Chapter One
How could the weather relay how I felt right now? I never knew how it was possible. That the dark clouds rolling around us could match my mood perfectly. The gloominess. The pain that they showed matched me perfectly. The rain pummeling down to the ground mimicking how I wish to let my tears fall. The cold representing the deep emptiness in my heart.
There was a pressure before the sound of the intercom beeping to life. "Well passengers, in about ten minutes we will be descending into St. Martin's Airport. The time will be 2:03pm locals time.
"As you can see out the windows, there's a bit of a storm over this mountain area with a current temperature of 46 degrees ferrite. Make sure that if you have a jacket, fasten it tight leaving the airport if this is your destination.
"From all of us aboard AirSky Flight 6713, thank you for flying and hope you join us again."
I sighed as I looked to the woman next to me. She wasn't my mom, but she was my guardian now. You wouldn't guest looking at her that she was in her early to mid forties. Her appearance made her look not even thirty. Her soft golden curls cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark amber honey that shone a youthful side before she saw what happened to my family. She also had a nice figure, though I didn't care about that.
Frowning, I reach a hand out to her shoulder. "Macy. You should wake up. We're landing." I shook her shoulder.
She jolted up in surprise wide eyed and glancing quickly around. "What?! What is it?" She rubbed her eyes.
I pointed out the window. "We're landing soon."
She stretched and I cringed internally at the cracking and popping sounds. "Thanks sweetie. I never liked flying."
"Sorry." I murmured to her turning back to look outside.
She place a hand on my arm and gave me a gentle rub. "There's nothing for you to apologize for."
I never remembered meeting this woman before she came to my house with my mom who squealed like a teenaged fan girl. Something you'll never see me do. I was tough like my dad. Doing more guy things with my brother who happened to be my twin. It made my dad proud yet he worried over me a lot since I'm a girl being around so many guys all the time with my brother doing un-lady like things.
Macy apparently had been my mom's distant best friend since she was a little girl. They had grown up together before my mom left to study interior design in New York. That's where my mom met my dad. From what they've told me and my siblings over and over again, they had a love at first sight type of meeting. They had been at a college party when they bumped into each other. My mom looked up, dad looked down, and boom...they were in love. From what I was told, Macy was my mom's maid of honor.
I felt a small tear trickle down my cheek thinking of my family. I missed them so much. I hadn't realized how little time I had left with them. That they would be taken from me so soon. I had been naive to think we'd always be together goofing off and being so together.
The day I lost them was one of the rare days that I got sick. Mom said it was just something I had ate the night before. I believed her as it was one of the few times I had eaten dinner outside my family. A female friend of mine had asked me over. I had very few female friends so I jumped at the chance to be a bit girly.
The dinner was delicious except for this one herb her mom used. It tasted funny to me, but shrugged it off being polite. I even smiled at her mom who was watching me, critiquing every move I made. I think I surprised her as she just shrugged what ever was on her mind and she smiled back warmly.
It wasn't till an hour after I went to sleep that I woke up and rushed weakly to the bathroom across the hall from my bedroom. I must have bang the door to the bathroom because Macy and my mom were right there to sooth me as I puked the whole dinner and dessert up. Macy had stayed with me while my mom went to the kitchen to make me a tea.
My mom had first made me inhale the steam. That seemed to stop me from puking so I could actually drink the tea. They both made me drink the whole thing before they helped me back to bed. My mom slept with me the rest of the night.
The next morning I felt like utter poo. My mom helped me to the couch and Macy was there waiting instantly with another cup of tea. That day we were all supposed to go to the faire that was in town, but since I was sick, I had to stay home. Macy stayed with me while I encouraged everyone to go ahead.
I told Nick, my twin to make sure he has fun for me while he was there. He promised to ride each ride twice for me and eat twice the cotton candy along with two hotdogs just to make up for me missing the faire. I told he better or I would be hurt that he didn't.
By five in the evening and dinner, I was feeling like myself again. Macy and I watched so many chick flicks that day that I felt girly. She made my day hope fun and made me feel ten times better. We even painted each other's nails like we were girl friends.
