Aleysa is still asleep in my bed when I wake up. Being careful not to wake her I peel the sheets back and climb out of bed. Walking across the hall I step into the bathroom and close the door.
Stripping out of my clothes I turn the tap on in the shower and adjust the temperature. I step under the showerhead and the water cascades down my body. Grabbing the shampoo off the shelf I wash my hair.
When I've finished washing my hair and body I step out of the shower. I wring my hair out and grab the towel, to dry myself off. I wrap the towel around my body and walk into my bedroom.
On the bed, Aleysa feels around and lifts her head when she doesn't see me. "Chloe," she yells.
"I'm here, Lys." I step into the light so she can see me. "I just had a quick shower. We're safe."
She lies back in bed. "We're not safe, Chloe. The police haven't found the people responsible for murdering Mom and Dad. The security added to this place isn't making me feel safe."
Moving over to the bed I take her hand in mine. "Which is why we're moving into a safe building and hopefully we can have a resemblance of a normal life."
"I hope so. When we get back from the wake can you help me back some of my stuff?"
"Of course." Standing up I move over to the chest of draws and pull my underwear out. Then I walk over to the closet and pull out a simple black dress and put it on the bed.
Aleysa climbs out of bed. "I'm going to get changed. Can you do my hair when I come back?"
"Sure," I put my clothes on and then start to apply some make-up.
There's a knock on my bedroom door before a male voice says. "Can I come in?"
Opening the door I see my brother. "Sure, what's going on, Nate?"
He looks around my room. "Is Aleysa in here?"
"No, she's getting ready. What's going on, Nate?"
"My friends will be here shortly. I'm going to get a ride with them and then spend the night at Josh's."
I'm glad he has a good group of people with him. He's going to need their help to get through this day.
Looking at him I say. "The moving truck will be here at seven. You better be here around the same time to help us pack the truck."
He hugs me. "I will. Thanks for letting me spend the night at my friend's."
Beep, beep.
A car horn beeps in front of the house. "The guys are here. I'll meet you at the funeral home." Nate walks out of my room and says "bye,' to Aleysa as he walks past her bedroom door.
A couple of minutes later, Aleysa walks back into my room with her hairbrush, "Did Nate leave with Josh and the boys?"
"Yes, he's also spending the night. Is there anyone you want to be with?"
Aleysa shakes her head. "I want to stay with you, Chloe." She sits on the chair in front of the mirror. She passes the brush to me and I start to brush her hair.
Plaiting her hair I look in the mirror and see her eyes looking at the jewellery I have on the table. She picks up an infinity necklace. "Do you want to wear that today?"
Looking at me through the mirror she says. "Yes, please. It's so pretty."
I finish plaiting her hair. "How does it look?"
A smile spreads across her face. "It's just the way Mom used to do it. Can you teach me how to it?"
"Sure, do you have any Barbie dolls still lying around?
"Yes, it's packed away in a box. You can teach me when we get to the new house." She looks at the watch on her wrist. "The car's about to pull in front of the house. We should get downstairs."
Aleysa and I walk out of my room and head downstairs. When we reach the living the car pulls in front of our house.
Grabbing my bag off the hook I put it over my shoulder and exit the house. I lock the door behind me and head to the limousine that's parked in front of the house.
The driver steps out of the car and opens the door for us. Aleysa climbs in first and she waits for me to follow.
The door to the room in the funeral home opens and Hallelujah is the entrance music as we walk through the door. I take a seat in the front row with Aleysa and my brother.
Nate's friends take a seat behind us and a few of their parents are sitting in a couple of rows behind us.
Once everyone's seated the funeral director steps up to the podium. He starts with a short poem. "No gift on earth is greater,
No treasure held above,
The joy that comes from knowing,
A parent's endless love.
In spite of how it's tested,
It grows from year to year,
Providing strength and comfort,
It always draws us near.
It warms and it protects us,
And guides us from afar,
Shedding light upon us,
Like a bright and shining star.
And when all things are measured,
Not one shall rise above,
or be compared in value,
to a parent's endless love."
Aleysa leans towards me and says. "That was a beautiful poem. Mom and Dad would be happy with that one." She looks over at the casket and tears begin to well up in her eyes.
The funeral director starts and introduction about our parents before he says, "Now, I'm going to open the floor for family and friends to speak."
Aleysa pulls her piece of paper out of her pocket and gives it to me. "Can you read this? I don't think I'll be able to do it."
Taking her letter I walk over to the podium and put the papers on it. I look around the room at everyone that's in here. My eyes land on Aleysa and then I clear my throat. "Thank you, everyone, for coming today to support my brother and sister during this hard time. First I'm going to start off with my sister's speech as she can't do it herself."
A tear falls down her face as she watches me. She grabs our brother's hand. She mouth's "go," to me.
"It was hard for me to put in words how much I love my parent's and miss them every day. I have a number of great memories of them and I'm going to tell you some of my favourite ones. When I was five Mom and Dad took us to the zoo where we got to see heaps of animals. I got to touch a snake and it wrapped itself around me. I wasn't scared of touching it, but Mom freaked when it was trying to get close to her."
Some people laugh, and Aleysa wipes a tear away from her eye. She whispers something to Nate before standing up and walking over to me. Grabbing the piece of paper from the stand she looks at the crowd. "After that, we went to the tiger's cage and one of them walked up to the glass and started to scratch at the window I think it wanted to get close to her."
When Aleysa finishes off reading her memories she walks over to her chair and sits next to Nate who pulls her closer to him and whispers something.
"I have a lot of memories with Mom and Dad."
When I was sixteen Dad took me to Hellion's Karate where he was an instructor for black belts. He asked me to demonstrate some of the moves we learnt over the weekend.
Dad thought it was a good idea to get me to demonstrate my strength without using any safety equipment and I punched him with so much force that he fell to the floor.
Kneeling next to him I say. "Dad, are you alright?"
He looks around the room before saying softly. "Can you get me some ice, Chloe? I didn't know you could hit like that. Damn, I taught you well over the weekend. Soon you won't need lessons from me."
Smiling at him. "I'll get you some Ice. I don't want Mom to see you with a bruise from me." I walk over to the kitchen and grab some ice. Putting it in a bag I take it over to Dad. "Here's the ice."
That night when we got home Dad held his side and Mom rushed over to him. Lifting his shirt she looked at the bruise and said. "Who did that?"
Dad looked over at me. "Our daughter has it in her to injure me."
A faint smile appeared on her lips as she looked between us. "I taught her some stuff over the weekend too, with how to use her power against someone of the opposite sex. I just didn't think she'd use it on you."
Dad laughed. "I should have known you had something to do with this." He leaned forward and kissed her.
I wipe away the tears that are falling down my face.
Without looking up I'm embraced in a hug by my younger brother. He whispers soothing words in my ear until I stop crying.
Pulling back from Nate I whisper. "Thanks, it's your turn to share memories of Mom and Dad."
Walking over to my seat I take Aleysa's hand in mine and we listen to Nate's memories of our parents and one of his football games.