Shattered; Tainted Love [ON HOLD]

IV: Home Bitter Sweet Home

(Nick Bateman as August Ryder)

It's been a long time
Since you came around
It's been a long time
But I'm back in town
And this time
I'm not leaving without you...
You and I

::*::*::*::*::*::

"This your last year in college, so you've got to make the best use of it," Georgina instructed August while tying his tie.

He groaned inwardly. "Mom, I can do it myself!"

"I don't care." August exhaled an exasperating breath. "Please let me do this, you've grown up so fast, it only felt like yesterday I was cradling you in my arms."

August saw the sadness in his mother's eyes.

"I'm still your boy, right?" He asked her playfully.

This warmed Georgina's heart as she nodded vigorously and continued to tie his tie.

Him and his mother joined the rest of the party.  His parents' house was packed with people. Usually on his birthdays, it was just his family and the Summers family, now his mother went out on the limb and invited everyone that August knew.

After meeting almost everybody; cutting the cake and hearing his parents and siblings say a few words, he attempted to make an escape to his room but was caught by Bianca.

"Hey, where are you going?" Bianca sprang out of nowhere and was right in front of him.

He didn't know what to tell her, if he told her the truth then she would whine and fuss about him leaving his own birthday party, and if he lied then she would ask him further questions.

He pressed him lips together into a fine line, contemplating on whether to tell her or not. "Come with me."

August took the young woman's hand and directed her upstairs. He shut his room door behind them and told her to sit on the bed.

Bianca obeyed and waited for him to say something, but he didn't. Curious, she got up and went by the window where he was standing.

"Is—" She didn't get a chance to say anything before August ordered her to sit back down.

"But—"

"Please? Sit." August asked her, trying to control his temper. He wanted to be alone, he didn't want anyone to disturb him, but she was doing just that.

"Why? Why did you bring me up here if you aren't even gonna look at me?" The young woman persisted.

"So that you can keep quiet. If I had told you I was going to lock myself up in my room, you would probably begged me to stay or tell everyone where I was, I couldn't chance that," he explained. He kept his focus on the moon that shone brightly in the night sky. Its soft glow would enchant August to look at it; losing sight and mind of everything around him.

Bianca flipped her ashen hair and fixated her brown eyes on the deep in thought man. She pondered on what to do to get his attention.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body against his. She tipped on her toes and kissed his neck. She moved her kisses all the way up to his ear and whispered, "Let's go to bed."

August cringed at her attempt to seduce him, but followed her anyways to bed.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Emilya took a deep breath as she looked at the house made of wood and glass. Her legs were shaking like leaves through wind, and feared if she ever took a step forward she would land on her face.

She had thought saying goodbye to her grandparents was hard, but going back to the place where it all began was even harder. She was anxious to meet her parents.

The drone of birds chirped as they passed over head. Everything was still in the woods except for the river running slowly down stream. There were rarely any houses in the woodland area where her parents resigned, but three or so, she couldn't remember. All she could ever remember was the Ryder's house that was a few walk away from their home.

The sound of the river reminded her of the times when August would take a hand full of her hair and dipped her head in repeatedly in the water, nearly drowning her. The sound of her screams and him laughing echoed in her mind.

She shook away the bad memory and strode off on to the steps of her parents' house.

Nervousness she felt couldn't be described. Her scalp prickled when she heard laughter on the other side if the door. Her rapid heartbeat deafened her eardrums as she raised her hand to the doorbell. She pressed the button using her index finger and waited.

She took deep breaths to prepare herself for what's to come. She pushed the negative emotions of having her parents disowning her for her misdeeds or hating her for not calling, not even once. She felt the rapid vibration of a person's footsteps underneath her feet.

Emilya squared her shoulders as the door opened. No one, she saw no one. Only the gray hallway that occupied the coat hanger and picture frames. She saw the familiar stairs that led up to her room.

"Excuse me," a fine voice said out of nowhere.

Emilya looked down only to be frightened by a little girl with big light green eyes and wavy, golden brown hair. The girl's eyes wondered curiously up and down Emilya's tall frame.

Emilya broke the awkward silence between by saying hi.

"Hi." The little girl's eyes searched Emilya's emerald ones. "Can I help you?"

"I-is this the Summers residence?" Emilya inquired, unsure if the girl understood what she meant.

The little girl nodded her head slowly.

"Are Nora and Gin Summers around?"

The girl nodded once more.

Emilya sighed in relief. "Ok. My name is Emilya Summers, daughter of Nora and Gin Summers."

"Karisma Summers, also the daughter of Nora and Gin Summers."

That sentence alone made Ava do a double take. For one thing, the girl was smart, she could speak without making mistakes, and another thing, her parents had more children?

"Mommy and daddy never told me about having a sister."

To think that Emilya couldn't be more surprised than she already was. Her parents never talked about her? How could she face them after knowing this? Were they this upset?

Questions swirled around the young woman's head. And the more she failed at finding a good reason for their slip up, the more her heart broke. She felt stupid for coming here.

Emilya took in the girl's features. Her round face; rosy cheeks and small pointed nose that sat on her face reminded her of an old picture her mother showed her. The hair. The eyes. The little girl was an absolute clone of Emilya's mother when she was younger.

Feeling down, she told the girl to tell her parents she had stopped by. She wanted to run away and never come back, but the girl wouldn't let her leave. Karisma's small hands held onto Emilya's left hand.

"Please, come meet them before you leave?" Karisma insisted.

Before she could reply, Karisma tugged forward and led her to the living room where they came face to face with Nora and Gin and the Ryder family.