When our two guests leave, my mother goes straight to bed.
Possibly to dream about her encounter with the General.
I am not so lucky, as I head to the kitchen to clean up with my uncle.
"I'm off to bed," my uncle alerts me as we finish off.
"Okay, I'll wipe down the table then go as well."
He nods and goes upstairs to his room. When I hear the gentle click of his door as it shuts, I smile and finish off wiping down the table.
I'm off to bed when I hear a quiet knock at the front door.
It might be Dylan, but if it is, he'd be too early.
I open the door and find Jeremy on the opposite side of it.
I smirk and he musters up a small ounce of a smile as well.
"Yes?" I ask. "Why are you here so late?"
"I came to apologize," he says gently. "I was annoyed and I shouldn't have said those words to you."
I smile. "You didn't say anything wrong. You were right, I had no right just taking you along."
He sighs. "I'm sorry that I was inconsiderate about how you felt. You are the one who lost your father."
Now it's my turn to sigh. "It's fine. I'm sorry I said you had nothing better to do."
He chuckles. "You were right. I'm boring and I do have nothing better to do. Moving to a town no one knows you're in does something to you. I don't even have many friends."
"But you have me," I say. I put my hand on his shoulder. "And I get it. I left when I was a child, to find something new. But, it led me back here because of something. Finding what really happened to my father."
Jeremy smiles. "I'll help you."
I look at him, shocked. "What?"
"I will help you find out what happened to your dad."
My face completely lights up and my arms gradually open up.
He looks confused. "Can I hug you?"
His cheeks turn the slightest tint of red. "Sure."
I hug him softly and smile one last time, genuinely.
---
It's 1 in the morning by the time I wake up and sneak over to Jeremy's house.
I walk around the small compound only to find a window opened up.
I knock on the window sill and by the third tap, his head peeks out of the curtains.
"Is it time?" he asks sluggish and tired. "It's barely 1."
Cute.
I nod and he climbs out of the window. "It'll be quick."
"I still don't understand why we couldn't have just talked while I was at your house earlier," he complains as we walk past the gate to my backyard.
"It wasn't serious then," I try to explain. "Plus, I got a new recruit."
He looks surprised. "What? Since when?"
"When you kicked me out of your house."
He goes silent and we walk into the barn and there stands Dylan Jackson in the corner.
Dylan's eyes go wide. I look over my shoulder and Jeremy's widen as well, mirroring Dylan's.
"What's wrong?" I ask Jeremy.
Silence rests for a small amount of time before he begins to speak. "Nothing."
"Okay…"
Silence again.
"How about we sit down, so we can figure out what to do?" I ask.
The boys take a seat on the benches separate from one another. I go sit next to Jeremy and start.
"Okay, so the reason we're here is a serious matter," I start. "I'm sorry it's so late and I woke us up." I put my hand on Jeremy's shoulder for a split second before drawing it back.
He looks shocked and his cheeks flush for a second before he nods, slightly.
Dylan rolls his eyes.
"I hope we can put any past grievances behind us and focus on the matter at hand," I start again. I look at Dylan. "Please."
He nods and I finally have their attention.
"So what's the deal?" Jeremy asks.
I shrug my shoulders. "I might have called you here, but Jackson here hatched the plan."
"Dylan," he mutters.
We both look towards Dylan. He gets up. "The reason we're here is for you, Stella-Rose."
I nod.
"So, you need clarity on your father's death."
I nod again.
"Before we start anything we need to know what happened, from your perspective."
I hesitated for a while.
"This is the first step to solving this mystery," Dylan explains.
I nod once again for the last time. "He just fell. Right in front of me. I don't know how."
"Something might have caused it," Jeremy mutters.
"You think I don't know that, genius?" I ask, annoyed. "Something must have obviously caused it."
"Sorry…" he mutters and I sigh.
"No," I say softly. "I am." I grab his hand for a minute and smile at him.
"Anyways," Dylan speaks out. "Is there anything else you can draw out from your experience?"
I think then shake my head.
"Maybe something that happened prior in the day?"
I shake my head again then look down at my shoes.
"Or maybe something that was happening to him at the time?"
My head snaps up and my eyes go wide. "Well, my parents were going through a divorce at the time."
"That can be a trivial point on why he died!" Jeremy pipes up. "He probably couldn't handle the idea of losing his wife."
"And me," I whisper. "He was gonna lose me too."
"He was afraid of losing the love of his life and his only child," Jeremy says.
"Are you thinking it was a suicide?" Dylan asks and my eyes go wide. Tears begin to form at my lids.
"It can't be," Jeremy states, and I look over at him instantly. "There's no way he could have left his loved ones behind. He must have wanted to get back in their lives in some way."
Dylan nods slowly. "So this has to be a murder."
Jeremy nods as well. "Then, Stella-Rose, you have to tell us everything. Start from the very beginning."