Am I Pretty? #TNTHorrorContest

Hell is Real

Time stops and I'm numb. I can't feel anything and I'm confused. My sister...is dead? I slide to the floor in shock and horror as I process what he just said. Tears flow down my cheeks before I hit the ground. Yana...all the years flashed before my eyes. Growing up together and playing outside to boy talk and getting ready for prom as teens. I cover my face and sob ugly, loud, heart wrenching sobs. All I can see is her face from years ago, days ago, up to last night. I can't even fathom a world without Yana. How do I...? What do I do? I snap out of it at the sound of my brothers footsteps. He walks up to the detective Daichi.

"Are you sure it was even her? This hotel is crawling with tourists and-!" Daichi cuts him off and looks at him.

"It was her, she had a photo ID and passport in her purse." He casts his eyes down again. "I'm so sorry." He has a pained look in his eyes that makes it hurt even more, a look that tells me that this isn't some twisted dream or lie. It's real. Cameron looks down and runs his hands through his hair. A flash of sadness then anger settling on his face. He looks at Daichi fiercely.

"Do you know who did this to my sister?" His voice is quiet and his eyes narrow in anger as he slowly speaks. Daichi casts his eyes down in shame. He shifts his weight onto his other foot.

"We currently are unaware of who did this to her. But we have people working on it right now, from ordinary officers to detectives." My brother turns around and runs his hands through his hair. He lets out an angered cry and punches the wall, his hand starts to bleed but he ignores it. He walks to the desk chair and sits down, elbows on his knees, putting his head in his hands. He runs them over his face and he says to himself.

"I had only one job. One!" He removes his hands from his face and I see the angry tears of frustration and sadness leaking from the corners of his eyes. He's broken down, sobbing just like me. I've rarely ever seen my brother cry, even when the engagement went to hell, the sight makes this all so raw. The both of us broken down messes, not knowing where we go from here.

"We'll give you both some time, there'll be two officers guarding your door from press and when you're ready they'll escort you both to the station for questioning and to...confirm the body." He says with his eyes cast down, and with that he steps into the hall and shuts the door, leaving us in pained silence. It's quiet as if time has stopped and we've fallen into an alternate dimension that we never thought possible. I look at Cameron and he's tense in the chair, staring off into space.

All I can think of is Yana, our fights, our years of fun and drama, everything we've done together. Her. I'm in eternal shock and I don't know what to do. We sit there for what feels like hours before it hits me. I take a breath and pull it together. My emotions and my ass off the ground. If the tables were turned and it was me who died and Yana was here, she would fight. She would pull her shit together and do whatever it took to figure out what happened. She'd get justice for not only me but for our family, that's just how she is- was.

I turn to Cameron.

"Get dressed and ready, we're leaving." He looks up as if he didn't hear me but I know he did.

"Liya, I think you should take some time and breath. Process what- what happened. We need to figure this out and decide how we're going to tell mom and dad." Before he could continue I interject.

"We've sat here and processed long enough! What we need to do is talk to the police and get every detail so that we can figure who did this. I have no time for grieving until it gets done." He stares at me contemplating and then he gets up and goes to the bathroom on his side of the connector door. He knows I'm trying to cope just as much as he is.