Anita
I jolt awake from a nightmare, breathing rapidly. As I look around my surroundings, I remember I'm in the hospital. Raven lay next to me, asleep with her head wrapped and casts on her left arm and leg. Tears well in my eyes from relief that my nightmare was wrong. She's alive, not dead. My nightmares usually consist of the truth, they usually consist of the tragic night five years ago. I find myself lightly tracing over her lips until those green eyes meet mine. One look in mine and I know she can see something is bothering me. "I'm still here," she whispers soothingly as if she could read exactly what I was thinking. I nod vigorously as the tears fall rapidly down my cheeks. I give her a kiss and feel someone tap my leg. I look behind me at Amelia and she had fresh tears in her eyes. "Can I lay with Daddy," she asks in a choked whisper. I nod, stealing one more kiss before climbing out of the bed. Amelia carefully climbs in and takes my place, sobbing in Raven's neck. Raven holds her the best she can to try and console the child, but it was of no use. It's clear how close they are and for Amelia to react this way makes me want to find Joe and kill him myself. Lexi walks in, looking like she just ran a marathon. "We got him," she says once she finally catches her breath. "We're about to interrogate him now." "I'm coming with you," I say as rage fills my senses. "It's not safe for you Anita," Lexi pleads with me. "I wasn't asking for your permission," I snap and leave the room, dragging her with me. "That son of a bitch killed my family, nearly killed Ray. I'm not standing on the sidelines. Let me sit with him for a few minutes. I'm sure he'll confess to everything and slip unknown information we could use to find his help." Her eyes widen and asks, "You heard all that last night?" "Get someone to guard this room because I'm not losing anyone else," I choke quietly and she nods with understanding. "We heard her Lexi," one of three detectives who were friends with my parents say in sympathy. "Thanks Mark," I say with relief. "Amelia doesn't know I'm her sister so please don't tell her anything different than what she's known all her life. She thinks I'm her mother and Ray is her father." They nod with understanding and enter the room. I let Lexi lead me to her car and together we ride in silence. Once at the station she leads me directly to where they were waiting to question Joe. At first her Captain was against it but one look in my eyes quickly made him change his mind. Before entering the room, I compose myself. Tears fill my eyes as I think back to the man I once called uncle and see if I walk down memory lane he'll spill the beans. I enter the room and noticed he was cuffed to the table. I take the seat in front of him clearly seeing the shocked look in his eyes. We sat there in silence for a few minutes before I ask in a choked whisper, "What happened Uncle Joe? What happened to the man who dressed up as Santa while Avery and I were kids? What happened to the man that took us to Disneyland the year before Mom had Henry?" More silence as I watch what I said get to him. I could see the emotions clear in his eyes. After a few moments pure rage fills his eyes. "He changed when his best friend didn't acknowledge him for his part in the security development," he snarls. I reach in my purse for the document my father had and slid it over to Joe. "Read it," I choke quietly. I watch his eyes flit over the words on the page before he looks up with tears in his eyes. "I didn't know Anita. What have I done," he asks as the tears fall. "You killed them Joe. You didn't succeed in killing me and you almost killed my fianceé. But you didn't do it alone," I say in anger. "Hadley, he wanted the company..." "Liar, Hadley died in a car accident before you killed my family," I glare at him. "Try again." "His son Anita," he says and I could hear the truth in his words. "He's the one who told me your father didn't include me in the program. I swear I didn't know." "Why didn't you just ask my father Joe," I ask as tears roll down my cheeks. I see a brief sinister look in his eyes and know he's lying. "You don't know, do you," he asks snickering and I'm left confused. "Frederick Martin, isn't your father." "Then who is? My parents had been together since highschool," I say not believing a word from his mouth. "Maybe, but they had a fight around the time your mother conceived you and Avery. They were separated a few months and she turned to me," he says with a smirk. I laugh hysterically and it only pisses him off. Good. "My mother hated you. She always warned my father she had a bad feeling about you, but he thought it was because of your shitty flirting. I bet you can't get it up," I say between laughs and he tries to pull on the cuffs. "Have I stroke a nerve? Is it small? Raven is pretty big for an intersex woman." "Shut up," he shouts in anger. "Jefferson has big plans for you bitch! I want to kill you quickly, he wants to make you suffer. He knows your bitch's