The Starling Saviour

Chapter 26

'How do you feel today, Aria?'

I remained silent, inspecting my chewed fingernails as a form of some routine procrastination.

'Aria?'

'A variety of things, really,' I replied with a faint stutter, my idea of covering up my emotions failing by the second.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'Not really,' I said quickly, immediately regretting my decision. 'I mean, I don't, but I do. I don't know.'

'Remember, all our sessions are confidential. Not even Mr Yates will know what happens under this roof.'

'Okay, then,' I shrugged my shoulders, sinking deeper into the ironically uncomfortable plush sofa. 'Well, I am feeling happier than I was a few weeks ago. And much happier than I was last summer. The summer was the hardest. I just kept thinking about losing them. Losing them all. I miss them. I miss them so much.'

'Who are you thinking about, Aria?'

'Helena,' I started to recite my list. 'Elliot... Isaac... Sara... Oliver.'

'And why did you miss them more a few months ago than now?'

'I lost Ollie and Sara then,' I said quietly. 'And I still haven't gotten over it after four years of them being gone.'

'Don't you mean, five?'

'Oh yes,' I remembered. 'Five.'

'And why did you miss the rest of them?'

'I don't know,' I admitted truthfully. 'Isaac's fourth anniversary isn't until next month. Elliot and Helena aren't even dead.'

'Do you have any... Close family?'

'I can't see them,' I cried in a sad reminiscence. 'They're in another country. Another continent!'

'You can talk to me, Aria. I understand. It's okay to feel like this.'

'But it's not, is it?' I retaliated. 'If it wasn't I wouldn't be here.'

I could swear I saw the psychiatrist slightly nod in agreement.

---

As you can probably tell, things went pretty downhill after Isaac's death. We had a good team, Ted, Elliot and I. But then we decided to recruit another member to our team. He was called Isaac too. Isaac Stanzler.

Isaac was a good kid. Yes, he was reckless and impulsive, but he soon learnt the tricks of the trade. He became one of our best assets, taking over my role on the field as I took over Helena's job as our computer master. My fascination with the early digital age in my teen days had turned out to be handy, but in my new role I felt as though I was restricted. I wanted to fight.

However, after a few months of Isaac being involved in our fights, he made a terrible mistake. I was watching through the nearby CCTV footage when it happened. He and Ted were up against some drug dealer in the Glades, and without warning, Isaac beat him to death. Ted tried to stop him, but the man had lost too much blood to survive.

No matter how horrible the dealer was, Isaac had killed a man in cold blood. And Ted kicked him off the team as soon as he could.

I never saw Isaac Stanzler again after that incident.

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