The Funeral

[Rupert McCoy]

Rupert looked out his car window as he stopped in front of the graveyard where other cars lined up the street. It was raining, so he pulled his umbrella out of the backseat and opened the door.

He felt blessed that arrangements had came about so easily and that he was able to put his brother to his final rest so quickly. It seemed the late Luke McCoy was very much liked as the owners of the funeral home had gave Rupert McCoy the handsomely polished oak coffin without it being paid for up front. This Rupert imagined was due to the money they would have probably made with the heightening death rate of this town.

Rupert looked over the graveyard where he seen towns folk gathering around, preparing to let Luke go to the ground. Among them was some very familiar faces, and some not so familiar. He searched the crowd until he seen his very somber niece who stood in the front of the crowd looking over the coffin. Rupert took a deep breath before making his way over to her, running a hand across the black dress jacket he had wore.

The closer he got, the more unreal this moment felt, this was not supposed to be the way things were supposed to go, Luke was supposed to wait until Rupert had died, as irrational as that was, as he knew that one couldn't chose when they died. This didn't feel right at all, he thought as he finally stood beside his niece.

[Angel Killer]

Although the rain was coming down in small drops, Angel stood around a depressed crowd, glad that she was wearing her sunglasses. It was chilly, she thought as she pulled the knee length black jacket tighter around her, her mind on nothing else as she stared at the coffin in front of her, reminding her of that night when she was young.

Angel felt the whole which she had managed to suppress for a while come back, the comfortably numbness she had allowed to set in before was gone and she was finally starting to give into the cold reality that Luke wasn't coming back, soon he would belong to the earth where he would lay six feet below them.

She put her head down, feeling confused about what to do or how to act, it had been eleven years since she had done this last, and Luke was there with her then. She didn't know if she should cry with all these people here, or just hold it in until after the funeral when she would go back home.

A brief sound of movement startled her as Uncle Rupert walked up beside her. Never in her life was she so glad to see the old man, and although it was broken, she did her best to smile at him. It hurt though, she felt that smiling was as though she was gloating that she was alive, that was the last thing she wanted to do. So instead, Angel turned her head to look at the coffin again, glad she decided to wear the sunglasses.

[Lena Moore]

Lena looked around to everyone who was there. There was a lot of people and she was just leaning up against a tree. For this occasion, Lena was dressed in a black corset and black dress pants, with a pair of matching boots. She was shaded from the rain by the black umbrella she was holding, her other hand holding a lit cigarette that she was smoking, and that she had been asked to put out several times already, which she ignored, everytime.

Lena was used to funerals, it was the easiest way to find a soul to sate her hunger. She didn't like it, but it worked. She was planning on staying until everyone had left, that way she would be able to feed on the soul without anyone noticing very much. She took the final drag off the cigarette and stomped out the butt. How many more people were going to show up for this? It looked to her like it was the funeral to some celebrity, she didn't know very much about the deceased, but she knew enough not to stand out. Lena shook her head and looked around again.

[Trinity]

Trinity stood in the front lines of the crowd with a black outfit, her hands locked in front of herself. She was staring at the oak coffin beyond sadly; the passing of Luke McCoy had been shocking for her too, and she was with his brother when the news came to see that heart crushing expression on the professor's face. That expression she didn't want to remember or see on other innocent people's faces ever again.

Some of the humans around were crying, some leaning onto each other for support, some staring at Luke's coffin with longing gazes. Luke really was loved in this town, it was the first thing Trinity had learned when she'd first arrived here. Not to mention his kind heart, he was the head of the Light Givers and his loss had left the people hopeless. They had to be thinking: Who was going to protect them now? Even the clouds were crying...

Trinity's hands clenched and she promised to herself once again that she would do everything to protect these humans, everything for them not to wear these expressions again... She could see Professor McCoy from here, his expression not any better than last night, talking with... his niece. Angel was here too, though Trinity couldn't see her eyes from the sunglasses, and she was actually glad for that.

[Adrian]

"Here mum, let me-" "Nonsense Adrian, your mum's not that old yet." "But mum, your back-" "Let your mother bother with that, my son, she's tough enough." "Well yeah, but I'm the one who has to carry her when her back gives." Adrian grinned and covered himself from the teasing blows landed by his mother's purse, his father chuckling all the while. They were all dressed in their best clothes which, until recently, would not have been saying much, but after that night at McCoy house many things had changed and they could now afford clothes proper for an occasion such as this. Not that these were that much closer to doing the man justice, but no clothes could do that.

They had two umbrellas among them, Adrian had one and his father, Thomas, carried the other. Adrian's mother, Carrie, had with her a purse and a bouqeut of flowers for the man everyone had shown up to say goodbye to. Adrian, as well as his father, each wore a new, black tuxedo, complete with white shirt and crimson tie. Carrie wore a black dress and hat, staying close to her husband and letting him shield her from the rain with his umbrella. Adrian hated suits, they were uncomfortable and restricted his movements, but regardless he had put it on, as a sign of respect. "I, uhh." Adrian bit his lip, he had spotted someone familiar up front, someone whom he hoped might enjoy haing someone at her side. "I better go talk to her." He turned and smiled to his parents and, giving no further explanation, moved through the crowd to where she was standing, only to find that she was now not alone. Well, he didn't want to interrupt anything. Instead he simply stood behind them, scenting the grief and sorrow coming from everyone around him, as well as himself.

