Free Exposing ELE (ELE Series #3) by Courtney Nuckels, Rebecca Gober Page A

turn, they slowly shovel dirt one by one into the hole.
    Part way through, Mr. Leroy taps on Connor's shoulder and requests that he have a turn. He shovels a scoop of dirt into the hole and then hands his shovel to another person waiting behind him.
    Realizing that this is some sort of closure type ritual, Alec hands his shovel to Tony. Afterwards, Alec makes eye contact with me. I mouth, “thank you,” to him and he nods his head graciously.
    Tony drops a pile of dirt in and then brings the shovel to my father. My father accepts it and walks dutifully towards my mother's grave. I know it takes everything within him to cover her casket with one more layer of dirt, but he does it. Sebastian and I walk to his side. Instead of using the shovel, Sebastian leans over and scoops up a handful of dirt. He holds his little hand over the hole and lets the dirt fall slowly. It takes everything in me not to completely lose it. Someone hands me the second shovel and I gather earth into it and drop it in. Then we hand our shovels to the others who have lined up to pay their respects in this way.
    After the final layer of dirt has covered my mother's grave, we each drop wildflowers on it. By the time it's my turn to lie a dandelion down, my mother's grave has become a masterpiece of beautiful colors. I close my eyes and let the flower fall. Dandelions always were her favorite.
    Mr. Leroy leads us in a prayer at the end and then we retreat inside. I didn't notice until I started walking towards the hotel that there are seven other graves surrounding my mother's. She will not be alone. I walk with my family and my friends inside where a meal has been prepared for us.
    For the most part, we eat in silence. I don’t have an appetite though, even if I can’t remember the last time I ate. I move my food around my plate, concentrating on this simple action instead of inviting hoards of unpleasant thoughts to run through my head. I watch my dad and Sabby do the same.
    “You need to eat,” Tony speaks to my thoughts from across the room.
    I look up from my pitiful plate and shake my head. “I can’t,” I say back to him mindlessly. I don’t feel like even sitting here right now. I tell my dad that I’m going to go and lie down. Leaving my plate on the table, I head upstairs.
    I can feel Tony’s presence before I can even hear him. I can’t explain why all of a sudden I feel so connected to him. It’s as if something happened when we were at the prison. Ever since then I can tell when he’s around, not to mention the fact that I can speak to him with my mind. I wonder why I can’t do this with anyone else? The only thing I can think of is it may have to do with Zack and his experimentations.
    I feel Tony’s arm reach around my middle and rest on my hip. Without thinking, I lean into his shoulder, letting him carry a portion of my body weight. Sometimes I guess it just feels better to know that you have someone to help you when you can’t even help yourself.
    Tony follows me to my room and closes the door behind him. In any other situation, this would make butterflies dance in my stomach, but not today. Today I just need to exist. I climb under the covers and curl into myself. Tony, like the gentleman he is, remains on top of the covers and puts his arms around me. He squeezes gently but enough to make me feel grounded, like I am still an inhabitant on this earth.
    I turn around to face Tony. His hair has grown out a lot in the last few weeks. I reach up and brush it out of his eyes. His yellow eyes stare back at me… except there is a red speck in them. I’m sure it wasn’t there before. Panic begins to rise in my chest and without thinking; I begin to heal Tony through my touch. I’m not sure if it’ll work or not, but it’s worth a try. I hold Tony’s gaze and a few moments later the spec has dematerialized.
    I watch as Tony’s eyebrows crease in the middle. “Why are your eyes blue?” he asks me aloud. He brushes my long