a deadly storm, an unsolved disappearance, and a small town brimming with secrecy;
an outcast girl, a boy who only knows how to hide, and the world against them;
what could go wrong?
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The days immediately following this revelation are devastatingly difficult. Boo becomes robotic in nature, moving through her daily patterns with the emotional attentiveness of a teaspoon. But just as she thought she and Harry had stumbled across a big enough landmine of truth, just two days after her meeting with Hazel, Boo receives the shock of her life.
While standing in the kitchen, making her lunch and absently listening to the TV in the background, she is startled by a loud voice crying out, "We interrupt your regularly-scheduled programming to bring you a breaking report."
The knife in her hand clatters loudly onto the cutting board as she abandons her food and darts into the living room. She barely gets a glimpse of red BREAKING NEWS screen before it cuts to a shot of Garret Fordham waiting patiently to report. Boo fumbles with the volume on the remote as Garret begins speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the interruption but the Jack Creek County Police Department has just released a statement confirming the death of sixty-two year old Hazel Commons, better known as the younger sister of missing Jack Creek resident, Damien Burkwell."
Shards of ice shoot through her veins. The remote falls from her grasp and lands on the carpet with a gentle thud. Boo can barely hear anything above the harried pulsing of adrenaline-flushed blood in her ears.
"We now go live to a press conference held at the steps of the county courthouse, where Lena Whyte is standing by."
The feed changes to a shot of Lena Whyte waiting at the back of a small crowd of reporters, her fingers pressed to one ear while the other holds a wired mic. A beat passes before she nods her head.
"Thanks, Garret, Lena Whyte here reporting from the steps of the county courthouse located in downtown Jack Creek. We're just waiting for Captain Nathaniel Waters to arrive and address this unprecedented occurrence."
Lena keeps speaking; Boo faintly hears her words swim through the haze in her mind as she frantically feels around her pockets for her phone. She dials Harry, who picks up before the first ring can even finish.
"Harry," she breathes.
"I saw," he says immediately, his voice full of regret.
"She's dead," Boo warbles, her voice breaking.
"I know."
Boo can hear his television playing in the background, running mere milliseconds behind hers. They remain silent as the doors to the courthouse open and Nathaniel appears on the screen, speaking indistinctly to the officers around him before he approaches the empty podium at the top of the concrete steps. The crowd of reporters falls obediently silent as he holds out his hands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great sorrow that I have to confirm the death of Ms. Hazel Commons. Ms. Commons died in the early hours of this morning from an apparent heart attack. Officers responded to an anonymous call from a concerned neighbor just after seven this morning after the neighbor failed to see Ms. Commons collect her mail."
