She didn’t know how long she had been there for, sat on Lucas’ bed. Watching him. Her cell ringing brought her out of her daze. She answered, but didn’t say anything.

“Terri?” Holt asked. “Terri, was he at home?”

“I’m really sorry Holt.”

“What for? Was he not there? You said you had arrived three hours ago- have you not been yet?”

Terri inhaled deeply. “I’m really sorry Holt, but… it’s Lucas.”

“You’re freaking me out now Terri.”

“It’s Lucas. He’s… he’s dead.”

There was a long pause. Terri couldn’t even hear Holt take a breath. Then came the loud, agonising cry. Terri sobbed whilst she listened and waited for Holt to be ready to speak next. “H-how?”

“I just fou-found him in his bedroom. I think you should get here. I’ve called The Secretary already, she’ll be here soon, but she’s coming from The Lodge. I haven’t called the emergency services yet but I will have to. I know I will.” Terri hung up and the tears came again. All she could do was sit and wait for someone to come.

Within five minutes of finally making the call, EMS and the first police officer arrived, having found their way to the bedroom. They spoke softly and looked sympathetically as they introduced themselves and assessed the scene, being very aware of who they both were.

“We’ll take it from here honey,” one of the paramedics said. “Why don’t you go through and get a drink?” Terri resisted at first, not wanting to leave her friend but the police officer was politely insistent that she took the medic’s advice.

Soon after, The Power of Three arrived, landing on their feet outside Lucas’ building. The street was lined with flashing police cars and ambulances. They ran into the building and made their way to the apartment, frustrated at the slow elevator taking them up.

“Terri!” Mindy called out, crying as they hurriedly entered Lucas’ living space.

“Where is he?!” Holt asked as he went to hug her, his eyes filled with tears.

“He’s through there, but we can’t go through. They’re going to be taking him out soon once they’ve finished.”

“I want to see him now though,” complained Holt, looking down the corridor.

“I know. I know you do,” soothed Terri.

Blane wrapped his arm around his brother. “Sit down, mate,” he said softly, encouraging him to sit on the sofa behind him.

“The Secretary has called everyone to The Facility to wait until she returns. She’ll be here soon and then will go back and tell everyone else,” explained Terri.

“Will you be going back to The Facility with her?” Mindy asked her.

“Yes, I will be.”

Blane looked at his brother. “I’ll stay here with you Holt, if you want. And Mindy, if you wanted to, you can go back with Terri?”

“Alright, yeah. That sounds like a good plan,” Mindy agreed.

The Secretary came through with two suited aides. She herself was wearing a lime blouse with grey pencil skirt and matching jacket, her ID still tagged to her jacket pocket.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” she apologised, looking at her grieving team. “I have no idea what to say, this is just so heart-breaking.” She looked at Terri and left off down to the bedroom, looking for an officer in charge.

***

The flight back, whilst quick, was a sombre and silent one. Terri and Mindy had hitched a ride back to The Facility with The Secretary on her jet after an hour of being in San Francisco.

Terri had left her truck for Holt and Blane to drive back in when they were ready to leave.

Nothing was said as they soared across the western states. When they arrived back at The Facility, The Secretary led the way to the games room where Kimona, Do’Lanqwa, Effie and Reuben, Brad and Dylan were waiting with no idea of what was about to come.

An anxious silence fell upon them. Mindy and Terri followed, but the absence of Lucas, Blaine and Holt was noticed.

“What’s going on Ma’am?” Brad asked first.

“Turn the X-Box off Dyl, please,” Terri asked, and he warily obliged.

“I have something I need to tell you all,” The Secretary began. “I have just come back from San Francisco where I’m sorry to say, Lucas was found, having passed away at his apartment.”

There were shocked groans and whispers of swear words uttered as the news sunk in. Dylan chucked his head into his hands and Brad sat back in the sofa with his hands in his hair. No one said anything as they absorbed the news. Kimona got up with tears in her eyes and pulled Mindy in close for a hug.

“How did he die?” Dylan asked, his voice slightly muffled from his head being in his hands still.

“It appears… it appears that he… took his own life,” The Secretary said gently.

Dylan burst into tears in response, and Brad winced and jumped up from the sofa agitated. Do’Lanqwa shook his head in disbelief but remained quiet. The Rodeos simply bowed their heads and held hands, which Terri had to admit, surprised her. Still, she thought. No matter how tough you might be, it’s never easy losing one of your own.

Terri walked over to Dylan and put her arm around his shoulder, bringing him in for a hug, rocking him slightly. The poor kid was still quite young to be dealing with this.

“What happens now?” Effie asked in a soft Texan drawl.

“He’s been taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office where tomorrow they’ll establish cause of death and his body will be released to his next of kin.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Is that his sister?” Dylan asked, looking up, bleary faced and still being embraced by Terri.

