LARSSEN'S LANE: Grey

Chapter 1.2 - Last Spring in Crimson Creek

After verifying his mother's identity, Chester was then guided to a morgue. There he stared at a red-haired woman's dead body laid in a drawer of a morgue in front of him, at a wound on her left temple. The stitched wound looked like it was made by something that hit-a bullet, he guessed. Undeniably, his mother was killed. But the question is whose bullet it is and what is going on behind the kill.

This was shocking to Chester, although he had already known before that the most unwanted thing to happen still can happen. Seeing his mother frozen in the morgue, suspected of being another victim of violence, is not easy.

It was late afternoon when Chester and Aaron stopped by at an eatery get some lunch for Chester, on their way back to their apartment. Chester waited in his car while Aaron was shopping.

About fifteen minutes after entering the shop, Aaron came back with a brown paper carrier containing two cups of hot drink; and a paper bag-also brown in color-containing foods. "Take these, you haven't eaten anything since last night." He handed Chester the bag and carrier.

Chester took them from Aaron then put the bag on the dashboard. But when he was going to take a cup of coffee from the carrier, Aaron cut him out.

"The coffee's not yours. Take the chocolate." Aaron picked up the coffee that he claimed off the carrier.

"I don't like chocolate drinks. That coffee should've been mine." Chester complained while looking at the coffee cup in Aaron's hand.

"Take the chocolate, take a break for a while from being coffee addict, so that you can sleep right. You don't need caffein right now. Too much caffein causes your sleeping disorder. Look at your eye bags. Your eye bags have bags. Take that chocolate, and the meal." Aaron sipped his coffee, waiting for his friend to respond to the words that he quoted from Squidward's noticeable complaint. He then put his cup into a cup holder between their seats.

But Chester was only watching his hot chocolate uninterestedly. "What should I do?"

Aaron knocked his fingers on the steer while his his eyes were looking away outside to the cloudy sky. "Spring break will end this weekend and we have to go back to campus. So ... you have to inform the faculty that you need some more break."

"Can you help me with that?"

"Sure. I'll take care of it. So ..., I got to go back to Irvine before weekend, while you can stay here longer. But ..., can you take care of everything by yourself here?"

Chester sighed. "I'll call my other uncle to come."

"Well, that sounds better. Now eat that and take a rest."

"Aaron ..., thanks' for helping."

"Yeah, never mind. That's what a friend's for." For the last time before starting the car engine, Aaron looked at Chester's expression. The man that used to like sparking mischievous smile now was losing half of his soul, his eyes have obvious dark circle from not sleeping for over twenty four hours.

Rain started dripping.

As planned before, Chester called his uncle, Ralph Larssen, and told him about the incident. Two days later Ralph came to Crimson Creek and stayed at the same apartment with Chester and Aaron.

~*~

Chester was standing in front of a mirror, staring at his own reflection. Using his fingers he combed his hair backward, exposed his forehead and long eyebrows. Nothing seemed to change on his face. But if only he noticed, he could've seen his eyes dark circles were faded a little. But his prominent cheekbones were sharper from his thinning cheeks. It'd been five days since the Marty Drive incident. He could sleep a little better, but otherwise his appetite decreased ever so. And today he had to attend a funeral.

"Are you ready, Chaz?" said Aaron from the rest room entrance.

"Yeah. Come on." Chester's mumbled. He sauntered, following Aaron. With all his remaining strength, he hid his grief.

The funeral was attended by big families from Henry and Andrews; and some of Marc's colleagues.

Chester appeared at the funeral with low ponytail hair, like how he used to, but tidier. He wore dark grey shirt, which was actually his father's shirt that he took soon after the evidence collection was done. He didn't have black. The incident was never expected to happen. Marc Andrews-Chester's uncle -was laying in a casket next to two other caskets of his wife and her sister -Melissa Andrews and Melanie Henry.

At the funeral home Chester saw Zoey, Andrews elder daughter. The fifteen-year-old-girl has pale skin and hair as red as her mother's. By the moment he noticed that the redhead gene is dominant-the red hair, skin paler than average Caucasian. His late brother is also a readhead. Funny to find the truth that he's the only brunette out of the five cousins. And the sad thing is that there's still no information about the young twin sisters. Ten-year old Jacqueline and Michelle who was adopted by Henry spouse were still unknown where, dead or alive.

Chester walked toward Zoey who was sitting with face down on her shoes. She was accompanied by a woman. And when Chester's been standing right before them, the woman, who seemed to be around fifties years old, stood up. She nodded with a thin smile, permitting a space for Chester and Zoey.

Chester sat on the seat where the middle-aged woman sat. "How are you?" He understands it's ridiculous asking something like that while he knows the answer is 'No'. But he didn't know a better way to express condolences. In addition, he wasn't less mourning.

Zoey wiped her wet chubby freckled cheeks and lifted her face up to see Chester. "I don't know. I don't know if leaving the house that night is a wrong or right thing. I should've died with her, or maybe I had a chance to save her, or Jackie and Elle .... Where are they now." Her swollen eyes started dripping tears again.

'Where are they now?' Zoey's question about her twin sister absence bothered Chester's mind about one more missing person, his father. Chester embraced his red-haired cousin's shoulder to calm her.

Zoey let go off her body of Chester's hug and wiped her tears.

"Who are you here with? The woman?"

Zoey nodded.

"Who is she?"

"She's my friend's mother." Zoey paused a moment. "I was at her house that night. I left my house after arguing for stupid little thing. I was jealous of Jackie and Elle. I cursed and said hurtful things to my mom. That should've not happened. I wish this was all just a dream." She burst into tears again.

Chester's tongue was stiff and losing words. He held Zoey's hand. While his brain was raging, trying to figure out what was actually going on.

Aaron went back to Irvine, California, the next day by train. He took night train.