Two Years Later - June/July 2015 - With The Smith Brothers
THIRD PERSON POV:
Regret.
A feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done.
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The Smith Brothers lived in regret for their actions, each of the five brothers who were living at home, lived in complete regret and guilt over what had happened. There were so many things that could have gone differently. There were so many other things they could have done to change the past, but now the past was the past, and their parents, Michael, and Anastasia was gone. There was no changing that now.
The Smith Brothers: James, Matthew, Jackson, Mason, and Nathan, all lived in regret and guilt for different reasons.
James because he was the one to start all of Ana's pain and suffering, he was the one to bring the first hit down on Ana each and every time. Matthew because he wasn't strong enough to take the blame. He was the one who called his parents, whether or not it was a drunk driver who killed his parents. Jackson and Mason were regretful because they treated their little sister as if she was trash on the ground, dirt underneath their shoes. And Nathan because even though he was a child, he knew that Ana was lying to protect Matthew and he didn't do a single thing to try and help her, he just watched her suffer in silence.
Sure Nathan never put a hand on Ana, but what good does that do if he watched everyone else do it? He was just as bad as them in his eyes.
From the moment the fourth oldest brother, Jackson, found the letter left for them by Anastasia their lives had changed forever. Jackson had come down early that morning, having not been able to sleep well the night before. When he grabbed the note, quickly skimming it, he had never been in so much shock.
Flashback - 2012
Jackson had shouted in surprise, not realizing that they truly could have killed her the night before if she wouldn't have stopped the bleeding when she did.
They left her to die on the cold, harsh basement floor.
And that was something they would all have to live with for the rest of their lives.
Soon after the sudden yell that had come out of Jackson's mouth, the rest of the brothers piled into the kitchen, to see what was wrong. Jackson never screamed in pain or desperation, something had to be wrong, he had to be hurt. That was the only thing James could figure out in that exact moment as he ran down the stairs towards the kitchen.
And when he decided to pull the note away from his younger brother, reading it for himself, James couldn't believe the words written on the page below.
Anastasia Marie Smith had really left.
It didn't come as a surprise, seeing how they all treated her, but James couldn't seem to stop the shock his body was in. He knew how he treated his little sister was wrong and that there was a chance she would leave, but he never once thought it would actually happen. It was more of a worst case scenario inside of the man's head.
Mason had no words, he was utterly speechless. He had caused this, he knew it was partially his fault, after all nobody can make you do anything you don't want to. And with those thoughts, Mason realized one thing-
He was a monster.
Matthew and Nathan on the other hand only exchanged looks with the other, both holding guilty expressions, though they were for two completely different reasons.
Matthew's was because he knew if he had uttered the truth years ago he could have not only saved his little sister from all the trauma and abuse she'd gone through, but she wouldn't be gone right now either.
Nathan's guilt came from never fixing the problems he caused between the two of them. He could have chosen to stay by her side and continue helping her, but he didn't. He chose to leave her completely alone in her own personal hell. Now Nathan had to live with the fact that his sister had nobody, and was so alone, so scared of her own family that she left.
He promised his twin that he would always be there for her, no matter the circumstances or consequences, and that was the moment when Nathan truly realized that he had broken his promise to his twin sister.
He left Anastasia alone in a crowded home, alone in her own mind struggling to survive.
"She left?" Mason asked breathlessly, looking over James' shoulder at the note in his hand.
"She left." he confirmed.
"W-what?" Nathan asked, his voice breaking, "What did you do to her yesterday?"
"We punished her." Mason answered his younger brother, "But she deserved it for lying and trying to ruin our best friend's reputation."
"No she didn't lie." Nathan shook his head, "Did you look into her eyes and ask her? You know her eyes don't lie. Just like with mom and dad's death, you completely ignore the truth and only took what you wanted to see."
Nathan was angry now. How could they believe she would make up such a lie?
"And how would you know if she lied about our parents death, Nathaniel?" James asked, his tone sharp.
