L U N A
Anxiety was all I could feel.
One hour to go before I would meet my brothers. I didn't know much about them, only that I had five brothers: Isaac, Cole, Kayden, Ethan and Aiden. Mrs. Diaz told me one of my brothers would be waiting at my gate.
My left leg couldn't stop bouncing up and down, it was my body's way of dealing with stress.
A life away from Nick, I still couldn't believe it. It felt too unreal, too good to be true.
For the past two hours, I was thinking about how to act around my brothers. I'm terrible at being social, especially with new people, it gives me so much anxiety.
Since I was eight, I didn't have anyone to talk to anymore. My friends started distancing themselves when I became quieter. Maybe it was for the best, I wouldn't want to be around me either.
So what I'm trying to say is that I have trouble making small talk with a stranger, let alone connecting with five new people I'm going to live with.
What worries me most is that maybe my presence is unwanted. I know Isaac said yes to the offer of taking me in, but maybe he felt obligated to accept it.
Eventually, I came to the conclusion to just see what happens.
The only thing I know for sure is that I will try my best to hide the abuse I went through. What's done is done. They can't change anything about the past seven years, so what's the point of telling them about it?
I just want to forget even though that seems impossible. If the memories won't haunt me, the scars will always help me remember.
Nick's favourite thing was to mark my skin. A bruise eventually faded, a scar was forever. My whole body was covered with them. Some places worse than others.
I took a deep inhale, trying to ease the nerves. I had to swallow a whimper caused by the sudden pain. They have never hurt this much. It wouldn't surprise me if some were broken by the blunt force of Nick's foot.
They will heal I tell myself.
A treacherous tear left my eye. I aggressively wipe it away.
I had a change of living a normal life, a life I had been craving for years. I wouldn't waste this opportunity by constantly looking back in the past.
What's done is done I told myself again.
The light—telling us we need to put our seat belt back on—indicated that the landing was about to begin. A wave of nerves washed over me again. Just a little while and I would meet my brothers.
It was as if I just had run the biggest marathon in my life because my heart was slamming against my ribcage.
A shock went through the plane, meaning we had landed. I was going to meet them!
A few idiots started clapping, seriously what's wrong with them?
I patiently waited until almost everyone was off the plane. People had no patience, and I wasn't about to try to get in the crowd. And just maybe I tried to delay the inevitable confrontation with Isaac.
Every step I took towards the exit took more and more effort. My hands get clammy, my heart rate just keeps rising as I get closer.
My eyes search the crowd for a man of 25 years. Apparently he is tall, has brown curly hair and has identical blue eyes. I was in such a hurry to get on the plane. I didn't even have enough time to see a picture of him.
When my eyes landed on a man who matched the description, my breath hitched. How can I be sure this is Isaac?
Before I could decide what to do, his eyes landed on mine. They softened at the sight of me, a smile broke free on his face.
He was wearing a navy suit, power radiating off him even though he was smiling at me. Mrs. Diaz told me Isaac was the boss of some company. I kind of felt bad, it was a workday and he had come all the way for me.
Now I was sure it was him. I slowly started walking toward, making sure I wasn't limping or falling on her face in front of him.
That would be so embarrassing.
"Luna," he breathed out. His voice sounded strangely familiar, it lessened my nerves a bit.
"Hello," I said with a voice barely above a whisper. My eyes drifted back to the floor out of habit.
"I was beginning to think I stood at the wrong gate. How was the flight?"
"Good," I muttered out.
"Oh, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself since you probably don't remember me. I'm Isaac your oldest brother and guardian," he said with a small smile.
Isaac was not at all what I expected him to be. I don't know why, but I thought he would we distant. I suddenly appear in his live, forcing him to take care of me. So in my mind it seems logical if he doesn't feel any affection toward me.
He takes in my appearance, trying to be as discreet as possible, however I notice right away. I try my best not to crumble under his gaze.
He opens his mouth, but immediately closes it again. I let out the a breath I was holding, relieved he decided not to say anything.
I start walking toward the exit, so we can go to his house, but stopped when I hear his voice from behind me. "I know this will sound strange," he hesitates for a second. "Would you mind if I give you a hug?"
I slowly turned around, immediately noticing the desperateness he tried to hide. When his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat, I nodded.
Isaac wrapped his arms around me and whispered: "Non posse credere che sei finalmente a casa sorellina."
