Chapter 15: Chapter 15 JUST LIKE HUMANS

Kayla looked into the doctor’s mind praying for some hopeful news, but she found nothing.

“We need to get her up to her room.” He was looking for someone to help him when Solara gathered her in his arms and headed for the house.

Kayla didn’t let go of her hold on her grandmother’s hand. She followed closely as Solara carried her to the bedroom. When he laid her on the bed, she covered her with a blanket and lay beside Nana, her white dress spilling onto the ground.

“Are you comfortable?”

“I am comfortable, happy, and at peace. Today I got to watch my little girl get married and I saw my only son back in his home.” She rubbed Kayla’s arm.

“I don’t want you to die Nana.”

“Oh sweetheart, it isn’t about what you want. We all have a date when we have to leave this earth and this is mine.”

“But-,”

“No buts. You need to be strong for your Momma, do you hear me.”

Kayla nodded.

“We need to let your grandmother get some rest.” The doctor suggested.

“I am not moving from here.” Kayla declared.

“But you need to give her some space to rest. We will have to move you from there.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Kayla threatened.

“Doctor, leave my baby alone.” Iris stepped in between the doctor and Kayla.

“But Mrs. Cooper need-,”

“She needs her family and right now you are not it.” Dick backed Iris up.

“Fine, but may I speak to you outside Mister Cooper.” The doctor left the room with Kayla’s father in tow.

They all sat in the room watching the rise and fall of Nana’s chest. Scarlet sent SJ away when her heartbeat grew weaker and harder to hear. He didn’t need to be exposed to death just yet. He would have an eternity to face it.

“Kayla-,” Scarlet sat at the foot of the bed.

“I know.” Her voice was somber and she sounded resolved.

Kayla closed her eyes as she listened to the last beats of her Nana’s heart and the last sound of her struggling breaths. She didn’t move even when every organ in her grandmother’s body went silent.

Stephan pulled Scarlet in his arms and held her as tightly as he could. He could hear her muffled cries and could feel her tears seep through his shirt.

“Kayla.” Solara knelt beside the bed.

“She’s dead.” The tone in her voice was final.

“What! What do you mean she’s dead?” Iris climbed over Kayla on the bed and leaned over Nana’s chest. “I can’t hear anything.” She pressed her ear against her chest. “I can’t hear anything. Dick!”

Dick rushed into the room, the doctor behind him.

“I can’t hear anything.” Iris gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Kayla lay beside her grandmother, oblivious of what was going on around her. She didn’t move when the doctor asked her to. Solara lifted her off the bed, her flowing dress dragged along as he moved and squatted in the corner.

“Kayla?”

She didn’t respond. She didn’t move. Kayla was in too much shock to do anything. She sat on his lap, staring at the bed, where her grandmother lay motionless, lifeless.

“Iris you need to move from the bed. I need to cover her up.” The doctor said.

Dick gently pulled her off the bed and dragged her out of the room. After a while, he came back and ushered the rest outside.

“Solara is it?” He went to where he was crouched at the corner with Kayla in his arms. “Please take my daughter to her room. The coroner will be here in a while. They are going to take the body and I don’t want her to be here when they do that.”

Solara nodded then stood up. He refused any help from Dick when he tried to take Kayla from him. He walked across the hall to Kayla’s room; he found the others there, seated on the bed with Scarlet in the middle.

“Could you guys give me some room?”

Solara laid Kayla on the bed beside Scarlet and then left the room with Stephan.

“What do you think?”

“About what?” Stephan was confused.

“Should we take them home, or hang around for the funeral?” Solara was running his fingers frantically through his short hair.

“I think it would be better to just wait a while, especially for Iris. She is going to be alone in this house from now on. I don’t think we should leave her in the condition she is in.”

“Ok, if you think that’s right.”

“Solara.” Dick came up from behind them. “I was wondering if you could handle the funeral arrangements. You are family now.”

Solara took a step back. He didn’t know the first thing about planning a funeral. He was also taken aback by his decision not to plan his own mother’s funeral. Under any other circumstance, he would have said no, but this was Nana; Kayla’s grandmother and the woman who welcomed him into her family without knowing a single thing about him.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he grunted.

“Thanks because I can’t afford it. I would appreciate it if you don’t tell Kayla about this.”

“She is going to ask where the money is coming from, and considering it’s also her money, she is going to wonder where it’s all going.” Solara put in.

“Please just don’t tell her. I was thinking that we should have the funeral this Saturday. It’s a good time, and besides, I need to be getting back to my life.”

Solara took a step forward and Stephan caught his arm. He was angry; he couldn’t believe that Dick was putting his mediocre life before his family.

“Fine.” With that last word Solara left.

Stephan went to look for Iris as Solara went to check on the girls.

“Iris?” Stephan put his arm over her quivering shoulder.

“Iris, we were wondering if you could walk us through the funeral arrangements. You don’t have to do anything.”

“But I want to.” She managed to croak out.