At 5:34pm, my loving life with my family ended. It was at that time when there was a knock on the front door. Macy got up to answer it, after a minute I had followed. Standing just outside of the front door jam was a sheriff deputy in full outfit. His voice was low while his head hung down, solemn.
Macy turned to me and her face had tears falling down. I felt my heart constrict as I backed up a step hitting the wall behind me. My face must have looked like a doe in someone's headlights because that's how I felt. I didn't what he had told her, but I knew it involved me.
"Nina..." She had started. Her voice full of pain and cracked. "Nina sweetie." She advanced to me as if she was trying not to startle me. As if I was an animal ready to either charge or flee.
I didn't move. I was rooted in my spot as if the moment I moved, I would fall. The whole time she advanced toward me looking guilty. The officer was still out on the front porch watching. Pain and guilt thick in his eyes.
The moment she was in front of me, she through her arms around. "I'm sorry sweetie. I'm so sorry."
At those words, I blacked out. My world had crashed in on me. Those were supposed to be comforting words. But those words were spoken too often and toward me for the next week. Too many thought they would comfort me with those words. They had done just the opposite. Those words tortured me as I watched my parents, my twin, and my little sister being lowered into the ground to rest forever.
All my friends looked at me with pity. All my brother's friends didn't even approach me during the wake. I didn't blame them. I wouldn't have known how to talk to someone who just lost the four most important people in the world. Especially a twin. The one I was born with. The one that I did everything with and who knew everything i was thinking.
As the only surviving family member, everything went to me. The house which was paid off. The cars that were also paid off fully. The life insurance policies on everyone in the family but mine as I was still alive. The accounts. Everything.
The house right now was closed up and sheets draped over everything. The cars were in the garage waiting to be sold, all but one. My mom's jewelry was picked through. I let Macy pick some things after I choose the ones I couldn't leave behind. My room was really the only one that was touched almost completely as I had to pack.
I was keeping that one car for me as it was something my dad, my brother, and I all worked on together last year. That was my brother and my sweet sixteen present from him. We had finished it the night before. Nick and I didn't mind sharing. Having a car meant we were responsible enough for it.
My parents had named Macy and her husband my guardians in case something happened. Well, it was supposed to be all us kids, but since I was the only on left, I was hers now. So I had to move to her place in the middle of no where. I packed what I could and shipped most of it. It was supposed to get there before we did.
The plane landed with a bounce and shifted around due to the strong winds. Macy had her eyes held shut and her hands gripping the armrests. I had me hands together so she didn't claw me without realizing it. I didn't want to deal with that kind of pain when I was still dealing with the emotional ones. Physical would be too much at the moment for me.
After the plane had stopped, I gathered my two carry-ons as Macy shakily got hers too. We waited patiently watching as people slowly filed out. A nice gentleman beside us let us go before him. I nodded my head in thanks without a smile. Macy was a little more verbal in her thanks as she hurried off the plane.
The second she was in the terminal, Macy searched around before running away from me. I sighed as I tried to catch up with her. Within a second I had lost her in the maze of people trying to leave and find their people of next flight.
I grumbled taking a seat when I fully lost her completely not knowing where she went. That's where I sat with my elbow on my knee and my head in my hands playing with the strap to my computer bag. I didn't like being ditched in an unfamiliar place right when we got off the plane.
"Nina!" I looked behind me when I heard my name. Macy must have just realized that she left me. "Oh god. You don't think she walked away from the terminal looking for me, do you Derek?" I rolled my eyes at that.
"Don't worry. She's still here. Most likely just sitting down waiting for us to find her after the chaos dissipates." I heard a deep voice coo to Macy. He talked to her with affection the way my dad always talked to my mom when she was starting to panic about something.
They sounded like they were on the other side of the chairs. I looked over my shoulder to see two people standing in the same spot while scanning the crowd. People walking around them easily. It looked like the guy was holding the woman. I could tell it was Macy so I just stayed put.
