snapshot #6

She felt as though her whole world collapsed in the very moment they announced her death. It was like a surge of numbness racing through her blood, rendering her unable to process the mere thought of her precious sister ... dead. 

She couldn't even breathe. 

Ali hit the bathroom floor, gasping at the impact of her knees against the porcelain tiles. It barely registers in her mind that she will no longer see her sister again. See the smile light up her face or hear the usual morning song as she hopped down the stairs. Bianca Mason was dead. 

And it was all her fault. 

She screamed a scream so broken, so empty, that she scared herself with the raw agony that tore its way out of her tiny frame. The scream caught itself in her throat, hooking her vocal chords and making them fall silent. Her lips remain parted as a soundless scream tore past them. No sound, except for wheezing, left her. He didn't have the energy to scream, to cry, and to do anything. Ali felt numb; everything felt so numb - the lights, the tiles, her limbs, her tears, the pain. She couldn't feel anything. As her chest heaved from the air loss, she choked back another sob. Wish as she might, the evidence was still against her. The death certificate was clutched tightly in her hand. 

The next five minutes were a blur for Ali. 

She recalled her father dragging her away from her sister's closet, only to realize that she had somehow managed to navigate her way into her sister's empty room. She can hear her mother wailing from the entrance but doesn't bother with consolation because she herself needs to calm the fuck down. Ali remembered tearing away from her father's grip to fall onto her sister's bed, desperately clutching onto the toys that were once hers. She ran her fingers over her face and cried into the neck of a stuffed giraffe. She couldn't feel the soft breath of comfort against her cheek like she usually would or the chuckle that escaped Bianca's lips once in a while. 

It finally registered to her that Bianca was gone - totally and utterly gone.