THEY ALL STARED at her in shock, speechless for a long minute. Finally getting their bearings in control, Sil cautiously asked her,"We can neither confirm nor deny that. How are you guessing this?"
Zara rolled her eyes,"Your first sentence gave you away, brother dear. You only say that when you don't want to admit that the other person is right."
"And here," She reached into her pocket and took out a tissue. Placing it on the table, she slid it to her eldest brother,"this was in that air hostess' pocket. When we were having our lovely battle that I lost, she dropped it. I picked it up."
"You didn't lose. She is the one who is dead, not you." Leo assured her.
Zara smiled at his attempt of comforting her. She patted his shoulder since he was only sitting next to her,"She died because Sal killed her. If he had been a second late, you guys would be planning my funeral right now."
Her words affected them more than she expected. Even the thought of it ignited such a rage and sadness in them that it was enough to burn the whole world down.
"And even though I appreciate your effort of making me feel better," Zara retracted her hand and placed it back on the table,"I accepted a long time ago that I have as much physical strength as Antartica has humans. I barely pass p.e." She admitted.
Sal smiled slightly at her words but then picked up the piece of paper. In sleek cursive a message was written on it.
Kill them all but bring the girl alive
~V.R.
Sal's jaw clenched as his suspicions were confirmed. The same man who ruined their family was after his sister now. He couldn't be more furious.
He passed the note to Tino, who was sitting next to him, and watched as he read it. Anger flared in his eyes and he passed the note to the next person.
Zara watched as the note was rotated around the table. She had already read the note this morning when she had woken up. The note finally reached Sal again and he carefully pocketed it.
"I'll discuss this with dad later." He assured and Zara nodded.
They sat in silence for a minute before Dele cleared his throat,"Would you like to go to your room, tesoro?"
Zara smiled,"Glad you asked. I would love to head to my room and take a shower." She agreed and stood up, picking up her bag with her.
Dele stood up as well, starting to walk towards the stairs,"Come on then."
Zara bagan following him but just before she reached the stairs, she turned back around and addressed Tino,"You can deposit Nugget on my pillow when you get tired of holding him."
Tino nodded,"Sure."
Zara began trudging up the stairs, moving immensely slow due to her sprained leg. Dele looked back as if to see why she was taking so much time, but stopped when his eyes fell on her foot.
He began to move downstairs again to help her but Zara's sharp glare cut him off,"I can walk." She stated and continued moving.
Dele nodded and slowly led her to her room, noting how his sister hated asking for help. It was almost like she hated depending on anyone, afraid that they would suddenly let go and she would crumble.
He was not too far from the truth.
He waved before leaving and Zara hopped into the shower with some difficulty. She had to take care of her stitched cheek and bandaged leg while taking a shower. She also noticed how bruises lined her neck and wrist. The sight wasn't pretty, but she shrugged it off.
Many people had it worse.
Wearing one of her hoodies that covered her tall but frail frame, she exited the bathroom. She noticed how Nugget was lying on her pillow and smiled.
He looked so cute.
Zara sat down on the bed with her laptop when she noted that she had a few hours before she would have to go down for lunch. She opened the laptop but remembered.
I don't have my glasses.
A groan escaped her lips. She needed to research, or hack, something urgently and that was almost impossible without her glasses.
Almost.
She might have lost her favourite pair, but they weren't her only pair. Digging through her bag, she pulled out a huge stationary pouch. Hidden in the bottom of it were her spare glasses that she rarely used because of their mismatched vision.
No one would have suspected her storing it there but she had it incase of emergency. She had gotten them an year ago but their vision wasn't completely accurate to help her eyes. She had slight difficulty because of it. So she had to get new ones made.
And even though she would face difficulty now as well, she needed to search some things. She needed to confirm some things.
Putting the glasses on the bridge of her nose, she went to the browser. She had a long searching hour before her and she was ready.
~
By the time she was done, she was satisfied. Or not. She didn't know how to feel. She was confused? Yes. Nervous? Yes. Terrified? Yes.
But was she going to let anyone see these emotions? Hell no.
She had just shut her laptop and put her glasses away when there was a knock on her door before it swung open without her permission.
What was the point of knocking then?
"Come downstairs for lunch, farfalla." Raph's voice spoke as he leaned against the doorframe.
Zara narrowed her eyes, not knowing what he was calling her. For all she knew, he could be calling her fart fella.
She didn't bother asking.
Instead, she raised an eyebrow,"You know when you knock on someone's door, you wait for their permission before entering."
Raph nodded in understanding,"I'll make sure not to knock next time and barge straight in." He gave her a thumbs up.
Zara rolled her eyes and stood up from the bed,"I'll make sure I leave a trap outside my room next time."
"I heard that." Raph said while he started walking behind her as she exited the room.
"Good. You were meant to." Zara retorted without turning back and continued trotting foward.
Raph rolled his eyes,"I can carry you downstairs. It will be easier for the both of us."
Zara glared as she tried to walk a little faster,"No."
"Why not?" Raph prodded.
"Because I don't wanna be carried around like a sack of potatoes! Besides, its embarrassing." She exclaimed.
Raph laughed,"Its not. You are our sister and what kind of brothers we would be if we don't carry you?"
Zara caught onto his intentions as his footsteps started moving faster,"Raphael don't you dare or I will- umph."
Her words were cut off as Raph quickly picked her up without so much of a difficulty. He grinned down at her when he found her glaring up at him.
"See? Now was it so difficult?" He asked sweetly with a sarcastic smile.
"Put me down." She gritted but Raph paid her no mind, instead walking down the stairs with Zara tucked safely in his arms.
