Harper Regan's Story

One week ago, things had been normal. Carson had flown into LAX in the early evening from a surfing competition in Tahiti and had met Izzie, his girlfriend, at their apartment. Her parents had invited them to have dinner at their estate and the two had agreed. Carson liked Izzie's parents and was glad that they approved of him as well. The two were very well known and both excelled in their professions, which was why his girlfriend had changed her name a few years back- she wanted to make her own name in the music industry. He didn't quite understand why she wouldn't use the fame in the Regan name to her advantage but he knew that Izzie wasn't someone who would conform to the normal standards.
The dinner was going fairly well when the doorbell rang and soon after Mr. and Mrs. Regan went to answer it, the sound of gunshots echoed through the house. Izzie, Harper and himself had jumped up to see what was going on but by the time they reached the front door, it was too late. The lifeless bodies of Richard and Kathryn lied in pools of their own blood and just as they made eye contact with their killer, he pulled the trigger once more, taking his own life. It was Chris, Izzie's own brother. Simply put, they were all shocked.
Over the next seven days the Regan estate was filled with detectives and cops. He and Izzie had temporarily moved in, deciding to deal with permenant living arrangements once everything had calmed down, Izzie's sister Harper and her friend, Lynn, who Harper now claimed was her girlfriend, had also moved in. Richard and Kathryn's agents as well as a few family and friends had stopped by, offering their condolences, but besides that, they didn't allow any other forms of contact. The phones rang constantly until someone disconnected them for the time being and despite the millions of dollars that had already been offered to them by magazines to get the first post-tragedy interviews, none of them spoke to the press. Funeral arrangements had been made for December 24th, Christmas Eve, and that day was today.

Carson lay in the bed he shared with Izzie at their parents house and while they had been sleeping over here for most of the last week, he did feel out of place. He and Izzie were supposed to be at their own apartment, living their own lives. They weren't supposed to be preparing for a funeral on Christmas Eve. They weren't supposed to be caring for Emily. They weren't supposed to have to deal with any of this but now they had to.

"Morning babe," Carson whispered as he pulled himself out from under the wrinkled white sheets and into the bathroom. He showered quickly and dressed in a suit, despite how uncomfortable he felt in it. Black-tie events weren't his thing but he had no choice now. It wasn't like he could show up to his girlfriend's parents' funeral in board shorts.

He stood in front of the mirror, gazing sheepishly at his reflection. "Things will be okay," he said. Although he was speaking to Izzie, it was something that he needed to confirm for himself. "We've already gotten through one week Izzie," he continued as he adjusted his tie. Knowing that it would never sit perfectly in place, he gave up and shrugged awkwardly, trying to look comfortable in the suit. "Tomorrow is Christmas and after this is over, things will start getting back to normal," he continued, only hoping that it was true.

"I'll meet you downstairs, babe," he continued as he slipped his phone into his pocket, gently kissed Izzie and offered her one more reassuring smile before going downstairs and into the kitchen.

The day of the tragedy that had happen to the Regan family, about a week ago, Lynn was at a diner with her family. She wasn't there with Harper that awful day of the double homicide and suicide. When she had found out about it though, she got to the Regan's house as soon as she could. When She had arrived, there was police cars and ambulances everywhere. There were people with cameras, flashing them like there was no tomorrow. There were news crews and everything. There were people talking and yelling and crying and starring from across the street of the big house. Police were surrounding the place making sure no one gets in the perimeter and messes with the evidence. Lynn then saw the three bodies laying on the ground. The more Lynn looked at the scene, the more it made her depressed.
After that day, everything just became a blur in her eyes. With her temporally moving in with Harper and her sister, and the phones ringing nonstop, the constant knocking at the door, the constant view of people in suites in the house. It all depressed Lynn, but she was pulling herself through it for Harper. She was dealing with it. She even tried talking to Harpers little sister, Emily, to make sure she was doing alright too. But it's hard to talk to some little kid about what's going on around them. Lynn didn't tell Emily about her parents of brother though. That was one of her sisters jobs.
It's been seven days. One week. Week numero uno. Since what had happened. To Lynn, it's been a chaotic week. But now it's December twenty-forth, the day of the funeral and Lynn had gotten hardly any sleep. She just sort of sat there in a chair in the room with Harper looking out the window waiting for the sun to come up. Once it was up and didn't look like early morning, she got ready for the funeral by doing all the stuff girls do before they go somewhere. Taking a quick shower, brushing teeth, fixing hair, they getting dressed. Lynn, being the girl she is, doesn't like dresses. So she put on an extra small men's suite that she had fixed the night before to make sure it fits her. She even went to the extent of putting a tie on that seemed as if some one has been tying ties for a very long time, with the tie perfectly tied and straightened. She them went back to the room and sat in a chair as she put on some shiny black dress shoes. After she was done with that, she bent forward in her the chair and put her forehead in her hands and put her fingers through her hair as she waited to Harper to get up. "I wish things can go back to normal." Was the only the Lynn had said as she waited. Just thinking about the funeral was making her depressed.

