The Donut Shop ✔️

'H' Stands for 'Hellfire'

They all raced each other to the bakery, and when they arrived, there were numerous ambulances, squad cars, and news vans.

Just as they got there, Ethan spotted Mrs. Heifenmeir's limp body being toted away with one of the ambulance's stretchers.

"Mrs. Heifenmeir!" he shouted, rushing over to her stretcher that was being lugged away on its squeaky wheels by two paramedics. As Mrs. Heifenmeir was placed inside the ambulance, the paramedics hooked her up on a heart monitor, and when they confirmed what they had already suspected, they turned to Karen, who was right there by their sides and shook their heads.

Karen collapsed on the floor right there, and the tears that had already been streaming down her face were now accompanied by loud sobs.

Her mascara ran down her face, giving her the impression of a raccoon, and her hair fell down from its usually high and tight bun. Her lipstick was still, miraculously, immaculate, the pristine red unmarred by the outside world.

Ethan felt as if a piece of his life had just been ripped away from him, like there was no more hope left in the world. Like they had just lost their grandmother. He felt empty, like his heart was just ripped out of his chest. How could this happen? How could he survive in a world without Mrs. Heifenmeir?

"Tweed..." Ethan whispered to his friend as he shook his head, refusing to look at Mrs. Heifenmeir having a white sheet placed over her head, or the fallen form of Karen sobbing her heart out, or even Mara, who was holding her hand against her chest in shock and horror. He, instead, was looking at the ground. Tweed, beside him, stared at her limp body without any emotions showing on his face.

Mrs. Heifenmeir was gone. The bakery was gone.

It felt like hours passed as they stared on in shock and disbelief. In front of them, Karen insisted that the paramedics carry her to the hospital anyway. Refusing her request, they rolled her out of the ambulance, and they called the coroner.

When the commotion died out, the news reporters got their stories, and the crowd of onlookers dwindled, Karen lifted her head and spotted the four kids, still frozen in shock. She stumbled when she tried to get up, but she found her footing on the pavement. 

"What are you kids doing here?" Karen finally asked them once she had gathered herself together and had ambled over to them. 

Ethan felt hollow, and he didn't hear her question as he made his way over to the entrance of the bakery, his hand extending to the boarded-up door. How had everything fallen apart in a matter of hours? 

His gaze dropped from the door, and his eyes narrowed as he spotted something peculiar. He knelt down beside the door of the bakery and picked up an almond, narrowing his eyes and glancing back up at Tweed, who had joined him. 

Karen was still talking to Oliver and Mara.

"Isn't Mrs. Heifenmeir allergic to almonds?" Ethan asked, his eyes still filled with tears. Tweed glanced around before kneeling with Ethan in front of the lone almond. 

"E... that's just an almond. Someone could have dropped some while they were passing by and eating trail mix or something," he muttered, his eyes transfixed to Ethan's bereaved posture. He was crouched over like Golem and held the almond as if it was a diamond. 

Ethan shook his head, refusing this explanation. "I think Red killed her."

Tweed glanced up with shock stricken into his features. "You can't be serious, Ethan. It was just an almond from someone's trail mix," he said, but Ethan refused to look at his friend. Mrs. Heifenmeir was fine yesterday. She couldn't have just... died, all of a sudden.