With the sound of shattering glass and crushing metal, Elias shot up in bed. He looked at the clock, 1:26 am. This was the fourth time this week he had woken up in sweat from the same dream. It had been 2 years to the date, to the hour, since Elias lost one of the most important people in his life. He was driving his little sister, Peyton, home from a party. He was angry with her for going to this party in the first place. It was a college party and she had just turned 16. He was scolding her like a father, seeing as they grew up without one he felt it was his job. The driver of the other car had been drinking and ran a red light. Elias didn't see them until it was too late and they had already slammed into the passenger side of his car. He has lived in constant guilt since the accident. He blames himself, he hated himself for the things he said to her. He had just gotten home from a house show when he got her call to come pick her up. He hadn't been home in 3 weeks and just wanted to sleep in his own bed, not play chauffer to his sister.
"Hey man, you look like shit" Dean said when he saw Elias walking through the halls of the arena the next day for TV. Dean felt a sharp smack on the back of his head, his wife Renee had head what he said and knew exactly what the date was. "It's January 15th Dean" She reminded him. "oh shit, sorry man I guess I lost track of the day. How you holding up today?" Elias shrugged and took a seat on top of the gear trunk next to Dean and Renee. Not a lot of his coworkers knew about the accident. Dean and Renee lived a town over from Elias and were on their way home that night when they came up to the accident scene. Renee was the one who called 911 while Dean helped Elias out of the car. "I haven't slept in days, I keep having the dream. It all feels so real again. I relive it so much and it's hard." Elias said while rubbing his eyes. "If you want we can go with you after the show, to the cemetary." Renee suggested. "You guys don't have to" Elias responded. " We've gone with you every year since, we're good man I'll even drive" Dean said as he got up from his seat.
Elias had a match set that night for the intercontinental championship against his good friend, Finn Balor. The match went off without a hitch despite the mood Elias was feeling. He did not walk out with the title that night but it did set the stage for a story line with the two at the Money in the Bank pay per view next month. Elias gathered his gear from the locker room and headed for the parking garage to meet Dean and Renee. They were a short drive away from Elias' home town where his sister is buried. It's been a very hard road for him to get passed the loss of his sister. "You ready?" Renee asked as she snapped Elias back to reality. "I'm never ready but, yeah let's do this" He said as he climbed in the back seat. Flashbacks of that day consumed his mind as they made the 100 mile drive. It was still so fresh even though it had been 2 years. He still kept the text message she sent him asking for a ride home that night, 'I know you just got home and all but I need a ride, Jenny's wasted'. He stared blankly at his phone when he felt the car make a sudden stop. "Sorry, Not quite used to all the deer around here" Dean said before getting the car under motion again.
They had finally reached their destination and Dean put the car in park and shut off the engine. Elias took a deep breath and picked up the bouquet of lilies from the seat beside him. His sister loved these deep red and yellow lilies and he's left her some every time he's came to visit her. "Damn P, I miss you. I know if you were here you'd be kicking my ass for this." He said wiping tears from his eyes. "You'd be forcing me to go out and find myself and honest woman to make an honest man out of myself. It's hard though, I can't stop beating myself up for what happened to you. Had I just stopped lecturing you and paid attention to the road." He stopped and wiped some more tears when he heard foot steps behind him. "Hey, you need a friend?" Dean asked pulling up a seat next to him on the ground. "I just miss her man, she was my baby sister. My job was to keep her safe" Elias said as he traced the name on the tombstone in front of him.