CHAPTER ONE
【 we put the 'fun' in funeral 】

       JULY SECOND, 1994 rolled around quickly for Mariana Osiris, who had been dreading the day. Her parents thought she would be looking forward to this day, the day she got to say goodbye to her sister, and finally get on with her life.

       Mariana didn't see how telling an empty wooden box "goodbye" would equate to saying it to her sister, who had been dead for the past three months.

       Nevertheless, she shrugged on the black dress, combed her hair, and made her way downstairs and out into the garden where friends and family were already beginning to gather.

       Outside, a group of eight teenagers stood close together near the fence, close enough that they could leave without being noticed if need be.

       A whisp of honey colored hair caught one of the Liar's attention, and her breath hitched in her throat.

       "Guys," Blair whispered, nudging Alyssa and James, though they ignored her and continued their conversation.

       "Guys," she whispered again, this time reaching across to grab Arthur, Persephone, and Theo, though they just shot her a glare.

       "Guys," the blonde finally hissed to the group, bringing a pale finger up to point at someone across the garden.

       Everett rolled his eyes and turned. "Wha–"

       The eight watched as Mariana made her way to the front row and sat down between her brother and father, squeezing each of their hands lightly.

       Everett turned back to the others, "guess she's not sitting with us."

       "Everett, Blair, Arthur, James, Theodore, Persephone, Alyssa, Jeremiah!" The eight turned to see Mrs. Osiris coming towards them, a tight-lipped smile caressing her face. "Oh, I'm so glad you all could make it."

       "We wouldn't have missed it for the world, Mrs. Osiris," Blair said, stepping forward and squeezing the older woman's hand.

       Alyssa smiled softly at her, "we all loved Ariellis."

       "Not by choice." Jeremiah coughed from behind them.

       Heidi tilted her head softly, looking back at the boy. "What was that? I'm sorry, my hearing isn't what it used to be."

       "I said–"

       "He said he's very sorry for the loss of your daughter," Arthur interjected, shooting a glare at Jeremiah.

       "Well, thank you." Heidi said softly, smiling at each of them before her eyes stopped on the blonde at the front of their group. "Blair, would you walk with me for a moment?"

       "Yes, of course." The Wintercourn girl nodded, glancing back at her friends before following after Mrs. Osiris.

       The group watched her go. "What do you reckon that's about?" Arthur asked, glancing between his friends.

       "I dunno." Alyssa muttered, staring after them. "I really don't."

       Heidi Osiris led Blair through the garden and around the side of the house where she stopped suddenly, causing the young girl to run right into her.

       "Sorry, dear."

       They continued along the side of the house until the reached the cellar door, which Mrs. Osiris hurriedly rushed Blair into before following after her and shutting the door, soaking them both in darkness.

       "Erm, Mrs. Osiris?"

       "Right, working on it."

       Within seconds, a warm glow eminating from the tip of Heidi's wand washed over the two and the cellar.

       "Not to be rude or . . . inconsiderate, or anything of that sort, but," Blair glanced around, "why am I here?"

       "Has Mariana spoken to you? Any of you?"

       Blair shook her head. "Why?"

       "She's left her room twice since she got back from school: once to get the cats, and once to gather all the food from the cupboards. I'm worried about her."

       "I'm worried about her too, Mrs. Osiris, really. But her sister died less than three months ago. They found no body, so she doesn't even get to say goodbye. She has every right to act . . . differently."

       Heidi eyed Blair for a moment. "Is there a reason you sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that, darling?"

       Because I am, Blair thought, though she knew she couldn't say that to the woman before her.

       "Nevermind that," Heidi said at once, changing the subject. "Now, I know she hasn't spoken to you, and probably doesn't want to, but would you sit with her today?"

       "Oh, I–"

       "It's important to me that she's around her friends at a time like this, around others who have lost Ariellis."

       Blair wanted to mention that Heidi and the rest of the Osiris family had also lost Ariellis, yet kept her mouth shut. "Of course, Mrs. Osiris."

       "Wonderful. I'll clear out the second row for all of you." She turned to leave, but something seemed to stop her. "Blair,"

       "Hm?"

       "Thank you."

       "You're welcome."

