Curiosity Kills (completed)

Chapter 29

A week later, the five of us, Raleigh, Caprice, Bierce, Mac and I, sit on the hill that overlooks the graveyard. There are one hundred and seventy-six new plots.

Our parents are down there at the mass funeral, with a thousand strangers, including news crews. According the president, the entire nation is mourning the loss of this town to scientific discovery. He didn't say he'd rather have the townspeople alive, instead of the knowledge that intelligent life exists on other planets, though.

"Should we go down there?" I ask.

"No," Caprice answers.

"We don't need to be down there crying with a bunch of strangers that could care less about everyone who died. We all know they're only there so they can say they were the in the town where the aliens were," Raleigh says.

"Don't judge them all," Mac says. "Some people may actually be upset that a whole town was massacred. No, they don't know the people who died, but they do know that they were people. For some people that's enough."

There's a pause while we let that sink in. My brother is probably right, though I do find myself leaning more towards Raleigh's viewpoint, especially since the ASD wasted no time setting up a temporary base in our house. Even if my parents gave them permission and we were planning on staying with the Sanders anyway, they still shouldn't turn our home into a base. Oh well, it's not like we'll use it again.

"I'm going miss this place," Bierce comments. "Not the way it was after the aliens crashed, but the way it was before."

"Yeah, it was a quaint little town. Nothing much happened, and I liked it that way," Raleigh agrees.

"Maybe so, but the past is the past. There is something I have to do before we leave, though," Caprice says, standing up.

She picks up the coffee can she had been sitting next to.

"What would that be?" Mac asks.

She looks at us, sees we're all curious, then looks back at the can.

"The school tradition was for seniors, at their graduation, to bury a time capsule, and then come back for it in twenty years, dig it up, and see what you wrote. Well, no one's going to have that chance now, so I made one for the entire school. I'm going to bury it." Caprice explains. She gets down on her hands and knees and starts digging with her hands.

"I'll help," Mac offers.

"Me too," Bierce says.

"Count me in," Raleigh says.

"Okay," I say.

We all join Caprice on the ground and start digging.

A song starts playing loudly from the funeral, I'll be Missing You by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans. It's such an iconic song, and not one I'd expect to hear at a funeral. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe I'm just so not used to listening to music that any kind of music they play will sound weird.

The capsule is buried by the time the song is over, and we resume our positions sitting on the hill.

"Where are you guys off to after the funeral?" Mac asks.

"Hot and sultry Florida," Raleigh answers, smiling. "Because Dad wants us as far away from here as possible, and being a Valley Ridge survivor apparently has a lot of perks."

"Perks?" I repeat.

"Dad got a house in Miami for so cheap, they practically gave it to us," Bierce elaborates.

"Wow, well I guess not being dead isn't the only perk," Mac replies with a small laugh.

"Where are you guys off to?" Caprice asks.

"New York City," I answer.

"They want a place as opposite to Valley Ridge as possible," Mac answers. "And, I welcome the change."

"Me too, any kind of small town would just bring everything back," Raleigh agrees.

I guess they are right. Though, I don't think people can be reminded of something they'll never forget.

"They're having the moment of silence," Caprice announces.

In respect of our fallen neighbors, we fall silent as well. The moment of silence finishes, and the crowd seems to push in on our parents. They eventually mesh into what seems like a really long line. Everyone wants to shake hands with and express their condolences to the Valley Ridge survivors.

"We should probably head down there to help thin the crowd," Mac suggests.

"Yeah," Caprice agrees.

"I'm going to miss this hill," Raleigh says sincerely.

"I'm going to miss you two," Bierce says to Mac and me.

He gives each of us a hug, we hug him back, and he runs to catch up with his sisters, who are near the edge.

Everyone starts walking down the hill, but I stand there. I look at the graveyard that has been filled over the years with our grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents. I see the lake, reflecting the purple and pink hues of the sky. I see the rows of houses, each unique, but fitting together to create the landscape I'm so accustomed to. This is my home.

"Guys," I call out. They all turn around to look at me. "Are you really okay with letting our home turn into a ghost town?"

Mac half-smiles. "Cor, it already is a ghost town."