When I woke up, Aleysa was still asleep in my bed. I peeled the sheets back and climbed out of bed, careful not to wake her. Walking across the hall, I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

Stripping out of my clothes, I turn on the shower tap and adjust the temperature. I step under the showerhead, and the water cascades down my body. Grabbing the shampoo off the shelf, I wash my hair.

After washing my hair and body, I step out of the shower. I wring my hair out and grab the towel to dry myself off. I wrap the towel around my body and walk into my bedroom.

On the bed, Aleysa feels around and lifts her head when she doesn't see me. "Chloe," she yells.

"I'm here, Lys." I step into the light so she can see me. "I just had a quick shower. We're safe."

She lies back in bed. "We're not safe, Chloe. The police haven't found the people responsible for murdering Mom and Dad. The security added to this place isn't making me feel safe."

Moving over to the bed, I take her hand in mine. "That's why we're moving into a safe building, and hopefully, we can resemble a normal life."

"I hope so. When we return from the wake, can you help me with some of my stuff?"

"Of course." Standing up, I move over to the chest of draws and pull out my underwear. Then I walk over to the closet, pull out a simple black dress, and put it on the bed.

Aleysa climbs out of bed. "I'm going to get changed. Can you do my hair when I come back?"

"Sure," I said as I put on my clothes and started applying makeup.

There's a knock on my bedroom door before a male voice says. "Can I come in?"

Opening the door, I see my brother. "Sure, what's going on, Nate?"

He looks around my room. "Is Aleysa in here?"

"No, she's getting ready. What's going on, Nate?"

"My friends will be here shortly. I will get a ride with them and spend the night at Josh's."

I'm glad he has a good group of people with him. He'll need their help to get through this day.

Looking at him, I say. "The moving truck will be here at seven. You better be here to help us pack the truck."

He hugs me. "I will. Thanks for letting me spend the night at my friend's."

Beep, beep.

A car horn beeps in front of the house. "The guys are here. I'll meet you at the funeral home." Nate walks out of my room and says "bye,' to Aleysa as he walks past her bedroom door.

A couple of minutes later, Aleysa walked back into my room with her hairbrush, "Did Nate leave with Josh and the boys?"

"Yes, he's also spending the night. Is there anyone you want to be with?"

Aleysa shakes her head. "I want to stay with you, Chloe." She sits on the chair in front of the mirror. She passed the brush to me, and I started to brush her hair.

Plaiting her hair, I look in the mirror and see her eyes looking at the jewellery I have on the table. She picks up an infinity necklace. "Do you want to wear that today?"

Looking at me in the mirror, she says, "Yes, please. It's so pretty."

I finish plaiting her hair. "How does it look?"

A smile spreads across her face. "It's just the way Mom used to do it. Can you teach me how to do it?"

"Sure, do you have any Barbie dolls still lying around?

"Yes, it's packed away in a box. You can teach me when we get to the new house." She looks at the watch on her wrist. "The car's about to pull in front of the house. We should get downstairs."

Aleysa and I walk out of my room and head downstairs. When we reach the living the car pulls in front of our house.

Grabbing my bag off the hook, I put it over my shoulder and exited the house. I lock the door behind me and head to the limousine parked in front of the house.

The driver steps out of the car and opens the door for us. Aleysa climbs in first, and she waits for me to follow.

The door to the funeral home room opens, and Hallelujah is the entrance music as we walk through the door. I take a seat in the front row with Aleysa and my brother.

Nate's friends and a few of their parents sit behind us in a few rows.

Once everyone's seated, the funeral director steps up to the podium. He starts with a short poem. "No gift on earth is more significant,
No treasure held above,
The joy that comes from knowing,
A parent's endless love.

Despite how it's tested,
It grows from year to year,
Providing strength and comfort,
It always draws us near.

It warms, and it protects us,
And guides us from afar,
Shedding light upon us,
Like a bright and shining star.

And when all things are measured,
Not one shall rise above,
or be compared in value,
to a parent's endless love."

Aleysa leans towards me and says. "That was a beautiful poem. Mom and Dad would be happy with that one." She looks over at the casket, and tears begin to well up in her eyes.

The funeral director starts an introduction about our parents before he says, "Now, I'm going to open the floor for family and friends to speak."

Aleysa pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and gave it to me. "Can you read this? I don't think I'll be able to do it."

Taking her letter, I walked over to the podium and put the papers on it. I looked around the room at everyone in there. My eyes landed on Aleysa, and then I cleared my throat. "Thank you, everyone, for supporting my brother and sister today during this hard time. First, I will start with my sister's speech, as she can't do it herself."

A tear falls down her face as she watches me. She grabs our brother's hand and says, " Go," to me.

"It was hard for me to put into words how much I love my parents and miss them every day. I have many great memories of them and will tell you some of my favourites. When I was five, Mom and Dad took us to the zoo, where we saw many animals. I got to touch a snake, and it wrapped itself around me. I wasn't scared of touching it, but Mom freaked when it was trying to get close to her."

Some people laugh, and Aleysa wipes a tear away from her eye. She whispers something to Nate before standing up and walking over to me. Grabbing the paper, she looks at the crowd. "After that, we went to the tiger's cage, and one of them walked up to the glass and started to scratch at the window. I think it wanted to get close to her."

When Aleysa finishes reading her memories, she walks over to her chair and sits next to Nate, who pulls her closer to him and whispers something.

"I have a lot of memories with Mom and Dad."

When I was sixteen, Dad took me to Hellion's Karate, where he was an instructor for black belts. He asked me to demonstrate some of the moves we learnt over the weekend.

Dad thought it was a good idea to get me to demonstrate my strength without using any safety equipment, and I punched him with so much force that he fell to the floor.

I say, kneeling beside him, "Dad, are you alright?"

He looks around the room before saying softly. "Can you get me some ice, Chloe? I didn't know you could hit like that. Damn, I taught you well over the weekend. Soon, you won't need lessons from me."

I smile at him, "I'll get you some Ice. I don't want Mom to see you with a bruise from me." I walk over to the kitchen and grab some ice. Putting it in a bag, I take it over to Dad. "Here's the ice."

That night, when we got home, Dad held his side, and Mom rushed over to him. Lifting his shirt, she looked at the bruise and said. "Who did that?"

Dad looked over at me. "Our daughter has it in her to injure me."

A faint smile appeared on her lips as she looked between us. "I taught her some stuff over the weekend, too, with how to use her power against someone of the opposite sex. I didn't think she'd use it on you."

Dad laughed. "I should have known you had something to do with this." He leaned forward and kissed her.

I wipe away the tears that are falling down my face.

Without looking up, my younger brother embraces me in a hug. He whispers soothing words in my ear until I stop crying.

Pulling back from Nate, I whisper, "Thanks. It's your turn to share memories of Mom and Dad."

Walking over to my seat, I take Aleysa's hand in mine, and we listen to Nate's memories of our parents and one of his football games.