       Mariana was quite confused when she found her mother in the dark cellar alone. In all honesty, she wasn't quite sure why she had looked in the cellar, but now that she had found her mother, that thought vanished from her mind.

       "Mum? Mum, what are you doing down here?" She asked, rubbing her bare arms as the cool air raised bumps along her skin.

       "I was talking to someone, a friend."

       Mariana narrowed her eyes and glanced behind her mother. "Mum? St. Mungo's is open today. We could–"

       Heidi sighed. "She went outside, Mariana. I'm not crazy."

      "Alright, Mum." The girl nodded, turning to leave, but her mother's hand stopped her.

     "I wanted to talk to you about today." Heidi said softly, gesturing for Mariana to walk with her. "You're going to sit with them."

       Mariana stopped. "Mum, no."

       "Mariana, you've closed yourself off to the whole world since she died. Cedric came here every day for a month and tried to get you to speak to him–"

       "I didn't want to talk to Cedric."

       "Blair and Alyssa and Persephone have written you every day and you haven't so much as opened one of their letters–"

       "I haven't got anything to say to them." Mariana replied with a shake of her head.

       "Theodore and James spent a week on the couch–"

       "Mum, don't you get it!" Mariana shouted, suddenly. "I don't want to talk to Cedric, or Blair, or Alyssa, or Persephone, or Theo, or James– or anyone for that matter!"

       "But why, darling?"

       "Because they aren't her!" The Osiris girl shouted. "Not one of them are Ariellis."

       Heidi pursed her lips as she held back tears. "Of course not, honey." She started softly, reaching for Mariana. "Ariellis is dead. She died on the seventeenth of May."

       "No." Mariana said, a shaky breath escaping her lips.

       "The tree house burned down while she was asleep." Heidi continued, stepping closer to her daughter.

       Tears sprang to the young girls eyes. "No, no."

       "They couldn't find her body– said it was probably burned to ash."

       Mariana shook her head as her tears fell down her cheeks. "No, no, no! She's not dead! She can't be!"

       "Darling, I know. I know, I miss her too. And I didn't want to believe it either, but she's gone. She's gone and there's nothing we can do," Heidi said, her voice getting softer and softer as she stroked her daughter's hair, "nothing we can do, except try to move on."

       Anyone who saw Heidi and Mariana Osiris emerge from the cellar would have never guessed that both had been sobbing just moments before.

       Mariana, begrudgingly, made her way across the garden to the second row of seats, which were all taken but one. As she sat down between Arthur and Blair, she glanced sideways at the Wintercourn girl.

       "Hey, B." Mariana said softly, squeezing the hand of the girl beside her.

       Blair leaned into Mariana's touch. "Hey, M." She replied, just above a whisper.

       Slowly, Mariana also took Arthur's hand, and Blair took Theo's, and soon enough, the Liars were linked together once more, putting on a strong front for the crowd.

       Samson Osiris stood against the back of the house, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't know if he could do this. Like Mariana, he too had shut himself out from the world after Ariellis' death, though not as prominently.

       "This isn't the summer before you start Hogwarts that you deserve, Sam," an older voice said as they came up beside the Osiris boy. "It isn't fair to you, and I'm sorry."

       Samson let his gaze fall to the floor. "Life's not very fair, is it, Cedric?"

       Although the younger boy wasn't looking at him, Cedric shook his head. "No. No, it's not."

       "She loved you." Samson whispered after a few moments, finally allowing his gaze to wander back to Cedric. "She loved you a lot."

       Cedric took a shaky breath as he wiped his eyes. He had promised himself he wouldn't cry today. Not in front of the Osiris's. He had to be strong. For them, he had to be strong.

      He nodded softly, grasping Samson's shoulder to steady himself. "I loved your sister so much, Sam."

       "I know you did. We all do."

       And as they took their seats at the front, Cedric taking Mariana's abandoned front-row seat, they completed the full garden of broken, longing, answer-deprived witches and wizards, mourning the loss of a young witch by the name of Ariellis Samara Osiris, who was taken from them all far too soon.

author's note:

if u didn't know this was

gonna be hella depressing
i'm so sorry for doing
that to y'all xx