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Talia was paralyzed with horror and shock. She wasn't able to form any words out of her mouth; all she could do in the moment was sit there with her mouth hanging open, eyes widened, and arms glued to her sides.

Her mother's body slumping back was enough for Talia to see the full, raw picture before her. She could feel the floor beneath her folding onto itself like massive sinkhole.

The next moment was a memory that would give Talia nightmares from now on. She let out the most piercing bloodcurdling scream she had ever heard her voice box produce. She knew she had to run over to her mother, but it was like her legs lost their basic ability to move. Everything unfurled in front of her: her world was spinning and warping, and she felt as though a python was constricting her sense of control.

When Talia found the strength to work her limbs, she threw opened the door and much to her shock, her mother's killer disappeared. Talia was gobsmacked. It was impossible for the intruder to be here one second and then the next be gone without a trace— it was like the earth had swallowed him!

How did he escape? At first Talia had reason to suspect that the murderer escaped through the window, but the window was in perfect condition- just how her mother always left it.

Imma...Imma!

Talia had never acted so fast before in her life than when she scrambled to her mother's body and desperately used whatever was at her disposal to stop the bleeding. By now her hands were smeared with her mother's fresh blood, and Talia felt a dizzy spell was on its way. She didn't know if it was due to her anemia or inhaling the iron aroma coming from the blood, or both. When Talia saw the blood was pouring like a waterfall, she attempted to do CPR on her mother. Each chest compression pumped panic into Talia's veins, as she choked back sobs when she realized her methods weren't working.

She didn't want to believe it. No daughter would. Her denial only seemed to fuel the throbbing pain in her heart, which was seconds away from bursting like a bubble. She had to face the fact that she was wasting her time trying to revive a corpse that had breathed it's last breath before the blade pierced it's precious heart.

So what more could she do? Other than to rock her mother in her arms and murmur a prayer in Hebrew in a brittle voice. Talia's melting pot of emotions erupted, and she continued pouring her heart out until her throat was clogged up and eyes could no longer release tears. Talia clung to her mother tightly, as if she were afraid her mother would disintegrate to dust.

Not even when the police arrived on the scene did she move a muscle. The responding officers only saw a little girl, covered in blood, weeping for her mother to come back.

***

It wasn't long before the medical examiner and the ambulance showed up at the mansion. Talia saw paramedics carry her father away on a stretcher, which worried and relieved her— relieved, because at least her father didn't wound up in a body bag, but worried upon seeing her father's wounded state and being given a ventilator. She hoped, prayed that her father would survive. She wasn't certain if she could get through the night (or any day, for that matter) if her father were to pass.

After Talia answered questions from the police and the paramedics examined her and confirmed that the blood wasn't hers, she sat outside on the marble steps, swaddled in a blanket and watching the police secure the crime scene with yellow tape.

This was not happening. . . If only this was a bad dream. . . Talia lowered her head and could feel her wetness stinging her eyes once again. Her eyes were already swollen, but she was sure that wouldn't stop her lacrimal glands from producing more tears. What she wouldn't give for everything to be just a nightmare and in the morning, she would see her parents smiling faces and resume her usual routine.

But now she was only surrounded by pain and death. Like a dandelion, her happiness was blown away into the wind, never to be seen again.

"Talia?"

Talia slowly lifted her head, her vision blurry because of the puffiness surrounding her eyes. She had never cried so hard before. Sniffling, she asked in a croaky voice, "Yes?"

"It's me, Talia. Captain 'O' Neil." Talia instantly recognized the man as soon as she saw his red goatee and blue eyes. He looked down at her with great sorrow.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Talia," Kirby said. If there was anything Kirby loathed about his job, it was seeing the victims heartbroken over their deceased loved ones.

"Thank you," Talia whispered. "What happened to my father? Will he be alright?"

Kirby sighed. "Your father was found bleeding profusely from the chest. Thankfully, he still had a pulse, but let's hope the wound doesn't prove fatal. His life is in the doctor's hands."

"I already lost my mother, Mr. 'O' Neil," Talia felt another round of tears coming her way. "I can't lose my father, too."

"I know," Kirby allowed Talia to cry on his shoulder, enveloping her in a hug. "I know."

***

As difficult as it was, Talia gave her statement to the police. Right after she was done, Kirby offered to drop off Talia at his place. Talia really wanted to go to the hospital to see her father, but Kirby told her that it was best to visit him in the morning so both could recuperate.

Silence defined the ride back to Kirby's apartment. Talia hadn't said a word- hadn't even moved an inch since she buckled up. Quite honestly, it scared Kirby. He couldn't believe this was the same girl who always kept her chin up and smiled no matter what day it was. But he couldn't blame her— the poor girl witnessed the demise of her mother and now she was sick with worry over her father's well-being. It was truly agonizing.

Kirby finally pulled into the parking lot. After getting out of the driver's seat, he offered to open the door for Talia. Talia only slipped off and nodded in Kirby's direction, silently thanking him. They trailed up the porch steps and went in, Talia's nose inhaling the same sour paint smell like always.

The two walked upstairs until reaching a familiar door Talia had the pleasure of seeing the last six years. Kirby inserted the key and turned the knob, entering alongside Talia. He flipped on the switch and there he saw his daughter, April, snuggled on the couch and using her hand as a pillow.

Feeling the light, April's eyes flickered and then yawned loudly. She only noticed her father standing nearby after stretching her arms in the most dramatic way possible. "Oh, hey, dad. I wasn't actually sleeping on the couch because I remember very well that I was in the comforts of my own room. How did I even get here?"

"Sleepwalking?" Kirby gave a perplexed look at his daughter.

"No, I don't think so," April frowned, as if she were trying to come up with an answer. "It's weird. . ." her sentence faltered when she spotted her father had company.

