Alexia

Chaper 2

(Authors note. Anything spoken between people in this chapter is spoken in Danish. Let me know if you want the danish translation of it in the story) 

Alexia's POV

Dead?
Alexia froze when she heard what the detective said.
"How?" Alexia asked. "Are you sure?"
"We're sure. I'm sorry." The man said. "IDs and DNA matched both your mom and stepdad." He continued explaining.
"They were involved in a car accident this morning. Your stepdad was driving the car down the interstate while under the influence when he lost control of the car and crashed the car into a semi truck coming the opposite direction."
A notification on his phone distracted the detective so he missed the flash of relief that went through the siblings at the news.
"So, what happens now?" Alexia asked. She could take care of Leo no problem but she would have a hard time being able to afford a place for them to live while paying everything. She could drop out of school and get a full time job. That could be doable. Her mind was already working on a solution when the detective interrupted her train of thought.
"We have contacted your next of kin and they have agreed to take you both..."
"I'm sorry, I think you must be mistaken." Alexia interrupted him. "We don't have any other family."
Their mother had always told them it was just the four of them. That Alexia's father wanted nothing to do with her and then later on had died. Leo looked enough like Alexia that she was 99% sure they shared a father but their mother had never confirmed nor denied that.
The detective looked slightly annoyed over the interruption but held his tongue.
"I can assure you," He started. "We pulled your DNA and we found a match. Your father and six older brothers." The detective said looking back and forth between Alexia and Leo.
"Father?" Alexia asked dumbfounded. "He is suppose to be dead."
"Well Miss Wilson, I can guarantee he is very much alive. I talked with him myself. Him and one of your brothers will be coming to get you both later today. They are flying in from New York." He explained.
"In fact they will be here in about five hours." He said looking at his watch.
"I will have two of my officers drive you home so you can pack your stuff and then a social worker will meet you back here and she will be with you till your father can take physical custody."
When the siblings didn't have anything to say, the detective called in the officer that had showed them into this office to begin with.
"Hanson, take them home so they can pack their things then bring them back here."
"Yes Sir." Officer Hanson replied to his bosses command.
Alexia stood up and Leo followed suit. They both grabbed their backpacks and followed the officer out of the office and got into his squad car.

"Take your time." Officer Hanson said as he parked in the driveway of their rundown house.
"If you need help I'll be out here. Just come get me." He said sending a smile their way.
Alexia nodded thankful he wasn't coming inside with them.
Walking in side the house was eerily quiet. Alexia walked Leo downstairs and pulled out the duffle bag she had bought in a thrift store.
"Here, pack your things into this bag." She gave it to Leo before dumping her school books out of her own backpack to stuff her own belongings in there. She didn't have much and it would fit in with ease. Two t-shits, a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, a pair of sweatpants and 3 hoodies didn't take up much space at all. Not to mention she was practically wearing half the clothes she owned already.
She found her secret stash of money and hid them inside her backpack.
"Continue packing. I'm going to go to the bathroom." Alexia told Leo as she grabbed her backpack and headed up the stairs. But instead of going into the bathroom they were allowed to use she continue up the stairs to the 1st floor. Alexia and Leo were not allowed to go up there. However Thomas would drag her upstairs whenever their mother wasn't home but Thomas had made sure she would never know of that. Though if Alexia was honest with herself, she knew her mother knew. She'd seen the way her mother looked at her after she started suspecting it. It hadn't been concern though. It had been jealousy and hatred and her mothers abuse had intensified after Thomas's assaults had started.
Shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts she walked into the room of half her nightmares. Her mothers bedroom. She was on a mission to get something.
She walked into the walk-in closet and walked over to Thomas's side of it. Behind some of his clothes were a false wall and behind it, a safe.
Covering her finger with the sleeve of her hoodie, Alexia punched in the code - her birthday. Thomas had an unhealthy obsession with Alexia and she knew it but there had been little she could do about it.
She opened the safe, ignored the drugs and weapons inside and grabbed all the cash before hiding them in her backpack as well. She made sure not to touch anything inside the safe and left no traces of herself on or around it. She would tell the cops about the drugs and weapons when she went back down but she figured after everything Thomas and their mother had put them through, taking his dirty money was the least they owed them.
She had no clue how her so called father and brothers would be and now they were being flown to a new country. A country she knew charged an arm and a leg and quite possibly a kidney for someone to go to school, so she would need this to get Leo into a school. She didn't so much care for herself. She didn't need a stupid piece of paper to get a job but she knew Leo wanted to either be an engineer or an architect, both careers that would require that damn piece of paper to be successful and Thomas and Kiara owed Leo that much.
Walking back downstairs she found Leo in the kitchen with the duffle bag and his backpack. He looked at her with fear in his beautiful blue eyes that looked so much like her own.
"I'm scared Lexi." He whispered.
Alexia's heart broke. Leo was the only one that mattered to her. She'd taken care of him since the day he was born. Their mother, Kiara, had thrusted him into her little four year old arms and been commanded to watch him. She had even named him when it became clear their mother had no intention of doing so.
She walked over to him and crouched down to his level. Leo was small for his age. He looked like he was 8 instead of the 11 he actually was. It was because of the poor nutrition he got when he was a baby and toddler. Alexia hadn't known any different back than and had given him whatever she could get a hold of after he grew out of his formula which she had, had to steal more often than not. She had kept him alive but it hadn't been nutritious so his growth had suffered from it. Like her own.
Pulling him into a hug she promised him everything would be okay. She would make sure of it.
Letting him go she walked into the bathroom and locked the door before pulling her hoodie and t-shirt off. Her body was covered in bruises and scars. Her ribcage was practically black from last nights beating.
She quickly cleaned her wounds again before wrapping herself up again and putting her clothes back on. She had realized throughout the morning that at some point in the night she had woken up and crawled to the bathroom to clean herself up so she wouldn't scare Leo more than he already would be. 

