She had promised herself that she wouldn't come. She could not bear the sorrow of it all, the grief, the pain. And yet she was there, clothed in black, for mourning.
Black complimented Sabina Pleasure. She looked good in it. But whether she cared was a different matter.
Because she was at a funeral.
Alex Rider lay in a coffin in the centre of the hall. He looked exactly as she remembered when they parted. She never imagined him dead, though. But with his choice of lifestyle, he had ended up as his uncle and parents.
The rest of the ceremony passed like a blur. When the coffin was lowered into the ground, no tears pricked Sabina's eyes, although those around her were crying and sniffling openly, save a man dressed in gray.
Studying him closely, she recognized the face of Alan Blunt. The man that sent Alex to his doom, time and time again. She looked away, refusing to gaze at this heartless person, and instead watched as the coffin was covered by soil.
Sabina stood by Alex's grave long after everyone had left, driving off in their shiny cars, or hiring a cab. She stared at his name, etched in the gravestone. Alex Rider.
She fell to her knees, wanting nothing but to beat her fists on the ground and howl at the sky at the injustice of it all. But she didn't. The tears simply would not surface.
Rain fell. She still kneeled by Alex's grave, thinking that maybe she could pretend the rain on her face were tears. But they weren't.
She closed her eyes and shivered in the cold.
A gust of wind blew, but it was warm. Like Alex. Like he had his arms around her. The water on her lips felt like his, pressed against hers, so soft and gentle.
She smiled, opened her eyes and got up once more, arms around herself as if to keep Alex with her. The sun shone from behind a cloud for a second, and whether it was a trick of the light or no, Sabina saw Alex, standing there. Alex, hands in his pockets, and smiling at her. Then he was gone.
Finally, tears flowed from her eyes, but they were of joy, not sorrow.
"I love you, Alex!" she shouted into the rain, and the wind blew again, rustling leaves as if in reply.
Sabina Pleasure smiled. And walked away.