YARA'S P.O.V.

Being told that a loved one is gone. Knowing that he or she is dead. Knowing that you cannot see their smiling faces again. Not until you are in Heaven. You and your loved one will never be separated there. Unless that he or she was a nonbeliever. Or you are. You both will not be separated in the other place...but your suffering will never end. You will suffer together for eternity. Do you want that?

I will tell you what I did not want. I never wanted to be told first thing in the morning that they were gone. My best friend and boyfriend. I lost two important people. The worst part? They died the same night. I did not see them that day because I spent time with my family and did my chores. I promised to spend the entire day with them the next day. I talked to them over the phone the night that they passed. The last time that I heard them. That I spoke with them.

Never will I forget how I felt when my parents told me. They knocked on my door and asked if I was awake.

"I am now that you knocked," I choked out. I stretched my arms and legs and yawned. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I tossed off my sheets before checking my digital clock. Almost eight. No school today. I get out of bed at nine o'clock sharp. My parents know that. "You realize that it is an hour from nine."

I draped my legs over the edge of my bed and faced my bedroom door. Its hinges squeaked as Dad opened it. I kicked my legs and said good morning. My parents did not say it back. Distressed looks were on their faces.

I twiddled my thumbs. "Mom. Dad. What is going on?" I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Something is wrong. I can sense it."

My parents squeezed into my room and trudged to me. Mom sat next to me and squeezed my hand. A tear ran down her cheek.

My tiredness was instantly replaced by fear. I assumed the worst. My grandma or grandpa passed. Or both. Or another relative died. I have a large family. Thank gosh that we do not live in the same place. I would suffocate in the crowd. It is already tough dealing with my young sister.

I squeezed Mom's hand tighter and gazed in her eyes. I found my voice somehow. I choked on tears. "M-Mom. What happened? Tell me. I am ready."

Mom wriggled her hand from mine and rested it on my cheek. "Oh, Yara. It...it is about Mabel."

My heart picked up speed. "M-Mabel?"

"And Walker."

"Walker? W-what about them?"

Dad made small circles on my back with a hand. "Yara. Mabel and Walker...are gone."

The word "gone" could mean tons of stuff. I jumped up and looked up at him. My mind was spinning. "'Gone'? What do you mean? They ran away? They are missing? I know them better than anybody. They would not run away. At least, not without me."

Dad raised his hand, signaling to me to be quiet. "Yara. Listen. Mabel and Walker are...dead."

My eyes bulged from their sockets. I stopped breathing for what felt like an eternity. My legs felt like noodles. I tugged on my hair. I figured that I misheard him. "Um, w-what did you say?"

He kneeled so his face was in front of mine. "I-I do not know how else to put this. I am sorry. So sorry. Walker and Mabel are dead. They are dead."

My eyes flooded with tears. I uttered a shrill cry before dropping to my knees. I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. I cried and shook my head. "No...no! They cannot be dead! Someone made a mistake!"

Devastated does not begin to describe how I felt. It is a feeling that nobody wants. But it stays with you as long as you demand it to. I stayed on the floor for almost an hour. I stayed in my room and sobbed and slept for the rest of this horrible day. It was not until Mom knocked on my door that I stepped out.

"Honey?"

I was hiding under the covers and sobbing into my wet pillow. I was grabbing its sides so tightly that the veins in my hands were poking through my skin. I was angry and sad. My eyes and head ached from all the crying. I forced myself to stop upon hearing my mom and asked what she needed. What she said shocked me, like when I was told that...my best friend and my boyfriend died.

"Yara. Two police officers are here. They want to speak with you."

Goosebumps immediately covered my skin as the little hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood. I was not afraid. Or maybe I was. But I was confused. I threw off said covers and rolled onto my back and rubbed my eyes for the hundredth time.

Mom knocked on the door again. "Honey? You alright? Oops. Poor choice of words. It is okay if you are not up to chatting with the cops now. They can return another time."

"What...what do they want to talk about?"

"Mabel and Walker. The investigators believe that they were...murdered."

I suddenly could not move or talk. It was like that I left my body. I floated from my body and hovered above it.

Mabel and Walker murdered? It cannot be. Mabel and Walker were gentle and helpful. I would not have stuck with them if they were not. Nobody would want to take their lives. Who would want to?

Then it hit me. I slid off my bed and got dressed. Yes. I would meet with those cops because I knew who killed Walker and Mabel.

Finnegan.