PAUSED

CHAPTER 3 : The Last Chapter

o3|The Last Chapter

     I wake up at around 8:30. I am glad it is summer right now. But holiday or not, I have to be in the dining room by 9 a.m. I lazily walk down the steps, heading towards the kitchen. I was kind of happy that I didn't go back to that dreadful place after stepping out of my room. Oh, who am I kidding? I was relieved! That place gave me the creeps. The Maior Dome, as they called it. Hm, maybe I should Google it after brekky. At least I'd get a translation out of it. If not it's location or history.

     The house was abnormally quiet. "Mum?" she called. No one answered. "Dad? Ava?" It was peculiar that Ava didn't reply. She's almost always on a sugar rush. So she keeps running around the house like someone who escaped from a mental asylum. But there was dead silence. I wondered if I drop a pin . . . Nah! Forget it, I thought.

     The movie 'Home Alone' keeps playing in my head. I don't think I did anything to make my family disappear. . .

     Their absence began to make sense when I found a note from my mum on the dining table. It read, 'Guess where we are'. I ponder for a second. Where could they be? Why would they be anywhere in the first place? Unless . . . Oh no! OH NO! I hoped with all my might I was wrong. They're at Mc Donald's!

     It all started on my fifth birthday, when I had a sudden urge to eat at McD's for brekky. It soon became a tradition where we would go to McD's for breakfast as a family, on occasions. This tradition ended on my eleventh birthday. I guess I thought I was too old for it. Or maybe it was because Ava was a year old then, and she was a handful.

     It was my parents' eighteenth anniversary. How could I be so forgetful? There was only one occasion in summer --- their anniversary. And I forgot. I didn't even have anything to give them. Stores wouldn't be open at this hour. Unless I . . . pay for breakfast?

     I didn't have a choice. I had to be at the resturant. Soon. I quickly brushed and changed. In twenty minutes, I was out of the house and in a cab.

     The driver dropped me at the parking lot of the restaurant. I could see Ava pressing herself against the glass window, looking at me in anticipation, waiting for me to enter. She may have to wait a bit, though. It was a huge parking lot and I am a slow walker. Especially if I was still sleepy. My mum and dad were sitting opposite each other, holding hands, talking and laughing. Watching them makes me wonder who my real parents are. And whether they loved each other as much as Evelyn and Scott do.

     I tripped and almost fell. My laces had opened up. I knelt down on one knee to tie them. I raised my head, as a shrieking voice startled me. I guess Ava couldn't wait any longer to meet me. Because she had left the restaurant and was running in my direction, yelling, "Kay-Kay!" Yes, she calls me 'Kay-Kay'. She thinks it's 'cute like me'. Kids, I tell you. "We're having breakfast here! Did you know? Yay!" Huh. I guess I was right about Ava and the sugar rush theory. I chuckled to myself and shook my head, turning my attention back to my laces. The last thing I remembered was hearing a huge explosion and feeling an immense amount of heat radiate on me, before Ava flew on top of me, knocking me off my feet and on the ground.

     Ava started crying as the two of us stared at the Mc Donald's burning in flames. It was bad enough that Ava got some cuts and bruises after body slamming into me, due to the explosion. Worse, was that my parents were in that restaurant! And their chances of survival? Zero. It took me a moment to realize what was happening, before I called 911. What now? What about my parents? How am I supposed to handle Ava?

     "I know its a hard time. But I'm there for you. For both of you. You know that, right?", Captain Rodney was trying to console us. He is a family friend and my godfather and luckily for us, Captain of  the Twelfth Precinct. It was clear by his expression that their deaths had affected him greatly too. He looked exhausted and disgusted at the same time. I nod as I place my hand over Ava's shoulder, trying to comfort us both, while doing my best to prevent silent tears gushing down my cheeks. I have to be strong. If not for myself, then for Ava.