Chapter Text
The weather was appropriately cloudy and gloomy that day, as rain drizzled down, pattering against the umbrellas held by the small group of people huddled together in the graveyard. As the priest spoke, his voice gravelly and rough, Walter Graham watched as a slender Asian woman made her way around from the back of the church and seemed to set her piercing eyes directly on him.
She had an eerily intrusive look about her, and it was obvious that she did not belong. After all, Walter knew everybody in his mother's life and there wasn't many left considering who she was the estranged wife of. So thoroughly creeped out by her staring, Walter turned back to the priest as he began inviting people to throw dirt on his Mother's coffin.
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Hours later, after the sparse party of relatives and polite good wishers who hadn't ostracized him and his mother had broken up, Walter stood in his old bedroom with his suitcase packed on his bed. He gave one last glance around the empty room before heading to the living room to get the rest of his stuff.
Moving silently around the small cabin, Walter could see his grandparent's headlights shining from their old Volvo. They sat waiting for him, talking animatedly and occasionally looking up at the windows. They were nice, gentle people and Walter, although he had been glad wasn't left all alone, had reservations about moving to the other side of the world with them.
Bent over zipping up his backpack back, Walter suddenly froze as he realised he was not alone in the small cabin. Slowly and in an oddly calm fashion, he turned around and came face to face with the woman he had seen previously. "Who are you?" he asked, "that's not important," she said in a thick, indistinguishable accent. "What is important," she continued "is that I have been sent to bring you to a person who you are very important to". Walter slung his backpack over his shoulder and lifting up his suitcase, replied with a "no thanks" before heading to the front door of his cabin. The woman, remaining where she was, replied with words that sent a chill down Walter's spine. "I'm afraid you have no choice," she said, "and I would hate to have to use physical force".
Considering his options, Walter took one last look at his grandparent's headlights shining into the dark and taking a deep breath, stepped towards the woman and said: "let's go".