Once the crowd thinned, I sighed as I stood up and turned to Macy with a frown. She gasped with a hand over her mouth and rushed over to me pulling me into a tight embrace. "Oh sweetie. I'm so sorry."
I patted her side lightly. "You can let go now." My voice lacked the emotion it usually had before I lost my family.
Macy pulled away reluctantly as she turned to the guy staring at us with a slight frown on his face. His brows crunched together with worry most likely from the tone of my voice. "Nina, this is my husband Derek. Derek, meet Nina." Macy said a little too cheery in my opinion.
I held my hand out to him and he shook his head as he took my hand. A second later I was tugged over to him and he was hugging me. "We're family. There are no handshakes with family." I felt my eyes burn when he said family.
When he pulled back, I just looked down and nodded. I didn't want want to see the tears that burned wanting to come out. I've been crying for the passed week. There had to be a time there wouldn't be any more. When will I stop wanting to cry all the time?
Derek draped an arm around my shoulders and started to guide me out of the terminal and to the baggage claim. Neither of them saying a word as we walking. I just watched the floor as we walked through airport. Derek rubbed my upper arm as I felt him feel a bit upset by my somber mood. Thankfully he didn't say anything just tried to do what he could to comfort me.
It didn't take us long to get Macy and my bags from the conveyer before I found myself in the back seat of a huge Hummer. This wasn't like the consumer Hummer but a military Hummer that could go over any terrain. And looking from the trek to their house, my new home, this type of vehicle was a necessity. My hand clenched the 'oh crap' handle as I have called it as I was bounced around the backseat.
I caught Derek glancing at me from the rearview mirror. "Your stuff arrived this morning. I had a few of the guys to put them in your room."
I nodded as I looked out the window seeing nothing but trees. Their house was two hours away from the airport. I could only imagine how tired he'd be when we get there having to come pick us up. Four hours round trip plus waiting for us to get off and our bags. Poor guy will definitely be beat.
"Thanks. I'm glad I thought to put all my underwear in my suitcase and not send them with everything." I said willy nilly with a monotone voice.
I smirked a little when Derek burst out laughing with Macy soon following. They couldn't see my smirk as I had my hoodie up and my hair also giving me a curtain to hide under. Their laughing actually made me feel a little better especially when they started to talk about what would have happened if their sons had found them. I blushed at the thought.
Macy had told me she had nine boys. Six being her sons and three she had taken in after their parents died too. I was going to be the first girl to be taken in. Macy seemed to have another girl in the house. Too bad I was a tomboy and not too girly. I was definitely tough and not a damsel like most girls.
There were two seniors of the nine boys, Daemon and Franklin. Daemon was Macy and Derek's eldest son. The captain of the football team and class president. He was described as a man's man and a player much to Macy's reluctance to admit. Franklin was the opposite to Daemon and one of the three taken in by Macy and Derek. I was told he was more of the shy guy and a bit of a nerd. He was working hard to be valedictorian this year.
Next came the juniors. There were three including me. The two that I would be most likely in the same classes with were Shane and Michael. Shane was described as a skater boy and the slacker though he had good grades without having to study. Shane was Derek's nephew and taken in after his parent's were murdered by a robber. Michael was Derek and Macy's second oldest. Like his older brother, he was a bit of a player too. He didn't do any sports because he was more of a party guy.
There were two sophomores and they were twins. Nathaniel and Nicholas, or Nat and Nick for short. Both being Macy and Derek's sons. They were shy around everyone but each other and when they were just with their family. They both played on the baseball team. Nick had a love for drawing. Nat was more of a singing kind of guy. From what I was told, Nat had an amazing voice.
Lastly there were the three freshmen, another set of twins and the last of the 'adopted' guys. The twins were Lane and Louis who were both very outgoing and very energetic pair that played on the soccer team. The last of the nine boys would be Taylor who was a goth guy from what I've been told. He never got over his parent's death because he was there when they died. Taylor played the violin and in their orchestra as first chair which was the highest honor. You could hear the pride in Macy's voice as she talked about him.
