I'm not sure what time it is when I finally get up and leave the chapel, still wiping my eyes and gulping back tears. Sometime later, I reach my room and collapse onto my bed. Honestly, I have no idea how long I stay there before Luca comes in. Two hours? Three? Time has lost all meaning for me at this point.

"Oh shit, you're back!" Luca cries, grabbing me in a bear hug - he clearly hasn't heard what's happened. "Where've you been, buddy? You never got my message? I slipped that one note in your book when they had me pack your stuff and-" He pauses. "Dude? Are you all right?"

I swallow, making my dry throat hurt for a moment. "The killer's dead."

"The killer? Oh, that guy." Luca breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Was it true that Dani was one of his, um, intended victims?"

"Yeah."

"How did they know that?"

"Turns out, he was experimented on by the military, and he wanted to kill the kids of everyone he held responsible," I say. "Steve, Freddie, Penny, Paul...and he would've also gone after Dani. And Jeanne Darknell."

I curl up, looking away from Luca. "And Fionna," I add in a small voice, sniffling as the tears come again. "Fionna's dead, Luca. He...he killed her. My dad killed her."

"I thought you didn't know your dad," Luca says.

I pull out my phone and find the news article from Hell announcing the deaths of Elijah and Fionna. Elijah's picture, obviously from his military days in the late nineties, covers the top of the page, followed by what I can only assume is Fionna's latest school picture. "That's him. He was my dad - Robert Smythe said so. He was the Aqua Killer."

Luca takes a look at the article, then hands it back to me, any spark of happiness gone from his face. "You saw it happen?"

"I couldn't save her, man," I say, my voice breaking.

We sit on our beds, looking around the room for a while. "I think they're still serving lunch," Luca says eventually. "You wanna come with? Think you can hold down a sandwich?"

"No."

"I'll bring you one, then." Luca steps out. "Roast beef or Reuben?"

"Roast beef. I guess."

"Got it."

Luca closes the door, leaving me to sit in the dark room alone. I try opening the blinds, but the sunlight reacts badly with my teary eyes, forcing me to close them again.

Ten minutes later, Luca comes back with a sandwich and bag of chips on a paper plate. I graze on the lunch absently, barely taking notice of what I'm putting in my mouth. I'm pretty sure the roast beef is green - or is that the lettuce? I can't even tell.

Luca stays in the room with me for the rest of the day. We don't talk about anything else until we both get a text from the school's system, announcing that class has, again, been cancelled all this week. I text Gabe and ask if Castledown's doing the same, and he says they are. He then adds, "We did the same thing after Steve died. Guess it's only fitting that you guys returned the favor."

"Nice little show of solidarity, am I right?" I can barely even type the text. My hands are shaking like I've got Parkinson's or some other neural disease.

"Fionna's getting cremated tomorrow morning at ten. Coldfire Creek Mortuary. You gonna come?"

"Of course I am. I gotta say goodbye, don't I?"

"See you there."

I get up and look in the closet for something remotely dignified, something appropriate for mourning. I don't have a lot of non-casual clothes outside of my uniform, but I decide to go with a long-sleeved black polo and use my uniform to take care of the rest of my clothes for tomorrow.

When I'm done, I sit back down and look at the clock. Four-thirteen. I really hope I get over this soon. I don't want the rest of my life to feel like this, long and drawn-out and never-ending.

Luca and I sit in silence for another few hours. When dinnertime comes, he again volunteers to go to the cafeteria to bring food back to me so I don't have to join the rest of the student body just yet.

That night, he and I both take a long time to fall asleep. I'm still tossing and turning as late (or early, depending on how you look at it) as one o'clock, and it's messing with Luca's sleep, hearing me rustling around in my bed. Just like me with Gabe last night, he lies there motionless, trying his hardest not to draw attention to himself, but the faint sounds of stray thoughts coming from his head betrays his current state of insomnia.

Part of the reason why I can't sleep is that I'm dreading a long string of nightmares - and as expected, they come one after the other, unstoppable. Fionna features in all of them, first lying cold and dead on an autopsy table, then jumping out of the crematorium furnace just as it lights up, and finally going full zombie, pleading in a raspy voice, "Save...me...Alex..."

I wake up crying so many times that it's a wonder I even have time to dream.

At nine o'clock on Monday morning, I suit up, such as it were, and head down to breakfast with Luca. I bolt down another plate of waffles and raspberries, then fly down to the Bridge. As I cross it, I'm met by Mrs. Smythe, who takes the time to offer me her condolences as she opens up the store. And her harsh words about her husband, and her creative ideas about where she'd like to stick his mud trap. At least I get a little laugh out of it.

