𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧.

1 . 1

Damon Romaine was nothing but a bald coward. He sat there and watched his eldest daughter get abused by his wife. And watched as the same woman drink herself to death. He did nothing, he couldn't. The death of his youngest daughter changed him completely, he felt worthless. So, he made himself worthless. But, when his wife would pass out in a drunken sleep, he would help his daughter. He would treat her bruises and feed her since her mother attempted to starve her. That still didn't make anything any better, he was still a coward.

The day of little Keke's funeral, Adria was told by her mother that she could not attend, still blaming her for the death of her youngest daughter. Before she could even plead, her mother and father were out the door to bury her sister to rest. So there she was, alone in her house, alone with her thoughts and memories. She hated being alone and since she lost her best friend, she hated it even more. Climbing the stairs, she headed to her bedroom and began to undress herself, tearing pouring out her brown eyes. Unclipping the black bows from her twisted-pigtails, she pulled her pink night gown over her head and climbed into bed, crying to herself.

She weeped and weeped until her little eyes could no longer accumulate tears. It felt like an eternity as she lied in bed, waiting for the day to be over. She grew bored easily, not able to fall asleep yet, so she decided to occupy her time by going through her song book. Reaching into the cream colored nightstand by her bed, she pulled out the black and white notebook where she saved all of her songs she had ever made. Adria had this book ever since she was six. She has had a knack for music and singing as soon as she could talk.

She flipped through the pages, stopping at certain songs, a smile plastered on her face as she began to remember the inspirations behind them. Some were dedicated to her sister and when she flipped on a certain page; her mood quickly changed. She went from happy and joyful, to angry and disgusted. She was looking at a song she dedicated to her love for god, but after the death of her sister; everything had changed about her faith. She couldn't understand why. Why someone who she devoted her life to, couldn't save her sister? If he loved her family so much, why didn't he prevent her death?

As she began to scribble something on a blank page, the sound of her front door being opened and closed startled her and she immediately closed her book and stuck it underneath her mattress. Scared that she was going to get beat on by her mother, she pulled the covers up and flipped to her side, pretending to be asleep. But, it wasn't her mother climbing those steps, it was her father. He had come back home from the funeral without his wife. Faith had gotten drunk at the repast and a friend who she occasionally went out with, had scooped her and took her out; leaving her grieving husband alone.

Peaking into his daughter's room, he sighed when he saw her fast asleep. Closing the door behind him, he kicked off his dress shoes and eased up into her bed; cuddling his eldest daughter. Her brown eyes opened wide, when she felt her father wrap himself around her, but her eyes softened when she heard him sniffling. Her father was crying and this was her first time ever witnessing it.  He couldn't hold it in anymore, he tried to be strong for his family, but in reality he was weak. His baby girl was gone and his wife was god know's where. He let his eldest get abused and sat there like everything was okay, but it wasn't.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Please" He pleaded as the tears continued to pour out his copper brown eyes. Hearing her father cry had brought tears to her own eyes, at age eleven she understood his pain. "I won't let her hurt you. I won't lose you too. I promise" He held her tight, sniffling away the snot, promising to keep his first born safe. Little did they both know, Faith would never come back.

¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸

TWO YEARS LATER

At age forty, Faith Romaine had tragically passed away due to her strong alcohol addiction. It's been two years since Adria had last seen her mother and when her father told her about her death, she was a mix of emotions. Now that she was a teenager, she had finally come to terms about her abuse. She hated her mother, but now finding out she was dead; she didn't know how to feel. She didn't want to cry, she couldn't let herself. She was still angry with her, but she was also sad. She had lost another person and she didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

Weeks after her funeral, Damon called his daughter into the kitchen to enjoy their Sunday dinner. Their once full table was no longer occupied by the four members of their family. It was empty, just like the rest of the house. No more singing, no more family game nights, no more laughter. Nothing. "I'm selling the house" Her father announced, causing Adria to look up from her plate. "I know you don't want to leave, but this place doesn't feel the same. It hasn't felt the same for a while now. I think we need a change"

She knew he was right, it hadn't been the same in this house. It had too many memories, good and bad. So, a few weeks later Adria and her dad were packing up their things into the family car; heading to their new home in a different state. Damon had got them an apartment in New York. He had chose New York to be their new home, to be closer to the family he had up there. Plus, he wanted Adria to start thinking about colleges, now that she's in highschool. However, Adria had already thought about college and she wasn't going. She was going to pursue her music career without a degree. However, she was going to get a job and take some voice lessons to help strengthen her vocal cords.

Their eleven hour drive from South Carolina to New York was a lengthy, yet relaxing one. They spent time talking with each other and seeing all the sights as they passed through lots of different areas. Neither of them had mentioned their two loved one's, and for the first time in years, they were happy. When they reached New York, Adria was amazing at how busy and lively the state was. It was so different compared to Irebelle, the smallest town in South Carolina. The young girl got even more excited when she saw her new home, their apartment was a brownstone. It was beautiful on the inside and outside, to her it was like a miniature home. Because they were a middle class family, Damon was able to purchase both floors in the brownstone; making it feel like another house.

Adria stayed on the second floor while her father resided on the first, that way if someone were to break in; he would be able to reach them. It took them a few trips before they were finally settled into their home. While Damon got their home security system installed, Adria began to unpack her things into her room. Her father had already arranged for their beds and other furniture to be there before the moved in, which made it easier for her. Getting all the heavy stuff out of the way, she started to decorate her room. She hung up her posters, put up her favorite vinyls and tapes, and then she moved on to her pictures.

She had a small box of her favorite pictures and she sat down to look at each one of them. She smiled and giggled at certain ones, remembering the stories behind them. Pulling out the last picture in the brown box, her smiled slowly faded as she stared at the picture of her mother. Her mother's big brown eyes stared back into her's, her wide smile was beautiful. Her rich, course black hair made her stand out even more. She was beyond beautiful. Although she didn't want to think about her, she had missed her mother. She was sad that her mother wasn't there to see her grow and blossom into a beautiful young woman. She wished that, that unfortunate day never happened, just so she could feel her mother's love again.

With the picture in her arms, Adria lied down onto her bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. Damon had peeked in on his daughter shortly after, and smiled once he seen that she was sleep. Not wanting to wake her, he kissed her forehead and pulled her throw blanket on top of her. He glanced at the picture of his late wife and his eyes softened. He had missed her too. It was going to be tough for the remaining Romaine's, but they had each other from now on.

¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸

excuse any errors.
this part of the story will be moving pretty fast, until we get to the next part.