The once bustling village seemed to be in a slow trance. All the people looking grey, tired, and depressed. What had happened? Surely the deaths weren't that big a deal, they were never very involved in with the rest of the village, chosing to instead keep to themselves for the most part. Though still people sobbed softly as they walked on, thinking of the three children. Maybe it was a bigger deal than Annie had made it out to be. Coming across the small memorial dedicated for Jackson, Cupid, and herself hit Annie like a brick. She really was dead, no way around it. She had known it of course but the constant reminder was a bit more painful than would care to mention.

Annie visited the memorial everyday. It pained her to see it, but she couldn't help but look. There were three crosses stuck into the ground neck to the pond and three more in the middle of the village. The crosses were different sizes that seemed to symbolize their ages, eight, sixteen, and eighteen, the largest belonging to Jackson and the smallest belonging to Cupid, whose cross stood in the middle of the three. The main thing she noticed were the colors that surrounded the graves. Vibrant colors swirled in a lively fashion around Cupid's cross, seeming to dance with her. Annie did notice however, that the crosses symbolizing Jack's and her own passing were dulled, the colors slowly circling around the area like clouds. She had passed it off as their age. The older, the less tragic, though she had to question that theory with all the mourning happening lately.

Annie also found herself visiting the bear, who Annie had named Frost after the Frost family. Frost was always lurking around the woods near the pond with her cubs, who seemed to be growing more everyday. Annie hadn't named them. Annie would often sit near the family of bears as they dug through bushes or relaxed in the summer sun. She knew that Frost could see her, feel her. The mother bear would give her a nod or grunt of approval and continue on as she had before seeing the girl. The cubs didn't care much, jumping and staggering along side their mother. Annie would just smile. She didn't blame the bear for what happened to her. How could she? Frost was just protecting what was important to her just as Annie had with Cupid. Annie instead felt honored that the bear allowed the spirit near her cubs. "Maybe it's an apology." Annie found herself thinking that a lot. Could bears be regretful? She believed they could by the way the mother bear acted around her.

The last thing Annie would visit daily were Jackson's mother and her own father. May was usually in her cabin, drinking tea or crying. Sometimes doing both. The poor woman was broken after losing two children and someone she had considered a second daughter. Annie's heart was shredded upon seeing the older woman curled in a ball sobbing violently. There was not a thing the teenager could do. Annie wanted to walk up and place a hand on May's shoulder or cover her in a blanket, just a comforting gesture that showed someone cared about her but she couldn't and she hated it. May never had company or visitors, unless it was Annie's father, who May would never talk to. They would just sit there in mutual understanding of loss. Annie herself would begin to cry when the pair let silent tears fall together. Nothing. Annie could do nothing. She would attempt to push them, slap them, knock things over, but nothing ever worked. She didn't even exist any longer to them. She was just gone. It hurt. It cut Annie so deep that it left a perminant scar in her heart. They would never know she was there. She wished they would just believe she was there.

Eventually she would have to leave to fufill her still present human needs. It surprised Annie the first time her stomach growled after waking up. It was shocking that her dead belly still needed filling. She feasted on the rotting, fallen apples from under the trees that no one would want to eat, no harm done to the village or any of the actually edible food. The food she ate was disgusting of course, fly covered meats, rotting fruits and vegetables. It turned her stomach at first, but she got used to it eventually, now looking forward to eating after spending a day walking around her family and friends. The teenager sat against the thin trunk of an apple tree, munching on a soft and browning apple that had been laying at her covered feet. It was awful tasting as usual, long past the sweetness of a ripe apple it nearly melted in her mouth. Annie stood up, tossing the core of the apple over he shoulder and wiped her sticky fingers on the skirt of her dress before strolling back towards her old cabin.

At the end of the day Annie would always travel back to her old cabin. Sometimes she saw her father there looking at some of her old things are simply just sitting quietly. He didn't talk to anyone other than May and avoided going out unless absolutely needed. When he did so, no one would talk to him but they would stare so sympatheticly at the brittle old man before them. Oh how lively he used to be. Annie imagined that his colors would be so bright that they would burn her eyes, but they were dull, almost grey. This poor man. Annie wished she hadn't been so stupid, wished that she could've said no to Cupid. "It was meant to happen" Annie reassured herself. There was no way to prevent it. The past could not be changed. Annie would enter the house glumly, phasing through her bedroom and front door easily, a skill she had taught herself overnight. She would lay down in her bed and sleep. This was inevitable. She was going to die sooner or later anyways. Annie found herself desperately fighting off the thoughts that insisted that it was Cupid's fault. She WANTED you to die! She knew there was a bear! She knew it was dangerous!

No.

It was her own fault. Cupid was just a bystander. It was Annie's responsibility to keep Cupid safe and she failed. Tears of regret rolled down her dirty cheeks, leaving clean streaks down to her chin before soaking into the pillow below her head.

"What a terrible day."

I am sorry. I have had no time to update this and to be honest I have no idea how to continue. I have the base story line laid out but it's these little bits that I just can't push out. Sorry if there was any grammar or spelling mistakes, I didn't look at it at all after I wrote it so it's no edited at all. I'm also SERIOUSLY sorry that it is so short.

By no time I mean I've been replaying The Walking Dead game over and over and crying for weeks. I love that game. seriously.

Also, you should listen to the song Vamos A La Playa by Loona. That is currently my jam.