“No,” The Secretary replied. “It’s his Mom and Dad. They live in Maine. His sister though who lives in Oakland will be dealing with things until they fly over.”

“I had no idea,” muttered Terri. Damn, she thought. None of us probably knew that about him. I hadn’t even taken the time to find that out from him. There was an ashamed hush amongst the group as they came to the same realisation.

“I’ve got some calls to make. You should all go home and get some rest. Or stick around here and be there for each other. Whatever you guys need. And if you need to speak to me anytime, you can.” The Secretary got up, patted her skirt smooth and left out of the door.

The Collective opted to remain at The Facility and mourn their friend together in the privacy of the games room, away from any prying eyes. Most of the evening was spent in silence. Occasionally someone would recall a moment they shared with Lucas and reflected on it fondly. Terri had been nursing the same drink for a while.

“Terri?” Brad asked expectedly.

“Oh sorry, I was somewhere else.”

“It’s ok, I just wanted to know if you wanted another drink?”

“Um.. no. Thanks. I’ve still got this one.”

“It’s gotta be room temp by now. You sure you don’t want a cold one?”

“Ok, go on then please.” Brad returned with a new drink and placed in front of Terri on the table. He sat down next to her. “How are you holding up? You’ve not said much tonight,” she said to him.

“Well, no more than anyone else, I’d say.”

“True. But you haven’t shared or joined in much. It’s more noticeable.”

“I’m still trying to make sense of it all I guess. Can’t really believe he’s dead.”

“Mhm,” Terri nodded in agreement.

“How are you holding up? I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to find him.”

“I’m… I’m ok. At the moment. Ask me again in a week. I think it’ll hit me then. In a way though, I’m glad it was me who found him. I’m sure he would have preferred a friend than a complete stranger.”

“I never thought of it like that.”

Terri’s thoughts drifted back to that moment. “You know, as I picked up his letter, I think I instantly knew what I’d find. But it didn’t make it any easier when you’re faced with it. He was just there, Brad. Poor thing.”

Brad rubbed his eye with a finger, scrunching his face up in exhaustion. “You know, I need to say this to someone, but I can’t stop thinking about the things I said to him yesterday Terri. I-”

“No, you can’t think like that. Don’t do this to yourself. Now is not the time for that. It won’t help.”

“I was really horrible though.”

“I’m sure you probably were, but don’t beat yourself up over it now. This is about Lucas, this time we have together tonight. We all have our things we wished we would have said to him, or hadn’t. But I want to remember him with you and everyone else here.” She raised a glass and knocked the contents back swiftly. “That’s better.”

Five days later. Grandsend, Maine.

The guests to Lucas’ funeral all made their way back to his parent’s home for the wake. The house was a good size with a decent amount of land, which worked out as there were a lot of people at the funeral and it would have been a squeeze otherwise.

The members of The Collective gave the family some space and congregated outside near the stables. Everyone was there, including The Rodeos and the Woodland Warriors- which was partly why they met outside, much to the surprise of the horses who occupied the stables.

It was the first time Do’Lanqwa and the triplets had seen the likes of the talking Grizzly George, Boy Beaver, or Reuben’s bull and it was not something they had come to be used to on Earthuu.

There they all were though, together. United in grief and their love for their friend.

“I’m glad you guys made it,” Terri said to the Woodland Warriors. “He would have loved you being here.”

“Oh of course, it was the least we could do. Bao here has a lot to be grateful to Lucas after she was kidnapped in San Francisco. We wanted to honour his memory,” explained George, referring to the big cat laid out on the grass.

Terri caught Mindy staring with bulging eyes as George spoke, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Once upon a time she was probably exactly the same the first time she saw a talking bear, but it was more fun seeing other people’s reactions.

“He was good to me when I first joined you lot. Not judgemental or anything,” Tobias Torres, a.k.a. Boy Beaver explained. “I respected him for that.” He was stood solemnly in a traditional black suit with black tie, his beaver tail tucked out of the way.

“To our friend,” The Secretary toasted, raising her wine.

“Our friend,” the group repeated in chorus.

Terri caught sight of Brad sat on the fence opposite her. He looked like he was consumed with guilt, and Terri knowing him as well as she did, could see he was being hard on himself. He had been so distant lately but she knew not to push him on it. In his own time he would talk.

Terri looked around at the other members of The Collective with pride for turning out like they did and being there for each other despite their different backgrounds.

Ferris sidled up to her and put a comforting arm around his fiancé, and she pulled him in for a hug.

“I love you,” she said to him.

“I love you too.”

“Let’s move the wedding closer,” Terri suggested, whispering to him. “I don’t want to waste any more time. This has reminded me how fragile life is and how short it is to put things off.”

“Ok Terri. You say when, and we will,” he agreed, kissing to seal the deal.