Chapter 6: Grief

"She was a very beautiful woman when she was alive. Wasn't she?" Bennett asked. He was Drake's childhood friend who had gone to the same university with him.

"You are a handsome lad, aren't you?" Drake replied, faking a laughter.

"I was when I was a bit younger, and didn't think much about women," Bennett's gentle voice hit the window in his apartment like thunder striking a make-believe pole.

"We can argue about your beauty and never reach a dead end. It doesn't matter if you believe you are the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinburgh, what matters is my perspective about you which is not going to change."

"Charming!" Bennett interrupted, dropping the glass of wine in his hands on top of a glass table. His eyes combed Drake, as they always did, expecting to see something that wasn't there and never had been. They had been friends for a long period of time even long before Drake had met Rosetta and had planned a suitable pleasing marriage that will ensure their eternal connection. Bennett wasn't married. He had met Drake's father first, even if he had followed the old man piece of advice once or twice, he couldn't compare the joy he felt being in the presence of Drake than in the presence of his father.

"Will you help me fix my problem with Rosetta's parents?" Drake broke the short silence that had slowly engulfed the room.

"I can do my best, Drake. I cannot assure you anything at the moment. Rosetta's father is a tough man to deal with. I have seen him in professional gatherings before. And I can tell he is not a man you should get into trouble with."

"What do you mean by professional gatherings?" Drake asked. He was feeling confused.

Bennett sighed, and rubbed his chin. "Rosetta's father is a man of influence," he explained. "He can take what he wants at any period of time. He can also make phone calls that will bring misery upon you. He is not somebody you should start a fight with."

"But, I didn't start a fight with him," Drake tried to defend himself as if he was in a law court with a few angry faces dressed in uniform staring at him in an accusingly manner. "Rosetta was brutally murdered by a person or a group of people I have no idea about," he continued.

"But, she was going to be your wife, Drake," Bennett said. "She was going to fill her head with happy moments of both of you being together."

"I know!"

"And in spite of what her parents might think, she did not take their words as serious as she took yours. She worshipped you, Drake. She was ready to do everything for you without regretting it. Her parents would never have fed the hunger in her soul, and she doubted if anyone but you could. What she longed for she found in the photographs she took of you, and in the tattered albums left to her by your memories. You should have been there when she died."

"I know! I know! I know I should have been there," Drake could feel his voice failing him as the deep sadness that he had been trying to hide for days burst out open. "I wish I was there but I wasn't. All I can do is wish! It won't change what has happened. She was killed in a gruesome manner by people who didn't care about her. She was brutally murdered by werewolves who hid their faces in the dark, too ashamed to reveal their true identity. But, I do know that she loved me with all sincerity because she gave me her heart. It is why I am here, Bennett. I want to make amends. I am not bothered about the lawsuit her father is filing against me, I just want to be there for her. I just want to be strong for her. I don't want her death to be in vain because she didn't die for nothing. I believe she died with my memories stuck inside her head. She wanted more, and I gave her what I could afford even though I know it was never enough."

Bennett exhaled as he patted Drake on his shoulder and told him to sit down. "I will make some coffee," he said, looking in the direction of the kitchen in his house. "We will have to sit down and look into Rosetta's matter with urgency. Whoever that did this terrible thing to her is not going to get away with it easily. I can promise you that."

Drake nodded in approval as he watched Bennett release his hands from his shoulder and walk towards the kitchen. There was something deep within him so like him that he could sense. Even their memories as a child were not as clear as the photographs they took when they were very much the same, his eyes, his perceptions, his view towards life, his hunger for justice and his sense of adventure was so faraway from him. Bennett seemed like the typical traditional calm man to him. Always willing to help, always willing to show the attitude that made up a good husband. Drake could remember his father talking to Bennett in one of their brief conversations as though taunting him, or pressing him so hard to see his reaction. He still thought Bennett had made a mistake in giving his father too much information that had made him presume his parents were nothing but modern slave masters to him and his younger sister. He still didn't understand what was within Bennett's mind when he ran away from home. Few people did, including those who thought they knew him more. No one in fact knew him. But it didn't matter to him because he felt he was strong. Stronger than most people around his age at that period of time. For years, Bennett had been used to keeping his own vision about his private dreams private. He couldn't indulge himself in long meaningful conversations because he didn't see the point in it anyway. His place was always here, in his house, running away from every thought of his childhood and memories that would bring them back. His grandfather's home had been one of those memories too and being there last year for the first time in almost two decades was a huge test of his self-courage. And now he smiled as he presented the coffee he had prepared in the kitchen to Drake, with the slow smile that had began in his cheeks before transcending to his eyes and moving cautiously to his lips and made him look as though he were restraining moments of laughter.

"We will find a way to fix this together," Bennett said, squeezing Drake's arm, giving him hope. "Together! We will!"

*

Even when he replayed the words of Bennett over and over again in his mind, Drake still couldn't find the confidence to confide in his words and accept it as truth. He had been told many times by different people that grief was a subjective pain of the human mind arising from unstoppable misfortunes, significant personal loss and misconduct of oneself or others. But he couldn't understand who to tag the blame for misconduct. Was it Rosetta's fault to go where she had been killed? Was it is fault to not take note of her departure time and probably offer to go with her? Was it whoever that ended her life fault to do what he or she thought was best?

Drake stopped thinking as he pressed his hand together to study the short moment of grief that he was passing through.

Werewolves are not real!

He tried to assure himself many times as he pressed his hands tighter in a uniform manner, trying to abstain from any fantasy that would mess with his mind. He had to stay focused, and he had to think straight if he wanted to be free from Rosetta's parents pangs in his mind. As he considered going to the bedroom that would have been Rosetta and his centre for intense body connection without limits, his phone rang. It was Rori.

"I will get better," Drake said after Rori had asked him how he was doing.

"I can come over if you want us to talk," Rori's voice was light. She sounded very concerned about his welfare.

"I will be fine," Drake said. "I just need to take a deep sleep and I will be back to normality by tomorrow. Apart from this headache that just arrived from nowhere, I am fine."

"Are you sure?" Rori's voice at the other end had a lot of doubts.

"I am very sure," Drake said. "You don't need to worry about me. I will be fine. Thank you for checking up on me anyway. I really appreciate it. You are a wonderful woman, Rori. I wish I could gather the courage to talk to you more."

"You will," Rori assured him over the phone. "Your time of grief will pass."