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"Anya. Hey, Anya wake up," my father urged as he shook me awake. My eyes fluttered around and tried to focus on my surroundings. I was still in my home. I must have passed out on the couch. I look down at my dress, and I jumped up. I almost rolled my ankle on my heels from the sudden burst of excitement. Xallia was going to be here very soon. I started to head to the bathroom to check on my makeup, but a tragic look from my father stopped me in my tracks.

"What's the matter, Dad?" I asked him. What was he even doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be at work? My eyes shot to the wall clock nearby, but it was nowhere near the time I expected. Xallia and I were supposed to get dinner together at around six o'clock. Not catch the midnight premiere of the latest film to hit theaters. I checked the clock on my phone to confirm, and it was indeed half past midnight.

"I think you should sit down." He recommended. I couldn't move though. I was rooted in place. It was all I could do to prevent myself from collapsing on the ground. My father must have sensed the way I was feeling judging by the way he gave up on it early on.

"No," I whispered.

"Okay. I don't know how to tell you this. I wanted to wait, but two men showed up and made things complicated. There's been an accident. Xallia's car hydroplaned into oncoming traffic," he said, trying his hardest to make it as easy on me as possible.

"No," I whispered again only this time it was barely audible.

"Anya, Xallia has passed away."

"No," I mouthed, refusing to believe him. Despite that, though, I couldn't help but break down on the spot. The legs I had rooted down collapsed below me. I was on the ground trying and failing to hold back a wave of tears from flooding the tile floor. My dad came behind me and tried to comfort me. It seemed like hours had passed as I cried into his shoulder. In reality, though, it was only about half an hour before I lost all my strength and was left sobbing on the couch.

"We don't have much time," my father said to me as he rubbed my back. "Those men I mentioned. They said they need to take the body away as soon as possible. I don't know how long they plan on giving, but I know you will want to say goodbye."

"Good-bye?" I cried out.

"Since it was a car accident, we have no reason to hold onto the body. Normally we would notify the parents, but we can't get in contact with them. As we were discussing our options, two men showed up with all the paperwork needed to claim the body."

"What about a funeral?" I asked.

"We don't know if there will be one, Anya. We don't know who these men are or what their intentions are, but they aren't family, so who knows. We can try talking to them, but I feel you should come in case they say they are taking her somewhere else."

"You're right." I agreed as I hobbled to my feet. "Let's go."

"Do you want to change first?"

"No. I don't want to waste any more time," I explained as I swapped out my heels for a pair of flats. There was no sense in risking a broken ankle. Plus, they were right by the door, so I wasn't spending any extra time looking for them.

It was a silent ride to the hospital. If it wasn't for the rain hitting the window, I might have been able to hear my father breathing. There wasn't any music playing. I think we both felt anything playing right now wouldn't be helpful. I hated that car ride more than anything. I wanted it to be over, but at the same time, I wanted it to never end. If I stayed in the car, it meant I would never have to accept her death. I would stay in a strange purgatory forever. If I didn't make it, though, it meant I would live the rest of my life knowing I couldn't say good-bye. If I did make it, it would mean coming face to face with something dreadful.

We pulled up to the hospital about half an hour later. The parking lot was almost empty. Not a surprise, given the hour of the day. The surprise was the man smoking a cigarette near the entrance doors? They had a no smoking policy around the vicinity, but that wasn't what surprised me. I recognized the man in front of the hospital. It was Mr. Morgan. What was he doing here?

I didn't get an answer from him when I walked by him. He nodded as he took a drag from the cigarette, but that was it.

"That's the man here for Xallia's body." My father informed me. What did he need something like that for?

"That's my English teacher," I told him. "You said there was two, right? Where's the other one?"

"English teacher? What does a high school English teacher need her corpse for? Are they related? Oh, and the other one is probably inside. He didn't seem like the kind who would smoke."

I didn't answer. I wasn't sure if he was seriously asking that or if it was rhetorical. Either way, though, I didn't want to talk about it. Our journey continued in the same silence as earlier until we reached the morgue. My father nodded towards me and held open the door. He must have known I'd want to be alone to give my final farewell. The door closed behind me and left just Xallia and me.

Or rather, just myself.