The Love From Vengeance

197: NIGH TO THE GRAVES

LUKE’S POV

I stood at the edge of the cemetery, the autumn wind gently rustling the leaves around me. The air was crisp, carrying the scent of fallen leaves and distant rain. I took a deep breath, my heart heavy with sorrow, as I walked towards Riley’s grave. The headstone stood out starkly against the fading light, a silent marker of a life cut short.

Kneeling down beside the grave, I traced the letters of Riley’s name with trembling fingers. Memories flooded my mind–the laughter we shared, the secrets we kept, and the dreams we dared to dream together. Riley has to be my closest confidante; he should be my partner in crime or, I’d say, my rock. But it was so terrible that she was gone, taken from me too soon.

My eyes were filled with tears as I whispered, “Hey Riley, it’s me. I miss you so much.” My voice cracked with emotion; the weight of my grief was almost suffocating me. I bowed my head, trying to collect my thoughts in the midst of the swirling storm of emotions inside me.

“I can’t believe you’re gone,” I continued, my words barely more than a whisper. “You were only seventeen; you had your whole life ahead of you. Why did you have to leave so soon? Why did you have to leave me?” My voice rose with anguish, the pain of loss raw and unrelenting.

I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm me. I can still remember the day when she was shot. I remembered the moment she slipped away, leaving me

shattered and lost.

“I wish you were here, Riley,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I wish we could talk again, laugh again, and share our hopes and fears like we used to. I wish I could tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me.” My words hung heavy in the air, a silent plea to a world that had taken

so much from me.

I talked to Riley as if she could hear me, pouring out my soul into the empty space beside her grave. I finally stood up, my eyes red–rimmed and my cheeks wet with tears. I placed a small bouquet of flowers on Riley’s grave, a token of my love and remembrance. “Goodbye, Riley,” I whispered. “I’ll never forget you. I’ll carry you in my heart always.”

heavy heart, I turned away from the grave and walked slowly back towards

cemetery.

the world is collapsing around us and that there is nothing we can

it may be, we must come to accept that death is a natural part of life and that we have no control over it. Instead, we

special place in our hearts and will never truly be gone as long as we keep their memory alive. It may not be

NIGH TO THE GRAVES

and acceptance in the face of life’s unfairness, Just as I’m trying

my grandfather’s grave was, I made my way through the rows of weathered tombstones, clutching a bouquet of fresh daisies in my hand, their delicate petals bobbing with each step I took. The air was cool and crisp,

tree. The marble was weathered and moss–covered, but the engraved words

before the grave, the damp grass soaking through the knees of my jeans. I placed the daisies gently at the base of the headstone, arranging them with care. Silence enveloped me, broken only by the distant cawing of crows and the rustling of leaves

barely above a whisper. “It’s me, Luke. I’ve missed

flooded back–of fishing trips by the lake, of shared laughter over bowls of ice cream, of quiet afternoons spent tinkering

“There’s so much I want to tell you. So much,

the cold marble, tracing the letters of my grandfather’s name with trembling fingers. The reality of his

“I’ve tried to live my

It’s hard without you here.”

a shower of golden leaves drifting down like confetti. I looked up, my eyes shimmering with unshed tears. The beauty

my heart–a bittersweet symphony