[Raven Alexander]

Raven picked her way through the graveyard along the usual path, the grass beneath her feet was scrubbed away in patches from lack of care. Spotting a freshly broken grave marker she scowled and grumbled to herself "Fucking heathans have no respect for the dead" The heavy rain gave the place a deep eerie feel but she was comfortable in it, she had her katana strapped to her hip and several other small blades as well as her trusty glock. Even though the bullets had no real effect on demons she liked to keep it with her for defence against the low-life pimps, dealers and anyone else who might find a use for her against her will.

The soft cloth of her combat trousers rustled as she moved under the weather protection of her leather trenchcoat, were she needing to be stealthy these would not be the outfit that she picked, but at least the pockets were good for housing the spare magazines she liked to carry. A tight pink camoflage top rounded it off with a nice touch of irony, the idea that a pink top could ever be used for camoflage was just hilarious to her.

Stopping only once to fill the water bucket she reached the stone she was looking for, she walked that route so often she could find them with her eyes shut. "Hi Mom, Hi Daddy" she whispered as she brushed the dead leaves from the stone. "hope you guys dont mind me being late this week, things got out of hand when Uncle Brian passed and...well I had to make sure he got a good spot here near you guys." She smiled to herself as she went about cleaning the headstone of the dirt and detritus that had built up in the previous week, this time she had brought with her a brush and a little detergent to really make it shine.

Kneeling beside the tomb once she had completed her ritual she spoke aloud about her week, the good meal she had managed to have in the company of a man calling himself Jack, how when he left she secretly hoped he would want to return some time. The fleeting thunderstorm that filled her with such glee, she had been training at the time and when she heard the first low rumble she climbed the church tower to watch the lightning strike.

Her parents never answered her of course, but she knew they were listening to her and that her survival was entirely down to them, If they had left her to Uncle Brian or Aunt Jessica, she never would have had the weapons training that saved her skin on many occasions.

Smiling down at her parents once more she whispered "see you next week, Love you always." Gathering the water bucket and her brush she turned to leave. On the path back out of the cemetary was a funeral procession, a large crowd was gathered there, she noticed that one of the mourners was inappropriately dressed for the weather and wondered to herself if that was a very rude relative or a member of the party who was out of place. Bowing her head to the lady in the veil she marked her respect. Too many good people lost in this damned war.

[Skyler]

Skyler was next to arrive in the graveyard, his movement was slow and his face was filled with remorse. He didn't believe it, more so didn't want to believe it when he heard the news of Luke's death. It symbolized something to the community, this was a man that everyone thought of was a hero, his tragic death meant that there was one less hero in the world.

Forcing himself through the others Skyler made his way through the sea of darkly dressed mourners to where he was now standing beside Adrian, a kid he recognized from school and behind proffessor McCoy, Luke's older brother. He took a glance over his shoulder and spotted Lena, dressed in her seductive clothing just crushing a ciggarette under her boot.


On a normal given day, Skyler probably would have thought she was attractive, however today she was just another person in the depressing crowd. It was the terrible thing about funerals, they always brought the saddest of all realities with them, that reality at the moment being death.

[Rupert McCoy]

Rupert looked into the face of his niece, glad that he wasn't able to see beneath the dark lenses of her glasses. He pulled her into a hug and then released her, and turned to face the coffin where his brother's lifeless body lay, soon to be nothing more than part of the earth.

This was a disturbing shock to Rupert, to know that Luke would be no more than a distant memory who's remains now belonged to the ground. This thought crossing his mind, nearly took what resolve he had left from him, he would only need to keep it together long enough to make it through this funeral and to get home before he would allow himself to fall apart, until then he would need to be supportive to his niece.

[Angel Killer]

Numbness, even as her uncle embraced her, and people started to pour into the graveyard, all of them there for one purpose, that was saying goodbye, Angel thought as she looked over her shoulder slightly distracted for a moment as Adrian stood behind her, she hadn't seen him since the incident at the house, which really, wasn't all that long ago, she felt slightly comforted at his presence, which once again caused another twinge of guilt. Luke would never feel that again, the comfort at having another human being standing close to him.

Her head began to hurt, since that night at the house, when she had done her spell to drain Roman's powers, something stayed with her. She had been trying since than to keep this to herself, a task easier said than done. She had been able to hear voices, to one that would be a sign of going crazy, and that was what she felt like, like someone who was being driven to the brink of insanity as she heard the voices echoing off inside other's heads.

