𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘- a labyrinth sequel

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐌. Every single time she crossed that threshold, she was reminded of the fact that Sydney was found dead in that room. The detectives ruled it as a suicide and cleaned their hands of it, but Aurelia couldn't explain the feeling that told her something was off. She'd been sleeping in Donnelly's room since it happened, and now that the weekend was finally here, she was ready to go home. She missed her parents, and she really wanted to see them this weekend after everything that happened. She was a complete and utter wreck.

When she pushed open the door to her dorm to pack her things, she froze in place when she saw a woman sitting on Sydney's bed. She was sobbing hysterically into her hands, and for a moment, the red hair made her think it was Sydney there. Sydney is dead, she reminded herself. Aurelia cleared her throat and the woman glanced up at her, and she looked exactly like Syd. Except it was her mother.

"Sorry," she sniffled, drying the tears on her face. Cardboard boxes were on the floor as if she'd given up halfway through packing. Every time she walked through this hallway, she came face to face with the memorial the other students had put together for Sydney. The thought was nice, but she didn't want to think about it. She couldn't think about it.

She'd been exempt from classes this week due to the traumatic incident, and the school's therapist had already reached out to her asking for a session next week. Apparently they wanted to give her someone to confide in, and while Aurelia was not interested, the woman seemed to be persistent. So, she'd accepted an appointment. It would be easy to go there and pretend like she was fine for an hour just so they'd leave her alone.

"Mrs. Rinaldo," Lia greeted, stepping into the room. "I didn't know you were coming today. I would have offered to help you pack."

"That's alright," she croaked. "I think this is something I ought to do alone," she said with a raspy voice. "I'm going to have to get used to that, I suppose. Being alone." A sob slipped past her lips, and while Aurelia wasn't great at physical comfort, she sat down on the bed beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder tentatively.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Not just sorry for the loss, but sorry because she couldn't save Sydney. An apology didn't feel sufficient enough.

"You did everything you could for her," she reminded her, reaching up to cup her cheek. "There was nothing else you could have done. She is lucky to have a friend like you," she whispered, pain flickering across her face for a moment. "Was," she corrected. "She was lucky to have a friend like you." The past tense made it real. Like she couldn't grapple with the fact that her friend was really gone. She'd left without a note, no explanation. Nothing. Now they were left to try and put together the jumbled pieces to get some kind of explanation. Sydney had been acting weird for weeks. Weeks. Something had happened that night at the party, something that was so horrible it led to this.

Aurelia suspected that Ezra had something to do with it. But that was another problem entirely.

She would deal with him later, when the time came.

Sydney's funeral would be held on Monday morning, and Aurelia would be expected back by then, since her mother and father had asked her to give a small speech about the girl that Sydney was. Aurelia was good at keeping her composure, so it would be easy for her to stand up there and keep a strong face for everyone. It was the least she could do for the Rinaldo's.

"If you need anything, please let me know," Aurelia reminded her mother. She doubted she'd take the girl up on her offer, but it was the least she could do. She couldn't imagine the pain that they were going through right now. Aurelia hoped she'd never have to understand it herself.