I reach the mortuary at quarter to ten. A small procession of cars has already lined up, and people in black suits mill around outside, taking turns to approach a stone-faced Asian man and his wife, who looks a little like my mom with her olive skin and Mediterranean features. She dabs at her eyes with a lacy white handkerchief. I feel embarrassingly underdressed until I see the boy standing next to them - like me, he's wearing a polo and slacks.

Gabe - also less-than-formally dressed, as I expect - catches my eye, walks up to me, and looks at these people at the center of attention. "Those are Fionna's parents," he informs me.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed. And that boy is her brother?"

"Kevin," Gabe says. "He's thirteen, an eighth-grader. He's coming to Castledown next year."

I observe the Lees a little while longer, my focus mostly lingering on Kevin. He's the same age Gabe and I were when things really started changing for us. We'd been through our own form of Purgatory-in-Heaven, and we've come out on top with an even stronger bond between us.

Would Kevin have someone like that - a brother figure - to help him get through this? I sure as hell hope so.

Gabe leads me up to the family and introduces me. It's not as awkward as I'd feared, but I do choke up a couple of times - such as when Mrs. Lee thanks me for flying down from the cable car to catch Fionna as she fell.

"How'd you...how..." I can't even finish the sentence.

"We found out about this on YouTube," Kevin says, picking up on what I was trying to say. "Welcome to the information age, I guess."

People were filming the whole thing that night? I guess it shouldn't surprise me, but I'm still shocked - and disgusted - by this piece of news.

"Tell me it's not there anymore," I say. "That it's been taken down from the site."

"We made sure of that," Mr. Lee says, his words carrying a tinge of an accent, and more than a tinge of emotion. "But you know what they say - once it's online, it'll be there forever."

Mrs. Lee wipes her eye again, then takes my hand. "It's a pity you didn't know her longer. I think you and Fionna could have gone very far together. She spoke very highly of you."

"I wish we could've met under better circumstances," Mr. Lee adds.

"Me too, " I say with a sigh. "Me too."

At the stroke of ten, the Lees lead the way into the mortuary. Everyone takes a seat on a folding chair while a gurney is wheeled out in front of the furnace. On top of the gurney lies Fionna, her entire body wrapped in a white sheet. In the corner, an organist plays a slow dirge.

I look around as the rest of the guests file in. There's not that many of them - because demonic cremations happen so soon after death, it's very rare that the actual ceremony has too many attendees, because most people can't break away from their other commitments - work, school, etc. - on such short notice. But I don't recognize too many of Gabe and Fionna's friends in the crowd - those I know, anyway, like Tanner. About the only one I do spot is Kelly Jackson, who's all by herself in the back of the room, looking down, her shoulders shaking slightly as she cries.

We go silent as the ceremony begins. Each of the Lees steps up to give a quick speech - nothing too fancy, but each very tender and touching, recounting their most treasured memories of Fionna.

I barely pay attention to the speeches, because I'm preoccupied with my own worries. For all her parents said about seeing a good future for Fionna and me, in hindsight I'm really starting to wonder if that was the case. We barely had enough time to really cement our relationship, and yet there we were, already considering ourselves an item, and getting into awkward romantic situations.

All this - and I barely knew anything about her except what sort of tunes and shows and books she liked. That smacks more of casual friendship than of love to me. I'd never once asked about her family, or where she lived, or anything even remotely personal. I'd never really counted up my demons (metaphorically speaking) and shown them to her, or taken an interest in hers. What issues plagued Fionna? What snuck up on her in her most terrifying nightmares? She had to have some deep dark secrets, and now I'd likely never know what they were.

I remember Luca saying similar things about Dani, how he's not really been able to get to know her, and it only makes me feel worse. How long would it have taken for Fionna and me to fall apart for the same reason?

I cry my way silently through the ceremony, watching as Kevin finishes his speech. Then finally, Fionna's body is placed inside the furnace. Three minutes later, her ashes are collected in a pewter urn, which is then laid on a table in front of the little podium where the speeches were given. The mourners form a line to gaze at the urn, or to kiss it. I opt for the Hunger Games-style salute - kissing three fingers on my right hand, then touching them to the urn. Gabe copies me, so I know I did the right thing.

After this is done, the urn is presented to Mr. Lee, who takes it in both hands and carries it out the door. Everyone else follows them outside, and Gabe and I stand back to watch as the Lees get into a navy-blue Accord.

