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being laid to rest on a beautiful little patch of land close to the entrance. Holly approached reluctantly and sighed. She wasn’t freaking out as much then and was thankful for the brief break away with Chrystal. That is, until they brought out her mother’s remains again. They huddled together and looked on.
    “No!” she screamed as the funeral director tried to put her mother into the ground, and everyone paused at her outcry. “You can’t, not yet.”
    “We have to, Hol.” Her aunt moved forward on a sob of her own and placed a hand on her shoulder when Holly took her mother back from him to prevent the inevitable from happening just a moment longer.
    “No!” Chrystal joined her, and they both dropped to their knees holding on to their mother tight. Their tears mixed and ran down their faces and onto the container that held her.
    “You weren’t supposed to go, damn it! We need you. How can I say good-bye when she was supposed to have so much more life to live?” Holly cried and looked up with desperation at everyone gathered there. Knowing there was no choice, yet needing answers. Why was life so cruel? Why her?
    Everyone stared speechless. Their uncle slowly pried Holly’s grip loose, and they were left to hold each other as they were given no choice but to see her go into the ground. This was it, the end of Emma Hewitt as they knew her.
     
    ***
     
    Two months later
     
    Blood! There’s blood everywhere. Every time she closed her eyes, the same scene would run over and over again. She was back in their house, cornered, and he was coming at her. Then it was nothing but flashes of her mother’s face, the pool of blood, its splatter, and her broken body.
    Holly gasped, and her heart beat rapidly as she woke from the image. She rose from bed and clutched her chest to try to calm herself. “Pssst, Mercedes, are you awake?”
    Her cousin’s snoring got louder from across the room, and Holly’s shoulders slumped in defeat. There was no way she was going back to bed now.
    Staying at Karen’s seemed to be working out so far. Holly bunked with Mercedes because she had a bigger room. Her cousin Porshia was across the hall, and Chrystal shared a room downstairs with Karen’s oldest daughter Tamara.
    “What the hell?” The quiet house wasn’t so quiet anymore. Something crashed and then banged against a door downstairs, and adrenaline rushed through Holly as she went running to see what was going on. The sound of her running woke everyone up.
    “Where are you going?” Karen came out of her room and rubbed her eyes.
    “Didn’t you hear that? Something crashed.” Just as Holly finished speaking, Chrystal threw open the bedroom door and stopped at the sight of them.
    “I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”
    “ What? ” Holly couldn’t believe it. “You can’t be serious.”
    “Good!” Tamara stomped out of the room and stood behind her mother in a huff. Meanwhile, Chrystal took the opportunity to storm back in the room and throw some clothes and supplies in a backpack.
    “What’s going on here?” Karen asked looking bewildered.
    “Got into a fight with Tamara.” Chrystal shrugged. “And I’m not staying where I’m not wanted.”
    Tamara stormed off and their aunt followed her.
    “Who says you’re not wanted?” Holly whispered.
    She shrugged again and started crying. “Doesn’t matter, I can’t take it anymore.”
    “Where will you go?”
    “I’m pretty sure I can stay with a few friends. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know where I end up.”
    “No, I’m coming with you.” Holly ran upstairs before anyone could answer and got dressed. By the time she ran downstairs again, her sister already had her shoes on and was standing by the door.
    “You’re not going anywhere!” They startled when Karen entered the room “Don’t go, Chrystal. We can figure out other arrangements.” She cleared her throat. “Please, it’s the middle of the night.”
    “I don’t care what