Withered.

5

I am sitting on the sofa, while the police officers are searching our entire house. Alec is in a corner of the room, talking to one of them.

I can't help but notice his red eyes, with dark circles under them. He has a messy hair and he is still wearing his dark blue pijamas.

Our little moment brought a little attention upon us and I feel quite uncomfortable for it. Not for the moment, but for the attention. So many pairs of eyes are watching me, and it makes me feel smaller with every sight I catch my way.

I am starting to get nervous because I know that when one of that men will come to interrogate me, I will have to tell him everything. Absolutely everything I know. And it gets harder and harder for me to remember what happened yesterday without having a breakdown. This is not the way I want to remember my father.

I am still trying to find distractions in order to keep my mind away from this. It doesn't really work till now. I keep fighting my tears to not come out and there is a lump in my throat from which I can't seem to get rid of.

My father's dead body is still in our garage. I can't even go near there. I can only manage to stare with the corner of my eye at the door that leads there. However, I can't look for more than a couple of seconds before the terrifying thoughts of what had happened hit me. The yellow bands all over the house aren't helping very much either.

It is all too much for me. Everything happened too fast and I am feeling like I am losing my sanity. I can't imagine what Alec felt like when he discovered the body.

Someone killed our father and then throw him in the back of our car, leaving him there to rot. I really can't think of anyone who would be that sociopath to do something like that. Neither can I think of a reason for this.

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised to find out that someone close did this. Lately, I discover that the people I love aren't what I thought they were, so I can't trust anyone anymore. Besides Alec, who is the only one I can trust at this moment, everyone is a suspect, not only for the cops but for me too. I feel the strange sensation that I need to protect myself. And for good reason.

Me and Alec are orphans now. And I can't really process this fact in a clear way. I can only think that our father is only gone for the day and he will be back by tommorrow. I am so used to never really see him at home, only ocassionally. Now, the thought of him never coming home again is bringing a shiver down my spine.

It is like those words people say sometimes when they are truly happy: It is too good to be true. Only that for me now it is more like It is too bad to be true.

Alec looks at me. I thought for a second that he is going to come towards me, but after taking a moment to look at me he gets angry and tells something to the investigator in a frustrated way. I wonder what the cop said that made him so angry. I can't hear what they are talking, bur with all that is going on, I would rather not know. I feel like I already know too many pieces of information I didn't want to know. It is like a burden.

Alec comes to me really enraged. I get up from the sofa when I see him coming. He is hesitating my gaze.

"You should go to school." he says to me, not looking me in the eyes.

"What?"I am clearly taken aback of what he is asking me to do. I stand up from the sofa. "With everything that is going on, you want me to go to school?"

"Yes! With everything that is going on, I want you to go to school! I'd rather know you there, then here! Please, just do what I ask you to and let me handle this! Don't make a scene here and just go. It is better this way, trust me. They will get you for an interogation later." he says angrily and clearly exhausted. I don't want to make this any harder for him.

"What are you going to do? I don't want to leave you alone!"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Just go please!" he says and then he goes without leaving me any chance to say anything else.

Don't worry about him? Is he mad? How could I possibly not worry about him! He is the only one I worry about. I can't believe that he is sending me to school, instead of staying with him.
Afterward, I understood his reasons and I somehow agreed with him, but still, a part of me would have expected him to ask me to stay.