Runaway || OBX

part 3 - The letter

****

Two weeks later and a lot has changed. I'm doing homeschooling now. School has been tough on me and my dad's had been thinking about homeschooling anyways. Also I've been trying to find out about my biological family. I didn't find one goddamn thing, because I don't know anything about them. Today is the last day of school, before summer break and homeschooling isn't as easy, as it seems, so I'm very looking forward to the vacations. My teacher, is in a very good mood today.

Teacher: You have left 10 minutes for the essay and then you're at vacation.

Me: Cool!

I finish the essay quickly and give it to my teacher. She reads it quickly.

Teacher: Great work, Audrey!

She smiles.

Teacher: See you after summer break!

She grabs her bag and leaves the house. My dad's aren't home yet and I'm gonna be alone for, at least, two hours. So I decide to go through old stuff, like photo albums, documents and stuff, hoping in finding any clues about my family. I go outside, into the garden and to our little shed. I unlock the wooden door and enter the weird smelling place. The shed is filled with cartons and boxes. I look for the pink box with an big A on it. I grab it and open it. In there are old photos and drawings. I sit down on the soft meadow and go through the pictures. I chuckle at my baby face and the thin hair I had. But no clue about my family. I want to put back the box but recognize something at the wall. I put down the box and turn on the flashlight at my phone. I knock against the wall and behind it, is a hollow space. I try to open it with my hand but fail terribly. I take a stone at throw it against the wall, with all the anger inside me. The wood breaks and reveals the hollow space. I carefully put my hand inside and try to find something. Suddenly I feel something. I wrap my fingers around its edges and take it out. It's a letter. With my name on it.

Me: Holy shit!

I put the box in front of the hole and lock the shed. I run back into the house and sit down on one of our bar chairs at the kitchen island. I open the dirty envelope and take out the paper inside it. How bad must that letter be, if dad and daddy hid it inside an extra space in an old shed? I start reading the beautiful handwritten letters. One by one.

My dearest Audrey,
if you read this, you'll probably be old enough to read and I hope your fathers are good to you. I'm sorry, for what I did, but I couldn't leave you there. Your real father will be barely able to feed your brother. Oh, your brother. Twin brother. You probably won't remember him. His name is John, John Booker Routledge. But we didn't have a lot of money and I couldn't stay in OBX. Neither could you. Don't try to find me and just stay, where you are. You don't belong to OBX.
I hope your happy and are enjoying your life.
In love, Mom.

Me: Mom?

Tears run down my face and I re-read the last word. Mom. My mom. Where is she? How is she? What is OBX? I have a twin? John? What about my dad? What about mom? What about John? Why didn't she keep me? What the hell happened?

****

Even two hours later, the thoughts keep circling around my mind and now I know what OBX is. It's an island. The pictures I saw are beautiful. But a lot of people say, it's special there. And not in a good way. I hear the from door opening.

Daddy: Honey, we're home!

I ignore him.

Dad: Sweetie?

Daddy: Audrey?! Sweetie? HONEY?!

They come into the kitchen and look at me.

Daddy: Sweetie what's wrong?

Dad: She found it. The letter.

They look down.

Me: I have a twin. His name is John. John Booker Routledge.

Dad: Sweetie-

Me *crying*: You kept this from me. My whole life. My family. My brother.

Daddy: We wanted to protect you.

Me *crying*: I don't need your protection anymore. And I don't want it either!

I stand up and rush upstairs. I lock my door and grab a backpack. I throw clothes inside it. Also my charger and my phone. I put in my wallet with 500 dollars in it and my ID Card. I close the zipper and throw the backpack over my shoulders. I open my window and look down. I could jump out but would hurt my ankle. I look around and get an idea. My dads knock at my door, hysterically and yell at me. I grab the blanket covers in my closet. I start binding them to each other, until I get a rope-like escape plan. I throw the end out of the window and it touches the ground. I tie the other end, at my bed, standing under the window and pull at it, so I know it's able to carry me. I grab a picture of me and my dads and the letter and put it into my pocket. Then I start climbing down the rope. After 5 minutes of shakily climbing, I reach the ground and get off the rope quickly. I look at the house and turn around. Then I just start running. Not running away. Running towards something. More somewhere. To be more exact, I'm running towards Outer Banks, my home. I'm gonna meet my brother. My dad. My family.