Be Mine - Completed

Chapter 10

"Ladies, please," Officer Waterman sighed, trying to gain control of the room again so that they could give them more information. "Ladies, if you could please just settle down."

"Jason, give them some time." Officer Williams stepped forward, putting his hand on the younger officer's shoulder. "We just informed them that someone very close to them has been murdered, they're not going to be completely composed after just a few minutes."

"I get that, but don't they understand that we have more to tell them? We need to do our jobs, and part of that is also asking them questions." Officer Waterman was becoming agitated, wanting to get on and do his job so they can catch the killer. "It's our job to catch whoever did this, and this isn't productive."

"Keep your voice down," The elder officer scolded and ushered him into a corner of the room where it was doubtful that they would be overheard. "You're right, our job is to catch the killer, but that's not our only job. I know that you probably joined the force for the heroics, the street chases and handcuffing criminals, and the siren, which is fine because that's how they sell it to you. There is a very, very important part of our job that they don't sell to you, though, because it's not fun, it's not glamorous, and it sure as hell ain't easy, kid. It's this part, the talking to families and friends, consoling grieving loved ones. It's being the person to deliver the worst news you can ever hear. It's our job to be sympathetic in that, to understand that people need time to process, and to give them that time, be patient."

Officer Waterman opened his mouth, looking like he was about to argue back, but with one sharp look from his superior, he clamped it shut. Aidan was right, as much as he does not like grieving and doesn't know how to console people, now was not the time to get pushy, it was the time to care and by sympathetic.

"Sisters," Kayle said quietly, retaking her place at the front of the room. She stood there patiently until she had the attention of the whole room, which only took a couple of moments. They were all looking to her for guidance, for strength, in this terrible time. "I know we're all devastated. Whether you knew Georgia well or not, we can all attest to the fact that this is a tragedy. She was taken from us too soon and unfairly. Georgia was one of the good ones. She was genuine in everything she did, and she cared about everyone around her. I know that we all have a lot of questions and a lot of concerns. That's why Officers Williams and Waterman are here. I know there's also a lot of emotions, and I want to tell each and every one of you that whatever emotion you feel right now, whether it's sadness, anger, or simply numbness, whatever you feel right now is completely, 100% valid. Now, please give these officers your attention one more time, and we'll have grief counselors on standby in some of the rooms around the house for you to talk to if you need it."

Sniffles and some muffled sobs could still be heard around the room, but for the most part, they kept their attention directed towards the front of the room as Kayle sat down in tears, and the two officers took her place.

"What are we going to do?" Penny whispered, waiting for them to begin.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, what are we going to do?! Our sorority sister just got murdered. I don't ever want to go outside again. I don't ever want to meet anybody new. Is this what it's going to be like for the rest of our senior year? The rest of our lives? Us, completely terrified to go out into the world? What if they don't catch whoever did this? What are we going to do? How are we going to get past this?" Penny's voice shook as the tears streamed down her face. She attempted to hold in her sobs, not wanting to make too much noise. Clutching her stomach, her hold body shook with every sob that wracked her body.

"Hey," Alice grabbed her hand on one side, Viv holding the other. "We're going to get through this the way we get through everything else. Together, and one step at a time. It's not going to be easy. It's probably going to be painful as shit, but we're going to do it." The conviction in her voice had the girls around them believing her. They didn't know what to do, but they knew they had each other, and that had to count for something.