Chapter 26

Hearing the news, I shot out of bed. My mind exploded with shock. "Dad, what did you say?" I couldn't believe it. "Alana took her own life? There's no way that's true!" Words couldn't even describe how I felt at that moment. I hurriedly got dressed and rushed out of the room, running as fast as I could toward the pond in Lower Bay. By the time I got there, the area was already surrounded by a crowd of villagers. However, Brandon's men had blocked everyone off, keeping them about 30 feet away, not allowing anyone to get close. I couldn't get through either. All I could do was watch from a distance. Alana's body was already swollen and gray in color from being in the water for too long. She was still wearing the same outfit from the evening before. I recognized her T-shirt, shorts, and canvas shoes. The images from last evening flashed in my mind like a movie. Alana had come to see me, wanting to watch the sunset one last time. She said things she had kept inside her for a long t