Chapter 1

How could I ever forget that night?

There was no way.

It had haunted me for sixteen years.

How could I forget the 5th of June, 2010?

It had started like every normal night in our house. The night breeze felt unreal, cool against my skin, calming enough to sink into my bones. I was outside doing yoga. Sixteen-year-old me had been obsessed with it. I was an athlete, and I always felt the need to keep my body in shape.

“Athena… why don’t you come inside? It’s already late.”

My mom had called out to me several times.

Thinking about it now, maybe I should have listened to her. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed outside any longer.

“I’m coming, Mom… just a few more minutes.”

“Can I bring the twins to enjoy the breeze with you? At least you’ll have company.”

“Mom… no.”

I replied immediately.

The twins had just turned three. It was difficult adjusting to two loud toddlers in the house, especially for someone who had been an only child for sixteen years. But June and July were the sweetest little girls. I had always wanted to be a big sister. I just hadn’t been prepared for the responsibilities that came with it.

“Athena! Athena!”

The twins ran outside and threw themselves into my arms. I wrapped my hands around them as they giggled loudly.

“Watch them for me. I’m going to prepare something for your father. He’s at the rose garden,” my mom said before walking back inside.

“Can we join?” the twins asked in unison.

“You can only watch from afar. Don’t touch my stuff, okay?” I instructed.

They obeyed immediately and sat quietly by the pool while watching me stretch.

The only thing I remembered was closing my eyes one minute and opening them the next because of a loud sound.

Boom!

That was it.

Then came the scream.

“Athena! June! July!”

My mother’s voice echoed from inside the house, filled with pain and terror.

I froze.

It felt like my brain had stopped working while my body remained alive. The twins screaming and running toward the house snapped me back to reality. I jumped up instantly and chased after them, grabbing them right at the entrance.

“Stay here. Both of you. You can’t go in there. The house… it’s… on fire.”

I stuttered, struggling to control my emotions while the twins cried hysterically.

“I’m going in there. I’m going to bring Mom out. Stay here and don’t move.”

I placed them on the bench beside the pool.

“Athena… what’s going to happen to Mom?” June cried.

“Is she going to die?” July asked through tears.

“No. No, no. Mom isn’t going to die. I promise you.”

At least, that was what I wanted to believe.

I rushed toward the burning house without thinking twice. I had never been a brave person, but somehow, fear didn’t matter anymore.

“Mom! Mom!”

I screamed while forcing my way through the smoke.

The heat wrapped around my body immediately. The fire was spreading too fast. Flames crawled up the curtains and stretched across the ceiling like they were alive.

I struggled to breathe, but I had to get to my mother.

I could hear weak coughing coming from the kitchen. Pulling the sleeve of my lounge wear over my nose, I pushed forward, ignoring the way the smoke blurred my vision.

“Athena…”

I heard my mother’s weak voice.

“Mom? Mom, where are you? Please answer me!” I cried, choking on my tears.

“Athena… can you hear me?”

Her voice sounded faint now. Weak. Broken.

“Yes, Mom. Yes, I can hear you.”

“Run. Take the twins. Look for your father and run.”

My heart stopped.

“They’re coming for you guys. Take the twins and run.”

“Mom? Who’s coming? I can’t leave you!”

“Athena, I’m begging you. You cannot die in here with me. Take your sisters and run… please.”

“Mom…”

I staggered backward.

The back door was open. I could escape through it easily. I needed help. I needed to save her.

“Mom? Mom, can you hear me?”

No response.

I called out to her again and again, but she never answered.

The heat was unbearable now. My skin burned painfully, and I could barely breathe anymore. If I stayed any longer, there was no way I would survive it.

So I ran outside.

The twins were still exactly where I had left them. In the distance, I could already hear sirens approaching.

“Help is coming. Come on, let’s go find Dad.”

Then it hit me.

If my father had been at the rose garden, which was only a few miles from the house, there was no way he wouldn’t have seen the smoke by now.

“Is Mom going to be okay?” June asked softly.

“Dad… let’s go find Dad,” I muttered instead.

I grabbed their wrists gently and took the shortcut toward the rose garden.

By then, the police had arrived. Firefighters rushed into the burning house while officers blocked the area.

“Wait here,” I told the twins before running toward one of the police officers.

“My mother… she’s in there. My mother is in there!”

“We’ll do our best to get her out,” the officer replied quickly.

I ran back to the twins and knelt in front of them.

“Everything is going to be okay,” I whispered shakily. “They’re going to find Mom and take her to the hospital. Then we’ll find Dad at the rose garden, okay? Everything is going to be okay.”

That was what I told them that night.

But everything wasn’t okay.

We did find our father in the rose garden.

Dead.

My father had been shot several times.

Even now, I still remember the twins’ piercing screams. The way they clung to the hem of my gown while crying uncontrollably.

And my mother?

Only her remains were pulled out of the house.

Our home burned to the ground while we watched from beside the ambulance van.

So how could I ever forget that night?

The night I lost my parents.

The night my sisters and I became orphans.

The night our lives were stolen from us forever.

Someone took everything away from us.