Mass Murder

Chapter 2; Good Mourning In The Evening

"Hey...", Mandy spoke so softly the her voice was almost inaudible.

She was in one of my old shirts and a pair of sweatpants, sitting indian style on my bed beside me, my head in her lap.

I slowly sat up, rubbing my puffy, swollen eyes. I blinked a few times to help my eyes adjust to the dimness in my bedroom. It was almost completely dark, the lamp on the nightstand was the only source of light.

"When did we get here?", I asked as I began chewing on my fingernails, waiting on her response.

"Please stop doing that-", she said, gesturing to me chewing on my nails. "-when you get worked up you always bite them until they bleed."

"Old habits die hard, I guess.", I groaned, pulling my hand away from my face.

I stood up, walking over to the door, I placed my hand on the knob, and pulled it open.
Mandy cocked her head, as if she was confused and didn't quite understand what I was doing. I exited my room, made my way down the hall and into the kitchen.
My older sister, Leila, sat at the bar in the kitchen, clutching a cup of tea.
I could tell that she had been crying due to the fact that her makeup was smeared all down her face.

"Leila?", I could feel my voice tremble as I called her name out.

She looked up from her tea and quickly wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater, as if she was trying to hide the fact she was crying seconds prior.

"Brody...", her voice sounded hoarse .

"Tell me I'm wrong-", I begged. "Please."

She jumped up and ran to me, pulling me into a tight hug.
I instantly burst into tears, not able to control how loudly I was starting to get. She pulled away from me, looking into my eyes.

"Everything will be alright. Justin and I will see to it-", her voice was shaking. "-it's hard losing a parent, but we're here, okay? We will get through this."

I sniffled and tried to gather myself, taking in a deep breath. My breathing at this point was so ragged that I felt as if I was losing oxygen with each passing second.

"I don't want you to think I'm being insensitive. I just... I know how to cope.", she added.

"When and how did I get home?", I realized Mandy had never told me so figured why not ask.

Leila crossed her arms and looked up at the clock that hung on the wall, "Mmm, about 6 hours ago and Justin dropped you off-" she walked over and peered out the front door before making eye contact with me again. "- Will called and told him what all happened with dad and how you showed up and fainted."

I crossed my arms and looked at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact. All I could picture in my mind was the horrific scene of the car burning, dad on the stretcher be zipped and rolled away.
I could feel tears forming in my eyes and I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand.
Mandy came behind me, snaking her arm around my waist and leaning into my chest. I opened my arms and pulled her in as closely as I could, gently squeezing her.

The front door quickly opened and was shut. Justin angrily kicked off his boots and threw his black coat across the back of the couch.

"These people are vultures!", he hissed. His face was filled with anger and rage.

Leila cocked her head, "Meaning what?", she questioned, looking around at all of us.

"Reporters were outside of the station. Reporters are outside our house." Justin snapped.

"Reporters?" I asked.

He nodded before leaning back into the front door. "They're ruling it a homicide."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped to the floor. I could feel the water works coming once again.

"From what they could tell it was looking like the brake lines were cut. They also brought up arson. Saying that they found gasoline all over the car-" his face started to flush and he gave a long sigh. "-so when he went to stop, he crashed, causing fire, which led the whole thing to just burn up."

I bolted straight up to my room and threw myself onto my bed. I couldn't bear the thought of someone deliberately doing something so evil to someone so good. My father. My father was the kindest person you would have ever met. Going out of his way to help anyone who was in need. He would collect stuffed animals at the Sheriffs Office and hand them out to kids who were in domestic violence situations or car accidents. Him and a bunch of others from church would always fix Thanksgiving and Christmas  dinners for those who couldn't afford anything. I could go on all day about how kind he was. I just can't fathom what's happened.
I buried my face into my pillow and sobbed, my fists balled up in my sheets.

I heard footsteps enter my room. "Brody?", Mandy called out.

I rolled onto my side and patted the bed beside me, telling her to come lay. She walked over and carefully got on the bed beside me, nuzzling into my chest.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head.

"Can you stay with me tonight?" I asked.

She nodded. "Of course I can. Theres no where else I'd rather be."

Several minutes past,  the silence started to make me uncomfortable and rash.

"Did I ever tell you how my mom died?" I blurted.

She shook her head. She looked nervous almost. "No... I always figured you would tell me when you were ready."

I nodded and closed my eyes. "She had complications when she was pregnant with me-"
I could feel tears finding their way down my cheeks. "-they did an emergency c-section and she didn't make it."

I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling. Mandy buried her face into my chest and knotted her hands in my shirt.

"I love you Brody. " she said, barely above a whisper.

I took a deep breath. "I love you too."