The Fire

Chapter Twenty-One

Present

It was weird.

The house was so silent without James. It wasn't necessarily him that made all the noise, but his absence made my mum somehow unable to speak. It was like a tumbling row of dominoes; when one fell, the rest went with it. It was as if my mum had no life left in her. As if something had sucked her soul from her body and left nothing behind. Like death. Death has no mercy, it takes everything. It has the power to take everything away from you without warning. Death steals from all of us, young or old, good or evil, and there is nothing to stop it. No one has ever escaped it, and we all have to face it someday. But for some, it takes us too soon, like Leah.

Like Josh.

Who knows who could be next?

I hadn't been to university for so long that they emailed me every day with suggestions about alternative teaching to help me prepare for my exams. I'm pretty sure home-schooling was one of their clever decisions. Yeah, I'm sure my mum would love to teach me about advanced logarithms while her son was in prison.

We weren't allowed to visit him yet. He was too busy being questioned every day about his involvement in the murders. The police had spoken to us too, but I presumed they were a lot nicer towards us than they were to him. They just wanted to know what kind of a person he was and what he used to do with his spare time. Honestly, he wasn't the creepy murderer kind of guy that you would expect to be killing teenagers. Most people who turn out to be murderers have that shifty vibe around them, but James just isn't like that. He's kind, funny, bubbly, popular, and so friendly. Of course, we fell out every now and again, but all siblings did, didn't they? I just couldn't bring myself to accept the idea that my own brother was in prison right now. What was he doing? What would you do all day in a cell with nothing but three walls and some metal bars to keep you company? You wouldn't have a phone, no books, not even a pen and paper. You're just left with your own mind, and I think that's the scariest part.

Now, as I sat watching the news, I waited for the headlines. The headlines that my brother, no doubt, would be at the forefront of. The familiar jingle played, and the screen transitioned to a stern-looking man perched on the end of his desk, pretending to look at the sheets of clearly unmarked paper in his hand.

"Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC news. Our headlines today..."

Here we go.

"University student James Lepton has been arrested on suspicion of the murders of Leah Cartwright and Josh Stevenson. The police have said that they have "sufficient" evidence to arrest James and have confirmed that he will be seen in court in a few months."

Was that all? I at least thought that there would be something new, but it was all just the same thing over and over again.

I wondered when it would all end. When things would be normal again. When I could go back to University and focus on my exams. When I could spend some time with my friends. When I could spend some time with my family. It felt so long ago when I last did something fun with my family and all I wanted was to have that back. You don't realise how much you appreciate something until you lose it. And, in that moment, I felt as if I'd lost it forever.