Opening that front door was probably one of the scariest moment of my life. The room before me had white walls, hard wood floors and a swirling staircase leading to the second story of the house. The walls were decorated with photos, a few armchairs in the middle of the swirl. Sitting and leaning on those armchairs was a group of people. Four men and a woman. One of the men wore a suit and the teenage boys wore jeans and t-shirts with either hoodies or a leather jacket, while the woman wore a blouse and a blazer.
"Guys, we're back." My father says. Immediately, all five heads spin towards us. Three holding bright smiles, one emotionless and one just pure annoyed.
"Oh my god she's grown so much." The woman muttered in an adoring tone.
"Calm down." My father instructed to the woman, and two boys who were bouncing on the balls of their feet. "Now, introduce yourselfs." All their faces falter for a moment before the first one speaks.
"I'm Vito Vitale, your oldest brother, I'm 26." He had gelled brown hair, and bright green eyes. He was tall, very tall compared to me. His face held nothing though. No happiness. No sadness. No annoyance. Just blank.
"Okay! I'm Katrina, your sister, but everyone calls me Rina! I'm 22! And it's so good to have another girl in the house now!" She was practically jumping up and down on excitement. She had black hair, and the same green eyes. She was also tall. At least a few inches more than me.
"I'm Andrea, your second oldest brother. I'm eighteen and you look so adorable." He seems...normal. A little enthusiastic. He's got my brown/red hair, and once again green eyes. He's around 6'2 maybe 6'3.
"I'm Leone, but I prefer Leo. I'm 16, and Luca's twin. It's nice to meet you!" This one has mine and Andrea's hair and our eyes. He's roughly 6ft. He's also a bit enthusiastic.
"I'm Luca, I'm 16." The final one says, with little to no emotion in his voice. He looks exactly like Leone, except his hair is more brown. But one things they all share in common is the tattoos on their arms, they have a least 5 visible ones each. Even my father.
"Um, I'm Liv, I'm 14. It's nice to meet you all." I meekly say. Honestly, how are you meant to introduce yourself to the family you never knew you had.
"Right, Andrea go and show Liviana to her bedroom." My father instructed. With his welcoming smile, he reached out for my hand. But instead I didn't take it, I just followed him. The drop of his smile was only minor, but he still smiled non the less and guided me through the house.
All the walls were painted white, with black archways and doors. On those pristine walls were black framed photos, either one or two and sometimes even all of my family. There was even some photos of some different people, sometimes with my brothers and sister, some men dressed in black suits with my father, and a few with all of them.
"Here we are, we did it up best we could but you can change it if you want to." Opening the door, I was presented with a beautiful giant room. It was painted in white for three walls and the far wall is pastel green. The king-size bed rested at the side with four green pillows and two light grey bedside tables. The lights were cristals that emitted brightness around the room, along with the two large white pained windows that showed the front of the house. There was a grey sofa in the corner of the room, opposite it was a large black flat screen tv mounted on the wall. Next to it was a desk holding a large computer, keyboard and a stack of school books. In the corner was a door that lead to the bathroom, but I haven't seen inside yet. And next to it was a wardrobe, probably so large a quarter of my clothes could fit in there.
"I-I. It's perfect. Thank you." I said, barely able to comprehend that these people would do this for me.
"Of course. Dinner will be soon, I think it'd be best if you got ready." Andrea said. I heard his footsteps move further away, but they stopped momentarily. "Liv, you may not see it yet, but we want you here, all of us do." And with that, he left.
I began to unpack the suitcases I brought with me, that just happened to be in my bedroom. Like I predicted, my clothes barely filled the wardrobe. So I changed out of my black leggings and baggy jumper, into a pair of black ripped jeans and a fitted white shirt decorated with the outline of the Eiffel tower.
A cure for heartbreak. A cure for pain. A cure for loss that so many people must suffer through to find the light in their life. But sometimes, they fall to the suffering and never get to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
But shit happens. People can do either two things when it does; drown in it, or strive through it and become a better version of who they were before. That is this girl's aim. Her goal in the life of loss and love she is forced to live.
And live it she will...
Because she can...right?
A knock was sounded at the door of my bedroom, breaking my attention away from the writing. Closing the pages on which I wrote, I put the book on my desk and opened the door. Standing on the other side was Leone.
"Hi..." I said as I watched him stand there. Literally just stand there and stare at me.
"Oh sorry. Dinners out and I came to get you." He said as he stood back. Closing the door behind me, I followed him. We walked down the corridors together as he just chatted away, but he asked something that caught my attention.
"You have no idea what it's like to have siblings, do you?"
"I'm sorry?" I asked confused, trying to hide the aching in my chest.
"Your acting like you have no idea what being a sibling is like." He says again, this time a bit more slowly as if he's trying to deifier a meaning in the question.
"I know, I guess I'm just out of practice." I respond. He raised a stunned eyebrow, but I have a feeling the look on my face was enough to keep him quiet.
Once we reached the dining room, all eyes landed on us. Or more specifically; me. Giovanni was sat at the top of the table, Vito on his right and Rina on his left. Andrea next to Rina, Luca next to Vito, and two empty chairs at the end of the table. Sitting down next to his twin, Leo left me standing alone in the doorway.
"Liv, are you going to sit down?" Rina asked as she gave me a warm smile.
"Um, sure." I respond as I take the last seat next to Andrea. The food before me look exquisite. A variation of salads and chips and racks of meat.
They all piled food up on their plates, but I just sat there. Noticing my lack of movement, Andrea started loading my plate up, almost as full as his, which was twice what I ate before. But now, it's not even a quarter.
We sat in silence as we ate, with Leo sending me questioning looks, Luca just plain glaring at me and the others offering me smiles apart from my father and Vito who sat emotionless. What I assume is the usual now. I had ate around a third of my food before I was completely full.
Noticing I had stopped eating, Giovanni said, "Liviana, are you done?"
"Yeah." I responded.
"She's barely eaten" Luca scoffed as he sharpened his annoyed expression.
"She is right here, and she would appreciate it if you acted like it." I said, distaste growing in my tone.
"Liviana, come with me." Giovanni said as he rose from the table, eyeing my barely eaten food with concern. I followed him out of the room, ignoring the looks I received from my siblings. After a few minutes we arrived at an office. It had a floor length window that overlooked the back garden, black wall and grey furniture, a grand desk in the middle with grey leather seats opposite and a desk chair behind it.
"Take a seat." He gestured to one of the chairs by the desk as he took his seat behind it. Doing as he said, I sat down in the chair and watched as he drummed his fingers on the edge of the desktop.
"I have some rules Liviana, and your going to need to follow them." He says. But instead of waiting for my response, he continued. "First of all, when we tell you to do something, me or any of your siblings, you do it, no questions asked. Second, no swearing or drugs. Third, no boyfriends or girlfriends. Fourth, you respect your siblings and I. Also, I saw your previous school records, and I noticed they dropped a couple of months ago. Why?"
Literally the one question I was dreading, he asked.
"Reasons." I respond. His eyes narrow momentarily, but he lets it slide. "Well whatever the reason, I want them back up. Any questions?"
"Okay, first of all, fair enough to do as I am told, but I have every right to ask questions. Second, swearing consists of a large portion of my vocabular, so no promises there. Third, dating is my choice not yours. I give respect where respect is earned." I tell him.
"I don't like that response Liviana." He warns.
"And I don't like your rules. Life isn't fair, you'll learn to get over it." Was the last thing I said before leaving the office and heading straight to m bedroom.