Suzy’s POV

The funeral was two days ago.

Mom and Dad broke down the moment the casket was opened. I had already been crying long before them. What disappointed me was that so few people had come to pay their respects to him. Grandpa was there, of course, but outside our immediate family, a few cousins and aunts, there was no one else.

Charlie had worked at a nearby hospital for years, yet no one came from there. Josephine didn’t show up, though that was for the best that she hadn’t as I don’t know what kind of drama that might’ve caused at the wedding. I’m pretty sure she had gone from someone Mom thought that Charlie should get with again to the top of Mom’s hit list, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Mom had decided to throw hands with her had she shown up.

While that would have been entertaining, the fact that so few people had come to see him off still irked me. He had helped so many people during his years, taken care of so many sick people, and yet his reward was such a sparse sendoff. None of his workers from his new job had shown up either.

If it had been my funeral, I imagined more people would’ve shown up, simply because my social circle was larger than my brother’s. And yet, he had always been the better person between us. If you asked me, he deserved a full-blown parade!

The worst part was the fact that his new flame, Charlotte, had not shown up. For some reason, when asked about her, he always had high praise, though he had told us all to not expect her at this funeral. I couldn’t understand why, given the fact that he said that they were still dating, but he said that I would ‘eventually come to understand.’

No clue what he meant by that, and I think it was just the pain medication talking when he said that. He said some funny things under their influence, though I guess it was a small bit of solace that he had probably passed away painlessly.

Right now, I was driving towards his house - well, he had left it to me, but I was certainly not going to keep it. The whole place had given me the creeps the last time I had visited it, and after what happened Charlie, I absolutely did not want to keep it.

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What soured my mood even more was knowing that my grandfather had sold it off to Charlie, not even given it away, despite the fact that Charlie clearly had a hard time affording it. It was done to ‘build character’ per my grandfather, though I wanted to smack him across the face. How was it fair that an old coot like him was still alive, while Charlie had passed away? Wasn’t cancer supposed to be genetic - his oncologist had suggested I get checked for some genetic mutations which I would do later on (I guess the old man was just lucky), but that wasn’t the part I was focused on.

The worst part was that I knew that in Charlie’s last year before he passed away, he had not been happy. He had quit his job, and I only wished that I had supported him more. My parents had also stressed him out quite a bit regarding his failed engagement and the fact that he had left his career to basically move to nowhere. It was something that those two deeply regretted now, but that was all that they had left now.

Regrets.

I would stay at his house for a few days to wrap up his affairs, that was it, and then I would be off once I found a new place to stay. As it was, I was currently unemployed - after my boss had chastised me when I wanted a day off to attend Charlie’s funeral because I had taken too many days to visit him before he passed, I had resigned immediately. Though given how much I had cussed him out before walking out of his office, I probably didn’t have to.

Still, I wanted to stay in that house for as little time as possible before I moved out, even if it hurt my wallet.

The place was as ominous as ever, and the fact that it was so secluded made it all the worse. Honestly, I had no idea as to how Charlie had ever lived here. It was just so… eerie and haunting. It really did feel like a house straight out of a horror movie. Especially that creepy doll that he had - I hoped that it wasn’t still there and that he had taken my advice and thrown it out, but I didn’t bother to go upstairs and check, instead deciding to take a nap.

I’d deal with everything else tomorrow morning.

I couldn’t help but break down when I walked in though - at the memories of him being in this house, walking through the rooms, and at the fact that he would never do those things again. Never again would I hear him come back from work early in the morning. Never again would I hear his voice, even if he was annoyed at me. Never again would I see his smile…

I had to change my pillows twice that night because they got too damp.