"Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness."

Wednesday, January 13, 2010  12:45 am. Dining Hall, Lair Hotel.

      Rain stained the glass of the large window near the entrance of the dining hall. Two girls stood quietly near, fixated on the splash of each and every droplet, evidently bored.

     "I wonder why mom and dad dragged us out here. I mean, there's nothing for us to do." Said one, in the rose dress.

     The other girl, who wore an inky blue dress, retorted quickly, "I think it's to celebrate Uncle Lair's new business. What else would it be? An actual party?"

      "That's the reason no one comes to these! There's nothing interesting to do!"

      "I still can't believe the huge portrait of himself that's in the lobby. It even has 'Mr. Juggle Lair' under it."

      "Mom is really proud of him though... I would be too if my little brother had his own successful business."

      "I guess it runs in the family. I hope we can be like them someday."

    "Me too."

    The girls turned around from the window to look for a clock. A grandfather clock near the entrance read 12:45.

      "It's getting really late... Should we go find mom and dad?"

      "I'll go look near the stage, you stay here and look for them in the crowd." The girl in the inky blue dress ran off, trying to move through the large crowd.

      "Gumi! Be quick!"

Stage, Lair Hotel. 12:55.

      Gumi was disorientated in the crowd of people. 'Where are they?' she thought, bewildered. Not paying attention, she abruptly bumped into someone.

      "Oh! There you are! Where have you been?" Her mom said, glancing around, "Where's Key?"

      "Beside the window. The one close to the entryway."

      "Alright. Can you go get her? Uncle Lair's going to make his speech soon."

     "Okey-dokey Loki!"

     Gumi turned around and crashed into her sibling.

     "Oops..." The pair said in sync.

     "...Never mind then." Their mom said and helped her daughters up, "That was wonderful timing, Key."

     "I try!"

     The three laughed at that.

     "Veta! It's so nice to see you! How long has it been?" A voice behind them said.

     They turned around to see a tall woman with purple hair, dark brown eyes, and very pale skin. Her dress matched her skin tone. It was a short ruffled dress with a big bow on the back.

      "Em! It's wonderful to see you!"

   Veta squeezed her old acquaintance, so much so Emmy's was starting to turn purple.

   "V...V! Too tight!" Em whispered clearly.

   "Oh! Sorry Em!" Veta quickly discontinued the 'hug'.

   "It's-  *cough* It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hug me that hard."

   The twins looked at them with a bewildered physiognomy.

   "Mommy, who's this?" They asked, remarkably, at the same time.

   "Oh! Allow me to introduce myself," The woman said self-assured, "I'm Emily Valo, nice to meet you but you can just call me Em."

   "Nice to meet you!" Key said, and shook her hand.

    Gumi, on the other hand, needed a nudge from her sister.

    "Y-yeah.."

    A loud cacophony of static filled the room. The crowd covered their ears to avoid more pain.    

   A woman in her early 20's, presumably an employee, walked on stage toward the podium. She looked very uptight, yet confident at the same time. She wore a short black dress and her hair was in a messy bun.

   "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, as you know, is the grand opening of the Lair Hotel. I am pleased to introduce the man who worked so hard to make this happen. Please, give a warm welcome to Mr. Lair." 

   The woman walked off the stage, and a man soon took the podium where she once stood. He had jet-black hair, green-gray eyes, and his face was a bit rounder. The black tie suit he wore seemed to give him a very sophisticated aura, when in reality he was a humorous person.

  "Thank you, Ms. Watt. Thank you all for coming. Now this has been..."

  The girls tuned out after that, looking for their father. They hadn't seen him since a few minutes after they got there.

  "Aeron! There you are! what took you so long?"

  Their father strolled out from the crowd. He also wore a black tie suit. His silver hair and violet eyes made him stand out, but his glasses seem to dim his eyes a bit.

  "Sorry, there was a problem with microphone. I tried to fix it as best as I could, but I guess that's what he gets for being cheap."

  "Well, it's not gonna be used a lot right? You shouldn't spend a lot on something you won't use..." Gumi questioned.

  "Uncle Lair won't be using it a lot, but guests who reserve this room will be." Aeron responded.

  The girls turned their attention back to their uncle who was finishing up his speech.

   "......and thank you, again, for coming. I hope to see you soon."

   Aeron turned for the exit. "I'm gonna go start the car. I'll call you when I get there." He wandered into the crowd, disappearing.

   Veta replied almost immediately, "Okay honey! Don't forget to grab your coat!"

   "Mommy, can we go find Uncle Lair?" Key asked, tilting her head.

   "Yeah! We haven't seen him in a while." Gumi added.

    "Sure. Wanna come with us, Em?"

    "That would be delightful. I haven't seen J since college, so why not?"

    The group slipped through the crowd, the girls hanging on to their mother.

    "Where would he be?" Veta asked.

    "Probably near the stage. He just finished." Em responded.

    They headed near the stage, where Mr. Lair was. He was a stout middle-aged man and was a bit shorter than his sister.  He was talking to the lady who was on stage, who still seemed calm and collected.

   "Veta! Girls! How long has it been?" Mr. Lair said, hugging them all.

   "It's been about 3 or 4 years. I wish it hadn't been that long." Veta responded.

   "I've missed my big sister."

