I walk through the graveyard holding my little sister Hayley’s hand. Red and orange leaves fall and swirl on the cold ground. Mom is behind us as we walk up to the gravestone.

I remember the first time we were here a few months ago. It was one of the saddest days of my life. Everyone was crying because Dad died, but I still don’t know what happened. When I asked, nobody gave me a straight answer.

Mom places a bouquet of fresh flowers by the stone, and we stand for several minutes in silence. She gives us a quick hug and we make our way to the car.

“Did you guys sign the card?” Mom asks as we leave the cemetery.

“Yeah. Who’s birthday is it?” I ask.

“Your cousin Adam’s.”

It’s not long before we pull into the driveway, and Mom says, “Ben, can you grab the gift bag?”

“Alright.” I grab the bag and we walk up to the house. “Hey, you guys made it!” Says Uncle Liam as we step inside. “How’ve you guys been?”

“We’re alright.” Mom says. “How’s Natasha been? Has she been out of the house lately?”

“She’s okay. Nobody’s seen her much, but she came to the party today. She’s been a bit on edge though.  Everyone’s in the living room if you wanna say hi.”

I set the gift down and we go into the living room. The first thing we notice is  Aunt Natasha arguing with Grandma.

“When have I ever done that!” says Aunt Natasha.

“Constantly!” says Grandma.

“Like when?”

“Just yesterday you-”

“Hey, Angel and the kids are here!” Says Grandma. She gets up and opens her arms for hugs, but Aunt Natasha just keeps watching the game.

“How have you guys been?” Says Grandma.

“We’re okay. How have you been?” Says Mom.

“I’m getting by.”

Grandma picks up her purse and jacket and moves them to the coffee table.

“Here, you can have a seat if you’d like. We were all just watching the game.” Says Grandma.

We take a seat next to Grandma while everyone watches the game. Hayley says, “Mommy, can I have your phone?”

“Sure.” Says Mom. She unlocks her phone and hands it to my sister.

“I want to use your phone too! There’s nothing to do!” I say.

“I’m sorry, I just told you sister she can use it. You could go play with your cousins.”

“I can’t, they’re helping Aunt Amy cook stuff.”

“Sorry but I don’t know what I can do. You can have it when she’s done, okay?”

“Why does she always ge-”

“Oh, come one!” Says Aunt Natasha at the TV, shooting up from her seat.

“What’s wrong with you lately? It’s just a game! Sit down!” Says Grandma.

“That one point just cost our team the damn game!”

“Language!” Says Grandma.

Aunt Natasha huffs and storms out of the house. The room is quiet and uncomfortable, until Aunt Amy happily pops in and says, “Foods ready if anyone’s hungry!”

We stay awhile and leave pretty late. Since we already had dinner at Aunt Amy’s we brush our teeth and go to bed, but I can’t sleep at all. All I can do is stare at the ceiling. “I wish dad were here.” I think. “He always told me stories that helped me sleep. And he probably would have been able to stop everyone from yelling. They never fought like that when he was here.”

I shiver. “It’s kinda cold…” I think. “I wanna get another blanket.” I pull the covers off and make my way to the closet down the hall. As I pass the stairs, I hear Mom in the kitchen on the phone with someone.

“I’m really worried about Natasha. I know this isn’t easy for her, she just lost her little brother.” She pauses. “I know, but something feels wrong. She’s acting the same way my sister did before she took her life…” Mom gets quieter, and I can’t hear what she’s saying. I tiptoe down the stairs to hear better, but all I can catch is, “Night, I love you too.” I scuttle back upstairs before Mom sees me. I grab a blanket from the closet and get back into bed, finally drifting to sleep.

The next morning during breakfast Mom says, “We’re gonna go visit your Aunt Natasha.”

“But I thought she was angry.” Hayley says.

“Sometimes people act angry when they’re sad. I don’t think she’s been feeling very well lately, and I want to go see if she’s okay.”

We finish breakfast, get dressed, and climb into the car. Eventually we pull into Aunt Natasha’s driveway and walk up to the front porch. Mom rings the doorbell and waits a moment. Nobody answers, so she tries again. “That’s weird. Is it broken?” She says. She knocks on the door.

“She has to be home; her car’s here.”

“Maybe she went with a friend somewhere.” I say.

“Maybe. We’ll look inside real quick. If she’s not here we’ll just go home, alright?”

Hayley and I nod. Mom slowly opens the door and leads us inside. “Hello?” she says, but the house is quiet. It’s really dark and creepy; all the blinds and curtains are shut. Mom turns on a light, but I wish she hadn’t. Spots on the carpet are black and stained, and the floor is covered in old trash.

I see a desk in the corner; the top is littered with photos. They all have people scribbled or cut out, and some look like they’ve even been set on fire.

One was a Christmas picture with Mom, Dad, Hayley, and me, except… Dad was scribbled out. I looked back at the other pictures again, and it starts to sink in. Dad was the only one taken out of the photos.

I look around, hoping to find some explanation. I open a drawer and notice a dark bottle, and on the label I see a skull. “Mom, what is this?” I ask, and hand her the bottle. Her eyes get wide when she sees it.

“Where did you find this?” Mom asks.

“In the drawer.”

She looks at the desk and sees all the pictures.

“We need to go.” She says.

“Wait, but Mo-”

“She’s not home, let’s go!”

Mom grabs our hands and rushes us to the car, and we drive away in a hurry.