Will stared at his grandmother’s headstone, ignoring the heavy downpour of rain that splattered against his clothing. Around him sat the soaked graveyard, the water falling so heavily that steam rose from the ground. Most of the headstones were nicer than his grandmother’s, larger and made of more costly materials than the simple grey stone one he’d gotten her. He’d never known how expensive headstones were until he’d had to choose one.

It had taken the majority of his meager savings to not only purchase her a headstone, but give her a small service as well. She deserved more than that, she deserved the greatest headstone money could buy and a service that encompassed three churches.

“I failed again today Grandma”, Will said the words with a sad smile.

The words were reminiscent to those he’d tell her as a kid, when he’d fail a task or test. Every time she’d give him a hug and tell him it was okay to fail once, so long as he learned from the experience. She wasn’t there to say that to him today, nor had she been there to say it to him for the past six months.

Will had never known how much he’d needed to hear those words from her, never known just how much he’d needed her in his life. She was the only family he’d ever had, after his parents had died on a humanitarian trip when he was a baby. The woman had raised him, taught him, comforted him, and all he’d done to repay her for it was give her a cheap headstone.

Just thinking of her death made him feel like a failure, filled him with a guilt that he didn’t think he’d ever be rid of. That guilt made him disgusted with himself.

His hero had died from a heart attack, one caused by the stress of overworking in her old age. She’d worked two jobs, a day job as a nurse at a hospital, and a night job as a night auditor, which had her working nearly twelve hours a day and over fifty a week. All of that to put food on the table for her and her grandchild, as well as support him while he went to college. All the while Will was busy doing schoolwork and living at home without a job, as well as going out every weekend to drink and party with his school friends. All the while his grandmother worked for his benefit, literally killing herself for his benefit. Will hated himself for that, for not dropping out of college and getting a full-time job, or even a part-time job just to help with her load. His grandmother would have refused his help at first, but he could have made her listen to him if he tried. Instead, he hadn’t tried, had taken her for granted until the day she’d died, just four days after his graduation.

After that the bank seized her house, and her car due to old debts, leaving Will living out of his car. Until it’d been totaled when a drunk driver had run him off the road before driving off before he could get their plate. Now he was staying on a buddy’s couch. He didn’t mind, in a way he deserved it for how he’d let his own grandmother die for him.

“I had three applications that were turned down today, not one of them even offered me an interview. On top of that I missed rent again, paid Malcolm what I could but it wasn’t the full amount. He didn’t care of course, but that only made me feel worse. Seems that no matter what I do I always end up living off of others, taking advantage of them just like a did to you”, Will said, fighting the self-loathing in his voice.

After a shaky breath he continued to speak. “You know, I really had a different idea of what my life would be like after college. I thought that with my degree I’d be able to get a good job, afford my own place, pay for you to stop working. Instead, your dead because of me, and I’m living on my friend’s couch while working at the same pizza place I worked at in high school. I guess it turns out that there’s not many publishing companies that are hiring right now, all that work a degree in literature turned out to be worthless. I don’t know what I was thinking honestly, I should have just did as you suggested and became an engineer or a doctor.”

Will felt his eyes start to well up with tears, he didn’t bother to wipe them away as his face was already soaked. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and took a deep breath before its continuing.

“I had a panic attack before I came here, one moment I was just sitting on my friend’s couch and then the next I was out in the rain. You know how I like to walk when I get anxious and all, honestly, I don’t really know when I started heading this way”, he said glancing over to the road.

“I guess this is just where my mind took me”, he added with a mumble.

Will looked down at his soaked clothing, a simple grey hoodie with a hole in the side and a pair of worn-down blue jeans, his sneakers were in similarly pour shape from overuse. Brown hair fell into his eyes, and he reached up to wipe it from his face. Even from a simple glance he could see himself shivering from the cold rainwater, it made his body’s desperate desire for warmth more apparent to him.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“God, what am I doing”, he said aloud, feeling the tears coming faster now. “I’ve lost everything, and now I’m here shivering in the rain”, he said, before a sob overtook him.

Will stood there for a while, staring at the name of his grandmother while he cried. Eventually the rain stopped, and he could feel himself growing colder, but still he stood there. Fr a brief moment he even wondered whether or not he whether or not he would get sick. But it was only wonder, there was no fear or apprehension at the thought.

It was only when Will finally felt it was time for him to go that he noticed the woman standing next to him. He hadn’t heard her approach, nor had he spotted anyone else in the graveyard besides himself.

