Fractured

Chapter 4

We walked up to the front door, and my dad rang the doorbell. I stood behind him and waited for the door to open. When the door did open, the man inside the house seemed surprised by the sudden visit of my adoptive dad.

"Jim! This is a surprise! What can I do for you!?" the owner of the house said.

"Alan, its time you repay the favor you owe me." My dad said.

"Yea! Anything for the guy who brought justice to my wife's killer."

"Jessie."

I stepped out from behind my adoptive dad to face my real dad.

"Hi, Mr. Alan." I said.

"Jim, please come in and you can explain the favor I owe you." Alan said.

We went in the house and into the living room to talk. My adoptive dad explained the favor in more detail to Alan, and he was starting to get uncomfortable.

"You looked all day for the past week just for me, someone you already know." Alan said.

"Yes, looking for Jessie's family." My adoptive dad answered.

"But Jessie's your daughter. Why would you look for her family, when she has a family?"

As Alan spoke, his body movements said the opposite of what he was saying. He sounded like he knew who I was, but was acting dumb.

"Alan, she's my adopted daughter. My wife and I adopted her when she was 4. You're her biological father, and Jane is her mother. Don't act like you never knew." My adoptive dad said.

Alan sighed, then answered with, "Alright, fine I knew that she's my daughter. I have a perfectly good reason to why Jane and I put her up for adoption."

"What? What was more important than raising me yourself?" I asked.

"Your safety." Alan replied.

"My safety?"

"You were in danger when you were little, because of me and the work I did before your mother died. I was a scientist, and I was working on a theory about the elements. 'How could one control air, fire, water, light, darkness, and earth?' I discovered the right formula to give someone the ability to control the elements, but there was a catch. Each element could only be controlled by one person. There was no transferring an element from one person to another. Once a person had the control of an element that was it, they were stuck with it for the rest of their lives. It hasn't been proven if the power could be re-given after the previous wielder has passed, and I intend not to find out. My boss at the time wanted to control the people who were given the elements. I couldn't let that happen. Your mother was about to give birth to your younger brother, so we decided to gift you the element of fire and send you away to protect you. We did the same with your other siblings."

"But would you take me back?" I asked shyly.

"Jessie!" my adoptive dad said surprised.

"I'm sorry dad, but I wanted to find my family and make it whole again. I want to be with my real family. I'm grateful that you and mom adopted me, and I won't lose contact with you. But I would like to live with my real dad if he'll take me back." I explained.

"Of course I'll take you back, Jessie. Your mother and I wanted to keep you, but we wanted you to live a normal life."

I felt tears brimming in my eyes, and soon enough they were streaming down my cheeks. I had a huge smile on my face as I got off the couch and ran across the room to hug my real dad with tears of joy.