“No, I think it’s best if you leave that part to us, and you could help us with the girls. They haven’t spoken ever since Nana-, they haven’t spoken yet.”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s just the shock. But I’ll go check on them. In the phone book, you can find the numbers of funeral parlors.” Iris left him to it and went to Kayla’s room.

“Honey you know your Nana wouldn’t like seeing you like this.” Iris gathered the satin lace dress from the floor and piled it up on the bed at Kayla’s back.

“She’s fine. She’s just processing.” Solara was fixed on her mind. He needed to know every thought that went through her mind.

“Maybe she should get out of the dress. Get into something more comfortable.”

“Let’s go help Stephan downstairs.” Solara took the rest of the guys with him as Scarlet and Iris changed Kayla out of her dress.

“So how is it going?” Solara found Stephan with the phone book and a notepad. He was taking quotations and comparing them to the services they offered.

“I think I found one. We just need to take them what she is going to wear.” Stephan was amazed at how complex burying a human dead was. If she was a vampire all they would have to do was light her on fire.

“Saturday?”

“Saturday afternoon is the earliest they can accommodate us.”

“That’s ok.”

“Man I have never seen Kayla like this.” Vincent put in.

“It’s like she is frozen,” Victor added.

“Its death, we beasts deal with it from time to time. But it’s not as frequent as that of humans.” Eric’s kind was the only ones remotely close to that of the humans.

“Dad, is Momma and Aunt Kayla going to be alright?” SJ was worried.

“They will be after a while.”

“Dad, are you or Momma going to die.”

They hadn’t explained death clearly to him. They always assumed that part of life would not affect him at all.

“No, because our kind doesn’t die unless we are killed, and no one wants to kill us.”

“Oh, ok.” Stephan could see that SJ still didn’t look convinced.

“I thought I would bring them down for some sun, and besides they haven’t had anything to eat,” Iris said as she came down with Scarlet and Kayla.

They walked past them and to the back porch and sat on one of the tables arranged on the lawn. The three women sat there in silence staring into space.

“Kayla you never told me you got a tattoo. How comes I didn’t see it when you were in your gown.” Iris pointed out.

Scarlet’s head rose to look at where Iris was staring and poking with her index finger. Kayla didn’t do anything to stop her. She sat and gazed at the space. Scarlet could see fresh marks creeping out of the arm of her t-shirt.

Solara we have a problem

I heard. See if you can distract Iris.

“Iris, what are you going to do after the funeral?” Scarlet said drawing away Iris’ attention from Kayla.

“Honestly I don’t know.” Her hand was still around Kayla’s forearm. “Maybe get back to work, move down to Florida. I haven’t given it much thought.”

“Oh.” Solara. Scarlet urged as new marks were creeping up her neck.

“Do you mind if I steal my wife for a second?” Solara appeared behind Kayla a light blanket in his hands.

“Not at all. Maybe you could snap her back into reality.” Iris dropped her arm as Solara covered her with the blanket.

He lifted her from the chair and rushed her into the room, where Vincent was waiting with a pint of human blood.

“Come on honey, you need to drink this.” Solara put the straw in her mouth and automatically she started sucking the blood. Slowly the marks disappeared.

“Do you want to go back downstairs?”

“No. I just want to lay here.” Kayla lay back on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. She stared at the wall and didn’t turn back to look at her husband.

“What is she thinking?” Vincent asked.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

***

They stood around the coffin and the fresh dug-out grave. The pastor that officiated their wedding was presiding over the funeral.

Kayla stood there her eyes not leaving the closed casket. The pastor poured some holy water over the white roses then signaled the caretakers to lower them down.

Slowly as it went into the ground, Kayla’s fingers tightened around Solara’s palm. She knew that once she was in the hole it was over. Her grandmother would be nothing but a headstone from then on. She fought against the urge to crawl into the ground with her, Solara firmly holding her in place.

He pulled her away just as they began hauling the dirt over the casket. Solara knew it would be too much for her to take. He dragged her to the car and sat with her as the others said their final goodbyes.

Scarlet walked a few yards from Nana’s grave to her parent’s grave. Just as they should be they lay side by side.

“Hey, Mum. Hi Daddy. I miss you guys. We just buried Mrs. Cooper a few yards from you. You guys should make a point of meeting her. She took care of me when you left. I know I haven’t been here for a while, lots happened.”

She caught the scent of her husband and son as they approached her.

“Come here.” She pulled SJ to his knees next to her.

“These are your grandparents. They died a long time ago.”

“Leonard.” SJ read his grandfather’s name out loud, the name his mother had given him.

“Guys this is my family. This is Stephan, my husband and this beautiful big boy beside me is Stephan Leonard, our son. I wish that you could meet them especially your mom.” Scarlet wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

“I promise I’ll come to visit you some other time. But right now we have to go. We live in Washington, Kings County. It’s a beautiful place next to a forest. I love you guys.”

Scarlet stood up and walked into Stephan’s waiting arms. She wanted to cry, to let every tear out but she couldn’t. She could see Kayla from where she stood and right now she had to come first.

Scarlet took Kayla’s hands in hers and looked her in the eye. “We are going to get through this. We are all going to help you.”

It was time for them to return to their home, their world.