Alice in Wonderland

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I'm asleep for most of the car ride, but I know it takes long because we don't get home until about ten o'clock. I'm not sure where I ended up or how far it was, but it must have been at least an hour away.

I climb out of the car, Kyle wrapping an arm around my shoulders to steady me. A numbness has settled inside me and I'm grateful for the sudden silence in my head. I wonder if I'm just worn out and the feelings will come back when I regain my strength.

Mrs. Sharpe attacks me in a hug when I walk through the door and I feel my walls crumbling as she apologizes. "I'm so sorry, Lily. I wanted to sit down and talk you about it when the time was right, but you never seemed ready."

I let her babble, swallowing my sobs and blinking back my tears. I don't want to keep crying over my parents or what they did to me. I want to move on and keep this in the past so I can live the life I always dreamed of.

"Kyle, get Lily some dinner and bring it up to her room," Mrs. Sharpe commands, steering me towards the staircase. The boys murmur amongst themselves, but I don't turn to look at them. I still feel guilty for dragging them into this.

She leads me into my room and takes off to my closet, bringing me some clean clothes. She notices my feet, black from dirt and red from cuts and burns. "Let's get something for your feet."

I follow her into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the bathtub as she turns on the water and gets a washcloth from under my sink. I feel tears welling in my eyes again seeing Mrs. Sharpe worry over me like I'm her own child. My mother did the same when I was injured or sick, but now I know it's because she was scared she might have to take me to the hospital. She'd rather risk me being ill than getting caught.

"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Sharpe," I sniff. She pauses, smiling kindly at me before dumping something into the water. I set my feet in, watching the water begin to turn black from all the dirt on my feet.

"So what did Tracy tell you?" Mrs. Sharpe asks, sitting on the tub beside me. "I told Kyle I never liked her."

"She said my parents kidnapped me when I was a baby and my real name is Alice," That's all she really told me that I didn't already know. There was the stuff about their trial, but I don't care about what happens to them at this point. I just want them out of my life. "I have real parents out there."

Mrs. Sharpe sighs heavily, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder and I realize she's prepared to tell me something. "Lily, you're biological parents died a year ago in a car crash."

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach, all the air leaving my body at once. I hadn't thought about meeting my biological parents or if they wanted me back after all this time, but I guess I don't have a choice now. I'll never get a glimpse of the life I was taken from.

Despite not being able to meet the people who created me, I want to know everything about them. I want to know what they look like, where they lived, what they did for a living and everything else I can know. I need to know what my biological parents are like and if that's why my parents had kidnapped me. Even if they did save me from a tragic life, they didn't give me a life I deserve and they need to face the consequences. Nothing could have been enough reason for them to take the law into their own hands.

"I want to know everything about them," I whisper, not trusting that I won't start crying if I raise my voice any higher. I drop my head towards the water, watching the dirt-filled water move around my feet.

After I scrub my feet the best my exhausted body will allow me to, I change my clothes and crawl into bed. Kyle appears with my dinner and I know I'm hungry, considering I threw up the only meal I ate today. He sets it on my nightstand and kisses my forehead, making me promise him I'll eat. I lie and say I will and he seems satisfied enough to leave.