A Revengeless Life

BONUS

*Author's Note: I'm in the process of preparing to write another Revenge fanfic, but I thought I could give my readers some bonus material. It's continuing off of this current one, and I've killed off some pretty important characters, but I just felt the need to continue this and let you all see that it kind of worked out for at least one person.*

*Amanda Rose Porter's POV*

I walked up the stairs behind the dresser I'd found in my mother's bedroom. I went into her bedroom a lot. She died when I was really young. I think I'd been five. Now, I was 17, and I'd been coming in here for years. At first, it started because I was looking for answers. Like, why was my last name Porter when my Dad's last name was Grayson? I'd thought about asking Carl that question, but I didn't know how to bring it up. He was in his last year of college anyway. I hadn't thought about it too much until he left for his freshman year, and then I thought maybe it would ruin the summers when he was there. 

I'd never found these stairs behind Mom's dresser before. I had to wonder if maybe this was where she kept all her secrets. I stopped halfway up the stairs and looked at a picture hanging in a frame from the wall. Dad was in it, along with Mom. I'd seen pictures of her before. There was another man in it too, hugging Mom nearly in the way Dad was. She was in the middle, and both of them looked like they were a little more than just friends. Which was understandable for Dad. Not the other guy. 

I walked a little farther up the stairs and looked at another picture. Mom was in the middle, and Carl was sitting on her lap. Dad was sitting next to her, holding a baby in a blue blanket. Ethan. Ethan Declan Grayson. My twin. With a different last name. The other man was holding a baby in a pink blanket. Must be me. But why was this guy in all of the family photos? I hadn't ever seen him before. I pulled the frame off the wall and pulled the photo out. It was my mom's handwriting. I knew because I'd seen some letters she'd written to dad when they were first meeting and falling in love. 

Me with Daniel, Jack, Carl, Declan, and Amanda.

I wrinkled my eyebrows. Jack. That was my little brother's name. He was only 12. This man was my parents' age. And why did Mom call Ethan by his middle name? There were so many questions I needed answered but couldn't ask my dad about. Jack had once asked why mine and Carl's last names were different, and why it was the same as his middle name. Jack Porter Grayson. What was the significance of Porter? 

I knew my Dad probably wasn't my dad. Carl had been born before Mom and Dad had even gotten married. I'd seen pictures of the wedding. I didn't even think Carl was Mom's son. So why was Dad taking care of Carl? I kept walking up the stairs as these thoughts swirled in my head.

I reached a big, open room. I was in the attic. I'd never been up here before. There was a desk sitting in the center, and a box sitting on top of it. I walked up to it and traced the carving on the top of it. Double infinity. I opened it up, and saw a ton of pictures and newspaper clippings. I pulled them out and started sorting through it. 

The first picture was Mom and Dad's wedding, the same one Dad had shown me. The date on the back of it wasn't right, though. It was way before Dad said it had been. I set it down and moved on. 

Mom and that man from the hallway, Jack. She was in a wedding dress again, a different one, and he was dressed up. A cake behind them read "congrats Jack and Emily." Mom had been married to this guy? I flipped the picture over and my heart nearly stopped. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Porter.

I set it down. His last name was my last name. And Carl's. I remember Carl talking about his dad. How he missed him. I'd always thought maybe Carl and I had the same dad, but I never truly believed it. Dad was always so insistent that he was my dad, no matter what.