Forgetting Billions | ✓

29 | Forgetting Funerals

JASMINE HATED feeling so far away from the Earth. She hated not being able to touch back down even more.

For the past few weeks, she remained under the covers of her warm bed, letting sadness surround her like an old friend. She welcomed the darkness inside her. It was better than death, who seemed to be following close behind her wherever she went.

Herr mind continued wallowing by replaying the most recent events to break apart her family yet again. Karina was murdered in cold blood, right in front of her eyes. Evan was in the hospital, recovering from the wired necklace crushing his vocal chords. Maria and Ashton were killed by none other than Shayan Khan, who was currently awaiting trial to see if he would be sent to jail. He had a good chance of being acquitted since he had an airtight self-defense claim, disseminated to the jury by his counsel, Criminal Defendant Aishwarya Karesh.

Jasmine still couldn't help but worry. It was Shayan, after all.

Then there was the fact that Bianca was released now that the town and the Kareshs had finally found out who SS was. With her arrival back to the house, a sense of calm lingered between them, and sometimes it seemed like they were the family they were months ago. Varun and Bianca continued to avoid each other and Aishwarya had retired to being the loving, supportive mother she was before everything went downhill. For a second, Jasmine felt at ease, until she realized that if she looked into the room next to hers, she would see Aditya sitting alone on his bed, tears trickling down his cheeks without his twin to wipe them away.

She had given up trying to achieve her perfect family after seeing her remaining cousin hide himself away at such a young age. Nothing could repair them after this, no matter how hard she tried, and she had to accept that.

"Jasmine, honey?" Bianca whispered, knocking twice on her door. She wore a white saree, a traditional Indian attire for funerals. "You need to get dressed. The priest will be here at any moment."

She looked up from her blanket, her thoughts scrambling in different directions, and nodded. Her face was blank and the sunshine she normally reflected off of her was washed away in exchange for a never-ending thunderstorm raining down on her heart. She noticed Bianca watching her with pity even though she was the one who had just lost a daughter.

"Don't stare at me like that. I'm fine," Jasmine muttered and pulled herself out of bed. She threw her closet open and yanked out a similar white saree, no attention paid to the fragile silk fabric.

Bianca winced at her carelessness. "I never said you weren't."

Jasmine had to appreciate her Aunt's resolve. She hadn't seen her shed a single tear this entire time. Bianca had relied on a poker face to get her through Karina's death. Every conversation they had was superficially happy and Jasmine knew this was most likely her Aunt's own way of coping, but she couldn't help but be annoyed with her emotionless take on the grieving process.

She scoffed. "I think Karina deserves more than her mother being so fine about her death, don't you think? Would it kill you to cry for her? She deserved to be grieved the way you grieved Uncle Rahul, but here you are, acting so normal."

"You were the one who said you were fine. I didn't." Bianca shrugged.

"You seem pretty fine." Jasmine rolled her eyes, turning to face her aunt head on.

She sighed and looked away. "I'm not fighting with you. Get dressed in five minutes or I send your mother in." With that, she stalked out of the room, leaving Jasmine to stew in her own frustration.

All she wanted was a reaction. How hard could it be for Bianca to yell at her, to cry, to do something other than sigh and avoid eye contact?

In a heated frenzy, Jasmine wrapped the saree tightly around herself, trying to forget the memories that were always playing in the back of her head. The memories of Karina falling onto the floor with blood spewing from her arteries or Evan's screams as he was tormented, kick after kick, were the worst. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop watching. Her mind was slowly ruining her life and she couldn't make any attempt to halt it.