It was my house. My damn house was on fire. It had been as if someone punched me right in the throat. I wasn’t sure whether I should believe it or not.

“What the hell?! My house! Oh my God, Skylar!!!” I shouted.

For me, my sister was everything. My role model, idol, sister, and best friend, all in one. I didn’t have anyone there for me, except for her. When I saw my house on fire, there was only one thing circling my mind. My parents got into another one of their annoying god damn fights, took it out on Skylar, and they burned the house down. She’s dead. My big sister is dead. There was no way to get these thoughts out of my mind. My life was over. I began running towards my house, because at this point, there was nothing to lose. If I really had lost my sister, everything for me was dead. There was no point in living through anything. Before I could even cross the fence that was circled around my house, I felt someone grabbing me by my stomach and pulling me away. I remembered kicking and screaming. One of the cops dragged me away.

“You can’t go near the house. What are you trying to do, kill yourself?” The officer said loudly.

“You don’t understand. This is my house, my sister. I can’t, she’s in there. I need to get her. Please,” I cried to the officer.

“I understand, everything will be okay. Take a seat, and answer some questions for me,” he told me.

I didn’t want to answer any questions, until he answered mine.

“I understand you were at school, but do you have any idea of how this fire may have started, and if so, by whom?”

***

I was gasping for air as his hands wrapped around my neck. Mom was on the ground crying. I began kicking with the least amount of energy I had left in me. He let go and pushed me towards the wall. “I’m going to kill you all. You’re all useless pieces of shit, god damn it.” My sister came running towards my father, and he knocked her out with his elbow. While he was pushing me against the wall, his screaming increased. What did we even do. He let go, walked out of the room, and slammed the door behind him.

***

“No.”

“Are any sort of fights frequent in your household?” He asked.

***

She screamed, and he screamed even louder. “You stupid bastard. You ruined my damn life!” Mom was back at it again with blaming him because she chose to stay, were my thoughts. They both sat there shouting themselves away. My father got up and grabbed my mom, and pushed her to the ground. “You live in my damn house, you follow my damn rules, you worthless hag.” She punched him, knocked his glasses off, and walked out.

***

“No.”

“Do you go through any problems with your parents at anytime?”

***

I forgot to take the trash out. “You don’t do anything in this house. We don’t feed your fat ass for no reason. Get your shit together, or I’ll kill you.” Mom obviously joined in and agreed. “I had homework, sorry.” They didn’t buy it. “You barely going to school you dumb ass, and you’re stupid anyways. Don’t talk back.” He got up and slapped me, which was followed by a slap from my mom. I cried, got up, and went to my room. I heard my sister screaming at my parents. “Why do you treat her like she’s nothing? She’s only 10. She doesn’t deserve to be yelled at by you psychos all the damn time.” The screams echoed throughout the house, but I stayed put in my room.

***

“No.”

In my hand I had the lady bug she gave me this morning. It was for good luck. It was small and pink, which had black polka dots on it. I finally had some sort of hope in me. I had thought today would have been a good day, despite the fact that I hated going to school.

I couldn’t believe she might be gone. The idea of her not being in my life anymore made me feel like a part of me was dead. At that moment, I remembered everything about her. Her long silky brown hair, and green eyes with a speckle of blue. She was thin and tall, and freckles were scattered all over her face. The thought of her face was refusing to leave my mind, and it made me cry even more. Was she really gone? Am I left all alone now?  After a minute or two, my crying came to a stop, which felt as if I had no tears left. I walked towards the house.I wiped my tears. There were so many people, I couldn’t even recognize faces. I couldn’t see anything behind the truck. From the corner of my eye I saw a girl talking to one of the officers. For one second, she reminded me of Skylar.Once I got a closer look, it was her.

“Skylar!! Oh my God. My heart,” I screamed.

“I’m so glad you’re okay! I thought you were.. Well, you know. I was scared to death.”

“Our house? What happened? Mom and Dad?” I asked confused.

“ I don’t know, sis. I think they are gone,” she replied.

I wasn’t understanding what had happened.

“Just a few questions for you, Skylar. Do you have any idea on how the fire may have started. By who? Are there usually any problems at your house?” The officer asked.

“No. I don’t know what could have happened,” she replied.

“I’m sorry to inform you two, but your parents were found dead,” he informed us.

“Oh, no! This is awful. They were wonderful parents of ours. Loving and caring. They will be missed dearly,” Skylar replied.

She looked at me smiling, and I smiled back.