"You got everything?" Alexia asked Leo who was sitting at the counter waiting for her.
He nodded not saying anything. Neither of them spoke much. It had been something that had been forbidden. Only speak when spoken to or you'd get a beating.
So Leo only talked with Alexia and that was only outside of this house or whispers in their basement.
She knew from his teachers he was also quiet at school but he talked more there. He had a few friends there as well. Something Alexia was glad for. At least he didn't have the same shitty experience with school as she did.
"If you have everything, lets go." She said standing up and grabbing the duffle bag and her own backpack. Leo took his own backpack and tried to take the duffle bag.
"I got it." She said and smile at him. He smiled back at her. She was his only light in his otherwise dark life. And while he knew he should take his own things because his sister was hurt because of him, he was secretly happy she was taking it. It was heavy and he had struggled getting it up the basement stairs.
The siblings walked outside and got into the police car, much to the surprise of man sitting inside.
"Done already?" He asked.
Alexia just nodded. As they pulled out of the driveway and away from the house Alexia looked out the window as the rundown neighborhood passed by them.
"Officer Hanson?" Alexia said, still looking outside with Leo curled up next to her reading one of his books with music in his headphones.
"Yes sweetheart?" He asked.
Alexia could feel his eyes on her.
"On the first floor, inside the master bedroom there is a walk-in closet." She started, still looking at the old decapitated buildings passing by them.
"On Thomas's side of the closet behind his colored t-shirts is a false wall. Behind the false wall is a safe." She continued. She knew she had his full attention while he was driving towards the station. They stopped at a red light. "The code is 2112." She paused and shifted her gaze to the rearview mirror where she locked eyes with Officer Hanson. "Inside the safe you will find a lot of drugs and weapons."
She watched as his eyes went wide.
Thomas wasn't really a druggie. Alexia knew he did some every now and then but his poison of choice was alcohol. He mostly sold drugs and Alexia knew that unfortunately his favorite kind of customer were kids. Kids from her own school, even some from Leo's.
"You will also find a blue notebook. It's his little black book." Alexia said as she broke eye contact with him as the light had now changed to green.
"It will have information about his business dealings. Down to the smallest detail."
Officer Hanson had frozen at this information.
After a few minutes and still no movement Alexia spoke up again.
"I would suggest you get someone on it fast. When words of his death comes out all his desperate clients will be coming out of the woodwork and rush to the house to get what they know is stashed there." Alexia looks at the officer again. "And the smart ones will disappear before you can arrest them."
Her words made officer Hanson snap out of it as he called it into his supervisor.

Finally back at the station they met the social worker. Her name was Brittaney. She was a blonde woman in her mid 20's wearing a suit jacket which Alexia thought was too small for the woman and so was the skirt that barely covered her underwear. Alexia was unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of that when the woman sat down.
Brittaney didn't say anything to the siblings she just blew her bubblegum and played on her phone.
Alexia had her eyes closed but she wasn't asleep. She was on high alert. Leo was curled up next to her still reading his book and listening to music.
"Lexi I'm hungry." Leo whispered several hours after sitting here.
Alexia knew the social worker had heard Leo but was choosing to ignore him. She wanted to punch the woman.
Reaching into the belly pocket in her hoodie she pulled out Leo's favorite granola bar, his favorite bag of chips and an apple.
Leo's eyes lit up and he took all three foods offered.
Hesitating he looked at Alexia who just smiled at him before pulling out another granola bar and showing him she was good. "Eat." she said softly.
And so he did. He quickly devoured the apple, getting up to throw the core into the trashcan before opening the granola bar and throwing the wrapping into the trash as well before coming back over and cuddling up with Alexia.