@dragonlover128 You eulogy is inside, as promised 😁😂

Today was the day of the burial. My parents decided to join me and give their condolences by attending the funeral. We were already on our way and the whole car ride was silent.

The funeral was held in a town a couple of hours away, where Adam moved from. Her family wants to bury her with the rest of her ancestors so we had to sit in the car for a whole 2 hours.

I kept my eyes trained on the trees that whizzed by as we drove and I was trying really hard to keep my mind off the fact that we were going to bury Carla's body tonight and everyone knows that a funeral comes with heartfelt eulogies.

Jerry requested me to make a special eulogy for Carla although I tried preparing myself and wrote what I wanted to say in a piece of paper but nothing sounded enough to express how much of a wonderful woman Carla was so I ended up crumpling the papers and now, I have a room to sweep.

In the end, I had to drop everything and rest, leaving my mind to wing it on the spot. I could only pray that no cuss words would slip out or the worst scenario that could happen that second would probably be my brain not being cooperative in whisking something up because it's too busy sobbing internally.

I was overwhelmed beyond belief and the anxiety was swallowing me whole mercilessly. Nothing that I have ever felt reached this level of unpleasantness with the exception of knowing that Monic found out I was street fighting illegally.

When we finally reached the venue, we all piled out of the car and climbed up the small hill to reach where Carla's coffin will be buried at. It was no surprise that a lot of people came.

There was no way that a wonderful woman such as Carla having little to no friends. People who wouldn't befriend her would be incredibly stupid. I found Adam standing among the crowd of people and stood by him while slipping my hand in his.

Monic was behind me, leaning against Jake as she wept on his chest while Jake's hand that wasn't supporting Monic was clasped onto Adam's shoulder, giving him some moral support.

I didn't dare look towards where Carla's coffin lay beside the gaping hole in the ground. I had the urge to weep along with all the other people that was gathered around her coffin and the six feet deep hole.

One by one, the people that was called came into view and started reading out their eulogies while I stood there, trying to worry about my own unwritten eulogy.

I listened in to this one eulogy which was beautifully written. It seemed to be from a long friend of hers before she moved to my town. The woman had tears streaming down her face while she reads out her written eulogy, bringing more tears to others' eyes as well.

"Dear Carla,

You are a beautiful woman and the greatest parent I have ever known. No one will ever forget you and your fight against the kidney failure. God bless you and your children." A tear slipped out, I didn't know how I was about to top that without anything written down but I was going to have to try whether I like it or not.

I cursed myself internally, 'Now you can't whisk up something while a couple of days ago thoughts about what you want to say to Carla practically flood your mind.'

I felt a nudge on my arm and looked towards my parents only to have them jerk their heads to where the priest was standing.

My gaze went to Adam and he gave me a small smile and his hand landed on the small of my back before giving me a small push. Oh shit.

A lump formed in my throat and no matter how hard I try to swallow it and will it to dissipate, nothing happened. I racked my brain on what to say and it was like my whole fear was coming true.

Once I was already standing and facing everyone, I started to fidget.

I never was the speaker. All I do is give the spotlight back to Bryant and let him deal with all of it. Now, I was starting to regret never trying out those times to familiarize myself with being under the spotlight.

I glanced around and found Monic's stare. She gave me a nod of encouragement. With great hesitance, I picture Bryant speaking, what he does, his stance and his tone.

I took a deep breath before opening my eyes and face the crowd. Today is about Carla, not about me. I need to snap out of this. I cleared my throat and squared my shoulders, preparing myself mentally to speak out.

"Carla was an amazing mother, I can justify that. Not only that, she was an amazing woman. I've met all of her children and I can tell she raised them well. That night that I finally visited her and cried on her behalf, her youngest son found me outside her room and I would like to share the wise words of this 2 year old boy;

'God picks off the best people on Earth like we do when we are in a garden full of flowers.'

I've learnt more things from her 2 year old kid than I have ever had with my old friends. You raised your kid well, Carla. They're going to be great people."

All the while saying this, my fingers were covering the pendant and clutched at it tightly. The weight that hung on my neck was no more foreign and I promised myself that no matter how forgetful I get, I would always remember the story behind this green pendant.

I finished my eulogy and walked back to stand beside Adam whose eyes were shining with tears. I offered him a hug and let him hold me to comfort himself while the priest finished the ceremony and her coffin was lowered to the ground.

We all took a handful of dirt and threw it gently on top of her coffin. After each of us got our turn, the rest of the hole was covered by shoveled up dirt and each of us left the flowers we brought for her by laying them down on the ground in front of her headstone.

I let Adam keep his hold on me for a while before holding him in arm's length to give him some moral support.

"Hey, look at me," I whispered softly, holding his arm with one hand and grabbing his chin to make him look at me with the other. He looked so vulnerable that I almost tear up at the sight of him.

"I know it's hard. God, I know it's a terrible feeling but look at me and tell me whether or not I'm breathing. I'm still standing and so will you. If I can survive a year, you will too. If I survive two years, you will too. If I survive a decade, you can too. Time will heal you. It won't completely dull the ache but it will cease the pain. You will cope and you will be alright. I know you will."

Movies make it seem so easy to console someone but let me tell you, it's giving you some serious bullshit.

Adam wasn't saying anything and instead of showing any signs that he caught anything I just said, he pulled me in for another hug. I kept my arms circled around his waist while he buried his tear streaked face on my shoulder.

