He Changed My Life || Book One

Chapter 1 || Loss

The cool October breeze hit the young Japanese girl in the face as she buried her hands deeper into the pockets of her bright green hoodie. The sounds of sirens buzzed in the young girl's ears. The closer she got to her home, the louder they became. Worry filled her as she sped up, almost jogging.

She was almost home when she looked up into the sky, it wasn't its baby blue color, it was grey, almost black. That's when she realized that it was smoke. Just one more block. She rounded another corner to find her apartment in flames. Firefighters, police officers, and paramedics were there.

She pushed herself through the crowd, desperation and fear filled her mind as she got to the front of the crowd. "Sir! My family is in there!" The young girl shouted at the nearest firefighter to the yellow tape that was restricting her to go inside the burning structure.

"Ma'am, how many more people are in the building?" The firefighter asked the girl. She was able to see that he was the Battalion Chief. She was about to say something but that's when she saw two firefighters run out of the building with two victims in their arms.

As they carried out the victims, the girl ran to the ambulance that they rushed to. One of the victims was a woman with sun kissed skin and brown hair. Her face was covered in ashes and her clothes were ripped. The other victim was a young boy with tan skin and black hair, his face was also covered in ashes. The young girl gasped at the sight of the two victims, one of them was her mom and the other one was her younger brother, Cairo.

"That's my brother and mom." The girl said to the two paramedics that were treating her family. One of them had dark skin, brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes. The other paramedic had pale skin, blonde hair, and green eyes.

Yelling could be heard from behind them. The Japanese girl turned around as firefighters carried out three more victims. They placed down one of the victims on the ground, checking for their pulse. When the girl got a good view, tears filled her bright green eyes as she saw the severely burnt victim. The victim looked to be a young girl, early teens. It was very hard to tell what she looked like but the young girl knew who she was. Rivka, little sis.

She then walked back to where the ambulances were, but to her surprise they were gone. They must've left already. Her train of thought was quickly interrupted when more ambulances arrived at the scene. She took a good look at the other two victims that were brought out of the burning structure. One of them looked to be an older Japanese man covered in burns. The other one was an adult male that nearly looked like the older man. Both of them were quickly rushed to the ambulances on scene and taken away to the hospital.

Waiting in the hospital seemed like an eternity for young Annabelle. Her mother and little brother were unconscious, her father was in surgery, her sister died on scene, and her older brother died on his way to the hospital.

She let out a sigh as she pulled out her phone from her pocket. She turned it on and went to her photo app, looking through all of the photos of her and her family. This caused her to shed a few tears. "Miss Tachi?" Her head snapped up to see Doctor Porter in front of her. She put her phone away and stood up, ready to hear about her father's condition.

He put a hand on Annabelle's shoulder and wore a sad expression. She already knew. She knew her father was gone. Tears started to fill up in her already swollen green eyes. She couldn't handle it, she let out a hard sob as she backed herself into the chair she was sitting in, not giving a damn on who was watching.

After what it seemed like forever, letting out hard sobs in front of people in the waiting room of the hospital, the black haired girl stepped out. She then sat down on the cool sidewalk and pulled out her phone to dial her best friend, Fallon.

The ringing went on for another twenty seconds before her friend answered with a 'hello.' "Hey Fal, do you think I can crash at your place for a bit?" Annabelle asked her best friend with desperation in her voice. "Sure, I'll pick you up in a few minutes." Fallon responded. Annabelle said thanks and hung up.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, a red Chevy came into view, swerving around the parking lot and stopped at the front entrance where Annabelle was sitting. The girl got up and opened the door to the passenger seat to see her best friend driving the car. She had short blonde hair that cascaded down to her shoulders, her dark blue eyes held worry. She was wearing a black thin long sleeve shirt that hung off her shoulders, dark ripped jeans, and a red flannel tied around her waist.

It was nearly 6pm when the girls arrived at Fallon's apartment. Annabelle was in awe as she entered the living room. The walls were painted a nice beige color to match the dark brown leather couch. On the left of the couch was a black chair with white patterns on it as well as a glass coffee table. On the right of the couch was a small dining table that was able to fit six people. Next to the dining table was the kitchen. The wall was painted white and it even had a white tile backdrop above the stove. Above that were white cabinets and the microwave.

"Pretty nice, huh?" Annabelle was now back into reality when her friend threw a playful punch into her shoulder. She shook her head in response as she followed her friend into the room she was staying in.

The room was painted a light grey color, the bed had white sheets and dark blue pillows to match the wall. On the right was a bookshelf filled with a few books on each shelf. Next to that was a small white desk with a white chair to match.

"Fallon, how in the bloody hell did you afford this?" Annabelle asked, her voice filled with shock and curiosity. Fallon chuckled. "My parents are rich, remember?" Annabelle mumbled 'oh' before plopping herself on the very comfortable bed.