Chapter 2- Arabella
In the pack children, I am the oldest. I will be turning nineteen this year. Because of the year I lost when I lost my mother, I am now in the senior year of high school.
Then comes Zeno. He is Uncle Leo's eldest son. Uncle Leo has two more children, Faye and Hugo. They are fourteen and twelve.
Francis and Mila are Uncle Stanley's children. They are sixteen and thirteen. Then there is Fabian and Zoe, also sixteen and thirteen. They are Uncle Ryan's kids.
Uncle Mathew have three children, Vivian, Griffin and Vincent. Vivian is sixteen. Griffin and Vincent are twins. They are thirteen.
Then there is Uncle Asher's daughter, Ella. She is fourteen.
Uncle Austin and Aunt Cloe couldn't make it this year. They have a daughter, Zahra who is thirteen. She is an angel. We get along quite well. We don't get to meet each other much but I love to spend time with her. I have a feeling that Griffin has a crush on her. I tease her a lot about it.
It's quite a large family I have here but I still feel lonely at times. I am not complaining though. I have wonderful parents and siblings. I wouldn't dare exchange them for anything.
My father, Alexander still hasn't shown up to this day. I have lost hope that he ever will. Grand pa and Grand ma call once in a while but I don't feel connected to them anymore. Uncle Oliver and Aunt Natalie also calls once in a while but the connection is just not there. It feels like they have moved on and had started a new life.
“Well well well! What do we have here?” Zeno's annoying voice broke my staring match with the moon.
He was standing near my leaning figure with a nasty smirk on his face.
"Hi Zeno.” I said politely.
He gave me a disgusted look. It has been like this since I moved in with mom and dad. He simply hated me since the day he laid his eyes on me. I used to go to Greycoast high before as it was near my old home. From that day he had never given up a chance to belittle me and make life difficult for me. Francis and Fabian as usual must be keeping Ben and Ethan busy while this muck of a person comes to soil my already gloomy mood.
“Don't talk to me like I am your friend you weakling.” He snapped.
Yup! That the best he could come up with.
“Do you mind moving? The moon is really pretty today.” I told him calmly.
“Don’t destroy the moon's beauty by laying your ugly eyes on it. Why don’t you just leave or something? Aren't you like already eighteen? Must have failed a year or been expelled for being stupid.”
He started laughing at his own joke. I just rolled my eyes at him but deep down the wounds of my mother's death and my father's disappearance are still fresh. I chose not to reply to him.
"What are you deaf and dumb too now? You should just go back to your real parents and stop trying to get along with our pack and family. You are not a part of it anyways.”
He kept on talking. He knows my parents are a sensitive subject. The pack children don’t know who they are, only the adults know that. Hell they don't even know that Eros is my brother and not Elliot's twin. They think I am the only one that basically barged in the Astley family. So basically I am an outcast in between the new generation of the pack.
They don’t know where I came from nor do they know me properly but they still decided that I am not a part of their family. Well its better this way. I can train more and I don't have to lie to anybody about my whereabouts.
“Your parents must have been fed up with you to kick you out and leave you behind. I don't know why Aunt Amara and Uncle Steven decided to take you in. They should have left you to fend for yourself.” He said in a teasing voice.
The pale corpse of my mother flashed in front of my eyes. A shudder ran through my body at the image. I could hear the sorrowful wailing of my father and the cry of an orphan child who lost his mother before he could even get to know her.
"And now you are crying like the wimp you are.” He laughed.
I am crying? But the images won't go away. The voices were ringing in my ears. I clutched my ears and screwed my eyes shut but it felt like those things had penetrated in my head.
No. Go away.
I don't know how long I sat there like this, trying to get rid of the horrifying scene. Someone ripped my hands away from my ears and I opened my eyes on reflex.
“Breath Aria. In and Out.” A voice said in my ears.
Dad.
“Please sweetie. Breath.”
Mom.
Am I not breathing?
“It's okay. Just relax.”
There were people around us. I could feel it. “Daddy. Mommy.”
"Yes baby. We are right here.” Dad said near my ears.
The haze was clearing slowly. I found myself sitting in dad's lap with mom's worried face right in front of mine. Dad was holding my hands in a tight grip and his legs were pinning mine. I slumped on Dad trying to calm my raging heart.
What did I do?