Everyone's Asleep, Mind You

aftermath

She died that day.

Connie Starr Joseph died on December 15th, 2016.

Nobody took it lightly, not even Noah. He was the only person at her school that we told.
They found her a day later, bloodied and bruised. I couldn't take it, nor could anyone else.
She brought life to everyone, even to the few crew members that wouldn't even crack a smile.
They found internal bruising, a broken nose, a repeatedly sewn lip, and cuts on her wrists. I wish we'd looked into her weird behavior from the start, so that all this wouldn't have happened.
She left us a few songs that she had made. 'Nico and the Niners' and 'Neon Gravestones' were both on a flash drive she left along with a few other familiar songs.
We found her animations which featured dark imagery. She had gotten so bad and we did nothing to stop it. What idiots we were.
The day of the funeral was the hardest day of all of our lives. It was cloudy, cold, and alarmingly quiet. The Josephs, The Blacks, and The Duns were there to watch as she was lowered into the cold, hard ground.
It was heartbreaking to see someone who everyone loved, dead and lowered into the ground for years and years.There wasn't a reception. It didn't feel right for her.
Christmas and New Years felt quiet this year.
Whatever I created in the next year, it would be for her, for Connie. Every performance would be for her. Every word I said would be in light of her.
In a way, she was still here. But we all knew, she wasn't.

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