My Forever Photo

Chapter 1: A-Amelia?

Cassell's POV:

"Are you sure? You don't have to pay me Amelia, I'm your sister. I do this out of love." I said as Isabelle frolicked around the house. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cassell and I am a graduate from Clovis West High School and am currently packing for college. My twenty-year-old sister Amelia, her husband Carter and their four-year-old daughter Isabelle are my neighbors and we are basically one huge family. Amelia and I were both adopted at the ages of 12 and 14, me being the youngest of the two. Our foster parents died two years later and we ran for it, enrolling ourselves in Clovis West High School and taking multiple classes at once. My sister was there to help me every step of the way and ever since day one.
"Isabelle, calm down!" Amelia giggled, patting her on the head. "And yes, I'm going to pay you whether you like it or not. I'm here to support you Cassi. I want to."
"Well, I know you too well to fight that. Thanks Amy." I smiled.
"We should be back by 5:00." She turned to Belle.
"Belle, I want you to be a good girl for Auntie Cassi ok?" She said, looking her in the eyes.
"She'll be fine," I laughed. Carter smiled as they left out the door.
"Hi Auntie Cassi!" Isabelle exclaimed as she opened her arms out for a hug. I picked her up and spun around with her in my arms.
"Hi Belle! What do you want to do?" I asked, setting her down on the floor.
"Let's go to the park!" She grabbed her coat and bounded towards the door. I checked my watch and was surprised to see that it was only noon.
"I'll pack a quick lunch." I skipped to the kitchen, trying to keep things as exciting as possible for Isabelle. It seemed to be working though because she showed no signs of boredom. I quickly made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and added barbecue chips, two bottles of water and a blanket so we could have a mid-day picnic. I strode out the door and locked it behind me and Isabelle tried to clamber into her car seat.
"Need some help love?" I asked, righting her in her car seat.
"There we go." Kissing her on the cheek, I shut her car door and hopped into the driver's seat.
"Auntie Cassi? Can we listen to music?" Belle asked as I was pulling out.
"Sure sweetheart." I straightened out and we drove off to the park as I twiddled the dial to find a good song.
I found Story Of My Life by One Direction and Isabelle yelled, "Stop!"
I placed my other hand on the wheel and Isabelle sang, "The story of my life, I take her home. I drive all night to keep her warm and time is frozen. The story of my life, I give her hope. I spend her love until she's broke inside. The story of my life." We arrived at the park as soon as the song ended and Isabelle unbuckled herself from her car seat. I shut the car off and hopped out of the car. Opening her door, I pulled her out of her seat and also grabbed the basket and the blanket for our mid-day picnic. I set the little blanket down on the grass and Isabelle skipped away to the playground as I set up our small lunch. Another little girl darted past me and ran straight toward where Isabelle was standing and from what I could tell, introduced herself to her. Her mother sat down next to me and laughed.
"Ah, my dear Carla has always been an outspoken one." She said. "I'm Elise by the way." Her long red hair was pulled up into an elegant knot and she was wearing a blue dress.
"I'm Cassell, nice to meet you." I smiled.
"You as well!" I shook her hand.
"She and Isabelle look like their having fun. She's the black-haired one." I said, pointing to her. Just as I did, Isabelle laughed. Her laughter rang through the air as pure as a sweet and innocent girl's laugh should be.
"She's adorable! How old is she?" Elise exclaimed.
"She's four. Sadly, she isn't mine. I'm watching her for my sister."
"That still doesn't change the fact that she's adorable!"
"Isabelle!" I called. She looked at me and said something to Carla as she ran to me.
"Hi Auntie!" She said, trying to catch her breath.
"Hi baby!" I patted a spot on the blanket in front of me. "Come sit." I handed her a sandwich and we ate as Elise watched Carla run around. After a while, Elise called Carla over to eat as well.

Amelia's POV:
"Where's our first stop honey?" Carter asked as I pulled onto Vine St. passing a large club called Louis' Lounge.
"Let's go to the bank first so I don't forget to pay Cassell." I answered, pulling into the parking lot of the bank. We walked in together, holding each other's hands.
"Oh crap. Sweetheart, I need to get some of my business funds out from the account. Shit I'm sorry, I forgot. I'll meet up with you in little bit." He pressed a kiss to my lips and whisked away to another line. Six men walked in and I had a suspicious feeling about them and apparently, so did Carter.
"Alright, listen up!" One of the men yelled. He reached to his side and Carter knew what he was going to do.
"Amelia!" He yelled. I was forced to the ground by two of the men and I heard a crack that was emitted from my back pocket of my jeans. That would be my phone. I felt it vibrate as if it was calling someone, hoping that they could help.

Cassell's POV:
My phone rang and I was surprised to see it was Amelia.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Amelia!" I heard Carter yell.
"Amelia! Amelia, are you ok?" Boom. I heard a gunshot.

Amelia's POV:
Carter fell dead to the floor.
"NO!" I screamed but there was nothing I could do.
"QUIET!" The man yelled. "José, Alejandro, you know what to do." he nodded.
"Now as I was saying, I wi-"
"CARTER!" I interrupted. He pointed his gun at me and I screamed, knowing that this was the end. Boom. A second later, Amelia was lying dead on the floor.

Cassell's POV:
"A-Amelia?" I choked out. There was no answer. I hung up, knowing that she was dead.
"Cassell dear?" Elise asked.
"My sister's dead." I paused. "MY SISTER'S DEAD!" I screamed, burying my face in my hands and crying hysterically.
"Auntie?" I heard a small voice ask. I looked up from my hands, seeing a small tear-stained face. "Auntie, wh-what happened?" Belle asked, sniffing. I didn't know how to tell her. I couldn't! It wasn't fair... But I had to. I couldn't leave her in the dark. That would be cruel. I'll try and explain it to her, using words of hope.
"Amelia and Carter are in heaven, watching over us and making sure we're safe. They love you and they wouldn't want you to worry."
"They won't be coming back, will they?" I grabbed her hands and looked into her watery green eyes.
"No." She looked at me and burst into loud sobs. I held her close to me.
"You two should get going home." Elise suggested.
"Yes I believe we should. Thank you." I tried to smile as tears rolled down my face.
"We'll help you pick up," she said, standing up and brushing grass off her dress. She grabbed the basket and set it beside my car as I cradled Izzy in my arms as I stood up.
"Here." Elise said, handing me a piece of paper. "If you ever should need us, give us a call." She smiled and folded up our blanket as I unlocked the car and buckled Belle into her car seat, still sobbing loudly. I loaded everything into the back of my car and shut the hatch.
"Thank you so much. Sorry this wasn't a very good first impression." I mumbled, looking towards the ground.
"Hey hey hey," she lifted my chin. "Don't worry. You're young and I'd be exactly like this if my sister died too. Call me anytime if you need anything." she smiled.
"Thank you." I walked to the car. Isabelle was sobbing harder still.
"Shh... it's ok." I comforted. It was almost 5:00 and I was tired. We pulled into Amelia's driveway; everything feels so strange. I climbed out of the car along with Isabelle as we lied down in her queen-sized bed, crying until we fell asleep.