I can't believe you're finally home little sister.
Even though I felt kind of awkward for hugging a stranger—well, he was my brother, but I barely knew the guy— a part of me was enjoying it. It was such a long time ago I received a hug.
I frowned when he said something I didn't understand under his breath. It couldn't be English.
"What language did you speak?" I hoped I didn't overstep a boundary by asking this.
"Italian," he explained. "Our father, Luca, was Italian. He found it important to learn it to us. Maybe we can learn it to you. If you want of course."
Yeah, maybe one day. I wasn't that great with languages. The only ones I could understand were a bit French and Dutch.
Dutch is not a common language to learn. Mom had a friend, Fien, she was from the Netherlands and moved to the USA when she was in her early twenties. Fien thought it would be fun for us to learn. Ava, the daughter of Carla, an I used Dutch like a secret language. I wonder what happened to them, after Mom died I never saw them again.
Isaac was still looking at me, probably waiting for a response.
"Yeah, why not?" I responded.
"Ready to finally go back home?" Isaac asked. "Oh wait, we still have to get your luggage."
"That's not necessary. This is all I got."
He slightly raised his eyebrow in confusion. As before, he wanted to say something, but decided to let it go for now.
Isaac silently led me to the car. My mouth dropped open when I saw this expensive looking car. My knowledge on cars is non-existent, but I know for sure it must have cost a fortune.
He was the head of a company, of course he was loaded.
"A preference for dinner tonight?" Isaac suddenly asked. Probably trying to start a conversation to break the suffocating silence.
"Not really." I wasn't hungry at all. A few hours Officer Williams had given me a bagel. My appetite wasn't big at all, my stomach was used to little portions once in a while. It's going to be an adjustment to regularly get healthy amounts of nutrition.
Our conversation went silent. Now and then he slightly turned his head toward me, making sure I didn't disappear in thin air.
"Are you nervous to meet the rest of your brothers?" he questions, another attempt for a conversation.
It's not that I didn't want to speak to him. All I wanted was to get to know him. I'm just horrible at this.
"Yes, very nervous," I said honestly. I try to push myself out of my shell by adding: "I don't really remember you. I was shocked when I found out I had siblings."
"Eleanor didn't tell you about us?" He calmly asked, but I saw the way his hands were griping the steering wheel.
Eleanor? Not mom? Maybe he was angry her and Dad separated.
"No, I guess I was too little to remember. She probably wanted to wait until I was a bit older to tell me, but then," I trailed off, not getting the words out of my mouth.
But then she died.
"We didn't know she died until a few hours ago. If we had known, I would have taken you in sooner," he said, his eyes filled with sincerity.
I swallowed harshly, trying to get rid of the forming lump in my throat. Different scenarios of what could have happened flooded my mind. All those years could have been prevented with a single phone call. One call.
I decided to change the topic back to my brothers. I didn't want him to start asking questions about the years without Mom. "I always asked for siblings at Christmas when I was little. Maybe my subconscious remembered you guys."
He didn't say anything back. He probably didn't know what to say. But I didn't mind. The silence hanging around is no longer tense.
I snapped out of my thoughts when we pulled over at a giant driveway. A modern mansion stood in front of us. It seems almost impossible that this will be the house that I will be staying in.
Isaac pulled the keys out and opened his door. I followed him with a minute delay, still in shock by the view ahead.
When I stood next to Isaac, who had already gotten my backpack out of the trunk, he put his hand on my shoulder. His sudden touch made me flinch away from him.
When I saw the confusion on his face, I sent him an apologetic smile. It wasn't my intention to make him feel bad. He smiled back, but it didn't reach his eyes.
The door was ripped open by someone. He had brown, curly hair and hazel eyes. He wanted to run our way, even though we were not far from the door. Luckily a hand on his shoulder held him back.
We went over to the door were the energetic boy stood, the hand that held him back belonged to another person wearing a dark colored suit. They moved to the side, so we could get in. In the large, in the white hall stood two others. These guys had not such a welcoming personality then the rest.
"Welcome home sorrelina," I heard someone whisper behind me.
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I hope you enjoyed the first few chapters. The beginning is really slow, but give it a chance ;).
For all the languages (except English and Dutch) I used Google translate, so it may have some errors. The translation is always written under the paragraph in cursive.
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