Nora Deboeck

( IC Questionnaire )

( THE CHARACTER EXPRESSION MEME )

In the movies, funerals always take place in the rain. Nora supposed it was only fitting to have depressing weather for a depressing occasion, but somehow a muggy August afternoon in London was just as disheartening as a downpour. The heat was suffocating, though it might've had something to do with the outfit she wore - the only presentable black dress Nora owned was long-sleeved. She wore subdued black pumps, and her hair was straight and neat for once, and her usual dramatic makeup was traded for a much more natural look today. Her heels sunk into the unnaturally green lawn of a cemetery in Leyton, watching a casket being lowered into the earth with a blank expression on her face. The headstone read Darren Kingstone, 1978-2009. There were six people by the grave - the pastor, Nora, Owen, the former Mrs. Hannah Kingstone and her two daughters, aged eight and five. Nora held Owen's hand while the three women cried, willing herself not to join them.

Darren had been more Owen's friend than Nora's, but apparently they were the only friends he'd had. At least the only ones who cared to see him off, as it were. They'd worked together on several occasions, killing the things that went bump in the night, making the world a bit safer for children like Darren's daughters. From what Nora gathered, Darren didn't see them often, since the divorce. It was a damn tragedy. When all was said and done, Nora kissed Hannah on the cheek and murmured her condolences while Owen shook the pastor's hand, before the two of them turned and headed back to Owen's car to give the grieving family some time alone.

It wasn't a long car ride, but Nora sat in the passenger's seat staring out the window, not saying a word. It was unusual for her, but there wasn't much to say. It seemed so unfair that a life could end so quickly - Darren had called up asking them if they'd like to meet up for drinks, just a few days ago. The threat of death hung over them all every day, Nora knew that. Still, the death of a friend just brought it closer to home. Nora didn't cry, and she didn't grieve for Darren's death. She grieved for the life he should've been able to live but never got a chance to, and those two little girls who had their father stolen from them long before they'd buried him. Owen was an atheist, but Nora wasn't. She clung firmly to the belief that there was something else out there - something, anything that was better than this.

( What's a pound of flesh among friends? )