He felt tired, as if his age was catching up with him. Thomas Draker watched as the casket was lowered into the grave. Another person he had known, had died too soon. The rain was falling and the overcast skies did not help his mood.

The weather was what would be regarded as typical for a funeral. It reflected the mood of the people attending, dark and somber. Thomas blended in with the other mourners, but his feelings were different from theirs.

For the countless funerals he had attended, he had made sure that he kept to himself. Never feeling attached. This time it was different. He had been helping the boy move up in the world. Trying to give him an educational that would have enabled him to accomplish more than being a lost soul.

Something had been taken from Thomas with the boy’s death. Being immortal, he tried to keep his distance from becoming attached, not involved. This time someone’s promising future had been taken, and he felt it.