The Blue Book

12

September 24, 2023

Everything in the house seemed grey. All noises were faded. All smiles- erased completely. It seemed as though the smiling faces in picture frames were a mockery of reality. No one dared to go in the basement.

The basement where Emmi's room was. Where her bathroom was.

Where, in that bathroom, an open bottle of Tylenol lay. And next to that empty bottle, a few pills lay. Small puddles of tears still spread through the cracks in the tile. A few strands of the sixteen year old's long, dirty blonde hair lay loosely.

"We've gotta go, we've gotta go clean up down there." Colette's raspy voice, quieter than ever, still broke all silence throughout the house. "I can't stay here knowing it's all down there."

"I'll do it." Shay ran his fingers through his thick, tasseled hair. "Can you start, you know."

"Yeah." Colette sounded exhausted, but she knew what Shay meant . Funeral planning.

Brock and Daxton lay asleep on the couch, after being awake until nearly 4 am.

Avia sat silently at the kitchen counter. Her bowl of cereal sat untouched.

Gavin arrived home early that morning, trying desperately to figure out what had happened, and more importantly- why it happened.

"I'm gonna go help dad." Gavin squeezed his mom's hand before following Shay downstairs.

"Avia." Colette quietly said. "Talk to me, sweetheart."

Avia swirled her spoon in her bowl.

"Honey." Colette sat down next to her. "It's ok to cry, you know that?" Tears began to well up in Colette's eyes.

"It's my fault." Avia whispered through a cracked voice.

"It is not." Colette cried. "Do not say that!"

"If I had gone downstairs earlier, I could've stopped it!" Avia cried. "But I was too selfish and I didn't. And now-"

"Stop that right now! There was nothing you could have done, Av." Colette was beyond understandable through the cries. "It is not your fault. It is not anyone's fault."

Avia nodded. "I'm gonna go to sleep." She cried.

"Good, just... Just rest." Colette tried to smile, but she couldn't. "I love you so much, Avia."

"I love you too." Avia hugged her mom, tears falling onto her shoulder.

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Authors note:

It's literally been a year since I was on Wattpad. I randomly got the "writing bug" and felt like coming back. This was a draft I had written up before I deleted the app, so I decided I'd publish it. But unfortunately, I won't be finishing any of my Shaytards fanfics. I'm going to try and write original stories, and I recently started one. I'm glad to be back writing :)