Page 54 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
I realized I was crying, tears sliding down my cheeks and landing on the still open book in my hands, blurring the ink. I closed it softly, and Otto gently took it from my hands.
The priest took my now empty hands. “Would you like to see his grave?”
I nodded, my whole chest aching. “Yes.”
Chapter27
Evan
Sleep Quietly in this Peaceful Shrine.
That was all that was inscribed into Nemo’s headstone, except for the year of his death etched into the corner. The grave was on the far side of the cemetery, on a hill above the consecrated ground. It looked out over the ocean, the wild grass growing high around it.
The priest had led us to this spot, and left again with soft words that the church was always open if we needed solace. I thanked him for his help, holding the box that contained the remnants of the life of Timothy Smith, a.k.a Nemo.
Black Converse, jeans and a fleece-lined jacket. A copy of the book that started it all. It would have been cold when Nemo walked into the sea, letting it drag him out further and further until he drowned.
Aviva sat beside his grave, her silence like a heavy weight across us all. I’d known, deep down, that this was the way it would end. There were three possible scenarios in this quest, or maybe four. She never found Nemo and forgot about the whole quest, and we lived happily ever after—that had been the preferable one.
I wished that I’d fucking burned Buck’s notes, and pretended that there were no more leads. I was too goddamn worried about being the good guy, about giving Aviva everything she wanted, without considering that maybe she needed something different.
Now she looked so fucking sad that I wanted to dig Timothy fucking Smith up and make him hold on, so I’d never have to see that expression on her face ever again. We all sat around her, not breaking the silence, as she cried deep, shuddering sobs that still echoed down the hillside.
I didn’t know what to do.
Thank fuck for Otto. He was giving her space, but when her sobs got too much, he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. I don’t know what he was saying against her hair, but it made her cry harder, like she was trying to eradicate all the sadness from her soul. And Otto just held her.
The sun dipped low over the horizon, the volcano rumbling every now and then. Aviva had stopped crying, though she was still nestled into Otto’s chest. We sat around her, her own sentinels.
“This was me,” she said, her voice rough from the tears. “If I hadn’t met you guys, I would have been buried in a grave. Not here, but somewhere. He died sad and alone, and I was too slow to save him, the way you guys have saved me.”
What could I say to that?
“You’re stronger than that, Good Girl. Stronger than all of us. You would have fought through the numbness, fought to feel better. But it doesn’t matter now, because you’ll always have us,” Sampson murmured, squatting down beside her and brushing her hair from her face. “Come on, we should head back to town before the sun sets completely. We have to get a room to stay for the night.”
She nodded, climbing to her feet. Otto got up gingerly, and I knew his ass must have been numb from sitting on the ground for so long, but he hadn’t complained. Hadn’t tapped out. That was just who Otto was.
We walked back to town in silence, and stopped at the hotel we’d visited earlier. Maria behind the reception desk took one look at Chaos, and her face crumpled. She crossed herself and moved around from behind the counter, grabbing a couple of keys from the pegboard behind her. Wrapping Aviva up in a hug, she held her close, like she was her own child and not a complete stranger. She murmured things in Sicilian, or a dialect of Italian at least, before pulling back and stroking away her tears.
“It is good you came. Good that he can finally rest, knowing that someone will remember him. We all light a candle for him on Sundays, pray for his soul.” She handed Hendrick the handful of keys. “Come, you need rooms,si?Go up and freshen, and I will get some food sent down from theristorantefor you.”
I let the woman take charge, not that I thought I’d have any authority in this situation. Maria seemed to know what to do, and I was happy to hand over the reins. We all were. We hadn’t meant to stay, though I’d brought a backpack of supplies just in case. Call it a leftover from my mercenary days.
We had three separate rooms, and that was probably best. We didn’t want to scandalize the island, but still, it would hurt to be separated from Chaos tonight. While Aviva had a long shower, Maria returned with a cardboard box, loaded with food in reusable plastic containers, plus several pizzas.
Hendrick gave the older woman his warmest smile. “Thank you, ma’am. We’ll settle it all tomorrow?”
She waved a hand. “Si, tomorrow.” She looked at the closed bathroom door. “Stromboli is small. The death of your Timothy Smith affected us all. It is nice to know for whom we pray, so the food is a gift.”
With that, she bustled back down the hall, and I closed the door softly behind her. I looked around at the guys. “What do we do?” Everyone looked at Otto, who just shrugged. Fucking hell, if Otto didn’t know, we were all screwed.
“We go home, I guess,” he said. “We’ll watch her, make sure what she’s feeling now doesn’t spiral into depression, and just let her process. She probably needs to see her parents too—she holds a lot of guilt there which probably isn’t healthy.”
Yeah, I agreed with that.
Sampson shook his head. “I thought this was a long shot. You said Nemo hadn’t left Iceland, and I assumed he was still there, living inside a cliff and talking to elves or some shit. I never in a million years thought he’d be here. I thought this would be another dead end, and we would just go home.”
“Well, it was definitely a dead end,” Hendrick joked, and Otto frowned at him. “It's a joke, Otto. What, too soon?”
