I watched the snow fall for some time. It could have been a few minutes, or an hour, I don't know. A soft blanket of flurry graced itself upon the street and the houses, tickling the leaves of the trees and shrubs lining the manicured yards. The sky was grey and gloomy, a great contrast from the peaceful white continuum of the world below.
My phone rang, shattering the peaceful silence I had created around myself. I slid my finger across the screen and answered.
"Didn't I tell you it would snow?"
Eric's voice made my spirits soar and I sat up straighter, smiling. "How do you know? Are you home?"
"Yes, I got back about five minutes ago. I thought it was necessary to call you and say I told you so."
The wind picked up outside, sending the steadily falling snow into a frenzy, swirlin
"I don't understand," I said to Eric on the phone later that night, my voice hushed as I watched fresh snow fall on the darkened backyard. "He didn't seem very happy about us being together.""He was mad you told me," Eric responded. I could tell he was writing from the hint of distraction and daze in his voice. "You didn't keep your word and that's why he was angry and said those things.""I don't know," I said. "He told me he hired you to tutor Nova, not to be with me.""Too bad," he replied. "I'm excellent at multitasking."I fought to hide a smile. "Be serious, please.""Alright, alright. Look, Luna, it's okay. It's not like we're sixteen and infatuated and I'm asking you to elope with me to the Bahamas," he said and I laughed lightly. "We're adults and I think we can handle o
Eric appeared between the trees, angst in his eyes and his breathing uneven. A hint of relief flashed through his features before urgency overtook them again and he spoke, his voice battling his loss of breath. "Luna, thank God. I thought I'd never find you."I furrowed my brow, walking over to him. "What's going on?"He was still out of breath. "Something's happened. You've got to come with me, quickly, you've got to get home now.""Why? What is it?" My heart pounded faster, my pulse hammering among my veins as if it wished to escape through my skin.Eric swallowed, eyes meeting mine. "It's your father."Fear sliced through me like a blade, and worst case scenarios began running through my brain like a teleprompter, each thought more terrifying than the next.
When I awoke I was somewhere unfamiliar and I heard a storm raging outside.It was too hot and I felt constricted, covered in blankets. I blinked to look around the dark room.I didn't recognize where I was and my senses were hazy, slowly coming back to me. The feeling of fabric of soft blankets covering me above soft clothes, warm flesh pressed against my own.Crash of thunder, flash of lightning. The room came into focus.Outlines of bookshelves against one wall. Dark windows. The unmistakable outline of evergreen trees outside. A warm body next to me, soft blankets, no bed frame.I sat up rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the darkness as everything came back to me, my father's death, someone had shot my father, my father is dead.My breathing wa
Later that day, sadness and anger washed away from me and was promptly replaced with a type of numbness I could only associate with the death of my mother. Now I associated it with the death of my father as well.I took a shower and got dressed and slowly brushed my hair, watching the ends curl up again after each stroke through the thick black colored strands.Eric made me coffee and I drank it slowly, staring at the trees outside the window. The coffee was too hot and I burned my tongue. It began to rain outside again and then stopped twenty minutes later, as if the sky had decided against it.At one thirty Eric softly suggested I go home."The police are going to be there," I said. "I don't want to go and face all of this.""I know," he said quietly. "But you have to."
The corridors of City Hall seemed empty and lifeless as the three of us walked through them, the photographs of the former mayors seeming haunting now that my father was among the deceased.The receptionist in the lobby had given me a sympathy soaked look as I walked by and I tried to ignore the way her eyes softened and her lips pressed together, her head shaking slightly.When I opened the doors to my father's former office I had to stop and catch my breath for a moment.It was eerie and foreign feeling looking around the uninhabited office because everything was untouched.The leather chair and mahogany desk, the pictures of our family framed on the bookshelves, the curtains on the large window tied neatly as they always were.It felt as if my father could walk in any minute and the prospe
Captain Lee was standing in the door of an office when I arrived at the police station. "Miss Allen," he greeted me. "Hello," I said, my voice sounding a lot more stable than I was feeling. "Is everything alright? Is the autopsy finished?" "Yes, we received the results this afternoon. Step inside my office, will you." I walked into the small office to find Eric already sitting there, his hands folded in his lap. I sat down beside him, confused. Captain Lee sat down behind the desk in front of us. "I've called Genevieve down here as well but I assume she's still resting," he said. I looked at Eric who didn't meet my gaze and then looked back at Lee. "What's going on here?" Lee leaned forward on his desk, folding his han
I arrived at the police station in a short amount of time, out of breath from the brisk walk and the adrenaline that coursed through my veins.I was only thinking of ways to get Eric out of taking the blame for a crime he didn't do.The station was abuzz when I arrived. I searched for Captain Lee or someone else I recognized, spotting Lee across the room speaking into a walkie talkie. I moved quickly towards him, and he stopped talking to address me."Run more tests," I said before I could lose my train of thought. "Of course there would have been Eric's fingerprints on the gun, he's the owner of it. Test to see if the gun has ever been shot. If it hasn't, there's no way it can be him.""We already sent it to the lab for more testing," Lee said."But we still have to keep Eric in
When I woke up the next day I carefully got up away from Nova, covering her with the blanket and trying not to wake her. One of us should get some sleep.I attempted to cover up the dark circles under my eyes with makeup but it didn't help all that much.I knew visiting hours at the police station began at eight and I was up at seven, not knowing what to do with myself.Genevieve was awake too, already sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee when I went downstairs. She turned her head to look at me as I entered the room."It's empty without him here, isn't it?" She asked, her voice soft.I nodded, pouring myself a cup of coffee. For a second I couldn't tell if she was talking about Eric or my father.Both were true. "Yeah…"