The woman cast a strange image, dressed in an elegant black dress that billowed slightly at the bottom half, paired with a red scarf and black heels. On her head she wore a round had that had a blotchy red piece of fabric tied around its crown. The fabric was stained brown in some places with dirt, and the uncleanliness of it cast a stark contrast from the rest of her elegant attire.

The woman herself was one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen in his life. With dark hair that cascaded around her face in soft, flowing waves. Her olive skin was radiant and clear, possessing a strange glow as if tickled by an invisible sun. She had delicate features, long lashes, with full lips set in a deep frown. Eyes so brown they could have been black took in the sight of his grandmother’s grave, emanating a deep sense of melancholy.

Cast in the setting of a grey world with no sun in sight, the woman looked like a sad painting made flesh.

Will took in the sight of the woman and noted that she was strangely dry despite the damp world around her. Her gown seemed to lack any moisture at all, as if the rain itself did not want to ruin her beauty.

“So, this is her huh?”, the woman said, her voice elegant and smooth, yet also possessing an underlying heaviness as if she were exhausted. “Marie Lamia, she chose a good name.”

“Uh, did you know my grandmother?”, Will asked in confusion.

“No”, the woman said softly, “but I’d heard a great deal about her, from someone who knew her well. And before that I’d heard stories of her ferocity.”

Will frowned at that, “Ferocity?”

“Yes, she was quite the warrior from what I’m told. A true queen to her people”, she said.

“Uh, I think your confused”, Will said, wondering whether or not the woman was making a joke. “My grandmother was a pacifist”, he said.

The woman nodded, “you told me.”

“Sorry?”, Will said in complete confusion.

The woman chuckled at that, the sound harmonious and graceful like music, though it only filled Will with a deeper sense of confoundment.

“Apologies”, the woman said with a slight smile, “I think that might be the easiest I’ve ever heard that word leave your lips, be- William”, she said correcting herself.

“W-what? How do you know my name?”, Will asked in a startled tone, “do we know each other?”

“No, not yet. But we will, there is a connection between us. One that will save us both in more ways than one”, she said, giving him a tired look. “Or there was a connection between us, now it is lost”, she corrected herself.

Will was starting to realize that the woman was not joking, or if she was it was, then she was an amazing actress. He suddenly began worrying that the woman was not right in the head, or worse she was some sort of stalker. He began to wonder whether or not he should just leave, when he noticed his hand was cupped in both of hers. He must not have noticed her grab it because of his bafflement, as he hadn’t so much as noticed her move.

The woman looked down at his hand in hers with a tender look that bordered on… loving. It was the look a wife would give her husband, a gaze filled with the purest of affection. Seeing the look in the eyes of stranger was bizarre and off-putting.

Will immediately tried to take his hand back but noticed that he couldn’t seem to move, he tried to open his mouth but was frozen in place. Panic began to set into his chest, a panic that he could do nothing to fix. Then, suddenly his hand began to grow warm as if held over a flame and his panic grew.

Then the woman released his hand, which stayed in place as she moved past his arm to cup his cheek. Dark brown eyes met his own, flashing with a wide range of emotion that he struggled to place. Love, care, grief, guilt, and the emotion that seemed to overpower all the rest, hope.

“It will be different this time”, she promised, before releasing him and turning to face away from him.

Will was still frozen in place, unable to move as he watched the woman move among the gravestones before she abruptly vanished. The place she stood appearing empty as if she’d never been there in the first place. As if triggered by her disappearance, Will found he could move once more and immediately fell to his backside.

“W-what the hell?”

Scrambling up, he found himself looking all around the graveyard, only to find it empty. The rain started falling once more, a drizzle that quickly turned into a downpour, causing Will to give up his search.

Hurrying through the graveyard, Will made it to the black fence that surrounded the cemetery and stepped outside the gate. He made his way across the street to the sidewalk located across the street. The sidewalk ran along a series of apartment buildings and would eventually lead him to his buddy’s apartment complex.

As he began to walk, he reflected on what he’d just seen, though it was hard to focus with his shivering getting worse. Just as he stepped off a cross walk, he heard the sound of screeching tires coming behind him. Turning to look, he saw a blue sports car zoom past him on the left, spraying trails of water behind it.

Will barely had time to frown as he turned to see another car, a black sports car speeding down the road. Only as the driver was about to pass him, his tire hit a deep puddle of rainwater and slid to the right, directly towards Will.

Acting on instinct, Will tried to jump away but wasn’t nearly fast enough as the car hit him with full force. The last thing he felt, was his head colliding with the hard pavement, and then everything went black.