Even with the storm pounding hard, Derek looked like he was just on a casual drive back home. Never once did he lose even the smallest amount of control of the Hummer. He chatted away about what Macy had missed while she was away a bit longer than she had planned because of the memorial and helping me pack.
"Hey Nina..." I looked toward Macy who was grinning. She pointed ahead toward a light peaking out through the thick trees. "We're almost there. One more minute and you get to see our place."
I watched as the trees thinned before vanishing away to reveal a massive house. Macy told me their place had twelve bedrooms. That's ten rooms and two guest rooms before I joined them. There were six bathrooms for the twelve bedrooms. The two guest rooms shared one which meant that I had one all to myself thankfully unless someone came to visit.
The house was more of a mansion style. Three floors with a great attic. Apparently the second and third floor were all bedrooms, seven on the second and five on the third which was where my room was next to the master suite. Macy and Derek wanted to make sure nothing happens with the guys and me. They wanted to be able to protect me against nine teenage guys in the same house.
The house was a colonial mansion style and just as old. The foundation was solid and built strong from what Derek had said on the ride to the house. His family had lived in it for many generations. Not the original owners, but they knew everything about the place. Every nook and cranny.
Derek pulled into the curved drive in front of the front door where there was a cover over us to shield us from the rain. You could tell it was added on to the house some time in the past fifty years and kept up with. It was nice not having the rain hitting us as we got out.
I slipped out of the Hummer and Macy was already skipping through the front door. A hand came down on my should and I looked up to Derek and his green-hazel eyes. He gave me a tight smirk. "She just misses her family so much." He place his hand on my lower back and started to lead me inside. "Mace will soon get used to having a girl here shortly and you'll get used to her extra energy."
Nodding to him, he opened the front door for me. He was right behind me as I heard Macy exclaim how she missed her boys. Several exclaimed loudly that she wasn't gone that long and whined about her smothering them.
Derek took us around a corner at the door way to a large game room. There were several couches along with a pool table in the room and a bar. There were six guys at the couches where Macy was busy going from one guy to the next to hug tightly and kiss their cheeks. Most grimaced at her fretting and then wiped their cheeks of the lipstick that Macy left on their cheeks.
"Mom! You can stop now!" One guy whined when he got two kisses.
I looked away when he said Mom. My eyes were stinging again. Derek must have sensed my pain as he started to rub my back gently with his hand. It took several deep breathes before I could compose myself to turn back to the room.
Two guys were leaning against the pool table with pool cues in the hands. One looked over at me and smiled. "Well hello there." He grinned and I swallowed. His eyes raked me up and down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw all the other guys do the same thing with a smirk too.
"Boys, this is Nina. Nina, the boys." Derek said as he gestured to all the guys around the room. As he looked around, Derek frowned. "Where's Daemon?"
All the guys glanced at each other worried. The one at the pool table glanced at Derek before looking down. "He went to get a girl. We tried to stop him, but..."
Derek raised his hand with a sigh. "Say no more." Then his hand dropped and I saw him scowl. "He'll be in big trouble when I find him." I heard a bit of a growl in his voice.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe which everyone did with him. When he opened his eyes, he turned to one of the guys on the couch. "Shane, will you take Nina to see her room and relax after such a long trip here?"
The guy shrugged as he got up. "Sure pops." For a second I thought I heard Derek growl deeply at Shane. Shane just smirked as if he heard but he was too far away.
Shane stepped out into the hall and bowed. "Right this way milady." He smirked with his eyes sparkling with mischief. His shabby, barely combed out hair, hanging in front of his golden honey eyes.
I looked up at Derek and he smiled sadly to me. "Don't worry. I gave them the talk about what they can't do. If they do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, come to me and I'll deal with them."
I nodded and turned back to follow Shane. He walked us back toward the foyer before taking me up the stairs. We reached the third floor and he took my hand leading me down the hall to the last door on the right.
He turned to me. "Well, this is your room."
He turned the knob and opened the door. The second the door opened I turned away going completely red. "Are you fucking CRAZY Daemon?!?" Shane shrieked as he stormed in on two people having sex in the room that was supposed to be mine.