parents never moved. He told me after I rammed her car. How's the little brat that calls you Mommy?" I reach over the table and slap him hard across the face. If not for his hands being cuffed to the table, he would have fallen backwards. The door to the room opens and Lexi takes me in her arms as uncontrolled sobs escape my lips. She guides me through the sea of officers to a private room and helps me sit down. She gets me a glass of water and I drink it with shaky hands. "We got everything on recording Anita," she says in a soothing tone and I nod vigorously. A rumble of thunder makes me jump. Lexi leads me to a different room, the stations shooting range. She grabs a set of headphones as more thunder makes me cling to her waist, shaking with fear. Moments later I feel the headphones placed over my ears and the deafening sound of the storm is muffled. Raven I'm worried about Anita. She not only went to see Joe but there's a current storm going on outside and I'm the only one known to calm her down. Amelia is scared asking for her mother while clinging to my right side. Anita is the only one who can calm her during a storm, even if Anita is scared of them herself. I'm about to have my mother call Lexi when she walks in with a calm Anita. I was surprised until I noticed the soundproof headphones. Ones they use at the shooting range. I look at Lexi and she says, "She got him to confess, it wasn't pretty. I didn't know how to calm her down and my Captain gave her the headphones. She can't hear anything." I nod lightly and say with relief, "Thank you." Anita didn't need sound to know Amelia was scared. She taps the child's shoulder and points to the empty hospital bed. I didn't need eye contact to see the raw emotion hers held. Now I wish I knew what happened between her and Joe. She holds onto Amelia and in a matter of seconds she was calmed down and asleep. Everyone stood amazed at how quickly Anita was able to calm her from her scared state before Anita got here. I noticed Anita was stuck in her thoughts, even if he couldn't hear the storm outside. She doesn't need the storm to bring her back to that night. I have no idea what happened between her and Joe, but I'm sure she'll tell me in time. "He tried to make her think that her mother had an affair with him while her parents separated during a fight. Even though they were lies, they were pretty convincing at first until he slipped out of character. Other things were mentioned but they're graphic and I don't want to say anything around Amelia even if she's sleeping," Lexi says in sympathy towards Anita. I watch her pull Amelia closer to her, arms secured tight around the child as rapid tears roll down her cheeks. Rage fills me to the core thinking of the possibilities of what Joe could have said for her to be acting like this. It must have been mostly about Amelia because her focus was solely on her when she walked in. Not once did she acknowledge anyone else in the room and under the circumstances of what's going on and her pregnant, I don't blame her. Amelia is literally the last of her family. When she strokes the scar on her chest I know exactly what she's thinking about now. Being with her since that night and I can read her better than anyone. Most of the time her thoughts are written on her face that I don't need to ask what's bothering her and just offer her comfort. I know she'll speak when she's ready and honestly I'd rather her tell me on her own rather than push her talk. She shut down the only time I did push her and that was shortly after she adopted Amelia. "Raven," Lexi says and I look at her as tears fill my eyes. "He knows your parents never moved from next door. His accomplice informed him after he rammed into you." Fear. There was no other word needed to express what I feel right now. How did anyone know? Unless his accomplice was over at Anita's parents house searching for the program while he couldn't. But that would have sparked suspension in Anita if he wasn't working. Unless he gave her a good enough reason not to be for her not to question it? "If the accomplice knows they didn't move they had to have been in her house looking for the program when there wasn't a storm and seen us there," I choke quietly and Lexi nods at this information. "And it would be someone at the company who frequently asks to leave for a good enough reason for her not to question it." "Jefferson," Anita chokes quietly, startling me. I didn't realize that she took the headphones off. "He was my father's right hand. My father often invited him to dinner. He always claimed he was visiting his mother during chemo treatments and I didn't think anything of it because I visit her often in the hospital. She has breast cancer." "What if he did visit her? Is there any way he could still be the accomplice," I ask curious. "Leave that to me, I want you to worry about recovering and being there for Anita," Lexi says with a light smile. She looks to Anita and says, "As for you, focus on the baby and keeping as