Angel put a hand up to her head, the side effect had weakened her resolve, Don't cry the voice inside her head warned her, and although she tried to listen to it, she was unsure how long she would be able to keep this calm up, she had though about the possibilities of bringing him back, she had done that once to one of her friends, she was sure with Luke it would be the same process. But somehow that didn't feel right. She was sure, where ever Luke was he was in a good place, one where at least he was safe from the bad demons, something he deserved, rest. She only wished he didn't have to die to obtain it.

[Lena Moore]

Lena sighed as she looked around, she really hated funerals, but she at least owed that to the town. While she did not know Luke near as well, she knew him from talk around the town, he had been well liked. It wasn't fair if she avoided his funeral. Lena, however, would not attend the church services or anything other than the funeral. She hadn't fed in a while and this would probably be the best bet for now. She shivered suddenly, this was from the cold, "I really need to invest in a coat..." she mumbled.

She wondered just how many more people would show up for this funeral, she reached for the packet of smokes that she had, and sighed as she discovered it empty. That was just great, despite being a half succubus she did not like large crowds like this, it made her feel vulnerable. She was not at home in the funeral, it reminded her to much of her past. She sighed again and began scanning the crowd for anyone she knew, that was not many, well not many who knew her outside of their dreams.

[Trinity]

There were too many people, therefore too much pain and sorrow. Trinity felt herself drowning in all these people's emotions, she wasn't able to stand it anymore. So she turned back and walked away from the crowd towards the backsides of the graveyard, her eyes slightly watery. She was going to attend the rest of the funeral from here.
Just then, she felt a demonic presence nearby. She looked around in panic; here at the backsides of the crowd, the only suspicious person she saw was an attractive young woman. She seemed out of place, leaning against a tree away from the crowd. It wasn't hard to feel it: The demonic aura belonged to her.

Trinity took a place where she can watch the demon without attracting her attention, also careful of not giving away her own demonic aura- something she'd become quite good at in her time in the human world. She didn't know what this stranger demon was up to, but she was sure it wasn't something to be ignored, so she decided to keep an eye on her until the funeral was over.

[Adrian]

Angel had turned and seen him there, and though her sunglasses hid her eyes her grief was obvious. He mustered a half-hearted smile before she turned back again. This was new to him, new and very uncomfortable. Faking emotions was his game, that he was good at but this? She was hurting, hurting deeply and badly and Adrian, now for the first time in years, felt genuinely sympathetic. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, but it didn't seem what she needed right now. Instead, he hesitantly reached out towards her, paused, retracted his hand and balanced the umbrella over his shoulder whilst he struggled to pull off the glove. He took a step forward, placing her under the protection of his umbrella. Then he reached out, with his now bare hand, and placed it, ever so gently, on Angel's shoulder. He could not do much, and he hated knowing that, but what little he could do was let her know that he was there, for her, and that he had no intention of going anywhere. What a terrible day for them all.

[Luke]

Luke McCoy, laid still inside of the coffin, if anyone were to look inside, it would seem as though he was nothing more than a well preserved corpse. His pale skin felt no warmth from inside the large wooden box, and the simple movement of his chest rising up and down did not exist, as his breath did no longer existed.

However Luke was in fact alive, although he had no heartbeat, and he no longer felt the need to waste his time breathing, he felt more alive than what he had ever felt before. His senses, even inside of this wooden prison, were at such a heightend state that he could hear everything from the outside, the sobs coming from those he would have once deamed closer to him, mingled with something else. A slightly sweeter smell, it was the smell that had woken him from his deep slumber. He realized he could smell the blood of those around the tightly sealed box.

[Skyler]

Skyler looked around him once again, shifting slightly, uncomfortable from the wetness from the rain. He looked up at the McCoy family, only to notice Adrian, a boy he recognized from the halls in school laying his hand on Angel's shoulder. It was nice to see that she had someone, he looked back at Lena who was still standing by the tree and feeling uncomfortable from the crowd surrounding him, he decided to make his way over to her.

" Hey." he greeted her once he reached the rather seductively dressed woman, he didn't know what to say, what would there actually be to talk about in a place like this during a funeral for one of the greatest men this community had ever seen. He would have commented on the weather, but even that had seemed to be a let down today, instead he looked at Lena to carry the conversation, there was nothing he could say that would turn out right at the time.

[Rupert McCoy]

Rupert's gaze lowered to the ground, the crowd seemed to be getting shifty in their movements, the rain was probably what had that effect. He knew he himself was feeling the same discomfort as he stood their, his attentions averted to a minister who was supposed to speak for Luke's funeral. This somehow moved something deep inside Rupert's resolve, he felt a crashing inside of him, like something had snapped and broke. This simple act of hearing the minister speak made everything symbolized the end. Now it was just him and his niece.

At the thought, Rupert looked at his niece again, I wish she didn't have to go through this. the words came through his head as he watched her in her quiet daze. He noticed the young man who had helped him when he had arrived for his first day of work in the school library. He remembered something when he seen him, a memory which hit his mind in a flash, he had been there at the cathedral when he was attacked by the demon who shifted into his niece's shape. However, his memories about that particular night were so very hazy so the images weren't exactly clear.