While Shane dealt with those two, I moved away and up the stairs across from my room. There was only one place it could go to, the attic. Why did I have to come to a place where the first real thing I see was Macy's oldest son having sex with a girl in the bed that's supposed to be mine.
As I slipped into the attic, I heard Shane's voice bellow down the stairs to his father saying he found Daemon. Then there was a growl close by I could only assume came from Daemon.
The attic was a bit dusty with boxes lining the walls. As I moved farther into the attic, I found an old chair in an alcove for a window. The chair had a sheet draped over it with a small film of dust on it. I took the sheet off easily and flipped it over to have a dust free side.
Sitting down, I put my feet on the edge of the seat and wrapped my arms around them. I rested my forehead down and this time I couldn't stop the tears from falling. They were soaking through my jeans. I felt so alone in a house full of practical strangers.
Even as I sobbed silently, I could hear the shouting down the stairs. "Do you have any respect for anyone at all?!" I hear Derek's voice boom up the stairs.
"It's not my fault that you forgot to warn us all that she was coming today. I remember you saying it was tomorrow!" That must have been Daemon's voice.
"I told you that there wouldn't be any sex in the house anymore expect for those married! You disobeyed me!"
"You can't control me! I'm next in line!"
"Not with this kind of attitude!"
"You can't take it from me. That's my birthright as your first born!"
"Don't test me son. You haven't even found your mate, so you are no closer to being alpha anyways." I could feel the threat under the words thought I had no idea what they were talking about.
"BOYS! Has anyone seen Nina?" I heard Macy say in a slight panic.
I heard murmurs of several saying they didn't know. "Okay. Break up into groups and search for her. She could be anywhere. Search high and low because she doesn't know her way around."
"She could also be upset." Macy added onto Derek's statements.
People split up and I heard them all go in different directions. I hadn't realized that my tears had slowed and I turned to stare at the door to the stairs of the attic. My breathing was still ragged and I had to sniff every so often.
After a bit of hearing a few looking around on the third floor, I took my wallet out of my back pocket and opened it up to see my family's picture. All of us smiling at each other. It was taken two years ago around thanksgiving. Nick, my twin, had his arms around me from behind. My little sister was captured by my parents in a hug with them kissing each of her cheeks. We were at the beach for our week during the summer where we always went to the beach.
A few more tears leaked out of my eyes and onto the plastic covering the picture. I had lots of pictures of my family but this was my favorite. Nick had made me this so I always had it. I placed a copy into his urn so it was with him always too.
"There you are." I looked up and saw one of the guys from the pool table. He came over and knelt in front of me. "You know. I didn't know that this chair was here." He smiled at me. "Cool find." He held his hand out to me. "I'm Nick."
I burst into more tears. Nick pulled me to him and started to rock me a bit awkwardly. I didn't know if he knew that my brother was also Nick. That they shared the same name. That hearing that name just burst my tears out again.
After a bit, I felt myself sag against Nick. He shifted and then lifted me up. I was never a heavy girl, but I know I had lost some weight because I haven't been really eating much the past week. So when he started to carry me, I knew he wasn't straining at all.
I whimpered a little. "Shh... Just rest. You've had a long journey I bet and that whole fiasco." I felt him shake his head. "Damn Daemon can't put that off for a few days to save his life."
My mind drifting away as he reached the bottom of the stairs. It didn't get far when I heard Macy's voice. "Thank heavens you found her."
"You might want to keep it down. She's falling asleep. Poor girl just balled her eyes out."
I felt a pet on my hair. "Well put her in the other guest room till Daemon has changed the sheets. Part of his punishment for thinking he could get away with that." I felt a light breeze telling me she had shook her head. "And in her room no less."
"I should get her in the other guest room."
"Okay... Go." Macy said softly.
I think I fell asleep the moment Nick set me down on the guest bed because the next thing I knew I had two bodies next to me blowing into each of my ears. My instinct reaction was to thrust the offenders off the bed which I did. I got a satisfying double thuds for it and a painful ohh from the two.
