Chapter 178Rain to Cleanse

The girl slowly slowed down in her sobs while she held me. She didn't cling to me so tight anymore when her crying faded away into nothingness. Her breathing became calmer and the beat of her heart, fast before, was coming to a gentler pace as well.

Maybe she found some peace as well.

With my hands I lifted her head up to me as I may have lifted her spirit. She looked at me with her brown eyes and smiled. She really didn't look like her sister, she looked like she would grow up quite pretty, with a sort of innocent beauty to her face. Her brown eyes were quite warm and cheerful if they were not held back by her cries.

"What's your name?"

"Rain." She grimaced. "Ironic isn't it?"

What could I say? "It's..."

"I know. All the girls at school call me a crybaby, say that my name is very fitting for a girl like me. Because I always cry... But it's not like that. Tears are natural, they just come with life... I do wish my parents had given me a nicer name."

I gave her a little squeeze, smiling. "It is a nice name."

She pouted. "I don't think so."

"But it is, rain is the giver of life, washing away filth and cleansing the world. Nothing is quite as refreshing as the world after a storm. It may not feel like much when it's raining, but without it, the world would be dead."

"I... honestly never thought of it like that."

I winked playfully. "And it's a nice sound too. Better than Amy anyway."

"Your name is Amy?" She looked surprised.

"Yes, why?"

She giggled. "My best friend is called Amy as well, but she's very immature."

To be honest, I didn't want to know too much about her. She was really nice, but she wasn't part of my world and I didn't want her to be. She deserved better. I guess there was no better option than to bring her home, back to her parents. They probably did care about her.

"Rain, I'm going to bring you home. It's not good for a girl to be up this late, and a graveyard is no place for you either."

She looked down. "I guess. I think I got a chance to say goodbye now."

I smiled brightly and released her, we started walking back to the gates. "How did you get in here anyway?"

She blushed, barely visible in the darkness. "A friend of mine is kind of a geek. He's totally fascinated by locks and stuff, how they work and how to pick them. He taught me how to do some of the easier locks. The gate here is just an old lock."

I frowned. "But you left it open, anyone could have walked in, checking why the gate was not locked."

She hung her head. "I didn't think of that."

I giggled, she looked up to my smile. "It's alright, just don't make a habit of breaking and entering."

We continued walking through the graveyard and closed the gate behind us. She didn't know how to lock it, as opening was much easier than locking when you didn't have the key. It made sense I suppose.

"So, is that friend who taught you the one you went to before you came here?"

She nodded. "He understands me, even if no one really talks to him at school. I don't care."

A teasing thought entered my mind. "Is he your boyfriend?"

A blush and wide eyes confirmed my answer sneakily. "Ew! No! It isn't like that... We're just friends."

It was best to drop the subject. "So, do you think your parents have missed you?"

She glared. "I doubt they even noticed me missing."

I spoke very softly. "Just after they've lost a daughter and tried their hardest to keep their face up for her younger sister, trying to protect her? They probably cried and worried so much about you, fearing you might have been killed as well."

Tears rolled on her cheeks silently. "I've been so selfish."

I bend down to give her a kiss on her cheek. "No you haven't, you just cared a lot for your sister, but so did they." I poked her side. "Is it still far?"

She shook her head, clearing her tears again with her sleeve. "No, it's right over there. Please help me with my parents."

I smiled. "I will. It's not like they'll bite me."

Okay, so it was a bad joke, but I was a little nervous, more than a little in fact. I wasn't sure what to tell the parents or how to tell them. It wasn't exactly proper for a girl my age to be out at this hour either. Though if I acted all nice and mature, they might not question me or my age. It could work.

Much sooner than I wanted, we arrived at her house. It was a simple house among others, the lower two floors of those houses with four floors, divided in two. Outside I could just see some plants in the windows but nothing more. Kind of strange actually, as most people put at least some trinkets there. We rang the doorbell...

Showtime.