My Life's Already Hell, What's One More Bad Thing? (On Hold)

Chapter 5

"Would you look at the time? Off to bed I go, goodnight Evalyn." With that Lucus walked out of the dining room. Was no one going to eat dinner? Sighing I grabbed a few trays and took them to the door I assumed would lead into the kitchen, I was right. After taking all the trays to the kitchen I set off on my search to find some kind of Tupperware to put dinner in. After a five minute search, and finding that this kitchen was a chefs wet dream including any and everything one would need to create a dinner fit for a king, I found them. I quickly made myself a plate to take with me upstairs and put the rest of the left overs away.

So much for every meal would be in the dining room.

After eating I realized that since I've been here I haven't called Mandy. I quickly found my phone and dialed her number, she picked up on the second ring.

"Are you dead?" Was the first thing out of her mouth, eerily calm.

"Uh, no, I'm alive?"

"Were you kidnapped?"

"No? I'm at Frank's house?"

"Are your thumbs broke or cut off?"

"No, they're fine..."

"Then why the hell haven't you called Kale or I? Jeez Evalyn, a freaking text would have been enough. Do you have any idea how worried we've been? We've been watching the news to see if maybe your plane had crashed, or maybe you were kidnapped. Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"Here, pass me the phone.... Hey Evalyn, how are you?"

"Hey Kale, I just got some free time, I'm alright, how are you guys?"

"We're as well as can be expected; our best friend just moved across the county."

The way he said it brought tears to my eyes. It sounded so final, like we were never going to see each other again, like life would never be the same no matter how hard we tried. It brought back the pain of why I was really here, that this wasn't some stupid trip that would be over in a few weeks, this was my life now and nothing could change that.

"Hey, uh Kale, I'm going to call you back later alright? It's late here and the travel has taken a lot out of me. I'll call you tomorrow, promise."

"Pinky promise?" He sounded so defeated.

"Yes Kale, I pinky promise. I love you both so much, never forget that."

"We love you too. Goodnight Evalyn." "Goodnight Evalyn."

"Goodnight Kale, goodnight Mandy."

As I hung up the phone the pain came back in waves, moving in with a family where I knew no one or anything about them or this town, the loss of my best friends and realizing Kale may have been right in his unspoken words, we may never see each other again, and my mother.

Once I called the police it hadn't taken them long. By the time the guy had stabbed my mom the fourth time they were almost to the house. He just smirked and ran out the back, to this day the police haven't found him, they classified it as a robbery-homicide, that my mom was just at the wrong place, wrong time even after I went back and told them that I heard the man ask about a Raelyn girl. When he ran out the back I ran in the front, trying to apply pressure to the wounds, doing anything I could to stop the bleeding, god there was so much blood. The police came in and pulled me off 'the body', the EMT said she had lost too much blood, that by the time they got there she was already gone. They tried to get a statement out of me but I couldn't move let alone talk. I still remember the things going through my head 'this is a sick joke, my mom couldn't be gone, she has to live, who was going to walk me down the aisle, or calm me down when I find out I was going to be a mother or help me when I didn't have anyone else to turn to? She can't be gone she just can't'.

Sobs shook my small frame so bad I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get to the desk that sat in the corner. Once I made it there I tried to calm myself down, I didn't want to disturb my new 'family' with my problems. I opened the deep draw at the bottom and pulled out the photo album of my mom. The album was my grandmothers before she passed away, it held photos of my mom from infancy to just before she too, passed away. I walked back over to my bed and opened the cover. In beautiful script it read 'To my dearest Clara, I know that things are sometimes hard, but look bad at these memories and remember all the happier times. With all my love, your mother Meredith.'

A small smile found its way to my face as I flipped through the pictures showing my mother happy and young. One picture made me stop. It was my mother, around my age, her long black ringlets were blown back by the wind, her blue eyes bright and a wide smile on her face as a young man with brown hair and dark brown eyes pushed her on the swing. It took me a moment to understand that this boy was my father. I don't remember this picture being in here, actually many of these pictures I've never seen. As I was flipping a page something caught my eye. It was behind my favorite picture, my mother holding a six year old me in her lap as we built a sand castle. I took it out and a letter of some sort fell into my lap.

"Evalyn, If you're reading this something has happened to me."

How have I not found this before? I've looked in this album hundreds of times, I've never come across a letter.

"That's the only way you would be seeing this. You are special my dear, never forget that. Some will come along and try to make you believe other wise, don't listen to them, they just want to use you. Try to get along with your father please, for me? I love you so much sweetheart, know that if it was up to me I'd never leave you, not even if you begged and pleaded I would have stayed to help you. Life is tough for any 17 year old, yours is just going to be that much harder, but I know you can do it, you are strong whether you believe it or not. You will get through it. All my love, your mother Clara"

After reading the letter I couldn't take anymore. I pushed everything away and curled into a ball, grieving over the loss of my friends when I needed them the most, my mother and all the things she could never help me with, and for my future children, never being able to know the love and home their grandmother would have gave them. As I cried I heard what sounded like a wolf howling in pain and loss, and for the first time since I lost my mother, I didn't feel alone. I stayed like that, crying, grieving, until I fell into a dreamless sleep