My Witch of an Aunt (Emily's Original)

Chapter 17

I sprint through the house and out the door. Max is already halfway across the lawn. I collapse into his arms crying. I hear car doors slam and his parents are by my side in seconds. "I heard a scream. What's wrong? What happened?" Between sobs, I manage to speak, "My- mom- she-she...

She's dead!" I hear his parents gasp and his mom pulls out her phone, probably to dial 911. Max pulls me closer to him. A million thoughts swarm my head. What am I supposed to do now? Where will I go? I- I shouldn't have left her there! What was I thinking?! I jump up and run back into the house. I hear Max call after me as he follows. I run back up the stairs and into my mom's room. I kneel down next to her and grab her left hand. It's cold, she didn't just do this. She's been like this for a while. I hear Max gasp at the door, "Sally, come on. Let's go." All I can do is shake my head and squeeze her ice-cold hand. Squeeze her hand just like I used to do to my mom at the theme parks so we wouldn't get separated when I was young. Just like I did when we walked into my new school at open house. Like I used to do before she changed. Lexi appears, "What's-" She doesn't finish her sentence before she sees the body. Max and Lexi are on either side of me now trying to talk me away from my mom. "But it's my fault..." I whisper. "Sally this isn't your fault," Lexi says as she places a hand on my shoulder. "It isn't" Max tries to gently pull me back, "Come on Sally, you shouldn't look. Let's go downstairs" I stay still.

A few minutes later I hear police sirens outside. Police enter the house and find their way upstairs, "I'll be back" Lexi says as she disappears. Police enter the room and even they are taken aback by her corpse. One officer approaches us. He waves Max away as he kneels down next to me. "Hey, My name's Peter. Come on, let's walk downstairs." I shake my head again. "Look," he sighs, "She's dead, there's no-" "YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!" I snap, "TRUST ME I KNOW. I KNOW SHE WON'T COME BACK. I KNOW WHAT SHE DID! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE!!!" Peter grabs my shoulder and tries to pull me back. Again, I stay still. "Sally," Max rushes over giving the officer a dirty look, "Sally come on, Sally look." He turns my head to look at him, our eyes meet, "You're right, she won't come back, but we are still here. Come on. We can get through this together. It's ok. You're ok." I loosen my grip on her corpse. "Come on," Max says as he picks me up. He walks me downstairs.

Max sets me down on the couch. Now that I'm away from my mom's corpse I don't want to be here anymore. There is no point in me staying here. Why didn't I just die when I stabbed myself? Why do I have to be a witch? I just want to fucking die. I can't wait to see you suffer with all this guilt. For you to know it's your fault. You made your mother so depressed and disappointed that it drew her to suicide. Suffer and perish. "Shut up" I mumble, I'm sitting with my head in my hands now. "Is Skylee back?" Max asks as he puts a hand on my shoulder. I nodd. Max pulls me into a hug, "How are you holding up?" Your fucking kidding me. "Oh, just great! You know my mom just committed suicide, but I'm living the life you know?" "Sally..." "I can't wait for the funeral, it'll be so much fun!" "Sally.." "You know what why don't we throw a huge house party afterward!" "SALLY!!!" Max kneels in front of me holding my shoulders "Calm down! It was just a question." Just a question. How slow is he? Max sighs and drops back onto the couch, "Well, where will you go now?" "I don't know. I don't think I have any family left. I'll probably be sent to an orphanage." "Won't you be separated from us then?" All I do is nod my head. I'll be separated from everyone I care about. Max sits there for a second. He suddenly stands up and walks outside. "Max?" Where did he go?