Thread: A Familiar Face WHO: Dana Novak, Tanek Horváth, and . . . Ms. Menides?! WHEN: Early morning, August 17th WHERE: Graveyard
Dana had yet to have the courage to see where they buried Sorin after he'd been brought back to America by the powerful wizard who'd helped Sorin and his friends find St. Margaret's to begin with. Something about seeing the grave itself made it all the more real. Someone was already sleeping in his room now and people talked about him in the past tense. She hated it and Dana wasn't someone known for hating anything. She didn't like people but hate was an intense feeling and she felt it every time someone talked about Sorin in the past.
Now her bare feet walked along the grass, her appearance disheveled and unkempt. The flowers had wilted earlier than usual, and she moved with the sort of lethargic pace seen in the dead of winter. Her blue eyes dulled from crying and reflecting the emptiness she felt inside. She never visited the graveyard before but it was like Sorin's spirit was drawing her there, she found her way. She moved past headstones and grave markers, looking at names until she noticed something out of place in a place for the dead to rest.
Her brow furrowed as she observed a boy lying down overtop a grave. It was a fresh grave as the dirt had yet to be grown over by grass. It was hard to tell who it was but as she drew closer, she recognized the gangly form of the boy who was typically so full of life, almost recklessly so. Tanek. He'd been one of the refugees to arrive at the school. Not at the same time as Sorin but he'd escaped with him. Now Tanek lay curled into a small ball and she recognized the name etched into the stone.
Sorin Antonescu.
Her stomach lurched and she almost turned around. She wanted to run away from it. Instead she stood in place a few feet away, staring at the sleeping boy. She hadn't seen Tanek since she left for Poland to wait for Sorin.
Dana managed to bring her feet into motion again and soon stood near Tanek's sleeping form. She immediately picked up the smell of something that radiated out of him. Alcohol. He'd been drinking. A lot if he smelled so pungent. Her nose wrinkled but she didn't move because she was there now. Without thinking twice about it, Dana kneeled down and looked at Tanek's sleeping face. The anguish at the loss of his friend clear in the expression, even while dreaming.
She reached her hand out and moved some of the hair from his face. Dana then leaned in, placing a kiss on his cheek, and then moved to lie down on the grave next to him. She didn't dare to wake him, even knowing that in a few short hours they would be expected in a classroom.
Placing her hand over his, she laid there. Sleep wouldn't come but she would at least be there for him when he awoke. Dana didn't know how to process her pain but she knew she didn't want to be alone. Dana lay quietly, listening to the sounds of the approaching dawn.