Waiting in a Cemetary... Why?

[Jade Hayes]

((Open, but Avalee requested?))

Arianna stared at the grave, her face emotionless. It was her best escape. She couldn't believe it, not one word of it. He hadn't died in a bar fight and he wasn't lying in the ground beneath her feet. It was all a dream. No, it was a nightmare and she would wake up any minute now. She closed her eyes and counted slowly to three, willing herself to wake up. But when she opened her eyes she saw the same name engraved on the stone. Axel Hampton.

Then she took off her sunglasses, her eerie green eyes, shining down on the grave. "You said you wanted to see my eyes." She murmured softly. "I just came back to late." Blinking almost erratically, Arianna stood. She had come back to Hogwarts, drawn by something strange that she didn't yet understand to find this? It was all wrong. He had been too alive the last time she saw him. His hair had looked too vibrant, and his voice had been too clear, kind and gentle for a dead man. The last time she saw him he had been alive.

She laughed aloud. She laughed maniacally. She laughed to cover up the fact that right now she was ripping apart inside. Axel had been the closest she had come to a friend here and now he was gone. She had even hoped she would be able to be more than a friend to him, but she was wrong again. She had heard the rumors in the bars about the heartbroken girl he had left behind. Arianna's heart went out to that girl. She must be experiencing more pain that Ari could possibly imagine. To have the one you loved, ripped away from you...

After spending a few more moments looking at the grave, Arianna stood, her resolve firm. She was going to find the girl. She was going to go and find the girl who she now admired for the strength she must have for carrying on after something like this. What was her name? Ah... yes, Avalee was her name.

Arianna looked out into the sea of headstones, seeing the occasional mourner. Having no idea where to look, she settled down next to the grave and closed her eyes, leaving her sunglasses by her side. Waiting here would be her best bet. She had to come here eventually right? "Good night... Good night forever." She said softly to the ground, her last good-byes for Axel spoken to a stone. A tear finally dropped to the ground as Ari tried to fall asleep, waiting for someone who may or may not come.

[purpleraincloud]

((I would like this to be closed, actually.))

Avalee walked through the cemetery briskly. It was a bright warm afternoon. In her hands was a box. A dark brown wooden box. On the top of it's curved lid were intricate Celtic carvings. It was a beautiful box. Avalee carried it carefully. Inside this special box were a few of Axel's photos. School photos, family photos, even a picture or two of him and Avalee. All copies of course. She wanted to put them by his grave. Somewhere....out there...where ever her love may be, she wanted him to know she always though of him.

As she approached his grave, she memorized it's location upon her first journey here, she spotted a young girl. Curled up on Axel's grave. She appeared to be asleep. At first this made Avalee a tad angry, but she got over it quickly. Sadness consumed all as she saw his headstone. A tear dropped instantly.

She crouched down and patted the girl softly.

"Miss?" She asked quietly.

[Jade Hayes]

((Okay, this is officially closed.))

Arianna started awake, looking at the person who had tapped her. It was a girl. A girl with sadness deep in her eyes and a tear stain on her cheek. Ari stood, stepping minutely away from the grave she had been laying next to and looked at the girl cautiously. "Are you Avalee?" She guessed, raising her eyebrows questioningly. She had asked the question merely out of formal politeness. Somehow she knew this was the girl she had been looking for.

Arianna looked the girl up and down, her eyes landing on the box in her hands. It looked expensive. It also looked foreign. She decided not to press as to what was in the box yet because they had just met. 

[purpleraincloud]

Avalee's eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

"Yes, I'm Avalee Ausden....How did you know who I-....Who are you?" And why are you sleeping on my boyfriend's grave? She finished in her mind. She was really confused, and sad. Anxiety started to rise in her stomach. Who was this girl? How did she know Axel? Why didn't Avalee know who she was?!

[Jade Hayes]

Arianna was pleasantly surprised that Avalee didn't seem shocked by her unnatural eyes, but she supposed that finding a girl sleeping on your boyfriend's grave was slightly more surprising that the color of her eyes. She made her face soft and friendly, trying to ease the girl's obviously racing mind. She looked flustered, confused and anxious. "I'm sorry, you found me where you did." She began, trying to gently ease into the conversation. "I'm Arianna. Arianna Adaine, and I've actually been looking for you... And I didn't know where else to find you, so I just waited here, thinking you'd eventually come."

