After that cold experience, Aliya decided to go home as she had been out too long. She knew that today was a chaotic day and she felt the soon consequences creeping up to her. Aliya was a walk away from home and saw the various halloween decorations on people's homes. The warmth, the gathering of people for a day of the dead. The irony, she thought to herself. Aliya doesn't celebrate halloween, but the Camera family do and they often force her to join.
"Aliya, where on earth were you?" Shouted Mrs. Camera.
"I was at a cafe working on my assignments sorry for the lateness."
"It's okay honey, but please do tell us. Tia was complaining about your attitude today, you're okay right. Darling you can tell us anything, you know that right."
"Yes Mrs. Camera."
"Mother, Aliya."
"Is it okay if I go finish my work?"
"Yep, go on ahead."
Aliya slowly rushed onwards to her room and noticed she received various emails.
"Must be from college."
She often made it a routine to check up on her emails whenever she got back home. A lot of emails about works to research and one about her missing work. All of a sudden, she saw an email from the user gr6pajd@email.com and it was a job offer. She was looking for work anywhere and so she applied to various places, including adding those notifications of being offered similar roles. This role was nothing she applied for. It was a bit weird, but once she read the whole email, she realised it was for the cemetery.
Dear Aliya,
We are pleased to offer you a cemetery grave cleaning role. It is our honour to have you joining us. We know the role may be daunting but that's alright as you will be supervised by a team who will work in various parts of the area. Alone it may be horrifying, but we want the team to be safe and secure and to have all the equipment you need. We shall offer the terms and pay details below and will look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the introduction.
Thank you
Liam. H
- terms and details of pay.pdf
Aliya was shocked, both happy and confused. She did need a job and the pay was enough to cover one month's rent for one night of work. That is for the place she was looking for anyway. She strangely had a good feeling about this. Aliya has worked places before and she was freelancing, selling her works online, so for this to be a high paying job was a bonus for her. Definitely something that she needed, a grave was something that put her off, but she was too excited to notice anything else.
Often times, she passes the grave from her college and noticed a nostalgic feeling from there. Her mother told her stories about spirits there. She was fascinated with the theories and superstitions, but when she talked about it, it would only be to Aliya's father. Those two never really shared their stories with her, they were suspicious and shared many secrets. One thing Aliya was told was that the ring she has on is a very important piece for their family. It's something that protects her and hold memories for when she really needs it.
The ring was a small red stone with hints of blue in the middle, it was made of silver that was slowly turning black, but that may be because of the rust. That's what Aliya thought.
"Oye Aliya."
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Tia."
"I'm a bit busy."
"Well, so am I but here I am. Let me in."
"Tia, just tell me from there."
"Ugh, Kith said he wanted to see you after he heard about the whole painting incident. He thinks I did it. I need you to tell him it wasn't me and make sure you explain to him that I wan-"
"Tia, I have an online lesson now, tell me tomorrow."
"Ugh fine. You better listen to me tomorrow."
They say ignorance is bliss, but is it really? Tia has no sense of shame whatsoever. After what she did, Aliya won't be standing for any of her antics anymore. Aliya was more concerned about why Kith suddenly wanted to talk. He has never said anything, especially after the rumours. He's always been distant, but they never really even talked. They aren't even friends, so what's this?
Aliya accepted the grave cleaner job and started her online lesson. She then went straight to bed. She noticed how uncomfortable her body often felt on the bed. No matter how tired she was, that bed wouldn't be her truly. It was just a place, a shelter. It's not a home without the people she truly loved.
Whilst Aliya was sleeping, she felt her eyes drooping to the point where she knew the uncanny feeling of having a dream soon. She closed her eyes as velcro straps on shoes. They wouldn't open until the travelling had been done. Her dream consisted of cold, rainy weather. The rain from the cafe, the fog causing her claustrophobia and the painting in the background. There he was, the man, the cafe owner and Kith. They were talking, quite mumbled but she knew they were related. They were discussing something as they often stared at Aliya in the dream. They pointed to her ring that she recently started wearing. What's going on? All of a sudden, she was at the grave. The dystopian, the eerie grave, where a man sat on the tombstone and whispered some words to her. He then vanished but Aliya could see where he was going, straight down. He was pulled down with chains that could not be touched into the grave. He was in pain and was regretting. Then Kith suddenly makes an appearance holding a paper that has the words:
It's time for the memories to be placed back into the original breaker.