech planned exactly how Sadie would have expected Dee to plan for her.
"Sadie will follow me through life, through university and work. She'll follow me through marriage, through family. Sadie will always be by my side, because there never was a moment when she wasn't in life. To all of you, take a piece of Sadie with you. I think we could all use it, especially her. Sadie was my twin, and she will remain so forever," Dee let a tear fall down her cheek, and held the room for a moment before her wobbling bottom lip told me she couldn't anymore and she fled from the attention. Despite the furious glares I was receiving from Coach Flinn and the girls behind me, I rushed to Dee to offer any comfort I could. Clutching her tightly, I held her as she sobbed into my arms and her tightly curled blonde hair bobbed under my chin.
"W-was it good?" She bit out in a whisper between hiccups.
"Perfect. Just as dramatic as she would have been." I replied quietly.
Richard and Ruth gave speeches, each performing nothing spectacular. I didn't think either had the ability or the heart to do anything more than hold back tears as they spoke of their daughter, before they parted from the microphone. The headmaster gave his words, and then all too soon came the part I had been dreading ever since I know it would be happening.
Sadie's casket was opened.
Everybody was free to meander over and to catch one last glance at her. I couldn't bear too.
"Dee, I can't." I whispered, grabbing at her arm as she made to go towards where Sadie lay.
"You'll regret it if you don't, Esme. I have to look in the mirror for the rest of my life, the least you can do is properly say goodbye," Dee's words were harsh but her tone was soft, as gentle as she look she was giving me. A look of understanding. Breathing in, I followed after her, knowing she was right.
All too soon, I stood before the open box. One more step, and I'd be peering in at my dead friend. One more step to see her still features, un-opening eyes. Sadie was always after the attention, always wanted a debacle and at this moment I felt nothing more strongly than the hope that this was just another stunt for the spotlight and that Sadie would sit up and laugh at all our faces.
But she didn't sit up. There was no laughter. I stared blankly down at her, and faltered. This was not my Sadie. The Sadie I saw now was draped in an elegant white robe, white embroidery running around the white lace edge. In life, she would have looked stunning in it. In life. Now the white just stood starkly out against her grey, dead skin. Her naturally curly hair that she always straightened was flattened against the pillow, her arms resting neatly to her sides. A face so familiar, turned so strange. I raked my eyes over her one last time, her face, her eyes, mouth, ears, nose. Her shoulders, her arms, hands, her... tattoo. At the bottom of her left wrist was a small black tattoo that I had never seen before. Well, I had seen it before, just not on her. A black scythe was marked into her flesh, starkly obvious now I had noticed it. It must've been a very recent addition because I had never seen it before. How had I never noticed she had a tattoo? Not just any tattoo either, but that tattoo. In all its infamous fame, never did I expect to see a Reapers Mark on Sadie.
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