Well,Friday night had been a long one but somehow after that it was all a blank.

AGAIN

So I walked out of the shower and decided on wearing a full sleeve black top and blue jeans. I tied my blonde hair up in a high ponytail. And messaged Carolyn asking her to meet me at the bar.

As I saw Carolyn pull up in front of the Bar I walked over to her car and leaned towards her through the window. She looked nervous.
Maybe because of what had happened on Friday.

"Hey Carrie, how about we go and talk to Justin and see if he knows anything worth telling us?" I asked.

"Yeah sure" she mumbled.

As we made our way inside the bar, I couldn't help but notice how it looked very different from Friday night. It looked like it all had a humane touch. Like the light bathing the walls had a life away from the darkness of the night.

We were greeted by a very pleasant looking woman. She seemed to be in her mid-thirties. She had features resembling Justin so I just guessed it was Justin's mother.

" We are closed at this time, ladies. Please tell me if I can help you with anything else?." She said in a very cheerful voice.

" Actually we are here to meet Justin." I replied with warmth in my voice.

" Justin, we have some visitors to see you" she yelled. And I heard Justin shout back, I am coming

" Hello I am Lily , Justin's mother. And you will be?" she asked.

"Hello, Mrs .Parker I am Haley and this is Carolyn we are both from Justin's college." I replied.

As she was about to say something Justin entered the room. And his mom said she will be back in a while and left. Justin looked at us as if trying to figure out why we had shown up. He looked as handsome as usual in his casual track pants and avengers t-shirt.

"Hey Justin. Can we talk?" I said realising the tension between him and Carolyn.
" Yeah sure." he said. He sounded very tired.
" Well, you remember we were here on Friday night so do you have anything worth telling us other than the..."

He stopped me mid-sentence and started talking in a whisper,"Look, i was planning on calling you today anyways. Saturday evening William had called me saying he needed to talk to you and he had tried to connect to you but you were nowhere to be seen. He said it was important and that you should meet him on Sunday morning or Saturday night. I have no idea what he wanted to say but he did sound serious and then he..." his words faded.
I put a consoling hand on his shoulder and his body relaxed.

"You said you were going to call me today, Why so?" i inquired.

"Well, do you know what happened ? I thought he might have told you something about his murder as he was so serious on meeting you that very night." He said looking curiously at me.

"Actually,I never did meet him that night or the following morning so I am as clueless as you are." I said.

All this while Carolyn had stayed silent. She looked so much in pain. After all she had been in love with William just sometime ago.

" I think we should leave now." I said.
Justin nodded.

Just then Carolyn turned and looked at him with pleading eyes and said " I am sorry!" With those words she started walking out of the bar to the car.

I heard Justin mumble, " It's alright..... I still love you."

I looked towards him and gave him an understanding smile. And walked behind Carolyn to join her in the car.

Our journey in the car to my place was a very silent one.
All I could think of was what did William want to tell me. Had I met him,could I have saved him? Did it have any connections with the kidnapper who was behind me?

As I continued to analyse what could have happened to him, I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of the car coming to a stop. I looked around and saw that we had reached my place.
Both of us got out of the car and headed into the apartment.

I had a similar feeling today like I had yesterday when I had found the note. It seemed like I was in an alien place. It no longer felt as comforting or safe. It felt nothing but dangerous. My heart beat quickened and I slowly entered the house with Carolyn following me. As I walked in I decided to first go check the bedroom but I found nothing . So I came back to the living room and that's when my phone rang.

I saw the caller ID, it read, Alex.

Alex was my younger brother.

I picked up the phone to hear a very cheerful voice," Hey, dear sissy! How are you?"

" I am fine Alex, how are you? It has been such a long time!" I said. I was really happy talking to him. He had always been a joyful child.

" I am fine! How is life going on? And why didn't you come back for your holidays? I miss you!" He said with a mix of emotions, like hurt and excitement at the same time. I could picture him pouting while saying those words.

"Well, I decided it was better if I stayed here. And I miss you too!"
I said.

" Hey, sissy I gotta go mom is calling me downstairs I will talk to you later. Stay safe and keep missing me. I love you!" He said hurriedly.

"Yeah. Bye. I love you too!" I said disconnecting the phone call.

As I turned to see Carolyn in the kitchen, she came out and sat with me in the living room. She looked in my direction and said "Be ready for the funeral at 7:00 sharp. I will come to pick you up." Saying this she got up and left.

Atleast, Alex was safe!

--------------------------------------------------

The clock showed it was 6:45 and I was almost ready for the funeral. I felt a knot forming in my stomach with every passing second. All I could think about was the last time I had seen William.

DRUNK, HAPPY AND LAUGHING.

I started to zone out again thinking of the fact that more than half of the day was over and no one had been picked up yet. Like the note had promised. I was brought out of my thoughts by a message from Carolyn informing me she had arrived.

I took a final look in the mirror.
I had decided on wearing a plain,long sleeved, black dress which reached my knees. With that I had put on a pair of flats. And tied my hair up in a ponytail. I also had decided to carry my jacket in case it got too cold.

I walked down and sat in the car and we reached the church in almost no time.

The church looked beautiful in the fading rays of the sun. With a canvas of orange colour painted sky as its background. It looked divine but something about it still seemed darker.

As we walked in the backyard, where the arrangements had been made, we were met by a sight of fifty or so people dressed in black. Some of them I knew from college.Everybody had the same expression.

As if the nature had also felt the lose, it started to darken and grow colder. As if mourning.

The background of the moonless night was a reflection of my heart which no longer had the light to guide me. I was losing and I could feel it.

In the center of all of this lay the sleeping body of William. His eyes were closed as if in a peaceful slumber. His beautiful hair fell around his face like it usually did. His skin looked so pale but still so beautiful.

He looked so peaceful.

I felt tears running down my face.

I looked around and saw a beautiful lady ,crying, while sitting in the nearest chair. Tears stained her face. She looked at the coffin so intently as if praying to the lord to return her what she had lost.

Beside her sat a man in his early forties. He was whispering some comforting words in the lady's ear and that made her body relax. The man looked like he might break any second but held on to support his wife through all of it. I saw a lot of people giving them condolences. They were William's parents.

As the ceremony began I went and took a seat in the last row with Carolyn. All through the ceremony all I could think about was How much more William had to see in the world? How much he had wanted to excel in life? How much he had deserved to fall in love?

Suddenly,I sensed some movement beside me. I saw Carolyn getting up to go outside and talk on the phone. I looked at her and she whispered,"It's urgent!". I simply nodded.

As she walked out I saw four men following her. I hadn't seen them in the whole of the ceremony. I thought it was just a coincidence that they all walked out at the same time.

All of a sudden I heard a scream.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys and gals!
I know I haven't updated for a while now, since I have been so busy!

Anyways What do you think of the chapter?

I will try writing longer chapters but I can't promise it right now.

Please VOTE AND COMMENT.

All your feedbacks are really precious to me.

Love,
AP