**Leilani’s POV**
“Wake up! Wake up!” I heard someone call out to me but I ignored the sound of the voice recognizing it as that of my obnoxious younger sister Samantha.
“Wake up Anny!” She growled in annoyance and I sat up slowly recognizing that from the harshness of her voice, there had to be something wrong.
In frustration, I begrudgingly pried my sleep filled eyes open, rubbed violently at it as I sat up slowly and asked; “What is it?”
“It’s mom, it’s dad!” She said in a type of voice that had me sitting up in concentration. As soon as I took in her overall expression, I gasped. She looked rough, tattered even.
For someone whom I had seen only hours ago looking so posh, her present appearance made her seem like she had been run over by a moving tricycle.
“I do not understand what you’re trying to say!” I rushed out in fright, “What happened to you and what happened to mom and dad?”
I scrunched up my nose in disgust when she blew her nose into her hands, rubbing it against her now rumpled nightie.
“Speak up!”
I saw her try desperately to rein in the tears that tried to escape her eyes as she said; “News came a few minutes ago…” her voice trailed off when suddenly a loud cry tore up from the back of her throat. It was so sharp and so agonizing that it had me fidgeting even though I really do not know what was wrong yet.
“Sam!”
“Mom and dad are dead!” She suddenly yelled, making me freeze momentarily in shock. It couldn’t be true right?
They cannot possibly be dead, or could they?
“That’s not true…” I mumbled, moving away from my bed to begin to prance around my wide room. Mom and dad couldn’t be dead!
My attention went back to Samantha who was still sitting on my bed when I heard her suddenly mumble something incomprehensible under her breath.
“Huh?”
“I said everyone knows about it. I even overheard Beta Joyner telling some warriors about it.” She said, sniffling.
No this couldn’t be true!
I wasn’t sure what it was that suddenly overcame me but I heard a loud agonized scream tear out from the back of my throat. It was so loud that it pierced my eardrums, numbing me.
“Anny!” I heard Samantha’s frightened scream cut through the fog that had formed in my mind, and when I opened my eyes to look at her, I noticed that I was sprawled on the floor but couldn’t remember when I fell.
I screamed again. No, not Mom and Dad! They promised to come home today. Promised to never go on impromptu trips anymore.
So what the fuck is this?
I quickly rushed to my feet, ran towards my door and pried it open, ignoring Sam’s yellings in a bid to stop me.
As soon as I got to the wide passage just across my door, I froze. There were a lot of people there already, walking to and fro the direction of the throne room. A lot of them had grim expressions on their faces and stared pitifully at me while I walked past them.
I followed them though, walking in the direction of the throne room; and as soon as I walked into the large room filled with mourners, I couldn’t help but perceive the peculiar smell of lighted candles in the air.