The Runaway Girl✔️ | A Christian Romance

Chapter 5 - First Sight (new)

Reading through what I had recorded in my journal always made me wonder if I really had such a traumatic, horrible, bizarre past. I inhaled deeply and closed the journal on my bed—it was gifted to me by Haxsel after I learned to read and write.

There were times I even thought my memories were just a nightmare, and that I had always belonged in the Houston family, born a Houston—after all, that was how my brother and my parents had made me feel, for the last eight and half years.

My memories were all blurry now, and so reading through my journal made them resurface. All the panic attacks, nightmares, and even my fears were gone, all dissipated. They were not to be found again, just like my bruises.

After officially becoming a Houston, I was warmly welcomed into the full family by both Dad's and Mom's families. I was given what I never had or even asked for: grandparents, cousins, uncles, and aunts.

I even got a godfather, Michael Black. He was Dad's best friend and a doctor who ran a hospital of his own in Colorado. After learning about my bruises, my parents brought me to him. Uncle Mike was a cool, funny man, and so we got along immediately, which then led to my dad asking him to be my godfather. And of course, Uncle Mike was more than happy.

Apart from Uncle Mike's family and our own, no one knew I was a mafia escapee. Everyone thought I was adopted from a children's home. But Haxsel didn't hide the truth from his best friend Charlie, who eventually became like a second brother to me.

Even though I was happy, keeping me safe was a challenge for my family. They couldn't bring me out in the public in fear of someone from the mafia recognizing me, and that worried Haxsel and my parents about my future.

After two years passed since I joined the family, Dad and Mom decided to move from Colorado to Chicago, where Dad's family was. It didn't seem possible at first because Dad was a bank manager. But upon seeking God's help and applying for a promotion, we succeeded. We bought a new house in Chicago, not so far from where Dad's new bank was located, and moved out.

So many things changed since then, and I became a free bird. I was able to go out, since no one here knew me and no one from the mafia could ever find me. On top of that, because even my family was new here and no one knew that Bill and Adela Houston had only a son, I was no longer introduced as an adopted daughter or sister, and Haxsel was the happiest about it.

Soon enough, I went to school for the first time in my entire life. The homeschool lessons my mom had taught me during those two years helped me get into the appropriate grade.

I found my first best friend in Harry Canfield, who was also Haxsel's new best friend Maxell's youngest brother. They met at college after we moved to Chicago and became friends after realizing they shared rhyming names. Harry secured his place in my heart since we first met and became my best and only guy friend in the universe so far—apart from my brother, that was.

After Harry was RekenzelKaterblock. She was the first female best friend I made after I lost my old friend Emery when I escaped the mafia. Rex was from Israel, where my paternal family was originally from, and we met during one of my summer visits there. We immediately became friends, and I, out of the excitement of getting an enthusiastic female company of my age, spilled out about myself—that I was a mafia escapee.

Rex became curious about my past and peppered me with questions. I ended up telling her my whole story. Once I was done though, her excitement was replaced with concern and regret. I asked her not to tell this to anyone, and she promised, and thus our bond began. But I didn't miss Haxsel's scolding when I told my family what I did. He made me promise not to share it with anyone ever again, turning my plan of sharing it with Harry into ashes.