Grief is like a hammer to the chest. It shattered his heart with every beat. The pieces were like glass and they perforated the chambers of his useless organ.
Raphael touched the white sheet delicately as he cried openly. Coté had been his first songstress, his first bird to go on flights with him and her sadness, or rather her inability to keep anything reminded him of who he had been for centuries. He found refuge in women like Andrea and Coté, people isolated by their mistakes and even more so by their lack of closeness to anyone at all in their younger years.
Remiel gripped his shoulder to keep Raphael from collapsing in tears as he sent his brother away from the body.
When he was alone, he sat in Raphael’s chair gazing out at the body covered in a shroud provided by the oracles. He pulled the pink color from the pale form to expose her death. The color of her hair was a mixture of blonde and pink and dark brown. He touched her overgrown pixie cut to fix the hairs that were out of place.
There were remenants if glitter in a foiled mint color on her face. There were still false lashes affixed to her face and dark marks down her cheeks where she had cried. He tried to wipe the mascara away. “I’m sorry I left you alone.” It was the first time he had given her any explanation. “I loved someone before I loved you.” He knew her intimate history with death and abandonment. Coté felt cursed to suffer abandonment. He had contributed to just that.
He stood to kiss her one last time. Since she had died, Andrea had not yet left her side. The demon stirred almost violently when the corpse seemed to breathe. Alarmed, he stepped back to cover her again. Remiel swallowed his condolences before fleeing the room.