Chapter 6
"Maggie?" he whispered, tiptoeing into the room. Then they saw her.
Abby screamed and stood frozen in the middle of the room, staring in horror at the sight before her eyes. Carter grabbed her and turned her face towards his chest, hoping he could protect her from the horrible sight that had greeted them.
Abby cried and pounded on his chest. "NO!" she screamed, tears gushing down her face. She didn't want to believe it, couldn't accept that it was true. She had to get away from this horrible place, get away from this thing she had once called a life. She pushed on Carter's chest, trying to get him to release her. He gripped her more tightly. "Let go of me Carter!" she shrieked.
But Carter held her tightly. She fought him for a few more seconds, but then it was as if all the fight leaked out of her, and she simply stood there, wondering what to do next. Carter led her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. "Stay right here; I'm going to go and check her." Abby, numb with grief, could only nod.
Carter walked back into the bedroom. He knelt down on the floor beside Maggie. He pressed his fingers to her neck, and felt what he knew he would feel: nothing. Her skin was cold and hard. He tried to bend her fingers, and found them stiff and unrelenting. Carter slowly stood to his feet. His worst nightmare was true. Maggie was dead.

As soon as Abby saw his face, she knew what had happened. "She's dead, isn't she?" she asked him, fearing the answer.
Carter nodded solemnly. Abby squeezed her eyes shut, but she couldn't keep the tears from escaping. "How could they do this to me?" she whispered. She felt like her whole world had collapsed. Now, she didn't have any family left. She was all alone.
Abby got up slowly and walked out the door. Carter followed behind her. When he saw that she was walking past the car, he grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?" he asked her.
Abby threw up her arms. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. My whole family is dead. Am I supposed to just go back to Chicago and pretend like everything's normal?" Tears were running down her face, but she didn't seem to care. "I can't believe they did this. I just...I can't believe they would do this to me." Abby broke off her statement, unable to go on.
Carter wrapped his arms around her. "Let's just take this one day at a time," he said comfortingly. He rubbed her back, wishing he could take her pain away.

The police inspectors stepped over the yellow police tape to get into the bedroom. One of them was questioning Carter about the exact circumstances under which they had arrived at the house.
No one was questioning Abby. She sat to the sofa, unmoving. People walked past her, officers tried to talk to her, but she said nothing. She simply stared off into space. Finally, when a third detective came to "get some answers", the forensics expert said, "For God's sake, she's in shock. Leave her alone." After that, she was left alone.
So she simply sat there, wondering what came next. She didn't want to get up off this sofa; she didn't want to go back to Chicago and pretend everything was fine. She wanted to just sit here until everything was better, until her mother and brother were back. She didn't want her life to continue until they were here with her.
She wondered if it was just some kind of sick coincidence that they had killed themselves in the same week. Or maybe she was just that unlucky. She tried to imagine what her life would be like without them. She had taken it for granted that Maggie would always be there, interfering with her life. And now, she was gone. Forever. She would never see Maggie again. For some reason, that thought made her unimaginably sad.
"Abby?" Carter said, walking over to the sofa. She did not respond. "The cops said we can go home now." She said nothing. "Abby?"
He realized she must be in shock, which surprised him. She had seemed fine when he first told her; it was only now that she was silent. He realized that maybe the best thing for her would be to go home. "C'mon, Abby; we're going home." He hoisted Abby up off the couch, and half-dragged her towards the door. "You'll feel better when we get home," he told her, and he hoped he was right.

"How is she?"
Carter sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Terrible," he admitted. "But I guess that's the best you can expect, given the circumstances."
Susan plopped down next to him on the couch. "This must be so hard for her. I can't imagine what I'd do if my whole family...did this." Susan couldn't bring herself to say the word. "Do you think she's gonna be okay?"
"I don't know. She's taking this really hard. She blames herself for the whole thing."
"Maybe I can talk to her. Is she awake?"
Carter shook his head. "She's finally asleep. She's been up ever since we got back. She needs the rest."
Susan picked up the remote and turned down the volume on the TV, with neither of them was watching. "Do you know why Maggie did it?"
Carter nodded. He showed her the letter. "The cops found this on Maggie's night table," he said, handing it to her.
Susan read the first line and was so surprised that she dropped the letter. "WHAT?" she said, then remembered that Abby was sleeping and lowered her voice. "Wha- what is this?" she stammered, looking to Carter for an explanation.
"Just read it," Carter said grimly. She did.
"Oh, my God," she breathed once she had read the letter. "Maggie probably killed herself after she read this," she realized.
Carter nodded. "I think so." He shook his head. "This whole thing was just one big, stupid mistake."
They heard footsteps behind them, and turned around. There, wrapped in a blanket, was Abby. Trying to steady her voice, she said, "What's in the letter?"