I sat up and looked to either side of me. The two looked to be the youngest of the all the guys. If I recall correctly, these must be Macy and Derek's youngest set of twins and the youngest guys period. They both had identical builds but different hair and eyes. One had black hair with hazel eyes. The other had dark brown hair with a dark honey colored eyes with a golden center.
"Aww... That hurt." The one with black hair said.
"You didn't have to push us off." The brown haired one commented afterwards.
I crossed my arms and raised my chin up a notch higher. "Then you shouldn't have woken me up like that." I narrowed my eyes at the two.
"It was just out of fun." The black one said narrowing his eyes in return. His eyes went wide and he looked down when I turned my full gaze on him. "Sorry." He mumbled to me.
I looked to his brother who did the same thing. Sighing I got off the bed and stretched. "Why did you guys wake me anyways?" I asked just before I yawned and slumped down onto the bed again still feeling exhausted. All my body wanted to do was crawl back under the bedding and go back to sleep.
"Mom said to come get you for dinner. I'm Lane by the way." The black haired one said as he got up and dusted himself off.
"And I'm Louis." The brown haired one said.
I sighed looking down. My heart pinging again missing Nick and feeling a huge hole in my heart where he had been. If he had been with me here, I would feel so utterly alone.
An arm came around my shoulder and a hip bumped into mine. "We know you miss your family. You have us now." Lane said giving my shoulders a squeeze.
"I miss my twin." I said as tears betrayed me and fell down my cheeks.
The arm snapped away from me as he backed away a bit. "Oh damn. Mom didn't tell us your brother was your twin." Then I was engulfed in a huge hug by the two.
A minute later the two released me and each took a hand. "Come on. Dinner should be on the table by now." Louis said as he and his brother pulled me from the room and down the stairs.
"Um guys?" They looked at me and didn't miss a step on the stairs. "Why wasn't I in my room?"
Lane waved my question off easily. "We couldn't have you sleeping in a bed covered with Daemon's coo-dies. He was forced to change the sheets with supervision. Both Nat and Nick watched him as he changed the sheets scowling at them like dad."
I smirked just a little. "Yeah. Dad is even making Daemon sit next to him and is going to watch every step he makes for at least the next two weeks." Louis shook his head. "Daemon has sex too much and needed to be reined in."
We got down stairs and they detoured me to a half bath off the hall toward the dining room. They let me wash my hands first and I cooled my eyes before I went in front of every again. The two not watching as I tried to make myself presentable.
Once we all three were washed and ready, they took me to the dining room. Almost everyone was sitting down waiting and chatting. The moment we walked in, everyone stopped and looked up toward us. I looked down not meeting any eye contact, especially that of Daemon's. My jaw clenched a little remembering how we briefly met.
I heard someone rise from their seat and I looked up to see Derek who smiled lightly. "I hope you had a descent nap my dear." He gestured to the seat next to him. "If you wish to seat next to me."
I had a feeling why he wanted me to sit next to him and I thanked the youngest twins for their escort and took my seat next to Derek. Daemon did sit on the other side of Derek. Currently he was looking out the window sullenly with his chin on his fist. The window being behind his father. His black hair being a little more kept and styled to get another girl under his power I bet. Glad I'm not one of those kinds of girls.
I sat down and Derek was now the only one still standing as the twins took their seat near me with a guy in all black sitting between us. His hair was unnaturally black and he had a bit of black eyeliner on. This must be Taylor, the resident goth guy.
Derek raised his glass up and everyone followed suit. "Firstly I wish to welcome Nina to our family and give my condolences on her loss. It's a great tragedy to lose your whole family too soon." My glass dropped a bit as I breathed not to let another tear fall.
"Secondly I wish to give my hope that the new school year for all our children be a rewarding one. I hope that from the beginning that all of you do well and have happy memories starting on Tuesday with your first day." He looked around the whole table at everyone even me.
"Lastly but surely not least, I want to thank my glorious wife for all she does and to know how much she is loved." He smiled at Macy. "Thank you honey." All the guys said thank you, but I couldn't speak at the moment so I looked at her. A tear fell down her cheeks as she looked at everyone.
