I woke up a while later to my balcony doors wide open and a cold winter breeze blowing things around my room. I quickly got up and shut the French doors, locking them and pulling the curtains together. It seemed quiet in my house so I quietly tiptoed down the cold marble stairs and found everyone minus Blaze in the dining room eating steak.
"Hey, munchkin. How'd you sleep? We would've woken you for supper but you were peaceful." Blade said.
I grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table and crossed my arms.
"I am not a munchkin. I'm the same age as you." I said, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Correction. You're a year younger than me. You're also a few feet shorter than me."
He ruffled my hair as he walked past me and out of the dining room. I exhaled exasperatedly.
"So what now? Where's my dad?" I asked, sitting across from Bridget.
"Who knows. Would you like to go into town for supper?" Bridget asked.
"Sounds good. Lets go to the diner. That way I can explain to my boss what all went on. Hopefully she lets me keep my job."
So we went into town. We went to the diner and I bought food as the Lancasters watched me almost nervously. I talked to Mary and she completely understood. We have plenty of employees, she said. I'm just the top choice.
After that, I showed them all the places I liked going with Damien. The park, the bridge under which we carved our names into everything, the biggest building in town where we would always sneak into to go sit on the roof. I was happy just talking about how he used to be. And honestly, I think it helped immensely. I had never really been able to let go of Damien. Maybe I was afraid of having no one again. But in a way, I felt closer to the Lancasters than I ever had with Damien. It was definitely on a different level, but I was comfortable nevertheless.
That night, the part that I had been holding onto for so long had finally let go.
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After we had visited every place we could, we finally went home. I made my way to the front door and pushed it open to find my house in ruins. I cautiously stepped inside and was about to walk up the crumbling steps when something crashed in the next room. I dove to the side and rolled to break my fall, rolling right into the kitchen. Once my heart had calmed down, I peeked my head out and saw that the closet door had fallen in. I took a shaky breath as the Lancasters walked in.
They had the same reaction as me, and I was just relieved they didn't yell out. The intruder could still be in the house for all we knew. But I spoke too soon. Bridget opened her mouth and began to say something. I launched myself towards her and slapped my hand over her mouth. She stared down at me and I shook my head, my eyes wide in fear.
We searched the whole house, Blade before me, and the rest behind me. No one was hiding on the main floor, so I strategically climbed up the crumbling stairs.
The upstairs was clear as well although my room was worse than the rest of the house. The picture of Damien and I lay smashed on the floor, my books were strewn all about the room, my desk drawers were out of the desk and halfway across the room. I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. Eventually I left my room to go downstairs and tell them that it was all clear.
I took one step on the staircase and it started to cave in on itself. I jumped back to the landing as the stairs crumbled to the floor. But I wasn't that lucky. I started slipping and hung over the side. It wasn't that far of a drop, but the jagged pieces of stairs stuck up beneath me like the gaping jaws of a great white shark.