Out of nowhere, the feeling of being watched came to me and my gut told me I should listen to my instincts which were going wild with red lights. It was the same feeling I got when we went to the Underground Place that night and all I could think of is to get the others to safety.

In the end of my vision, I could see a dark silhouette of a shoe with an obvious bulge sticking out from his shoe, pushing against the cloth of his jeans. The rest of the stranger's form was hidden behind a tree and I immediately sensed something wrong.

What would be sticking out of a shoe with that kind of bulge? My money's on it being a knife. A shiver ran down my spine and I was pretty sure it wasn't caused by the frostbites I was getting since I made sure to wear 3 layers of clothing.

I crept up slowly to my tiptoes and subtly yank Adam down by hugging him by his neck. Thinking about how I was going to word the situation out. It wasn't like I could just spit it all out and not freak him out at the same time.

I could feel my heart beating even faster by the minute and I tried convincing anyone who might be glancing our way that nothing was wrong. "Adam, there's someone watching behind a tree, my 11 o'clock. They've got a knife."

His body turned rigid in a nanosecond and I immediately rubbed soothing circles and forced his shoulders to relax once more to not raise any suspicions.

I could hear his breathing getting heavier, causing me to place a hand above his chest. "Hey, it's alright. They can't hurt us. We're fighters. We'll be alright," I told him softly with the other hand caressing his face.

My conscience reminded me about the possibility of the bulge being a gun's holster and I didn't think twice before trying to shove that thought to the deepest trench of my mind.

Let's not think about that right now.

"Case, get the kids and our parents out of here. Warn Preston, he'll know what to do. Take Jake with you and take them to somewhere safe and stay with them," I wanted to object but he was already letting me go and my brain was commanding me to get the kids out of harm's way.

I forced my legs to move towards the kids in a normal pace even if all I wanted to do is rush and grab them along with my parents and Jerry. I had to appear nonchalant to not give off any alarms to our spy.

I whispered a "Follow me" to the kids before grabbing their arms and got to where our parents were standing. I remembered when I would play codes with my dad while watching 'Supernatural' together.

With a grave expression, I forced a tear out and hugged him tight, trying to minimize the movement of my lips and stay discreet at our mini evacuation. Anyone who caught a glimpse of us would think of it as my dad comforting his mourning daughter.

"Poughkeepsie," I could feel my dad's muscles tense up before taking my mom's hand in his and looked at Jerry in that silent 'Run!' look.

I got them all to pile in the car before heading to where Jake and Monic stood with a smile and a normal walking pace. Through gritted teeth and a forced smile that I hope looked convincing enough, I told Jake to get to the warehouse and that he'll be taking Adam's and I family with.

"Make sure no one's following you guys," I said in a serious voice that gave off my anxiety behind the smile I put on show. Luckily, his brain was working well and didn't ask any questions and dragged Monic along.

Monic looked back towards me with a worried expression. I gave her a smile, trying to hide my fear. "Go," I mouthed and went to make sure everyone's good to go.

I caught Preston on my way to the car and got close to him by giving him a hug, tighter than I gave any of them.

"Adam needs your help, it's bad," I whispered in a hushed tone, trying to get the urgency of the situation across.

Who knows what that dude is armed with and I sure as hell wasn't taking any kind of chances with it.

Preston rushed to his brother's aid while I continued to usher both of our families into the car and told them that they should follow Jake who was already on his motorcycle with Monic behind him, already geared up to go.

Before I could run back to Adam, my mom caught me by my hand. I tried to pry her fingers off, thinking that she would forbid me to go back there considering how restless my dad seemed.

But instead of telling me to get into the car, she looked at me straight in the eye and told me the one thing I haven't heard her tell me since a very long time.

"Whatever happens, know that I'm proud to call you my daughter. I have always been proud," that statement alone made me tear up. I nodded and pecked her cheeks.

My heart felt heavy and yet it tingles at the simple statement. It was mere words but hearing it for the first time since months makes a huge difference. I know she's proud but to actually hear her say it brought a huge lump that lodged itself onto my throat.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetie. Please be careful," she planted a quick kiss on my cheek before the car pulled away, carrying almost everyone I love.

It didn't take me long to turn back and search for Adam and Preston. Hell would freeze over before I leave Adam in danger's way without me. I know he's more than capable of fending himself against people that wants to hurt him but I wouldn't be able to sit silently in the car while knowing that he could be potentially hurt.

All I could think of while running around in flats and the black dress I was wearing was the kind of danger they might be in. The fact that I'm not there by his side is causing my heart to get heavier and heavier by the second and it wasn't the good kind.

God, if you're listening in right now, please protect those two from danger.

Only you know what I'd be reduced to if I have to lose another loved one.

But just as I thought that, I saw a form on the ground, unmoving with a worrying familiar mob of hair and I could feel the blood being drained from my face.

~•~•~

3M readssss woo!! 🎉🎉 You have no idea how much I love you people 💕😂🙆

I told you there's some more 😁😜 I'm going back to school 😭

Guys, I won't be able to update regularly anymore and as I said last time, I'll be posting sneak peaks and updates only in the instagram account as to not make you disappointed when I post up A/Ns here.

Anyways, I hope you lot like this chapter. I love y'all, don't forget to smile and stay awesome bro.

God bless 💕-J