she is their downfall

mabel's pov This wonderful sunny day camouflages the despair evident in the room. The agonizing pain my family is feeling, the awful nightmare we’re being subjected to, and my utterly confused state of being. I can't quite understand what everyone is saying or come to terms with the chopped-up dead body of my little sister inside a box on our dining table. Rather ironic, since the box looks so normal not betraying the contents within it. The box came with a letter and I refused to read it. Seeing the horrified expression on my dad's face as he read it, I’d rather be oblivious to it for the moment. I feel faint but I have to be here for my parents, and the realization that I'm all they have now brought another round of dizziness. Oh God! I felt nauseous and had to take deep breaths as I couldn't afford to add to my parent’s worry especially with the stifling atmosphere even with the police here. They are asking weird questions like "Are you sure you won't be causing any trouble, raising any alarm? you know how powerful they are, they could do the same thing to you, you wouldn't want that, would you? you wouldn't want you and your entire family gone, would you?" I don't get what they are talking about and I am not sure I want to know. I just want everything to be over and done with so I can go to my room and sleep, then maybe, my brain could finally function properly and I will request an explanation for everything that’s going on. After grueling rounds of questioning, preparation for the burial of my sister, settlement of my family (I really don't know what that means but it involves a briefcase), and a whole lot of coffee, the police finally left. There was a brief moment of silence before my mom broke down, my dad went to her and helped her to their room before coming back for me to gently explain exactly everything that had happened. I didn't react because I didn't know how to react, my brain was still not functioning. I was still staring at him when he brought out both the letter and briefcase. He opened the briefcase to reveal a huge amount of money and that is when everything clicked in place. The world stopped being hazy and my brain finally caught up with reality. I knocked the letter out of his hands before he could start reading it to me and ran up to my room. I still couldn't cry, it felt like my brain knew and saw everything but refused to believe. How can I come to terms with the fact that my sister whom I walked to school yesterday is no longer alive? How am I supposed to believe that it was not an animal that tore her apart but people who chopped her up, people who are called role models and are looked up to by a lot of people? How can I believe that the world can be this dark? How can I believe that people can exist without a touch of humanity in them? How can I believe any of these? The world went hazy again. My eyes are glassy but the pains are acting like a barrier not letting anything out, not even tears. I just sat on my bed, feeling nothing, seeing nothing, and doing nothing till darkness came down to match the state of everything in my life. I woke up to noises and realized they were my dad's voice and my mom's sobs. With a tired glance at the window, I saw it was nighttime and wondered how long I slept. Listening closely, I heard tidbits of my parents' hushed conversation and realized they were done with the burial. With one thought in mind, I left my room, went downstairs, and saw the letter on the table. Bringing it back to my room, I read it and finally came in touch with my reality; I cried, wailed, screamed, and lost every will to control my emotions. My parents ran to my room and joined me in mourning my sister, our joy, our peace, and the future we lost. It took a while before we calmed down and slept on the bed huddled with each other. I woke up alone, tired but with a newfound purpose for life. I stashed the letter in my underwear drawer, went downstairs for breakfast, and prepared for school. Here is to a new beginning to a lifetime of pain, just not for me.