The next thing we heard was a gunshot.
I wish I could say I didn't remember what happened after that. I wish it was only a blur in my mind. An event to soon be forgotten. But when something like this happens, you just can't get it out of your memory.
The next sound I heard was a scream.
It was bitter and high pitched. My ears seemed to curl up, as if to get away from the noise.
I realized it was Grace.
I spun around on my heals and looked at her. The front door of the Farrell's house had somehow slammed shut. "Grace, are you okay?" The minute after that was painful. At the time, my mind didn't register the fact that the door suddenly closed. My attention was all geared toward Grace.
She hesitated to respond. Thoughts raced through my mind at one hundred miles per hour. Had the bullet somehow hit her? What happened?
"I'm okay . . . Something just . . . Grabbed my leg" She sat down on the doorstep and gasped. "Bella, look at this."
I bent down on one knee and looked closely at her leg. There was a deep scar with dark red blood trailing out from it. Her breathing became heavy. "How badly does it hurt?" I asked.
"I . . . I can't . . ." By now, she was completely out of breath. She looked like she was about to faint. I grabbed her shoulder and shook her hard.
"Grace, stay with me." I was scared. There was so much at risk. "Grace . . ." My voice trailed off.
"I can't . . . Feel it . . . There's . . . No pain."
Grace may not have felt pain on her skin, but her inside was hurting. She couldn't talk anymore. I was losing her.
Then the next gunshot came.
At first, I screamed. Then I felt a sharp pain rush through my body. The gunshot had hit me.
***
I awoke to the sound of footsteps trailing towards me. I was a bright white room that seemed to continue on forever. There were no windows, no doors. Just white walls and floors.
I was sprawled out helplessly on the floor. I could hear a sweet melody floating the air. It was peaceful. I lied down and closed my eyes. After that, a voice echoed through my head along with the melody. Someone was singing.
I sat up on my knees and stared ahead. A blinding light had appeared in front of me. The light was singing.
"She needed a life
Thought you were alone
Expecting no tears
She took your own
Into a trap you fell
Thought there was hope
That was before
You opened the envelope."
The tune played for what seemed like years. The light had a deep voice that made my ears ring. All the while I was trying to figure out where I was.
All I knew was that I was no longer alive.
Suddenly, Grace was sitting next to me. But it wasn't the Grace I has known before. Her sparkling eyes were a dull gray color. Her hair was a mess and her face was pale. She looked so lifeless.
She reached across the air and grabbed my hand. "Is this heaven?"
Her voice sounded the same. I smiled at that. But her eyes seemed so sad now. I must have looked lifeless too. "I think so." I whispered.
We were dead.
"Where did that first gunshot go?" I asked.
Then Jaden appeared on the other side of me with an envelope in his hands.
Jaden had been shot, too.