    "And I've missed my little bro."

    They both laughed. The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

    "Oh yeah, remember Em? She's here... somewhere."

    Em was talking to the lady, who seemed to be a bit nervous.

    "Oh!" She quickly gave a piece of paper to the woman, and stepped towards everyone.

    "Em, it's also very nice to see you."

    "Same to you J."

    There was a soft ringing coming from the left pocket of Veta's blazers. She immediately picked it up.

     "Wait- are you sure you don't have them? Alright I'll check." She searched her right pocket and pulled out her keys.

     "Yep. I have them. I'll meet you half way with the keys... and your coat. K. Bye." Veta hung up the phone.

     "Hey, I forgot I had the keys. I'm gonna go head out to the car with your dad so you don't have to walk that far in the rain."

     The girls nodded.

     "Now make sure you stay with Em or Uncle Lair. Here's my phone, well call you when you're outside.

     Lair Entrance, 1:15 am

     The crowd was small, as it was almost 2 am. It had been 10 or 20 minutes since Veta left. The rain had cleared up, and the girls were sitting on the curb with Emily.

    "Where are they?" Gumi asked asked.

    "I... don't know. I think they're having some trouble starting the car." Em said, a worried tone in her voice.

   "We should go look for them!" Key jumped as she spoke with a hint of determination.

   "Good idea." Em said as she grabbed Gumi's hand when she stood up and pulled her up.

"It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love."

    West Street, 1:30 am

    The three were nearing the parking lot when suddenly a scream rang out from an alleyway. Gunshots followed and the screaming stopped.

    Em immediately called the police. The girls were horrified. They were holding hands and they were shaking. Their eyes were fixed on Em.

   "Hello? I believe there's been a shooting. West Street, near the main square. Please try to hurry. I have two young girls with me. Yes. Alright." She ended the call.

   Em lifted up her dress and pulled out a gun from underneath.

   "Girls, I'm gonna need you to come with me but stay behind me. We don't know where the person who pulled the trigger is so be very careful."

  The phone that Key was gripping in her free hand rang. It was her dad.

   She answered it and put it on speaker.

   "Key? Gumi? This is mom... s-someone..." There was a moment of silence and the two very weak voices of their mom and dad said, "We love you both... so much..."

   "Mom! Dad!" The twins screamed at the same time.

   "Em... keep them safe." Veta spoke, even less audible then before.

   Two more gunshots screamed out.

   They all raced down the alleyway.

   A figure ran out from another part of the alleyway. It had a gun in its hand and was covered in blood. The figured dropped the gun when they saw Em. The figure disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

  Sirens were going off in the distance.

  "Girls... find your parents. I'll go get the police. Stay near this area though."

  The twins nodded. Em started slowly walking off and the sirens grew louder.

  They locked hands, and continued forward. They turned the corner the figure came from and saw something they would never forget.

  One body laid against the wall, slumped over and the other one was laying on their back, both not moving. Each had two or three, possibly more, bullet holes in the chest, abdomen, and head. They couldn't make out who they were because blood covered their features and clothes.

  There was one thing that made their identities obvious. The phone in between them.

  The girls were silent. They were shell shocked as tears streamed down their faces and sank to the ground.

  Em returned with 5 or 6 officers. She gasped and stared at the brutal scene in front of her.

January 14, 10 am.

  Key and Gumi ended up sleeping at the police department while Em explained what happened.

  Em got the autopsy reports. There wasn't much to go on yet.

  Victim: Aeron Tantei

  Cause Of Death: Blood loss via many shots to the stomach, head, and chest.

  Time of death: 1:45 am, January 15, 2010

   Victim: Veta Tantei

   Cause Of Death: Blood loss via many shots to the stomach, head, and chest.

   Time Of Death: 1:46 am, January 15, 2010

Key overheard two officers talking about their parents.

"It's a shame what happened to Aeron and Veta."

"Yeah. I wonder if it's the same one who got those other detectives and prosecutors."

"Those were definitely not as brutal as this one. The killer had a grudge against them. Aeron was one of the detectives on that case and Veta was the prosecutor."

Key tuned out the rest of the conversation and looked towards her sister. Gumi had overheard it too.

  Em had started to move in with the girls in the apartment of above Veta's business, "Tantei Investigations". The police didn't have a lot to go on, so the case was looking bleak. Em of course wouldn't tell Key and Gumi this.

The girls had went back to school after a month. They were an absolute wreck. They barely ate anything and slept all the time at the start.

  After months of therapy, the girls were better then they were before. They started eating more and mostly got back to a "normal schedule.

  Em worked hard to try to make the girls happy and she succeeded. The woman who she talked to the night of the incident, Agnes Watt, moved in to help Em and the girls. She knew what it was like losing someone important to you at such a young age.

  The 4 of them were like a family. In that time, Em and Agnes started dating. It made Key and Gumi happy to see them together because they knew how good they were for each other.

  Everything seemed to be okay for a long time. Though everyone still missed Aeron and Veta, they knew that they wanted to try and keep on going.

  And so they did.

"The only cure for grief is to grieve."

   - Earl Grollman.

~End Of Prologue~

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Word Count- 2,082

Author's Note: Hey! Please leave a comment. If you are confused about a certain part, please let me know! I'll try my best to clear it up.