When they got home, no one knew exactly what to do. It was as if the family was in a trance. Daisy slipped away upstairs to her room. Mr. and Mrs. Blackburn collapsed on the couch. Shayna had been expecting them to be crying- which is how she had spent the ride home- but they shed no tears. Their faces were blank and empty, their eyes unfocused and foggy.
Shayna's face felt cold where her tears were drying and her whole body felt stiff. Her hands were clammy and trembling, and when she sank into a chair, her body wouldn't stop shaking. Her whole body felt stiff and heavy. Her breaths were short and quick, like she had run a marathon.
She felt like she should say something. There were so many questions, so many things she wanted to know, but somehow, she couldn't speak. Her throat was clenched up and mouth too dry to utter a word. Her parents must have felt the same way, because no one spoke. The room was silent except for the occasional sound of Daisy upstairs.
Shayna blinked, snapping out of her daze, and was shocked. Night had fallen and it was pitch black outside, and in the room. No one had bothered to turn on the lights. She wasn't even sure if her parents noticed.
When she stood up, she was incredibly stiff. After stretching and yawning, Shayna made her way to the kitchen. Despite her body feeling numb, her stomach was growling.
From the kitchen, near the bottom of the stairs, Shayna could hear Daisy upstairs. There was the faint sound of music playing, and the muffled noise of voices. All the while Shayna was making a sandwich, she heard laughter and talking from Daisy's room.
Her sandwich on one hand and a glass of water in the other, Shayna made her way up the stairs. She passed Daisy's room and paused to listen.
"Yeah, it's cool. Everyone's downstairs. Like they're zombies or something," Daisy was saying. There was silence for a moment, then laughter. She was on the phone. "Well now that their favorite daughter is gone, I dunno what they'll do. But I do know that I'm going to get a lot out of it." More silence. More laughter. As Daisy continued to speak, Shayna noticed there was no feeling in her sister's voice. It seemed hollow and emotionless. Maybe Daisy was feeling the loss of Kerry, too, in her own way.
Shayna was shaking again. She rushed to her room and placed her food on her desk.
She wasn't hungry anymore.
YOU ARE READING
A Ship Without Sails
Mystery / Thriller[ COMPLETED ] "You know how there's a bunch of nice, brand-new, fancy McMansions on a street, and then there's that one old, dull, small house that's totally out of place? The one everyone's just waiting to be torn down? I'm that house." Shayna Blac...
