Rosa's fingers struggled as they awkwardly fiddled with the black tie. She stared intensely into the mirror, folding piece over piece just like she did for school but unlike then it just wouldn't work. Instead it just became a messy and knotted bundle.
'Why?' Rosa questioned, her ire rising as she once again ragged the tie apart. Ever since waking the day had been … strange, like reality was tilted on its axis.
Emma emerged behind in the mirror. Softly her sister turned Rosa around and took control of her tie.
"Calm yourself Rosa," Emma said as she folded piece over piece constructing a neat and formal tie.
"I am calm," Rosa snapped, but even she could hear how fake the words were. "It's just … I've been fine since the night, following exactly what dad taught me. But now it's the funeral the world feels strange. It can't be avoided any longer … they're actually gone," she felt her lip tremble, "I-I can't get a hold of myself," Rosa said. She adjusted the tie, so it sat comfortably below her neck and inside the collar.
"That's a good thing Rosa, it means you're human," Emma said, brushing her little sister's hair from her face. "You're allowed to feel all those emotions, think all those thoughts. Today is a day for grieving. We mourn, we remember, and we keep moving forward. Follow the Elacti way."
Rosa took a deep breath in and nodded. The Elacti way. She stepped back from the mirror and took in the image. While her sister was dressed in her hunter uniform and a long military style long coat, Rosa wore a different attire. She was dressed in a black overcoat with a white shirt and tie. A long black skirt hung from her waist, travelling all the way down to her shins, where it met black leggings and boots.
The stairs trembled beside them as its wood creaked under the weight of footsteps. Louie wandered downstairs and joined them by the front door. He'd arrived in the early morning, just as he said he would. His attire was almost identical to Rosa's except he wore pants instead of a skirt and leggings. To her knowledge Louie didn't possess the black military style uniform the hunters and officers wore. He apparently once had it, but it was burnt many years ago, for untold reasons.
"Are we ready?" he asked, joining them in front of the mirror and tidying his appearance.
"We are," Emma responded.
"Off to Mors Ostium we go then."
What is Mors Ostium? Had been Rosa's first question after the meeting two weeks ago. Louie had explained that it was the name given to the cemeteries of hunters. An isolated and hidden region where all the hunters of a region are laid to an eternal and peaceful rest, protected from the Abyss. Thousands of years old, the Mors Ostium of the United Kingdom lay at the very centre of the country.
They travelled to the HQ first where they met up with the rest of funeral attendees. The journey to Mors Ostium took hours however, Rosa found herself lost in thought for most of the drive. In a perfect line, their cortege of black cars cruised down small, smooth roads that cut across vast empty green fields, a grey sky above that gently spat down upon them. Any sign of human life had vanished hours ago. The hearse sat at the centre of the pack with their car driving directly in front like a protective guard dog.
"Not long now," Louie told them.
Rosa's eyes scanned their environment searching for any clues of the hunter graveyard. She expected to see a legion of headstones or a giant monument any moment, but all she could find was a vast ocean of green blades that swayed in the wind. However, Rosa had learnt better than to just rely on her eyes in this world. Her concept of reality had been shattered far too many times in the recent weeks to keep making that mistake.
They continued their drive and Rosa noticed two tall, pointed stones placed either side of the road ahead.
As they passed through the sky shimmered, as if they'd drove through a mirror. The world around them warped. The grey, clouded sky dissolved and was replaced by a clear blue, a calm wind gently brushed over fields emerald grass and ruby roses. Resting upon the grass fields were grey, polished gravestones, as far as the eye could see. There must've been thousands upon thousands. Rosa's gaze wandered around however, quickly locked directly ahead. At what seemed to be at the centre of the endless cemetery was a towering monument. A building sized, square pillar of grey and white stone, engraved with gold inscriptions however, Rosa couldn't decipher them from this far back.
"It's grander than I could've possibly imagined," Emma said from the passenger seat.
"You've never been before?" Rosa asked.
"No. I've never had the reason to," Emma replied.
"What about you?" She questioned, glancing at Louie.
"I have."
Their cortege continued down the road where they came onto a large, vast ground of grey brick. To Rosa's surprise there were already dozens of cars parked.
After parking up themselves, Rosa exited the vehicle and greeted the cold air, which bit at her skin. The rest of the travelling part parked up beside them, all except for the hearse which carried on, driving down a wide pathway to their left.
"Is it safe to leave them on their own?" Rosa asked, her breath misting in the air.
Louie nodded. "The Mors Ostium is protected."
They gathered together with the others and wandered down a path towards the giant monument at the graveyard's centre. Their group consisted of around thirty people, a combination of both hunters and officers – now distinguishable to her through the slight alterations between their uniforms. The hunters wore a more militaristic and combat prepared attire.
Rosa scanned around to see a number of familiar faces, Lyn, Vanessa, Audrey, Sam, Zack, Bianca and commander Ruthor.
Audrey and Sam wandered over and Audrey placed a friendly hand on her shoulder as she passed by, joining Louie, Zack and the commander up ahead. All three of them wore decorated, militaristic long coats that portrayed their high rank in the organisation. In fact everyone was displaying their rank in the organisation. Everyone but Louie, who wore normal clothes you could buy anywhere. Well normal for him.
"How are you doing?" Sam asked. Like all officers she was wearing a plain overcoat, pulled close to fight off the cold.
"I don't know," Rosa admitted.