"Taly!" April exclaimed, almost shooting herself up from the couch to give her best friend a hug. But April stopped midway as soon as she saw Talia's puffy eyes and her skin looking like someone had wrung out a bright pink rag.

"Hey, what's wrong?" April's face crumpled with worry. All April got in response was Talia stretching out her arms to give her a tearful hug. In seconds, April's shoulder was already drenched.

When April turned to her father for an explanation, Kirby only put his hand up.

"Take her to your room, April," Kirby said, giving one more pitiful look at Talia. "She needs some rest."

***

Talia stayed true to her word. Right after she got dressed and ate breakfast the next morning, she thanked Kirby for his hospitality and called a cab to get to the hospital. April offered to come with her, so the two girls ended up in the backseat of a taxi.

Every now and then April would sneak glances at her best friend. Some of the light that used to be in Talia's eyes left and never came back. April found it insane that one minute Talia's parents were alive and well, and then the next one ended up dead and the other was sent to the emergency room. All night April did whatever she could to comfort her best friend, but she knew deep down no consolation would ever be enough to patch up a wound so fresh; She knew from experience.

Once the taxi parked in front of their destination, the girls paid their fare and stepped out. Talia combed her fingers through her hair as she eyed the building in front of her. She didn't know what news awaited her. What were the doctors going to say? How was her father? How long would it be until he recovers?

How am I going to tell him about Imma? That was assuming the police hadn't told Seth what had happened. Either way it was dreadful.

"Come on, Taly." April extended her hand toward her friend. "Positive thoughts, remember? Your dad will be okay."

I hope so. Talia gave a strong nod and took her best friend's hand. It always gave her comfort knowing one of the people she cared about was right by her side.

Talia signed in and followed the receptionist's directions: take the elevator to the seventh floor and walk all the way down the hall to the last door on the right. Talia squeezed April's hand gently as she grabbed ahold of the door handle and opened it. She and April walked in and saw Seth resting in the hospital bed. As soon as he caught sight of her, Talia hugged him as tightly as she could.

"Abba. . ." Talia shut her eyes, letting a single tear flow.

"Sweetheart." Seth returned the hug, kissing his daughter's hair. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Talia felt a cool wave wash the heavy weight off her shoulders. "Mr. 'O' Neil told me you lost a lot of blood and I thought-"

"The doctor explained to me that the stab wound given to me should've killed me. But because of a birth defect, my heart is positioned on the right side of my chest-" Seth points toward his right side "-here. I'm lucky to be alive."

"Lucky, indeed. And hello, Mr. Elbaz." April greeted. "I hope it's not a bother that I came with Taly."

"Of course not, April," Seth smiled. "It's good to see you. How are things with you and your father?"

"Well, nothing's changed really. My dad still chases baddies; I still want to pursue my dream of becoming a journalist."

"I wish you the best of luck."

"Abba, did an officer come to your room sometime this morning?" Talia asked. Part of her hoped that no one broke the news to her father yet, but at the same time, she didn't believe she had the heart to tell him that Genesis was dead. Her eyes and esophagus were already worn out.

Hearing that made Seth's smile melt away. Talia knew from the look in his eyes that he was already told about the matter. "Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that a vulture pecked at your mother's heart while I sat there and watched, unable to move. I knew something terrible was going to happen, but I didn't know exactly what." Seth stared up at the ceiling as if he wanted to stop the tears from escaping. "Now we both know."

"I watched everything," Talia said in a miserable voice. "He killed her and I couldn't do anything." Why was I so helpless? Why didn't I do something?

Seth placed his hand on top of his daughter's hand. "It's not your fault, Talia. Don't ever think that it is."

"I have a hard time believing that."

"Taly, he's right." April joined the conversation. "There's nothing you could've done. Whoever killed your mother would've killed you, too."

"You're right. But even so. . ." Last night's horrific memory had no pause button in Talia's brain; it kept replaying over and over again until she felt like she was going to lose her mind. She even looked at her hands and could swore she saw her mother's blood on them.

"I'm going to miss her," Talia choked up at the end.

Seth hugged his daughter, stroking her hair. "We will find a way, dewdrop. You'll see."

Just as Talia and Seth pulled away, a nurse came running in.

"Mr. Elbaz? Miss Talia? You both are on the news," the nurse explained, out of breath. "I just saw you guys on TV."

A shockwave of confusion hit Talia. "What?" Talia said as April snatched the remote off of the table and clicked on the button.

True to the nurse's word, a newscaster was speaking: "Last night a break-in occurred at the Elbaz Mansion where billionaire Genesis Elbaz, who is the also the CEO of GenTech Labs, was killed and her husband, Seth Elbaz, was found wounded. Miraculously, Talia Elbaz was the only one who wasn't apparently injured. Furthermore, police investigations have led to the conclusion that there was more going on behind those closed doors than people thought. A non-identified source revealed that large sums of money have been wired to an offshore account in the Caymans under Genesis's name, and based on the timeline of these transfers, the transfer of illegal obtained money has been going on for over a decade. . ."

"Non-identified source?" April scoffed.

Talia shook her head in disbelief. "No. . . That's a lie. My mother wasn't corrupt. . ." she glanced at her father to see if he had heard the same thing. "You know that Imma was always an honest woman. We have to call the press and tell them the truth."

"Talia-" Seth spoke when the phone rang and interrupted him. He answered it, "This is Mr. Elbaz speaking. . ." whatever the person on the other end said made Seth widen his eyes. "What?" Pause. "Are you sure, Olga?" Olga was the maid of the Elbaz Mansion, one who Talia considered a good friend. "Alright. Thank you." Seth hung up, his mouth agape.

"What is it, Abba?" Talia asked in concern.

"The police just left the mansion and are on their way to the hospital. They want to see me."