Haunting Heaven

E P I L O G U E

*****E P I L O G U E*****
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Rose wandered up the staircase, slowly and shakily. Her dark dress hung loosely around her waist, the black heels clacked against the hardwood floors.

Her bloodshot eyes burned but carried dullness and such sadness.

"I'm so sorry." She kept muttering to herself, trying to block out memory of today's earlier wake.

Finally, she stopped at a specific door. Exhausted, Rose twisted the brass doorknob and pushed the door open, stepping quickly inside.

The room was dark and ghostly, way too quiet and almost foreign. The window shades, she noticed, were clamped shut.

Mother was in here. Rose thought to herself, sighing deeply.

Hesitantly, she shut the door closed and paced herself over to the dressers, where she found dozens of photographs, some she was in, and others held memories of those old happy moments. At least, before the accident.

Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing the darkness to consume her. She gripped the edge of the dresser and and dropped the old purse she had carried with her so carefully.

She thought back to the day her little cousin lost everything. Her life, her liveness, her smile, her laugh, the sparkle in her eye. Yet Heaven wasn't the only one who lost someone, for her own father was there, in that car, along with Heaven's parents. The day was like any other, cheerful, lovable, and full of happiness.

And then, there was the trip. Both Rose and Heaven were waiting patiently for their parents to come home, safely and happily. But a phone call changed their lives forever. Rose's mother had thrown the phone against the kitchen wall and broke down in hysterics.

A few days later they were muttering their last goodbyes, their last words, before the three amazing people were buried deep underground. Losing her father was hard for Rose, yet at least she had her mother.

But Heaven...

Heaven had lost everything that day. She had lost both parents. She had lost more than Rose herself.

A tear slid down Rose's cheek. She felt as if this was all her fault, but deep inside, she knew she wasn't the one who pushed her only cousin over the edge.

With great sadness, Rose pulled out the crumpled letter from her coat pocket. Tears stains filled the page, making it hard to read every word.

But Rose had memorized every word, every sentence.

If I'm dead, and you're reading this, there is only one cause for why I did what I did. His name is Brandon Ruiz. He's my bully, my tormentor, my rapist, and the father of my unborn child.

Letting the tears roll down her cheeks, Rose fell the the ground and sobbed loudly. Perhaps she still had her mother, but now her baby cousin, her blood, was dead, and it felt like everything had been ripped away from Rose.

And she understood why she felt terrible times a thousand, because she knew exactly who Heaven's killer was.

And he was going to pay.