CHAPTER 15

The council had asked the magistrate to clear up the bodies in the town and have them buried.

The next day, some of the council members and the lord of Verdian were already there. They watched as the ground was being dug by the caretakers of the cemetery.

Julie watched as the ground was being dug and the coffins were prepared. After some time, it was finally time to bury the bodies.

Julie watched as her grandmother was placed inside the coffin. The lid was closed and it was placed in the ground.

After the bodies had been buried, the important figures left there. Julie remained there, in front of her grandmother's grave.

After crying her eyes out, she dropped the flowers on the grave and stared at it.

It wasn't until Thomas called out to her did she get up.

"Jules, I'm sorry for your loss. Grandma wouldn't want you to be like this." He said

Julie sighed and said, "I know. Thank you Tommy."

They walked back to her house.

"What are you going to be doing now?" Thomas asked.

The bookstore, where Julie worked could no longer function as the owner was dead.

"I don't know Tommy." Julie said.

As they got closer to her house, they saw the council addressing some people. Most of the people in the town had died while some had moved to another town, so just about six to ten people were present in the town.

The council had told them that they had to vacate the town and move to another town. They could no longer stay in this town as no activities could take place here again. They were given a week at most to vacate the town.

Julie could not believe what she heard, where was she supposed to go? She had no family left. The money that was left with her coupled with the money she had at home wasn't enough to rent a new place to stay.

She had no idea on what to do.

The following day, Thomas went looking for Julie. He got to the front of her door and knocked on it, but there was no response. He knocked again but there was still no response.

He pushed the door open, he saw that it was not locked, he became worried. He stepped into the house and he saw Julie lost in her own world. He released a sigh of relief.

He looked at her lonely figure on the chair, her shoulders slumped and her eyes fixed on some distant point. The dim light of the room cast a melancholic glow on her face, accentuating the weariness etched into her features. The weight of the world seemed to rest upon her.

He couldn't help but feel a pang of empathy as he observed her solitude.

The room was filled with an aura of silence, broken only by the soft ticking of a clock on the wall.

A heaviness hung in the air, creating an atmosphere of unspoken sorrow and longing.

The way she sat, her body language spoke volumes about the pain she carried within.

"Jules" he did not get a reply.

"Jules" he called out a little loudly this time. "Yes, what is it?" She was startled.

"What are you thinking about? You didn't hear me coming in or calling you. What is the matter?" He asked her worriedly.

"It's nothing Tommy. I am just thinking about where to go." She said to him.

He sighed softly, "I am going to Aetheria. My dad said that is where we are going to move to." He said.

"Ohh." Was all she could say.

"Would you like to go with us Jules? Perhaps you can find a new job there." He asked her.

Julie knew his parents would strongly oppose to her coming with them. As his parents did not like her that much.

"I wouldn't want to impose and then again I want to look for my parents or perhaps they would come looking for me." She said hopefully.

Thomas sighed. He knew she wasn't going to agree but he decided to give it a try. He also did not like the idea of going to another empire. He had talked about this with his parents. He proposed that they should just move to the next town instead of going that far. But his parents were against it, they insisted on moving to Aetheria.

He had no choice than to comply with them. He knew for sure that when they got there, he wouldn't have a moment of peace. He would be forced to get married and he didn't want that.

But what could he do?

Thomas and Julie spent the whole day together, as he would be leaving tomorrow. It was finally time for him to leave.

"I will be leaving tomorrow morning Jules." He told her.

Julie nodded her head, she lowered her head in order to hide her tears.

"I am going to miss you Tommy." She said sadly.

"I will miss you too Julia." He said as he hugged her.

"Goodbye Jules. We'll keep in touch okay?" He said. "Alright." She nodded her head.

Thomas looked at her one more time before he finally left as he did not want her to see him cry.

Julie watched as Thomas left, she began to cry. The only friend she had now, was leaving.

Everyone had left her, she felt alone.

She cried until she was tired and fell asleep eventually.