December 17th
Emily had spent most of the morning with her homeschooling tutor, and once they had finished, her and her mother went out to finish up the Christmas shopping for her dad and siblings. She was thrilled the week before on a shopping trip when she had found a pretty pink surfboard for Carson, Izzie's boyfriend. Today though, she was determined to find the best gifts in the world to give to her dad, Izzie and Harper. They went to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, a three block strip filled with some of the most expensive stores in the world. With her mother's assistance, she was able to pick out a Gucci bag for Harper and a pair of Versace shoes, and a Brooks Brother's tie for her dad, but Izzie was harder. "She doesn't like pretty things," Emily would complain to her mother as they moved from store to store. They had managed to get through only four or five stores before Emily became tired and annoyed at how hard it was to shop for her oldest sister and wanted to go home. Her mother agreed though, knowing that soon the family would be coming over for dinner. Emily's father, Richard, had just gotten home from a flight from New York where he had been filming his newest movie, when they arrived. An hour or two later, both of Emily's sisters and Carson had arrived and before long, dinner was started. It was nearly half way though the meal when the doorbell rang and her parents left to get it. Six bangs startled everyone and Harper, Izzie and Carson had jumped up, running to the front of the home. Emily continued to eat for and only decided to see what was going on when she heard the sobbing of one of her sisters, and someone else shouting to call the police. As she neared the front of the house, she spotted three lifeless bodies but that was all she was able to see before being whisked upstairs by one if her sisters.

December 24th
"Emily?" a voice called out, pulling her out of her trance. Unlike her siblings, Emily was able to sleep soundly every night. It wasn't like her parents hadn't been on hiatuses before and she figured that soon enough, they would come home again, despite all of the talk of them being in 'Heaven' and that they can't come home anymore.
Emily rubbed her eyes as she slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the cool wooden floor before pulling open the door to reveal Izzie. As Emily glanced up at her sister's face, she noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the overall tired appearance. It was kind of unusual to see her dressed in the clothes she had on, but Emily did remember that today they had to go somewhere important to say bye to their mom and dad.

"Did Santa come yet?" was the first thing that she asked as she peered up at her sister. Christmas was her favorite holiday and throughout all of the craziness, Emily was still sure that this would be the best Christmas ever. Every morning since the beginning of the month she'd wake up and run downstairs to check if it was Christmas yet. Little did she know that tomorrow wasn't going to be like the past seven Christmases.
She didn't wait for Izzie's response as she left the entrance way and moved back into her bedroom, grabbing the black dress that one of her sisters had laid out for her the night before. She undressed and slipped the dress on, and followed by pulling on a pair of white stockings and her black Steve Madden children's boots. "Can you do my hair like mom does it for me?" she asked as she moved back towards Izzie, handing her a hairbrush.

The past seven days were all blurred together, only separating themselves by the rising and setting of the sun. She managed to get a few hours of sleep every day, only thanks to Benadryl, but even those few hours didn't do much to make her feel any more alive than her parents. Everything had changed so quickly and Harper was unable to keep up with it.

A week ago, she was living a close to perfect life. She was a successful actress and model, maintained a healthy (yet secret) relationship with Lynn and had wonderful family and friends. Chris changed that all though when he came over, high as a kite, and murdered their parents and himself. It was a horrific sight that she, Izzie and Carson had to see. Harper thought that Emily had gotten a glimpse of the lifeless bodies but as she stumbled to call 911, she managed to lead the little one upstairs and into her bedroom. The last thing that she wanted was for Emily to be just as traumatized as they all would be because of it, and although Harper had been spending most of the last few days with just Lynn, the time that she did spend with Emily seemed to be normal. She didn't expect a child to understand the concept of her parents dying but it seemed like Emily was a little bit too normal for such a tragic time in their lives. However, Harper opted to let Izzie deal with it.

The sun had slowly lit up the sky and all that Harper could do was stare out the window at the sky that transformed from darkness to a pinkish orange hue, and then to a clear blue sky. Harper sat in a chair a few feet away from her and while she wanted to get up and cuddle with her girlfriend, she had barely been able to show any type of affection towards anyone since the murders. After Lynn exited the shower, Harper slipped in and while the cold water did force her to wake up to some extent, she still felt like she wasn't really there. Like this wasn't her real life- this wasn't supposed to happen to her. Her parents were supposed to see her next movie, to listen to Izzie's upcoming album, to see Emily's next dance recital. They weren't supposed to be killed, and nonetheless by their own son.