"Because as her twin brother, we have that connection. I can look at her and know if she's telling the truth, but so can you guys. When we were younger you always could." Nathan snarled back, shocking everyone in the room, "I may have not been the best brother, I may have not stood by her side as we got older, but I never once touched her. I never once hurt her physically and I always made sure to get her side of the story before jumping to conclusions. You all are terrible, but I'm just as bad as you because I never tried to stop you."
Tears formed in Nathan's eyes as he looked to the floor and sighed heavily, "How could I let you hurt her?"
And then Nathan stormed off, muttering, "Maybe I can find her..."
Everything was silent, nobody else moved for minutes, everyone being lost in their thoughts, when suddenly Matthew spoke up-
"I did it."
"What?" James questioned.
"I was the one to dial the number, I wanted to talk to mom and dad, not Ana. After seeing what you did to her when you thought she was the one to call them, I got scared. I got scared okay? You terrified me. I was supposed to be the big brother, the protector, yet Ana did all the protecting. I'm a disgrace to her and our parents, and Michael too, but it wasn't her who made that phone call. And Nathan's right, Ana's eyes held truth to them yesterday, Dane tried to hurt her first, and we are the worst brothers to ever exist."
Matthew paused one second, catching his breath from speaking so much, and then in the next second he was on the floor holding his jaw in pain.
"You helped kill our parents?" James' harsh voice boomed out, "And then let Anastasia take the blame. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Matthew only looked to the ground, holding his jaw. Jackson and Mason both looked on in disbelief at their older brothers.
How had everything gotten so fucked up?
Flashback Over - Present Time
It had been two years since that fateful day.
Nathan couldn't find his sister.
James punched his little brother.
Matthew finally told the truth.
Jackson cried for the first time in years.
Mason watched in disbelief as his family fell apart in front of him.
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Now things were slowly starting to get to their new normal.
The family of brothers had gone to the police after hours of looking for their little sister, only to come up empty handed. The police officers launched a a missing person's case for Anastasia, but ultimately dropped it when Miles called, handing in a large sum of money for their silence.
After weeks of not finding their little sister, James eventually got off his butt and signed his family up for family therapy to work through their issues in hopes of getting better, even if there was only the slightest chance that they could get better.
If they ever wanted a chance when Anastasia came back, if Anastasia came back, they knew they'd need to show her that they were different than before.
And this was the perfect place to begin, therapy.
When everyone had found out what James had done to his little sister, he was put in jail for a week, waiting for a judge and a trial. In the end, because Ana wasn't there to testify James didn't get charged and all existing charges on that specific case were dropped, leaving James with a clear background, but a heavy heart.
Now, James works out two times a day to keep his anger in check. Matthew isn't afraid of speaking his mind and letting people know the truth of things. Jackson and Mason broke things off with Dane, after beating him up for hurting their sister and then lying about it. Jackson was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Mason became more introverted than extroverted, choosing to stay in with Jackson rather than leave without him. Nathan, however, took Ana leaving the hardest. He spent his time hating himself over the fact that he never got the chance to make up for his actions before she left. Nathan chose to stay by himself more often than not.
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Two years had past since Ana left, and it was now Nathan and Ana's birthday. They both would have been sixteen, but now Nathan would be the only one celebrating with their family.
It was hard for Nathan to think about, knowing with his brothers he never felt like he was in danger, yet his twin sister almost died by their hands. It was a scary thought, one that stayed in the back of his mind almost every day.
Little did the Smith Brothers know, a better version of Anastasia Marie Smith would be coming home very soon.
Anastasia Marie Smith-Wolp would show the world exactly who she was.
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Author's Note:
Hello Everybody!
Here's chapter seven, I hope you guys enjoyed it. It's different from the original version, but I hope this shows that the brothers are going to try and change. They want their second chance, if Ana will eventually give it to them they want to be ready for that moment. The brothers want to be better people.
Let me know your thoughts about this chapter in either the comments, by voting (clicking the star), or by sharing this story with someone you think might like it. I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for reading!
-michaelaloveswriting
Original Version Published: April 14th. 2019
Edited Version Published: June 25th. 2022