(Amazing cover made by Xgone4millenniaX ^^)

[Chapter eighteen]

"Time to grope the turkey!"

"Is it really groping if it's dead?"

"Then it's necrophilia. I figured groping was a less creepy way to refer to dinner prep."

"Or, you should just call it dinner prep." Thirteen-year-old Heaven suggests as she grabs all the ingredients to make the stuffing.

"Or, I should just call it groping." Thirteen-year-old me suggests.

"Not in front of the kids, honey." She says in a motherly tone.

"Yes, sweetie." I sigh dramatically.

Heaven and I share a look before bursting into fits of laughter.

"Let's get groping!"

I stop laughing. "Okay, it's just weird when you say it."

"Shut up, Vaeh."

All of a sudden, instead of a kitchen, I'm in the middle of a cemetery.

What the f--

"Vaeh." A ghost like voice echoes around me.

"...L-Lucy?"

"You left me, Vaeh."

I spin around, trying to find where my baby sister's voice is coming from.

"N-No, I didn't."

"Yes, you'd did." The voice says again. "You promised you wouldn't leave me, Vaeh. YOU PROMISED!"

"I didn't leave you, Lucy!" Tears stream down my face as I still try to find the source of the voice.

"You didn't just leave Lucy." Another voice says. "You killed me."

My breath hitches. "W-What...? Heaven?"

"You killed me, Nevaeh! YOU KILLED ME!"

"N-No, I didn't."

"YOU KILLED ME!"

"No, I didn't!" I shout. "I didn't kill you, Heaven!"

"YOU KILLED ME!"

"NO, I DIDN'T!"

"YOU KILLED BOTH OF US!" Lucy's voice screeches.

"NO, I DIDN'T!"

"YOU KILLED US!"

Sobbing, I cover my ears, trying to drown out their words. "NO! N-No...I d-didn't..."

"YOU KILLED US!"

"YOU KILLED US!"

"YOU KI--"

I shoot into a sitting position, breathing heavily. Sweat drips down the side of my head as my eyes adjust to the darkness.

My breathing slows down and I reach up and feel wetness of my cheeks. I didn't even realise I was crying.

I look at the time.

2:50AM

I throw the covers off me and walk to the bathroom, turning on the light and looking in the mirror.

I turn the tap on and wash my face with cold water.

After the whole pissed Noah incident at school yesterday, I tried to find him but I couldn't find him anywhere. I couldn't find Max and Dylan either.

Maybe I should pull a Noah and go to his house at three in the morning.

I purse my lips before running back into my room, throwing my hoodie on, sneaking out of the sliding door and climbing down my balcony.

*~*

Tap

Tap

Tap

"What the fu--ow!" I throw another pebble just as the window opens and it hits Noah right in the face."

"Oops...sorry." I grimace.

"Carter?" Squints his eyes down to where I'm standing on his front lawn. "Nice booty shorts. And what the hell are you doing here?"

"Get your ass down here."

"Why?"

"We're going somewhere."

"Where?"

"Somewhere."

"Did you just use my words against me?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Got a problem?"

He rolls his eyes. "I'll be down in a minute."

*~*

"You brought me to a...cemetery?" He trails off as we hop the fence and walk to the far side of the graveyard.

"Yup."

"Why?" He questions. I don't answer him as we keep walking until we reach two gravestones. "...oh."

Lucy Octavia Carter.
23 April 2004 - 23 April 2009
Beloved daughter and sister

Heaven Windora Carter
14 February 2000 - 23 August 2015
Beloved daughter and sister

Even though we had their funerals in New Zealand and buried them there, my mum still had gravestones made here and put in the cemetery.

"This is what you were talking about the other day." He questions but it comes out as more of a statement. All of a sudden a pair of arms are wrapped around my shoulders and I'm pulled into a solid chest. "I'm sorry. I know how it feels."

I wrap my arms around his waist, hugging him back. "What...what was your brother's name?"

"Anthony." Noah whispers. "How...how did your sisters...you know...uhm..."

I smile slightly at the hesitation in his voice. It's like I'm a bomb that he's trying really hard not to set off.

"Cancer." I whisper back. "...what about Anthony?"

"He...he was...shot."