calm as you can. Let me worry about everything else. Okay?" We both nod lightly and she steps out in the hall on her phone. I look over at Anita and she was looking down at Amelia's sleeping face. As if she could feel my eyes on her, she looks at me with tears in her eyes. "He basically threatened her in the interrogation room Ray. He tried to make me believe that he was my father," she chokes in a wavering whisper. "How can he go from playing as Santa to this monster in my nightmares?" "I don't know," I say in sympathy and I hated that I didn't have a better answer. "What I do know is, is that we'll get through this, together. I'm not going anywhere until death takes me. I need you to know that, in case things get worse before they get better." She nods vigorously and I know she wants to come to me, but she's comforting Amelia who is currently asleep on her chest. "I love you Ray. I don't know what I would have done...," she chokes between broken sobs. She didn't need to finish what she was going to say. I know she meant about the outcome of my accident. "I love you too and you don't have to worry about that, not for a long time okay?" She nods vigorously and let out a shuttering breath. She holds my eye contact as she takes calming breaths and I give her a light smile. My mother kisses her forehead and Anita lets out a calming breath, relaxing against the hospital bed." How are you feeling sweetie, despite everything," my mother asks in a soothing whisper, wiping her remaining tears. "Honestly, I'm emotional. Hospitals are another trigger from that night. I was scared of losing Ray, the baby. I'm scared for Amelia, for all of us. I'm angry with the lies I've been fed by those my father trusted the most. I'm upset because I miss my family and thinking even for a second that what Joe said about being my father was true. And lastly I feel guilty for lying to Amelia, about everything she thinks is the truth," she says with her lower lip quivering and her voice cracking with emotions at the end. "I feel like she's going to hate me when she learns the truth when she gets old enough to understand."Anita There was a huge storm coming in tonight. I didn't want to stay out in it and I didn't want to go home without Raven. I was torn between my decisions to make and it was making me emotional. Raven has been there for me with every storm since that dreadful night.The terrified look in Amelia's eyes when the storm was mentioned helped me make my decision. I put her before myself and I didn't want to see the scared look in her eyes. I meet eyes with Raven and knew she knew I was going home. Worry filled her eyes and looks to Lexi. Lexi gives an understanding nod and I watch Raven relax against her hospital bed.I walk over, caressing her cheek before leaning down to give her a kiss. As I turned to leave with her parents and Amelia, I felt her grab my hand. I look back at her, standing next to her bed. She kisses her fingers and places her hand on my stomach. Tears fill my eyes at the gesture and she takes my hand to kiss my engagement ring.Lexi places her hand on my shoulder and I
RavenIt was two agonizing days before I could go home. We'd have to stay with my parents until I was capable of getting around for myself. With my fractured left wrist and multiple fractures in my left leg, it's at least three months before I can use crutches. By then we should be okay to go home.My mom had set up the guest room on the first floor for me so I wouldn't have to climb the stairs. The only problem is there's another storm tonight and it's not soundproof for Anita. Having to sleep two nights without me and I knew she'd deal with the sound of thunder than sleep another night away from me.She was currently helping me get comfortable in my parents living room, elevating my leg. Though we didn't have eye contact at the moment I could still see the battle of emotions in her eyes. I take her hand from fluffing the pillow under my leg and her eyes flick up to meet mine. Pooled tears threaten to roll down her cheeks as I watch her lower lip tremble, fighting against her crippli
AnitaAfter spending the last hour in the tub thinking, I had to tell Amelia the truth. She's smart for her age and understands more than you'd think. This lie has been eating at me and I can't live with it anymore.After collecting the courage to talk to her, I walked out to the living room where they were all watching a movie. Amelia was the first to notice me and came to give me a hug. "I didn't mean to upset you," she says feeling bad and it made me feel more guilty. "You didn't upset me, but I need to tell you something, something you probably won't fully understand. I was going to wait until you were older, but this has been eating at me and I can't keep lying to you," I choke quietly and the three adults watch in sympathy. I sat with her straddling my lap and looked into a pair of eyes that matched my mother's and mine. "I'm your sister, not your mother...""I know," she says quietly, unfazed by what I just said. That's until I saw tears fill her eyes. "I heard you talking wit