"They're driving the ashes back home to Bearville," Gabe says, barely looking up as he types a text message on his phone.

"A small, private family ceremony, I'm guessing," I say.

"That's usually how demon funerals work."

The Lees pull out of their parking space, but then stop by the curb in front of us. Kevin rolls down his window and says, "You'll still be there next year, right, Gabe?"

"Won't you be here in March for Freshman Day?" Gabe asks.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Guess I'll see you then." He turns to me and adds, "It was nice to meet you, Alex."

"Same here," I say, waving goodbye as the Lees drive away.

After everyone's gone, Gabe and I head up the street to the site of Fionna's death. Here's where we see Tanner - he's putting up a sort of memorial display for her. A paper flier bearing her name and photo. Flowers bunched up around the wooden cross that's been attached to the side of the streetlight. (A cross in Hell - imagine that.) And then I hear someone else coming behind us - Kyle Prado. No doubt he's the one Gabe just texted.

Tanner looks up and sees us coming, then he lowers his eyes. "Hey, guys," he says thickly. He holds out a pen. "If you were wondering why I wasn't at the ceremony, that's 'cause I was making this. You guys wanna sign it? You'll be the first ones. After me, anyway."

Without a word, Gabe takes the pen and starts writing his message under Tanner's. "God love you, Fionna," he says. "You were the best friend a hybrid dude could ever have. I'll miss you forever."

"I'm so sorry," Tanner says, folding his arms and shivering.

"Me too," Gabe says. He signs his name, then lets me take my turn. It's not long before I think of what to say.

"I should've told you how I felt about you before you died. But I didn't even know how I felt. And now, all I feel is empty without you. I don't know if I'll ever be happy again."

I'm in tears once again by the time I sign my name and ink in a little heart next to it. I can hear Gabe and Kyle both crying as well. I turn around and see them holding hands.

Kyle then kisses Gabe on the lips. "I thought you'd need that," he says as Gabe reaches up and plays with the beanie on his head for a moment.

I smile weakly at the pair. "Well, at least one Snow twin's gonna still have his shoulder to cry on, right?"

Gabe and Kyle smile back at me, then hug me goodbye, one after the other. Even Tanner has a hug to give me before he leaves alongside Gabe and Kyle. I watch them leave, my brother and his boyfriend continuing to hold hands. It occurs to me that in the few times I'd seen them together, they'd never been that publicly affectionate. Gabe's told me he's actually a little scared to so much as hold hands with another guy - call it lingering effects of our Heavenly, Catholic upbringing. But here, in Hell, nobody would judge him badly for it, so he's so much more free to be himself.

On the way back to Balthazar, I send a text to Steve, telling him that Fionna's been cremated, and asking him to let me know when her soul wakes up. He promises that he will, and adds that he wouldn't expect it to happen till tomorrow morning at the earliest.

When I get back to my dorm room, I see a misshapen green object sitting on my pillow. I pick it up and realize, with a fresh pang of grief, that it's Fionna's beanie, the one she'd let me wear when I gave her my hoodie that night.

My first thought is, Won't Fionna's parents want it back?

But then I tell myself, No. You'll be able to see Fionna one more time. Give it to her then.

I sit on my pillow, clutching the beanie to my chest, feeling myself breathe, slowly, deeply, controlled. I am in control now. The beanie acts like a talisman, a last piece of my departed friend, helping me stay calm and not give in to my emotions.

Bolstered by the beanie, I'm able to join the rest of the school for lunch and dinner, mingle a bit with my schoolmates with no problem. But still, I refuse to talk to anyone else about what happened.

I don't want to just yet. Not until after I've truly said goodbye.

I don't even really tell Mom anything when she inevitably comes up to the school. Obviously, she'd been told what happened. Either that, or she read it in the newspaper. But no matter how she learned of it, she'd seen no choice other than to come up to Coldfire Creek to see first Gabe, then me.

Saltz gives us a few minutes of alone time in his office. I give Mom the condensed version of the story - Elijah, the bare bones of Project Red Rain, and of course Fionna.

I'm sure most angel mothers, upon hearing that their one straight son was dating a demon girl, would have flipped a gasket. But not my mom. She lets me cry in her arms, and tells me it'll be all right. After all, everyone - herself included - falls in love more than once. Generally, angels are all about the one love, forever, soul-mate thing, even though there's really no proof to support that. But my mom's a little more rational than most.

I feel like Fionna could have been my soul mate. But now I guess I'll never know. And that's what's hurting me the most - not knowing whether or not I've really lost the only shot at true love I may ever have.