Unforgotten

1

I TOOK A DEEP BREATH as I fidgeted the sleeve of my black hoodie with trembling hands.

That oversized hoodie was the first piece of clothes I had gotten to my hands on that chilly Thursday when the authorities had suddenly barged into the two-bedroom apartment in the middle of a rural city in western Canada. It was the house where I lived with my stepfather, Michael Garret.

My ears were ringing when I heard that name escape the woman's, who was sitting right in front of me, mouth.

Kathy was her name. She was short, and a little stout. Her dark hair was tightly tied to a ponytail, and her dress was a mixture of beautiful flowers and the color of magenta. She had kind greyish eyes with a brush of blue in them, and her smile was reaching her ears. She didn't move her eyes from me, not even for a second, as I was trying to find the courage to raise my head. Someone would say that it was even a little disturbing how she was just staring at me, like I was some kind of statue or painting.

"I'm really sorry, Delilah."

Alcohol poisoning.

A serious, sometimes even deadly, consequence of drinking alcohol quicker than your body can process it. It wasn't a surprise that it would be the destiny of my stepfather. He had had a severe drinking problem ever since my mother, the love of his life, died in a car accident four years ago. Drinking was his way of relieving the pain, the anger, and the sudden resentment towards me. Drinking was the only thing left in his life, his words not mine.

Michael wasn't a monster; he was just a deranged human being who didn't have the capability to get over a death. Maybe I didn't like him that much, but I didn't hate him either. He even used to be the person I considered as my father figure, and after mother's death he was the only family, I had left.

So, I was sad, hurt, but not even a single tear escaped my eye.

"Delilah?" Kathy spoke again, placing her hand on top of mine. "Did you hear what I said?"

I hummed.
"I heard; Michael is dead."

She gave me an understanding look, before she stood up.

The room where we were in was small. Two bookshelves were placed on both sides of the room, and a desk with two chairs, one being the chair where I was sitting and the other being the chair where Kathy had been sitting, was placed in the middle of the room, taking almost the full space of the room.

I didn't even know where we were.

I had been in a police station, that I did know, but they took me to another place, the place where I was now, and no one really told me anything. The building was kind of rugged, and it needed decoration as quickly as possible. Orphanage was my first guess. Now that my stepfather was dead, there wasn't a place for me to stay, so I was an orphan. The place was my new 'home', until I was old enough to survive alone.

Alone.

"I know that it's hard to take in." Kathy sighed. "You are in shock, it's understandable, but..."

"What's going to happen now?" I cut her off with the question that was spinning inside my head.

"Your brothers..." She started, giving me time to register her words. "They want you home."

A sob escaped my mouth before I was able to prevent it.

Seven in total, all older than me. My favorite people when I was a little kid, my family. The only family I had left. I looked up to them as a little child, they were my knight and shining armor. No, they were my whole childhood. They loved me, and I loved them. We were a loving family of two loving parents and seven children, me being the youngest.