Don't Let Him Get You

Epilogue

Matt stood beside his mother as they slowly lowered the coffin into the ground. A lot of people showed up to Kiara's funeral, but the most important people to her stood around her grave throwing the first handfuls of dirt over the oak.

Although Matt cried, anger seated itself deeply in his stomach. He wanted to remember their last conversation together, but all he could remember was her last call to him. He didn't tell anyone that Kiara had actually called him. She had just started to say those three words they always shared, but all he could remember was the scream of agony that followed before the call was cut off.

A hand squeezed his shoulder. He looked up to see Ronan starring down at him with tired eyes. Ronan was the only one in the family who actually saw the damage done to Kiara's body. He couldn't sleep and was working tirelessly to find Thomas.

Ronan waited for them to be alone before he pulled something from his pocket. "I managed to get this out of evidence and thought that you should have it. She... she would have wanted you to keep it." He dropped it into Matt's palm before walking away.

Looking down, Matt saw the bracelet he gifted Kiara pooled in the palm of his hand. He couldn't hold himself up any longer and collapsed in front of her grave. He ignored the wetness that seeped into his pants from the snow. He didn't care about the people watching him as he broke down. All he wanted was to have Kiara beside him. She'd tell him to stop crying and remember the happy times. She would smile her dimpled smile before collapsing in a fit of laughter. Matt looked at the bracelet again before tucking it into his breast pocket.

With tears clouding his eyes, Matt stumbled to the cars that were waiting for him. He was ready to celebrate Kiara's life, mourn her death, and continue to love her as the years passed.

The cars pulled away from the cemetery just as a new blanket of snow fell from the sky. The sun was getting ready to set on this tragic day. Kiara's gravestone cast a shadow across the pristine snow. The crunch of fresh snow echoed through the quiet cemetery and stopped in front of the grave stone. The figure only stood there for a moment, before walking away, leaving behind an old, tattered teddy bear.