Arianna wrung her hands together, trying to figure out how to continue. I'm returning to Hogwarts because... well I really don't know why, but I needed to. And I decided to start here with Axel, because he was the closest thing I had to a friend. He was nice and friendly and understanding. Then I found out he was dead, so I decided to find you. Yeah right. Ari almost laughed aloud. If she said that, Avalee would not only be anxious, but possibly think Arianna was crazy.

So she settled for a simple explanation. "I was a friend of Axel's, and when I graduated, I left Hogwarts for a while." Arianna paused for a moment, gauging Avalee's reaction. "I came back, because I guessed I just missed it here. Now, I find this..." She motioned, sadly towards the grave. "I guess I was hoping I could find some answers from you."

As soon as she finished her somewhat speech, Arianna sat down neatly on the ground again, farther away from Axel's grave than she was before.

[purpleraincloud]

Avalee's heart beats slowed a bit. Although she was still nervous.

"What answers?" Avalee asked. Did she want to know what happened. How Axel was killed? It was all over the papers. Why couldn't it have stopped there.

She shifted her weight to the other leg as she looked down upon the girl.

((Sorry for shortness))

[Jackie Saylem]

((Oh it's fine =) ))

Arianna looked up at Avalee,  her brow furrowing for the first time since she had talked to this girl. She had everything she would say somewhat planned up until now. Honestly, she thought when Avalee found her here on the grave, she would immediately label her off as a loony.

"Well..." Arianna began slowly. "I guess I've already gotten all the facts about the... accident? Murder? Whatever you like to call it... It varies from person to person. But I wanted to know how Axel was... you know before the... er... whatever... If he ever got his drinking problem under control?"

Ari knew this girl must think she was crazy, but she had to ask. She knew Axel had never outright told her he had a problem with drinking, but for some reason when they were talking once in the forest, she had just gotten this feeling in her stomach. So she decided to test that feeling now.

[purpleraincloud]

Avalee looked blankly at the girl for a moment. Didn't anyone realize that it was paintful to talk about him? To revisit that past? But she just sighed and decided just to answer her question. It would be simplier. She answered with pain in her eyes. "Yes. He knew that we couldn't be together if he was...like that. So we worked though it. I mean he drank every now and then, but not massive ammounts." Avalee paused then, almost cringing as she felt her chest tightened, as it always did when she spoke of him. "B-but when we were together it was never his drinking that was a problem. It was his anger. As you can probably tell from...what happened."

Avalee met Ariana's peircing green eyes. And let her see how much it hurt.

[Jackie Saylem]

Arianna hesitated, frowning as she met Avalee's eyes. There was pain and sadness flowing freely. It almost hurt Arianna herself, just seeing it. "I knew he'd get past that." Arianna muttered to herself before turning back to Avalee.

"I'm sorry for coming here and asking you about things like these that must be hard to talk about. I just felt like I needed to know some things. And that was selfish of me for asking you to talk to a complete stranger, when it obviosly makes you so sad..." Her eyes were reserved as she said this, about to continue but stopping as if she thought better of it. "So I apologize." She finished.

[purpleraincloud]

Avalee shook her head softly, forcing her lips into a smile.

"It-...it's okay. I, well I would have wanted answers too. Axel-" Then she paused for a moment taking a deep breath. Every little breath, every little motion meant she was still living. A fact which shocked her. Human kind was not meant to live past this. At least that is what she believed. She had imagined a future with Axel. And although she wouldn't ever admit it to him, a family. Become Axel's forever. It was a nice thought.

"Well Axel was amazing." Was the simple way she finished her thought.

[Jackie Saylem]

"Yeah. I'm sure he was." Arianna sympathized, relaxing into the ground a little. The grass tickled her legs and arms, but it was soft. It was welcoming. She looked at Avalee now, wisdom flickering behind the green of her eyes. "You know I've known people who've done stupid things because loved ones have died. Don't be one of those people." She warned, seriousness in her tone.

She waited a moment to let the words sink in a bit. Then she stood and looked at the other graves. There were tall headstones, large monuments, and small plaques on the ground. Arianna took a few steps forward towards a gravestone on the ground. It was so covered with grass and dusty, you could hardly read the words. She frowned, proceding to rip up the grass along the side of the grave until it was clear and readable. She nodded in satisfaction.

"It's so sad when they're forgotten like this." She muttered sadly.