Ethereal love: love born from a wish

Two(Cecilia)

        I saw a message from my father. He did not deserve the title but what choice do I have? He was my biological father after all. Back to the present, he has never texted me before and the first time he would, what he sent was,

     'Your mom deserved to die. Her properties probably belong to me now since none of you are ready to run a company. The exact I was called by emergency services instead'

     No, he was wrong. My mother did not deserve to die.  She was everything I wanted to be. Resilient, diligent, and kind. She had my younger sister for another man after my dad but he left her in the worst way and since then she has given up on men. Maybe relationships were not for her after all. Most importantly, did my mom really leave that man's number as her emergency number? I was pissed but that really confirmed she was the one that died not her secretary. I felt like crying again so I just laid down on my bed.

       I went back to sleep and as expected I had the scariest nightmare ever. The sound of the doorbell woke me up. Part of me hoped that it was my mom but when I opened it I saw my father and his wife standing there in their full glory.

     "Good morning, Cecilia. Wake your siblings up and let's go to your new home" New home? What was she talking about?

    "I know you're confused but we will have to explain later" She continued in her high-pitched voice that only my father seemed to like. I already knew why they were here. They probably decided to take us in so as to enjoy my mom's death insurance because why else would they be here.

     I went to my room and packed my things. Arguing with them could go incredibly wrong because I'm already 22. They could easily throw me out if they wanted. All I had was a part-time job at a restaurant that couldn't take care of my siblings and me perfectly. Trust me, I thought about it.

     Once I was done, I moved to my siblings' rooms and packed their things. I dressed us all up and we went out to meet the least favorite people in our lives I was so sure the feeling was mutual.

        We finally got to their house. They stayed in a beautiful duplex that made me doubt if they even needed my mom's money. My siblings were all sleeping. Mike was resting his head on the window. Josh was resting his head on Mike's lap.  I was carrying my little sister, Lily. I woke my brothers and carried Lily down gently making sure she didn't wake up.

        Our stepmom guided us to a tiny room where she expected my siblings and I to stay while I heard my father's car zoom off.

       "I don't know why he wanted you idiots back. They didn't even give us her insurance. What was her deal? Why did she sell everything?"  They just wanted her insurance after all. I was so happy they were getting nothing.

     Deep down, my mind told me, 'Your mother did not want you and your siblings to die so she sold the properties'.  I was really worried about who was after my mom that she had to sell everything. Maybe that was who killed her. I would find whoever killed my mom and make them pay. But how was I supposed to do that? I sighed so loud, that my siblings turned to look at me.

      "Mike, let's go check if they at least left some food" While moving out of the room, I made sure to warn my younger siblings not to make a mess.

       Mike left the room after me and closed the door. I was happy he did that because he had an attitude of leaving doors open for no reason.

       I heard a familiar name on the TV... Miss Clara Martel... That was my mom. I ran to the sitting room. It was our local news channel showing my mother's lifeless picture for hundreds of people who didn't know her to see. It was exactly as I saw last night but something was bothering me. A fall from the building she was in front of was not enough to kill her.

     So what killed her? I suddenly wished I had not wasted my time pursuing an accounting degree. I suddenly wished I pursued a prosecuting career or at least a career in the police force. Maybe if I was any of those things, I would not be telling myself right now to forget her death because there was nothing I could do.

        'Your mother deserved to die...' The message my father said came to my mind again. No! She did not! At least, not like this.

          "It's all my fault" I kept repeating to myself. I felt a warm hand drag me with my hand to sit on the couch. I raised my head to look at my brother.

      "It's not your fault" He said in a soft tone, his hands not leaving my hand.

         "I should have called her to come home earlier but I was too focused on how Lucas broke up with me" My tears were rolling freely now. I told him everything before realizing that I had not told him about my breakup yet. 

        "How dare he?" I could see the rage in his eyes and I understood why. He had always warned Lucas not to hurt me ever and ensured to beat him whenever he did till I finally stopped telling him about our relationship issues.

      "That's not what's important now" I didn't want Mike going to beat him up as usual.

     "It is important. That bastard had the nerve to break your heart. I should break his legs when I have the time" I secretly wanted my brother to do just that but I had to talk him out of it.

    "Leave him alone, Mike. Now to the reason I called you out. How's school?" I stood up from the couch. I've read too many wicked stepmom movies to even think of sitting longer than I did.

     We moved towards the kitchen, which we eventually found after walking around. Their house was relatively big with two sitting rooms.

      Thankfully, there was pizza and ice cream in the refrigerator. While waiting for the timer on the microwave, we sat on the kitchen stools.

      "School is okay" I didn't like his vague answer but I was glad he finally answered.

      "Any girl?" His laughter was the next thing I heard.

      "I'm a computer science student. I rarely have time for fooling around" He said, still staring at the microwave.

     "Relationship is not fooling around" I managed to say.

       "Anything you say, sis" He said as he moved to remove the pizza from the microwave. 'Sis' was a word he used anytime he intended to annoy me but I didn't let it work this time around.

       I followed him while carrying the ice cream. My sister ran to meet us as soon as she was sure she perceived pizza. As expected, she was the first to start eating.

     "What of mummy? Mummy loves pizza too" She said happily, keeping a slice of pizza apart.

     We all looked at each other contemplating whether we should tell her or not.

     "Mummy has gone to a safe place where she will always be happy" Josh told her while patting her head. I was guessing he also saw the news about our mom's death. We were trying not to look sad so Lily, my little sister won't cry.

    Thankfully, it was what we told her when our grandmother died so she understood or so I thought.

     "I'll eat this slice for her then" She broke the silence in the room. She was not smiling anymore but she was not crying either.

      "All of you should eat. Mom would not be happy if we don't eat" She continued. I would have never thought that I needed a toddler to tell me what to do. We all dug in and ate.

      I sent Josh and Mike to drop the dishes and wash them while I worked on my assignment. I was going to graduate on my 23rd birthday which was just a few months from now. I was so happy. I just wished my mom could be there.

     After hours of nonstop typing, I was almost done with the assignment. I slept off on the bed just to see who I least expected in my dreams... the guy from the night before.

     What did he want this time?