AnitaI woke the next morning and Raven was still beside me, her left arm and leg elevated. Thinking back to last night, I broke into relieved sobs, hiding my face between her neck and shoulder. She's still here, I'm not dreaming.I feel her hand slip up the back of my shirt and shutter a calming breath at the contact. I lay a kiss on her neck and move my head over her chest. Her heart beat was soothing to me and I'll never get tired of hearing it. I trace my finger over drawing Amelia did on the cast on her arm, a heart with a bandaid."Anita," Raven asks with concern and I look up at her. "I know I normally wait for you to express your thoughts, but this morning you woke up sobbing.""I thought I was in a dream yesterday and didn't want to go to sleep or wake up and you'd be gone," I say in a wavering whisper."I'm sorry," she says feeling bad, but she has nothing to apologize for."Don't apologize for being alive Ray," I choke quietly as her mother walks in. "Can you help her to th
Anita At the mention of me having twins, my thoughts immediately went to Avery. I remember how we always stumped our parents because they could never tell us apart. We would apply to the same extra curricular activities and if one of us got rejected, we simply didn't join it. We literally did everything together. There wasn't anything we didn't agree on.We even consulted with each other before entering a relationship. She was the first I came out to and she was quick to accept me. I told her about my crush on the girl who lived next door, who at the time I didn't know was Raven. We would watch her from our backyard as she did yard work in her sports bra and baggy shorts. She was there for me when I came out to our parents and just as she was, they were quick to accept me.Then thoughts of that night flooded my head. The way she was huddled against me after our mother was killed. Her lifeless body pinning me down as I struggled to breathe passed the blood gushing from my mouth.Green
Anita I woke up the next morning in the hospital. Thinking last night was a dream, I look in the bed next to me and Avery was still asleep next to me. Tears fill my eyes as I realize she's really here. I move to lay on her chest and feel her slightly stir in her sleep. Her heart beat rhythmically in my ear and I silently sob as I hold onto her. A low rumble of thunder makes me jump. A loud rumble follows shortly after, bringing a scream from not just me but Amelia. I feel arms around me, but it's not Ray. I look up at Avery, but all I can see is her scared face from that night. "Anita, look at me," Raven says in a soothing whisper, holding Amelia in the spare bed. I meet her green eyes as tears fall from mine. "Keep your eyes on me." I lay my head back on Avery's chest, keeping eye contact with Raven. A rumble of thunder echoes, but I don't break eye contact with her. I feel as Avery strokes my hair and close my eyes. I let out a calming breath as more thunder rumbles. "Don'
Anita It starts with the rain. It paralyzes me. Then the rumble of thunder cracks, sending me back to that dreadful night. The night that changed my life forever. The night I watched my family killed. The night I was left for dead, but survived. The night I wished I’d died with my family. I see it all happen as if I’m living it all over again, the scariest night of my life. Four men in black had us tied up, searching for something my father had been working on. A program worth millions, but if it fell into the wrong hands it would be chaos. They wanted the combination to the safe but my father refused. One of the men put a gun to my little brother’s head. Thunder rumbles as the storm outside picks up. Even over the loud rumble of thunder I could hear the loud BANG of the gun. My brother’s tiny form crumbled to the floor in front of me as blood poured from the small hole in his forehead. His lifeless eyes stuck open. The screams of my mother and my twin sister drowning out the plea
RavenSurprisingly Anita and I slept through the night without a nightmare. I was cuddled at her back while Amelia was cuddled against Anita's chest. Anita's arms wrapped securely around the small child. The peaceful look on her face told me she was content.I look out the window facing us, seeing gray skies. The first signs of rain falling loudly on our roof. Anita stirs in my arms, a light whimper coming from her. I whisper soothingly in her ear and feel her relax in my arms. Her facial expressions relax from her brief frowning in fear.A low rumble of thunder causes her eyes to fly open, breaths quickening. Amelia starts crying and it seems to distract the woman in my arms. "I'm here sweetheart," Anita says in a trembling whisper."Mommy, where's Daddy," the fragile voice asks in a choked whisper."I'm still here baby," I say in a soothing whisper, startling both of them. "It's okay, I'm here."Amelia carefully climbs over Anita and lays on top of me while Anita rolls to face me. I