𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐞 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐞

Chapter 22

Our heads snapped up to the person standing above us and my mother immediately stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

I stood up on shaky legs to look at a pale John who gave me a sad smile. He opened one of his arms permitting me to join the hug and I happily obliged.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes as I relaxed in his hold. What happened tonight was horrible but in a fucked up way it was poetic.

My mother had died and was reunited with her love in death.

Someone clearing their throat interrupted our moment and I lifted my head to see Death crossing her arms and giving us a cocky smile.

"So, I leave you here for less than 30 seconds and this happens?" She teased.

We looked at her deadpanned and she cringed as she read the room.

"Too soon?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes and stepped away from John and my mother who was still in each other's arms.

"John, would you like to tell them or should I?" Death asked.

John pulled away from my mother and glanced at the redhead and turned to us. "So I died." He began. My mother and I gave him a 'duh' look and he continued. "She says I can pass on."

"But..." She prompted.

"But I'm going to stay with you all." He said.

"What? No!" I yelled. He was getting a chance to leave, he didn't need to stay here and live in agony with us.

"You need to go Johnny." My mother said sternly.

"You think this is a quick decision but I've been thinking for hours. There is no good afterlife without my family." He said.

A tear fell down my cheek at his words and I pulled him into a hug. I let myself cry into his hold and he hugged me tightly.

"Besides, all of us need to stay together to protect Lizzie." He said.

Lizzie.

I couldn't imagine how I would feel if I were her. Her entire family had been wiped away, at least I still had my mom and dad, even though I was dead.

"So he will be staying with you all." Death clarified.

"Why is he able to pass on and we are not?" My mother asked.

"Let's talk about this inside, shall we?" Death asked. Before we could give her an answer she snapped her fingers and we were in our living room.

The room looked a bit different than it did a few hours ago. It was cleaner but faint blood marks still stained the wall and carpet. If you looked hard enough you could see how messy it was.

Death looked around the house and winced. "Yikes."

She always chose the wrong moments to be fascinated about things and right now I wanted to slap her across the face.

"Can you answer our question?" I asked.

"Oh, right. You see it's simple...he knows who killed him." She said. "You two still do not."

"Is it Officer Hardy?" I asked.

"I can't tell you who it is. You need to come to the conclusion for yourself and then you may pass on."

"So you know who it is?" I asked in shock.

"I found out as soon as I dropped you off." She admitted.

"Can't you just tell us?" I begged.

"Unfortunately I cannot. It defeats the whole purpose of...you know? Solving your murder."

"Well have I talked to him?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I can't say." She said with a shrug.

"Can you tell us anything?" I snapped, growing irritated.

She looked taken aback as she smirked at me. "I can't."

"Then what can you do?" My mother spat.

"Okay, I can say one thing. It may not help you but..." She began as she looked up.

After a few moments passed and she remained quiet I spoke up.

"Say it!"

"Relax, sweetie." She teased. "What I can say is the answer is right under your nose just as it was under mine. If you look hard enough, you may already know."

After she finished she stood up tall as if she was proud she did something for us. I looked between John and my mother and then back at her.

"So we get a fucking riddle?" I asked.

"Aaliyah, watch your mouth." My mother commanded in a shocked voice.

I raised my brow at her and shook my head in disbelief. I was dead yet my parents were still bossing me around. Great.

I rolled my eyes and brought my eyes back to Death who was fixing her fiery locks and adjusting her leather jacket.

"Fine. I have one more question," I said. Death raised a brow at me and I took a deep breath. "How come as soon as they died they went to purgatory? I was dead for months and I just woke up."

"Well that's a simple one," she said with a shrug. "You were missing for almost two months before your body was found. Meaning that your killer kept you alive for a while. You didn't die as soon as you went missing, you died recently."

"But wouldn't the police have been able to tell that from my autopsy? They would've seen that I died recently and that would clear Elijah since he was already in jail," I said as I looked around at everyone.

My mother bowed her head down and I gave her a confused look. "What?"

"That's the thing, Aaliyah," she began. "We never found your body."

As if things couldn't get worse, they just did. Not only was I killed but now I find out that I was held captive for months before it and my body was somewhere unknown. The thought was terrifying but mostly sickening. Who could've done that?

"Anyways, I will leave you to it. If I am needed, John knows how to reach me. See you in a few minutes, Toodles." She said with a grin as she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

I sighed as I turned back to my mother and John.

"So what now?" She asked.

"We figure it out," I said.

"Okay, where do we start?" John asked.

"My room."

As we walked to my room I explained the clues that I had discovered so far and just like me, they were completely stumped.

We searched in my room for any clues at all for hours but came up with nothing. We sat together in my room, completely deflated at what to do.

"I have no idea what to do," I admitted.

"Neither do I." My mother whispered.

"I don't even care anymore, I just was Lizzie to be safe," I said. It was the truth.

After being here with my family I no longer cared about passing on as much as before. I just wanted my sister to remain alive.

"So do I," John whispered.

"So let's focus on that. If we happen to also catch the person along the way then fine. But if we don't, at least we still have each other."