Underneath the clouds

XX

The sparks were starting to die down. Flames were no longer in the air, towering over and emitting heat to the firefighters and police. Jolin kept her eyes down, numb and unable to speak. Her throat stung from crying, burned from screaming.
The worst part, she wasn't going to be able to see their bodies. She wasn't going to be able to look at the casket and look down at her mother's resting face, or her father's resting face. Jolin wasn't going to be able to see them again until she had died. The safes were in her grasp, tight and secure. So much so, that her hand seemed to stick in that clenched position.
Her whole world had fallen apart, and without anyone to rub her shoulder, she let the control slip out of her hands.
In the background, police officers looked at her, concern in their eyes. They didn't like how she sat there, a blanket over her shoulders the safes in hand, her legs dangling over the end of the ambulance. They noticed it was just her, and no one else, maybe her parents were away. Then they looked to the driveway. Both cars were there, and no one else was outside with her. One let out a breath, clenching his jaw, putting the pieces together.
All she could think about in those freezing and hopeless moments was everything she had left behind. All her possession were burned, her parents were dead, and all she had was the safes. It wasn't much of a bummer that she had left her phone in the burning building, after all, she could replace her phone, but nobody could replace her parents.
Not a single man could replace her quirky dad, and not a single woman could replace her hardworking and caretaking mother. Her grasp tightened firmly on the safes, thinking over the sound of police chatter and the crackling of her burned-down house.
Where would she go? Technically she was orphaned, with no parents. Would she go to an orphanage? What would she do? A soft greeting caught her attention.
"Hey..." the police officer was down on one knee. Jolin looked up to his sympathetic brown eyes. She didn't answer, instead, she kept her mouth shut. "What's your name?" He asked, resting his wrist on his knee, his hand dangling off his leg. "Jolin Martin..." she muttered, her throat stinging. "Would you like to tell us what happened?" Looking down, she brought the safe to her chest, blindly running her fingers through her father's pages. She took a shaking breath, closing her eyes. Her lip curled, as tears began to slip down her cheeks.
"Jolin! Jolin!" She heard shrill screams, and before she could identify who it was, she saw her aunt Sherilyn, with Kimberly by her side. "Jolin!" Sheryl ran over, pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh my god! Are you okay, are you hurt?" She put her hand on her jaw, looking at Jolin's watering eyes. "Where's your mom?" Jolin clenched her jaw, hanging her head, tears slipping to the ground.
Sherilyn looked to the burning house, her eyebrows furrowed. "No... Angelica," bringing her head down she cried. Kimberly looked to the dying flames, eyes wide and mouth open. "So..." a little more moments until, she shut her eyes, her jaw clenching.

A couple of weeks later

There wasn't much room when Jolin had gotten there, so when she moved in, and Sherilyn adopted her, she shared a room with Kimberly. Jolin constantly stared out the window, refusing to eat, and the daily morning strawberries were piling up. The funeral was going to be in two days, and to say the least, Jolin wasn't ready to do anything. Kimberly came in her eyes always gleaming with concern. "Hey..." Jolin didn't answer. "Uhm... she wants us downstairs for lunch."
Her stomach growled, demanding food. She had started to get skinnier. Not that her stomach wasn't already flat, but now she could feel her rib cage without having to dig her fingernails into her skin. "Are you going to... uh, eat today?" Jolin sighed, getting off of her bed, shuffling towards her. Kimberly seemed surprised. "Yeah, I think I'll eat today..." she nodded and opened the door for Jolin. Not remembering when the last time she had showered, when the last time she spoke, and when the last time she had eaten or drank something. Her body was weak, and with every step, she only got more tired, and until she finally got to the table, she had held her breath while walking. "Oh!" Aunt Sherilyn washed her hands, putting her plate down. "Didn't expect you to come and join us today Jolin."
She inspected Jolin's hollow cheeks, her dim eyes, and the dirty oversized sweatshirt she was wearing. "You should come and sit down. And finally eat! You must be starving." Jolin sat, shivering at the sudden warmth blowing by the vent. Kimberly sat down next to them, spearing a piece of fruit. She took her cold hands, wrapping them around the sandwich, deep indents sunk into the bread. Food seemed like a foreign thing to her. Her stomach growled, demanding food, her mouth watering, she brought the sandwich up to her mouth, biting deep into the food.
Hunger had never bothered her this much before, and now her body demanded a lot more. Eventually she had finished her food, and had gone back up to her and Kimberly's room. She thought that the daily morning strawberries was a really cute thing that aunt Sheryl had accumulated. Sitting on the bed, she huffed, her stomach was finally satisfied, and nutrition starting to actually rush through her body.
One thing always bugged her, and peaked her curiosity. What was in the safes? Tears started to from in the corners of her eyes, just remembering that night. That horrible, horrible night.
Should I open it?
She questioned herself, hanging her feet off the bed. Slithering off the sheets, she landed on the wooden floor, peeling the excess sheets that dangled over her bed, hiding the underneath. She reached her hand out, grabbing the first thing to come to her fingertips. Grasping it, she pulled it out, revealing that it was his leather notebook. His voice was echoing in her head, all the times he had called her "sugar cube." She despised the nickname, and until he was gone, she didn't realize how much she'd miss it.
Flipping through the pages, and overwhelmed by the amount of numbers, and symbols, she looked at all the scribbled pages. She gotten to the last two pages, and seeing the familiar pie chart. Flipping the last page, she saw a note.
Biting down hard on her lip, and chewing the inside of her cheek, she blinked back tears. Ignoring the last paragraph she shut the book, gulping back a few whimpers. Jolin lifted the sheets and slid the notebook way back into the corner.

Dear Jolin,

If you are reading this, you have gotten out of this flaming house, and this page has not been lost to the fire. I hope you're safe, and you got out of this house safely. I love you so much sugar cube. This page is so utterly important. I have no clue why I felt to write this, maybe just a final goodbye before I really perish, but another reason I did this was because they wanted the serum. I have a strong feeling they will do anything to get their hands on this, and I know that you are smart enough to know that these people are dangerous. I hope you choose your life over this stupid serum and this dream I have decided to chase. I'm sorry. It's my fault that these people have attacked us, and taken away your mother, and me. You were right, I have never been a real scientist, and now I have no chance of being one. Now that this is happening, I'm sure this is my fault. I've chased a bad dream, and put you in danger. Please... can you forgive me someday.

                                                    Your quirky dad