Faryah

23.

--------------Los Angeles, California

------------------------ Next day.

Sophia

I crawled myself to the edge of the wall in the shower for about two hours, thinking about how I could've saved Neill. The warm water lingered round my fair bare skin making me feel at least a little bit better. Yesterday was a heart-breaking day for the whole family. The pain we felt couldn't be measured or compared to anything.

We lost a brother, a son and a lover. Neill Olyster was gone for good. He was never going to smile gracefully at us again, he was never going to take beautiful photos again. He was never going to scold and protect me again. It hurt a lot. I never ever thought I was going to go through anything like this anytime soon but here I was.

I walked out of the bathroom and tied a pink towel around my chest and another one on my hair. I looked at my slim figure in the mirror and images of Neill came flashing back into my memory. I would've gone to help him collect the gun from her. He wouldn't have been dead now. But he was gone, we couldn't do anything about it. All we had to do was to just pray for the best for him. I moisturized my body as I remembered all the time Neill spent with me when I was little. He was the one that thought me how to ride a bicycle. He taught me how to colour properly and how to draw. My childhood was fun with both him and Khalid. But he was gone now, we couldn't make any more memories.  I got dressed in my white long sleeved flay button up shirt and grey jeans with my white Nike sneakers. Dad wanted us to wear white instead of black. I supported him. We were burying Neill a few hours from now.

I packed my hair into a ponytail and sprayed my perfume. I took my phone from my bedside table as I scrolled through a lot of " Sorry for your loss" texts. There were also some posts about Neill on the internet, Instagram and twitter to be precise. I didn't have time for that. I put my phone in my pocket as I walked out of my room and walked towards Neill's room and I found the door a little bit open. I didn't want to cry more. I wasn't fully ready for another headache. I slowly pushed the door open and found Dad and Khalid inside looking at a photo of Neill. I walked in and looked around his room. The photos he took were all hanged up. " He was very handsome" I heard dad say as he looked at his photo. Neill was his only son with late Mrs Olyster. I always forget her name. I sat beside him on Neill's bed as Khalid consoled him. " He looked just like his mother" Dad cried more. " He's in a better place now Dad" I consoled too. He was more hurt than all of us. " All will be alright" Khalid added as the tears dropped from our eyes as I looked at the photo dad was holding. Neill was so handsome, with his brown hair, thick brows and small eyes. He left so soon.

" We have to be strong for him" Khalid said as he patted Dad's back. " Yeah we have to" He answered. The door creaked open and Mother walked in. " I'll tell the maids to come clean the room later on, Anna will be back soon" she used a hankie to clean her eyes as she said those words. " No, don't, don't clear it, just leave it the way it is" Brandon said as he held onto Neill's photo. " Okay then, lets go, we can't be late for his burial" Mother said as she looked at his photo again with Sandra. " She's broken" She added as she looked more at the photo. I felt for her.

We gently took our time as we walked down the stairs, because of Khalid and his crutches, he couldn't walk properly. I sighted Sandra's braids on the couch on I went to give her a hug from the back. " Sandy cheeks" I whispered into her ear as I adjusted the way I sat. She was looking at the same photo of her and Neill we saw earlier. " Be strong okay" I consoled, patting her hair. She nodded as she cleaned her eyes. " I just can't believe that he's gone Soph, I miss him so much already" She was crying again. " It's okay, you'll be fine, we all have to be" I answered. " Sure, Soph you were the last person with him right?" she asked and I nodded as I sat beside her. " Did he say any last words?" I couldn't tell her about Faryah. It was going to be heart-breaking, I didn't know what she had in mind but No. I wasn't telling her. " No, he didn't say anything" I answered and she smiled. " Let's go"