World Ashen

Chapter 26 - Jensen

It was hard adjusting to going from one hundred and eighty-five people down to sixty-one. We fought for four years. All of New Haven was grieving. Of course, the most recent deaths hit Aaliyah and Gavriel much harder than the others.

The ones who were still alive, and I all met in the church, I guess as a service to all the ones who had died. I stood at the altar and cleared my throat. "I'm sorry if I didn't do this justice. The last time I attended church was six years ago, and all I know is I'm going to make a poor preacher. But I'm not here to preach. I'm here to honor the dead and gone. Please stand if you can, if you lost family or friends because you don't know where they are or to Death himself." Everyone either stood or raised their hand. "Over the past two years, we lost over one hundred people due to war because of some crazy drug addicts. If it wasn't for this or Yellowstone erupting, we'd all be alive right now, but if this never happened, we would've never met each other. Even if we could and waited to change the past, we might regret doing so later on. Everyone who died did so by protecting the thing they believed or loved the most. We will never forget them for as long as we live. Thank you."

We all went back to the Hayner House. I headed back to my room, but stopped to notice Aaliyah sitting. by the window, spinning a strand of her gold-colored hair on her right hand's pointer finger. She held loosely a sheet of paper in her left hand. The seventeen-year-old kept murmuring, "Why?" over and over.

"Hey, Aaliyah," I said, sitting beside her. "Are you alright? I know what you're going through. I'm free to talk."

Her blue eyes were bloodshot and filled with sadness. "I honestly feel stupid, grieving this much. That was war, so death happens."

I shook my head, "grieving isn't stupid. It's natural."

"B.J. left this letter for Laya, but I'm not sure if I should give it to her."

"I can give it to her if you'd like," I said, standing up again. Aaliyah sniffled and handed me the letter. Finding Laya wasn't too hard because she was talking to August.

"Jensen," August sighed, clearly exhausted.

"Hey, uh. B.J. left this letter for Laya. Do you want it now?" Laya nodded, so I handed it to her.

The second she opened it, tears flowed from her eyes. After Laya read it, she said, "the answer would've been yes." In her hand was a silver necklace with a heart charm. She put it on instantly as she turned to me, handing me the letter. "Did you know about this?"

I shook my head, taking a sheet of paper and skimming it. The words stated he was sorry, asking if Laya would keep his sister safe if he had passed and how much he had loved the two girls. "Um, no. If you're looking for Aayliah, she should be by the window." Laya hugged me, and August then left.

"Listen, I'm going to go check on Adina and Shoshannah," I said as an excuse to get out of the room.

August said farewell as I walked to my room. Neither my wife nor children were in our room, so I walked to the living room, where my daughters played with Jenna and Percy. Jace stood nearby, keeping a watchful eye on them and having a conversation with Thomas.

"Hey guys," I said, walking over to them. "How are Adina and Shoshannah?"

As my brother began answering, my daughters ran over to me, "Daddy!"

I chuckled softly, "Hey girls!" I sat down and placed them on my lap. "How are you?"

"Good." They said, giggling as I nuzzled them.

Jace sat down beside us. "Do you know who they remind me of?"

"Who?"

"Jadance, before she turned into a tattle tail."

I was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah. I see that." Then I smiled sadly. "Jadance would've been turning eleven next month."

"Hey, don't think about it, alright?"

"Alright."

I turned back to my daughters, "why don't you go play with your cousins?"

The two toddlers slid off my lap and walked back over to Jenna and Percy. "Hopefully this will be over soon," Jace sighed, even though we all knew it was useless thinking for something like that.

"At least the war's over, right?"

Jace nodded in agreement. "Things happen for a reason, don't they?"

"Yeah — what's going on there?" I asked as the hum of engines approached us, making everyone run outside. Huge snow plows were removing the snow from the roads. After they passed, we went back inside.

"We're getting there," Jace said with a smile. The atmosphere lifted as most of us laughed. I stood hugging my wife with Shoshannah in my arms. Adina was in Piper's. Then Piper and my lips touched, and Jadance called, "Piper and Jensen are kissing again!" Ash smiled, and my parents rolled their eyes, but they weren't there anymore. That was only the beginning to the inevitable end, but right now, all I could think about was how fortunate the people of the hellish new world were.