Sam nodded. "Sounds about right. I wish I could tell you it fades away. But it never does, not really. All we can do is stick with the people we love and carry on forward. Do our parent's memories proud."
Rosa cracked a smile as she appreciated her friend's words. The two of them joined up with everyone and they began to walk away from the car park and down a wide grey brick pathway, which headed towards the cemetery monument. Rosa glanced up as they reached the base of the pillar, she hadn't realised how big the damn thing was. It easily stretched 20 feet across the ground and soared 100 feet into the air. Across each of its white faces, words were inscribed in gold. Looking more in-depth, Rosa concluded they were names, dozens of names.
"Ortus Praedator," Rosa muttered. The name was at the very top of the monument on every face she could see and was considerably grander than any other.
"The Founder," Sam said. "Or at least that's what the legends state. The man who started it all. The greatest in history."
The group followed the same route as the hearse, Rosa gave the monument one last look before joining them. There was something entrancing about it, about the history it held, the power contained deep inside. She didn't understand why but, she knew that was the structure which protected the Mors Ostium. Kept it hidden, kept it safe.
They wandered away from the cemetery's protection, the wide path soon began to shrink and split off into numerous winding trails that headed off in all directions. The well-kept fields of green and red soon began to become populated with graves, all identical in appearance - a polished grey stone – however each one holding a unique name and story.
Rosa scanned over the seemingly endless terrain, completely stunned. Just how many hunters had there been? Fighting off creatures of the night, giving their last breath to protect the innocent, all while knowing their sacrifice would never be acknowledged by the world.
"It can be a lot to take in," Sam spoke up.
"Exactly how old is this place?"
"Couple thousand years give or take a few centuries. All the graves are the same," Sam stated. "Represents, the hunter belief, that matter your rank or strength everyone's sacrifice is equal."
"That's nice," Rosa mused.
"The only exception are the founders," Sam added.
"Where are their graves?" Rosa asked.
"You just walked passed it," Sam replied. She glanced back at the monument in the far distance.
"They thought highly of themselves."
Sam chuckled, "In their defence they never built it."
"Fair enough."
Rosa didn't think it was possible but, after thirty minutes of walking, the vast ocean of graves began to grow shallow, soon to the point where the land became just empty fields. During their walk, Sam had explained that Mors Ostium was something called a pocket space, created from ancient magic that expanded and adapted when needed. The cemetery was sectioned into the many divisions which spanned across the United Kingdom and as the Liverpool division had only been newly revied they had to travel to the outskirts of the Mors Ostium.
As they arrived, their group was greeted by another which dwarfed them. All together there must've been hundreds of hunters and officers standing around.
"Are these funerals always this crowded?" Rosa asked taken back by the sheer volume of people.
"No. But your dad wasn't just anyone," Sam said. "James Elacti was an integral piece of the organisation. People from all over of the world have come to pay their respects."
Compared to the rest of the cemetery, the Liverpool division's plot was practically empty looking like a grassy field ready for cattle. There were only eight graves resting in a line at the plot's origin, and like every other head stone here, they were a smooth, polished stone with only a name and date carved into its surface.
A little further in the distance, Rosa could see the hearse parked up outside a grand church-like structure, built from grey stone. Although not as gargantuan as the HQ back in Liverpool, the church was definitely capable of housing everyone here. They'd passed many identical structures during their journey here, Sam had called it an 'adytum'. There was one assigned to every division, a building containing a vast hall where the funerals of the hunters take place.
As the two groups began to intermingle Rosa noticed that no one was even attempting to make their way towards the adytum instead remaining stationary outside.
"What is everyone waiting for?" Rosa asked as they wandered through the masses.
"You," Sam said. "It's law that the funeral can't begin without the deceased's family. Until you or Emma step through the entrance no one else can, no matter their rank."
They continued their way through the crowds. Everyone parted from their path, as if they were royalty. While the crowds attempted to offer condolences to the rest of the group, when it came to her, Rosa noticed everyone's gaze instead just silently focus on her as she passed, staring intensely although she couldn't identify what was behind their eyes. Sorrow? Pity? Fascination? Just what was so interesting about her? She began to feel like a caged animal and her irritation soon started to fester. Forcing her head down, she quickened her pace and ignored her surroundings.
The adytum's double door entrance was already opened wide by the time they arrived. Inside she could see, it was exactly like Sam had said a singular, vast hall, filled with rows of pews and at the back a raised floor holding a podium, three howling wolves carved from a black stone.
'So this is it,' Rosa thought. She turned around to Louie, hoping he could give her some indication on what to do however, he was nowhere to be seen. In fact everyone had gone missing, Louie, Emma, Zack, the commander, she hadn't realised that her and Sam had been left alone.
Anxiety began to brew in her core as she remained frozen outside the entrance with hundreds of officers and hunters waiting behind. Did she enter? Where there laws and traditions she needed to follow? Did she need to wait for permission? What the hell was she meant to do?
Her breathing and heart grew erratic. The last thing she wanted to do now was faulter and break laws and traditions, irritating a vast group of people trained to fight off the supernatural. She didn't want to disgrace her parents. Suddenly a soft hand grabbed her shoulder. Rosa turned to see Bianca beside her, a warm smile beaming across her face.
"It's okay Rosa," Audrey said, emerging next to Sam. "Go in whenever you feel ready."
Sam shot her a smile and Rosa nodded. Taking in a deep breath Rosa stepped across the barrier into the Adytum.