The moment that gate opened James knew this was the worst decision of his life. The worst he had made till now and the worst he will ever make. His legs refused to move forward at the sight in front of him. His each muscle screamed to the point that it was a deafening silence. He could even feel his body hair move along with the wind. He could feel his heart shrink and then refuse to expand causing shortage of blood in his veins and suffocating him.
James felt his body go numb. His tongue stick to the bottom of his jaw and deny moving ever again. The bafflement James felt at that point was something very new. It was creepy yet comforting on some way that creeped him out even more. The only words that were stuck in his brain were, "Is this true?"
On the other hand, Jennifer was nervous yet curious to open the door but when she actually heard the creek of the old, musty wooden door a sudden darkness engulfed her making her vision go away. She couldn't see anything at all. The darkness was spontaneous yet she somehow she knew that she was going to find her way through it. What did that mean? She couldn't understand it yet. Why was the darkness comforting? It should be scary. She couldn't understand that yet.
The only person who had the full view of the room in front of them was Adrian who was not really surprised with what was in front of him. He wasn't even scared. After registering the entire scene in his brain the next thing Adrian heard was, "Adrian, remove your hand from my face. I can't see anything." This voice was Jennifer's. The same soothing one. It was then he realized that he had covered Jennifer's eyes preventing her from seeing what was in front of them. It was purely instinctual. Trust me! Ignoring Jennifer's voice, Adrian whipped his head and fixed his eyes on James who was starting to show some reaction at this point.
"Did you not?" James looked back to meet Adrian's eyes but he couldn't complete his sentence. Adrian shook his head. His expression said one thing. "I'll explain." Now Jennifer was impatient. She wanted to know what they were talking about. What was it that got James so nervous and quaking in his boots. She slapped Adrian's hands off her eyes but at the same moment James moved in front of her blocking her view. "James get aside." She said and stepped forward to see what they were trying so hard to hide from her.
When Jennifer actually saw what was in front of them, she wished she had never been so impulsive. In front of them laid the most horrifying sight ever. On the stairs that led to the second floor was a dead body. None other than Abby's. Jennifer put her hands on her mouth trying to stifle a scream but she failed and then burst out crying in horror. She collapsed on the floor then and there, burying her head in her hands.
James' reaction was totally different. He stepped forward bravely at first but then he collapsed on the floor right next to the dead body but not a single tear rolled down his cheek. He was totally numb. The love of his life was lying there dead and he didn't know how to react to it. The only thing he did was turn to Adrian and ask in a weak and shaky voice, "Why haven't you buried her yet?" his voice was so feeble that it would have evoked pity even in the person who is known to have a stone heart. He was shaking like a leaf on a windy day.
Adrian was totally blank. He hadn't buried Abby because he wanted James and Jennifer to attend her funeral which according to him was a good decision. He was giving them a chance to say goodbye to her one last time before they buried her to unite with the Earth. But apparently, this was a bad decision. Jennifer was on the floor, in a total meltdown. James was numb like never before, growing paler by the second. Adrian didn't know how to respond to James sudden question. He just got all tongue tied and ended up looking at James as if he was a five year old kid lost in a fair.
"Why don't you speak something?" James shook Adrian who was still quiet. Adrian made a lot of effort to pull out the following words, "I wanted her to have a proper funeral and I wanted you and Jennifer to attend it." Adrian's logic made Jennifer look up at Adrian in disbelief. "Are you for real? She has been dead for so long and you didn't bury her and now you are giving this stupid reason? This is my best friend, Adrian. Or at least she was, if she were alive." Her voice broke at different points in this long sentence and finally her throat wanted to rest now.
"Abby betrayed you." Adrian said as he bent down to comfort James who was looking at the couple as his first tear rolled down. "Abby was my best friend. She betrayed me. That had everything to do with me but you don't do such things and then justify them!" Jennifer shrieked. "Calm down Jennifer. Adrian will need your help getting out of here." James said these lines while he felt his body loose strength. He laid down beside Abby's dead body. He wanted to hug her but she was stinking and she had began to decay now. So instead he just laid beside her as if a couple was going to sleep.
"Get the locker. I want to spend some time with her." James said leaving Jennifer and Adrian in disbelief. "You want to spend time with a dead body?" Adrian asked weirdly. "She is not a dead body! She is Abby. She is the love of my life." James suddenly shouted making Jennifer flinch and Adrian moved in to protect her instinctively. "Okay. We're going." Adrian said and moved forward with Jennifer. Jennifer turned around to take one last glance at James who was crying miserably before turning around and climbing the stairs to reach the second floor.