"Raph!" Zara snapped and crossed her arms over her chest in anger.
"Yes, little sister?" He asked, feigning innocence.
"You think this is funny?" Zara hissed at him.
"Very." Raph comfirmed with a wide smile.
Realising that she wouldn't be able to release his hold or fight him off, she settled on groaning in irritation, feeling compeletely embarrassed.
"You don't weigh much. Have you not been eating?" Raph asked, but by the tone of his voice Zara knew he was stating a fact they all knew.
This was one of the many reasons Zara hated being carried. People always commented on her weight. Sure she wasn't the most healthy person out there, but she wasn't that bad. Her wrists might be thin and her cheeks might be bony, but she knew damn well how to hold her spot.
"I just have a high metabolism." She defended, even as they both knew it was a lie.
"Or you just have been too busy surviving and taking care of things you shouldn't at such a young age to actually pay attention to your own health." Raph said, a tinge of sadness in his words because he knew what he said was true.
They both did.
Paying bills wasn't easy. Far from it. It was exhausting to balance school and job on the same plate. While most children her age would be goofing around or studying after school, she had to worry about paying the next rent.
And unlike most children her age that had a job for buying for stuff they needed, she had a job to support herself. For keeping a roof over her head and clothes on her back.
They worked to get a car. She worked to survive.
It was hard to see the majority of her pay evaporate in bills. During all of this she wasn't particularly focused on her health.
Living without parents was also hard. Zara had to make sure to always stay out of trouble so the school officials wouln't have to call the guardians she didn't even have. She would always have to forge signatures whenever parent's consent was needed. She had to learn to live like that.
But that didn't mean that she wasn't happy. She was satisfied where she was. She would never exchange all that burden for living with her aunt again. Not in a million years.
"It doesn't matter, Raph. I am breathing despite it all, ain't I?" She muttered, not meeting his eyes. Talking about these things was hard.
"And I am so glad for that. When you had mentioned hospital debt, all of us had gotten the scare of our lives, I kid you not." Raph told her in a serious tone.
"It was nothing." Zara chuckled and waved her hand, knowing how much she was belittling the situation.
But that was another one of her coping mechanism: Belittling her own problems.
"Oh I know it definitely wasn't nothing but I am not gonna force you to tell. I'll never do that. We will wait for you to trust us enough." Raph assured with a small smile.
Zara hesistantly returned the smile. More so than trusting them, it was the fear of their reaction. Their anger, disappointment or even shame to be related to her if they found out. And even if she moved past it all, she still wouldn't be able to tell.
Because she was scared of herself more than she was scared of them. Her hate for herself would only intensify if she would say the words out loud. She would only be more shameful of herself.
Because of her churning thoughts, she didn't even realise they had reached the dining room. Her attention only diverted from her thoughts when Tino spoke up.
"Awww will you look at that?" He gushed as he saw Raph carrying her. She watched as he took out his phone and snapped a couple pictures,"I am definitely getting this framed." He said as he looked over the pictures.
Zara rolled her eyes and nudged Raph to put her down. He reluctantly did so, making sure she was stable enough to stand before letting go of her shoulder.
"You should let me pick you up next time. We'll take lots of pictures!" Tino suggested excitedly, causing Zara to narrow her eyes.
"Raph picked me without my permission. If my leg wasn't hurting, I would've shown him what it means messing with Zara Astral Dumont Romano." She hissed, glaring at Raph who stood there with an easy smile.
"Your middle name is beautiful." Sil commented with a smile. Zara smiled back at the compliment, doing a mock bow.
"And really, Zara? You are threatening him when we all know you are not the most gufted when it comes to physical strength department." Leo commented with a chuckle.
"That doesn't mean I can't try!" Zara retorted defensively, despite knowing how true his words were.
"Don't stress yourself over it, cara. Come, sit down." Dele instructed and gestured to the seat beside him.
Zars smiled and trotted to the said seat. She sat down and grinned at Dele,"You know, you are the most considerate brother. The one who uses common sense." She complimented, causing everyone else to recoil in offence.
Dele smiled at her brightly,"Thank you." He beamed.
"No problemo." Zara responded and turned her to attention to the others who were glaring at the table, offended.
"Oh come on." Zara chuckled,"I said he was the most considerate. It doesn't make you all inconsiderate. You have all your great qualities as well." She assured them.
She noticed a person missing. "Where is Sal?" She asked.
"Right here." A voice behind them spoke and Zara turned to see Sal standing there with another man.
The man looked like an older verion of Sal. With his button nose to bold eyebrows, he resembled many features with all of them. He was dressed in a smart coat, much like Sal.
Power rolled off of him in waves and Zara would've been scared if she didn't recognize the man or if he wasn't smiling at her.
"Long lost father?" Zara asked with furrowed brows.
The man gave a deep chuckle,"Long lost daughter?" He imitated her and Zara smiled.
She already liked him.
She got up from her chair and wobbled up to him. Upon reaching him, he extended his hand for a shake, looking unsure.
Zara surprised them both, and everyone else in the room, when she ignored the hand and wrapped her arms around the man's torso, burying her face in his chest.
Her father immediately wrapped his arms around her, letting out a relieved sigh at the aspect of finally having his daughter safe and sound in his arms.
Zara had hugged him out of impluse. She had missed a parental figure in her life. When her mother died, she was only left with her aunt. Any hopes of having her aunt as her parental figure were gone faster than one could say 'dragon'.
Living without a guardian was hard, not just physically but mentally. Zara had given up all hopes of having one. So discovering that she still had a father blossomed some sort of happiness in her, even though she would never admit it.
Not yet, anyway.