"Now let's enjoy!" Derek commanded and then every lid was lifted off of every dish.
I was very surprised when the guys didn't start to fight over dishes but easily passed the dish after they got some out of it. They didn't even pile their plates up high with food. They took one spoonful and that was it. By the time the dish was to me from Daemon, there was still half of it left. I mimicked them not wanting to offend anyone or get into trouble.
Derek smirked at me as he leaned over. "We've had them housebroken all their lives for the most part. You have no worries about, so take as much as you want."
I lightly shook my head. "I won't have much right now." I looked down a little. "Still don't have my appetite back."
He tapped my hand gently. "Give yourself just a little longer." I nodded and he went back to eating.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daemon scoff and looked away taking a massive swallow of his drink. I just ignored him because he was just pissed at me because he got into trouble for having sex when he wasn't supposed to. Not my fault he didn't heed his father's commandment about no sex in the house now that I was here.
The rest of the dinner was nice since everyone else introduced themselves to me. The others seem to take a liking to me. Though Taylor was quiet through the whole meal only sneaking glances at me. The only time he did something for me was when I finish my roll, he placed another roll on my plate. I in turn put a dollop of butter on the edge of his plate as he got himself another roll himself. He blushed seeing the dollop.
After everyone was done, there was a separation as half took plates and dishes into the kitchen. Nick came up to me and smiled. "You want to hang out in the game room with us? We're about to start a video game tournament and need a cheerleader."
I pouted. "What if I want to play?"
He raised an eyebrow. "But it's a shoot up game. You really want to play something like that?"
I shrugged with a smirk. "I did have a brother and we played that kind of thing all the time." Then I yawned and felt tired again. "But I think I'll pass on both counts. Thanks anyways."
He pulled me into a tight hug. "If ever you want to talk, I'm there for you." He pulled back and looked at me. "Louis told me that you and your brother were twins. I'm so sorry." He looked me into my eyes. "You're not alone, not at all."
I nodded before turning away only to look back at him. "Do you know if the sheets have been...?"
Someone bumped into me hard and Nick caught me as I fell against him. "Of course they've been changed." Daemon grunted as he left the dining room.
"Jerk." Nick said under his breathe as he helped me back up.
"Thanks for catching me." I hugged him. "I'll see you in the morning."
"See you in the morning." Nick said as he watched me walk out of the dining room.
I went up stairs even passing Daemon as he stood leaning against the door jam looking out the front door. He didn't even glance my way as I rounded the banister and went upstairs. I swear he took a deep breathe as I passed near him and he seemed to shiver.
But that had to be my imagination, right? My tired mind making things up. Already dreaming before my body was yet laid down to the soft mattress awaiting me in my new room. My feet taking their time helping me up the stairs to my room. Taking more time than it would have been.
I got to my new room and opened the door. Boxes and my suitcase was piled up on one side of the room. The bed had new sheets. Cream and sage green with matching pillow shams.
I smiled sadly as I walked over to the bed. There was a little origami crane on my bed. It's said that you give them to someone who is not feeling well. One of the guys must have made it for me knowing I wasn't well emotionally.
Moving the little crane to the nightstand, I gave it a tiny pet before I opened my suitcase and got my nightgown out. My mom had bought me several for my seventeenth birthday a month ago. She thought I'd want to start wearing a few girly things and not my normal t-shirt and shorts like my brother. I just wanted to wear it to be close to my mom.
Before I slipped into bed, I pulled out a picture of my family and set it on the side table. One that just had the members of my family that I lost. My dad had my brother in a head lock as my sister jumped on my mom's back. Everyone was laughing and smiling. This is one of the few pictures I took myself.
"I miss you guys." I whispered before I gave the picture a soft kiss then sat it down on the nightstand with the crane in front of it.
I fell asleep looking at the picture. My heart going out to them wherever they happen to be now. They weren't with me physically, but I knew they'd always be with me. They loved me and I love them. That's how it will always be. Always connected and tied together deep down.