After she had finished showering, Harper put on a simple black dress, a black cardigan and heels. She stared at herself in the mirror as she slowly put on mascara and eyeliner and then lipstick.

"We should probably go down and see what everyone's doing," Harper said to Lynn, not making eye contact with her girlfriend as she offered Lynn her hand to take.

Lynn looked up and saw Harper go into the bathroom. She then looked out the window. It seemed odd, for some reason, that the sun came out. As odd as it may have seemed, Lynn looked anyways, wondering weather she should be wondering what other people are doing today. She knew most people will probably be said for the family, but they wouldn't feel as sad as anyone else here. They have no idea how hard it could be to loose someone, loose three people, all in one night. Lynn couldn't help but shake her head slightly as the thoughts came to her mind. The thoughts of it not being fair. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

She heard the bathroom door open and looked towards it as she watched Harper come out. She couldn't help but let a small smile come on her face when she saw Harper in that simple black dress and heels. It made her a little happy. Lynn stood up, still looking at Harper with that small, effortless smile on her face. Lynn tended to do that. To just simply smile, just for the heck of it. She always believed that if you smile at everyone you meet, it lights up their day, just a little bit. And Lynn just loved lighting up peoples days, even if it was just for a short second. Plus, Lynn was also smiling, like she always does, when she realizes she has someone she actually likes. Someone she actually wants to be with. It thrills he, if that's the right word for it, that she has someone she really likes, someone like Harper, as her girlfriend.

She nodded, shifting her eyes for a second towards the door. "Yeah." She said softly. When Harper offered her hand, Lynn smiled a little bit, accepting the hand. "Things are gonna be fine." She added in a soft, kind voice, as she grabbed Harper's hand softly, letting Harper lead the way downstairs to where everyone else was.

Carson didn't really feel comfortable going through the Regan house, knowing that Izzie's parents weren't going to return again. He had been to the house when neither of them were there; sometimes they asked Izzie to come over to spend time with Emily when they were both away for business and she was left with a nanny, but then he always knew that it was just a short visit. The house felt empty now, even to Carson, who wasn't even related to the dead couple and their son.

He sorted through the fridge, deciding that he would skip a big breakfast for an apple. It was unusual for him, being a big eater, but he didn't want to stomach too much, knowing that in just an hour or so, he would be at a possibly emotional funeral. Carson was unsure of how Izzie would react. She had been strong for her siblings for the past week but Carson knew that facade couldn't hold up for too much longer. He wondered when she would crack and break down, and he could only hope that he would be there for her when it happened, because he knew all too well that alcohol would be her preferred choice of coping.

As he ate the apple, he perched himself on one of the stools that sat in front of the island in the kitchen. Glancing up at the clock, he realized that they would need to leave in ten minutes or so. Izzie was probably still getting ready, so he figured that he would try to make himself useful and headed towards the stairwell. "Izzie, do you want me to make you or Emily something to eat?" he called out. As he headed to turn back to the kitchen, he heard footsteps and matched them to Harper and Lynn who were coming downstairs.

"Hey," was all that he could say. He wanted to say good morning, or maybe make a joke, but it wasn't a good morning and it wasn't an appropriate time to joke around. Besides, Harper had been pretty bitchy all week. It wasn't like he expected Izzie's sister to be giddy, but it seemed like she was pretty wound up lately. "Are you guys going to eat before we go?" he asked, glancing once again at the pair that were headed down the stairs.

Emily let out a dramatic sigh when her sister informed her that it was still not Christmas morning. How long would it be?! She had been waiting for Santa to leave her towers of presents for what seemed like eternity, and while her parents had insisted that if she waited patiently for the holiday, it would be worth it, she didn't believe them. She wanted new dolls and stuffed animals, pretty dresses and new shoes, movies and electronics, and every other thing that she had written about in her many letters to Santa. How was she supposed to wait for all of that for "a couple more nights", like Izzie had said?! It just seemed impossible.

