Scream

Makai Keanu

Adelina's ceremony...what is there to say about it? Allister would've been good at speaking at this stuff, but...you know...she's dead. The ceremony is taking place in the Solaris High auditorium. There's a hodgepodge of pictures of Della from various ages. There are some of her playing on that old playground she used to have when she was eight. There are some in her not-so-awkward teen years. There are some that are fairly recent. I can pick out two or three pictures from each of these three periods of her life that have me in them. We were always together. We just didn't know it until the very end.

I straighten my suit and walk across the stage, shoes making thuds on the wood floor. I reach the podium and look at the crowd, the stage lights trained on me. I've never been afraid of crowds or public speaking. I'm still not. But now I'm speaking for Adelina and I'm afraid of messing up somehow. If I mess up, it's like disrespecting her. 

Clearing my throat and swallowing the pressure, I tap the mic. "Adelina Saylor was..." I look over, feeling nostalgic. It feels like she's right behind me going: What was I, kid?
"She was magnificent. There was a way she'd go about that made everyone stop and stare. She was strong, brave, and certainly bold." I find Reyna in the crowd who grins and approvingly nods. Next to her is Enzo. I still hate him...just slightly less. Reyna fell prey to drinking after Della's death and Enzo was the one who saved her. It's about time that guy did something productive and positive.

"I remember she always loved a good challenge. She'd debate with her closest friends..." there's a seat open next to Reyna as if Allister should've been sitting there. "...and we'd often lose because no one could carry the kind of heat that Della could. She changed all of us for the better, and without her, I don't know where we'd be. Certainly, she was one of a kind." I glance at the biggest picture – a group shot of Della, me, Reyna, Allister, and Hanzo – the originals; the OGs. "She always will be." I return my gaze to the crowd. They seem to be crying, or welling up with tears. I am, too. "Thank you, Adelina," I whisper, the microphone barely catching my words.

I stumble down the stage steps, feeling heavy and useless. We never got Adelina's killer and it drives me crazy. One of those people in the crowd right now could be the freak who dressed in black and slaughtered her. I shuffle past people and get the seat next to one of my remaining best friends. "You did good," Reyna praises. 

Enzo leans forwards. "Yeah, everyone really responded well to it. I didn't know you had it in you, kid."

Coolly, I nod at Enzo.

Reyna grabs my hand. "It's over, now," she assures.

I release her hand and snort. "Is it, Rey? People stopped dying. That's it. We never found who killed Della."

Reyna frowns and plays with her loose bangs. "It could be anyone. Tons of people wore those black cloaks that night, Kai." 

Sighing, I slouch down in my chair. "I know, but that doesn't make it less shitty." 

 On stage, Kellin Kodiak meets the microphone. "I didn't know Della very well, but one thing was for sure: she was radiant."

"Allister was the radiant one," I huff.

"Kai..." Reyna warns.

"I'm done with this," I cut off, abruptly standing and passing people in chairs, marching out the door.

 I shove the door open, where trees are planted within brick circles and vacant benches surround them. Behind me, the door opens and shuts again. "Makai!" Reyna calls. 

"Wow, you can move without Enzo at your hip! Incredible." "I know you're pissed and depressed, Makai. But that doesn't give you the right to be a jerk to me. You aren't the only one who lost people," she argues, grey eyes stormy. I sigh and plunk down on a bench, tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. "You didn't lose someone you were in love with. That's the difference." 

Reyna sits beside me and slithers an arm around me, resting her head against my shoulder. "And you know what? I'm not going to sit here and act like I know what you're going through, because I don't." I look at her. I almost forgot how straight-up she was. After Allister, Della, and her mom died, she hasn't been the same. But now I need the old Reyna. Finally, I think she's coming back. "And I hope I never will." 

"I appreciate that," I gratify. "My dad thinks he knows what I'm going through. He says he lost someone he loved, too." I pick up a leaf that fell from one of the trees and crushes it.
"What a jerk, right?" 

 Reyna doesn't respond. She bites her lip and looks off into the distance at the parking lot. "Rey?"

 "He might have been serious," she admits. 

 "You're joking." 

 "I think..." Reyna picks at the end of her braid. "I think he might have been in love with my mom." 

 Immediately, I open my mouth to disprove her. But I find myself speechless. My dad has always been shady and saying that I would never understand the sacrifices my mom has endured for "this family." But exactly what sacrifices was he talking about?

"My dad had an affair with your mom?" I inquire.

"They had a kid together," she slowly says.

I stand in shock. I have other siblings? Reyna stands, grimaces, and places a hand on my shoulder. "They named him Makai."

"So you're my half-sister?" I incredulously exclaim. 

"There's a bit more to it, too," she unsteadily admits. "Ever heard of the Hudson twins?"

 The Hudson twins. I was forced to do a project on them in a science class. One woman screwed two guys and had twins – one with Toy #1, and the other with Toy #2. Reyna is my half-twin sister. Okay. There's something I never thought I would learn. "So you...we...we're twins and we never even knew it."

Reyna shrugs. "I think we both felt as if we were related, but..." 

 "But this is a totally new level," I finish, finding the words that Rey couldn't. "So your mom...my mom, went to SH. It wasn't to check up on you...it was to check up on me," I conclude. "And she never did get to see her son one last time."

"Mom made her own choices," Reyna explains, choking back emotion. "She chose her own path."

"No," I disagree. "No one chooses the path of death by a bomb."

Reyna's shoulders slump and she looks away.

"Reyna, don't you see? We have to find the killer. They've taken away our best friends and our mother. Look, I know you just want this all to be over, but Rey..." 

 She looks up at me. My sister looks up at me. 

"It will never be over until we find this asshole."