Page 10 of Bound By Crimson
Lyric lowered herself onto the grass and sat cross-legged in front of the grave. She set her bag beside her, pulled out a small jar candle, and lit the wick with a match from the Velvet Cauldron.
The flame glowed steadily, casting a gentle circle of warmth.
She reached for her mother’s locket, fingers closing around it instinctively. She always did this when she sat here. She’d been wearing the locket every day since they died.
“Hey,” she whispered.
The wind rustled softly through the oak’s branches.
“I miss you both.”
Her throat tightened.
“I thought it would get easier. Everyone says it does. But it doesn’t.”
She traced the smooth edge of the locket with her thumb.
“I found the adoption papers.” Her voice came out thinner than she expected. “I wasn’t looking for them. I was just… trying to find Dad’s cardigan.”
The candlelight wavered.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked softly. “Were you planning to? Or were you protecting me?”
She closed her eyes.
“I don’t care what I found. None of it changes anything. You’re still my parents. You’ll always be my parents.”
The breeze carried the faint scent of grass and earth.
“I just wish I could ask you why.”
Her fingers tightened around the locket.
The candle’s flame danced in the breeze, steady but fragile.
She stayed there for a long while, not expecting answers.
Just presence.
When the candle burned low, she brushed dirt from her jeans, gathered the jar, and stood.
She rested her hand gently on the stone.
“I love you,” she whispered. “And I miss you both so, so much. I’m gonna go now. But I’m thinking of you always.”
The oak branches swayed overhead, the wind whispering through the leaves.
As she turned to leave, a strange feeling settled at the base of her spine.
The sense that she wasn’t alone.
She paused, scanning the quiet rows of headstones. The night was still. Empty.
It’s just the graveyard. It always feels like this.
Maybe it was the shadows. Maybe it was the weight of all the names watching her from the stones.
She pulled the cardigan tighter—but the feeling didn’t leave.