Her eldest sister spent a few minutes doing her hair and once finished, Emily jumped up and studied her reflection in the full length mirror that hung on her wall. She tilted her head to the left and then the right, forward and then backwards, before a small smile appeared on her face. It wasn't exactly like her mother's careful styling, but Emily liked the personal attention nonetheless. She grabbed a pink clutch from her desk, filled with lip gloss and other play makeup that she her mother had given her just a few weeks back, before following Izzie into the hallway. She watched Izzie approach Harper's door, but before she could knock or call out to Harper, the door swung open, revealing Harper and the other girl, Lynn. The concept of Lynn being Harper's "girlfriend" just didn't make sense to Emily. Her parents were not supportive of same-sex relationships and Emily had never known anyone who was gay. The idea of her sister having a girlfriend didn't seem right. Girls were supposed to have boyfriends. Emily figured that Lynn was just one of Harper's friends and while she hadn't questioned Harper about it yet, she was curious as to why she would call someone who was just an average friend, a girlfriend.

"I want cotton candy," Emily declared after Carson had called out to Izzie about it, and then she had offered to make something for them. "Mom always lets me have cotton candy," she insisted. "Mom says it's okay if I..." and "Daddy always gives me..." had become popular phrases in Emily's vocabulary over the past few days, and while the words that followed were usually lies, they had gotten her what she wanted over the past few days.

She left Izzie's side, running down the stairs and into the kitchen. She pulled herself onto one of the bar stools positioned by counter and began to apply some of the lip gloss hidden in her purse onto her pale pink lips. "What are we gonna do today?" she called out to the others.

As Harper and Lynn exited her bedroom, they were met by Izzie and Emily who were waiting right outside her door, and then Carson at the bottom of the stairs, asking whether they wanted breakfast. The last thing that she was thinking about was food and honestly, she hadn't eaten much of anything since her parents were died. She couldn't imagine stomaching anything, especially if she was supposed to be in the same space as their dead bodies in only a little while. "No, I'm not hungry," she replied, slowly making her way down the stairs. She glanced back at Lynn, saying, "You should eat something. There's probably some stuff in the fridge..."

She had just about reached the first floor when Emily came running past her and Lynn, flying down the stairs and into the kitchen. Harper had to bite her lip to keep from snapping at her younger sister to calm down. Emily had been getting on her nerves ever since she had moved back home a few days ago, and although part of Harper knew that she was being unfair; that Emily was still a child who didn't understand what was going on and it was probably better that she was blissfully ignorant than as upset as everyone else, she couldn't help but to get irritated at her energetic behavior. Harper knew she wasn't on fair grounds to complain- she had left most of the work dealing with Emily to Izzie, but Jesus Christ, she couldn't imagine spending another day with the kid.

Moving past Carson, she entered the kitchen where Emily was already sitting, coating her lips with gloss. Harper rolled her eyes, "What do you think you're getting dressed up for?" she shot, grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator. Her sister than asked what they were doing, and Harper narrowed her eyebrows at the girl. Didn't Izzie and Carson tell her that today was the day of the funeral? Even Lynn had attempted to explain the situation to the eight-year-old, but it just seemed like she couldn't comprehend the situation. While Harper refused to show anything but annoyance towards Emily, part of her knew that she couldn't expect a child to just accept the idea that her parents were never coming home again. Despite being thirteen years older than Emily, Harper didn't want to accept it either.

As Carson watched his girlfriend question her sisters and Lynn about their breakfast plans, he couldn't help but to feel kind of... out of place. This whole situation was wrong. Izzie wasn't supposed to be waking up Emily in the morning and getting her ready for the day, and more specifically for her own parents goddamn funeral. She shouldn't have to worry about making breakfast for her younger siblings and making sure that they were ready to go. This just wasn't supposed to happen.

She should be back at their apartment, sleeping soundly after dedicating the past day to working on her upcoming album for her band, Dread Division. Instead, the past few days had all blended into one long nightmare. Carson was sure that Izzie hadn't slept since receiving the news of her parents' deaths and while it was said that "from tragedy comes inspiration", Carson couldn't imagine that she had much time to think about music. Hell, part of him felt like he wasn't supposed to be in this situation either. He wasn't supposed to be spending his Christmas week mourning the loss of who could have been his future mother and father-in-law. He shouldn't have to watch the girl he loves lose her parents, and he still didn't know what they were going to do with Emily. Was Izzie just supposed to care for the child for the next ten years? Was she really supposed to give up the rest of her youth to play mother to her sister? It sure as hell seemed like Harper wasn't interested in caring for the child, so either Izzie was going to be stuck with her or she'd go off with some other relative. While Izzie didn't appear to be exactly soft-hearted, Carson couldn't imagine her dumping Emily with some distant relative and while that was probably a good thing, he still struggled with the idea of no longer just being in a relationship with Izzie, but Izzie and Emily.

Before he knew it, Emily had bounded down the stairs and past him, shouting something about cotton candy. He could hear Harper and her conversing in the kitchen but Carson waited for Izzie to come down before starting towards them.