THE STARKS ALLEY

25

A solemn tune was played by the pianist swiftly and passionately but they all wished it was for a different occasion.

No one expected this to be the outcome of their actions.

The Church was flooded with people who cared about Kristie as well as the scavenging paparazzi outside waiting to question these beloved ones.

The funeral was even sadder because they had no body to bury or even identify.

The choir sang slowly as the as everyone thought of the role Kristie played in their lives.

Kent personally thought of the way they had lost a young and talented writer with so much potential and he also worried about his son. He was afraid Kelly would take this opportunity to go back to his initial self before Kristie. He even wished that he never agreed to employ her if she would come to die this early.

Kristie was the victim of everything that had happened and Ty knew this vividly. He had observed what she had been going through and he felt guilty because of silently tolerating it. He blamed himself greatly for her death because had he spoken up earlier, maybe it would have altered the outcome and she would still be alive. He looked at Kelsie who was also in deep thought.

Kelsie definitely knew that Kristie was too good for her because she put her through hell from the minute she got that job at The Starks Alley. She was grateful that Kristie had been her friend but it was too late to let her know that.

Izzy was the one who had been heartbroken twice by this girl, Kristie. He fell in love with her in high school and when she left, he traveled across the world just to be with her. He tried moving on. He tried to be happy with Monic and for two years, he had been living a lie and doing what he thought was best for everyone.

Dale knew he had most of the blame concerning Kristie's death, even now that he was seated with Paige. He believed what's done is done and he only showed up to the funeral so that no one would suspect him for Kristie's murder.

Kelly didn't expect her death to have an affect on him so he could not believe the sadness that dawned on him during that period. He felt that he lost someone who he could rely on and someone who he could call his true friend. Kristie was there for him. She even accepted to fake date him for without prior approval and he knew that he was lucky to have her even if he didn't love her like that.

The ceremony was over and they walked to the cemetery which was right next to the church. Kristie's dad would have preferred her to be buried in Kenya but the absence of her body made him to refrain from making that decision. Otherwise his beliefs would not have allowed him.

"Herbert," Someone called Kristie's dad.

"Leila?" Yes. It was Kristie's mom. When he saw her, he didn't think about the grudge he held against her over the years. He ran over to her and hugged her like she was the only one he could hold on to. There was a lot of unsaid words between them, but they didn't need to talk about anything. At least, not during the burial of their dead daughter.

The casket was light so it was only carried by two people. Six months of Kristie's disappearances led everyone to believe that she was dead and therefore she deserved a respectable send off with or without her body. Surely if she were alive, she would have probably seen the news and come home. The blood in the apartment was also confirmed to be hers after a DNA test was conducted with the help of her dad and they matched. The long absence could only mean one thing and that's why we're here.

"She didn't deserve to die like this," Kelsie said, wiping her puffy red eyes and falling into Kelly's arms.

"No one gets what they deserve," Kelly said.

"We definitely didn't deserve her," Ty pointed out.

Izzy was in silence and the look in his eye was dangerous.

"I'm going to find who did this," he vowed to himself and swore it on Kristie's grave.

They all watched as the casket was lowered and each of them threw in a lump of soil before it was completely buried and only the tombstone was above.

Each day after that, Kristie was slowly forgotten by everyone and life moved on. That's the sad bit about life, it MUST go on. It must continue and nothing can prevent that from happening.

RIP KRISTIE