Dear Tess

Chapter 1

"Tess! Tess! Wake up!" The muffled sound of someone calling out to her followed by incessant knocks, as she lay on her bed in the darkness, a tangled mess, with her blue and purple unicorn blanket entwined in a serpentine manner around one of her legs , brought her out of her deep slumber, eyes struggling to open and body failing to respond to the calls as they continued beyond the door. Pushing herself up and disentangling her leg out of her blanket, she flipped the switch of her bedside lamp and dragged herself to the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she did so. Turning the door knob and pulling at it, the lights from the hallway stung her eyes, forcing them to slits as she hissed at the man behind the door, "What?"

The sleep deprived eyes mirrored hers as he began to whisper to her, "Your mother is on a night shift again, and I need to fly to Philly right now. My flight is in two hours. I need you to look after Carl till Madison get's home. Can you do that?" Her eyes began to adjust to the lights and the remainder of her sleep dissipated the moment he said he had to fly out. "Yeah, sure." She mumbled, "But why Philly? Why now?" she questioned, her brows furrowing as her step-father began to scrub his face tiredly, probably to prevent a yawn from escaping his mouth. "My ex-wife, Gwen, she died just a few hours ago. I need to go see Jason, so I don't think I would be back for another week." he answered, his brown eyes showed deep seated concern, but not an iota of remorse on her passing. She let out a breath and placed her hand on his arm as she said, "I'm sorry. Does mom know?" all signs of sleep having left her face. He nodded, the small grey hair that lined his hairline emitting an odd gleam in the light.

"Thank you, Tess." He said, his tone hushed, to keep the little boy on the other side of the hall from waking. He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head as he disappeared behind the door of his room and emerged a few seconds later with a red duffle bag in hand, wearing a loose grey T-shirt and faded blue denims. The duo silently made their way down the stairs, the sound of her footsteps especially low, the neon pink socks she wore doing the job of keeping the noise down. The front door shut as slowly as it was opened, and Tess stood by the window, the cream curtains keeping her out of sight, as she watched Ben Pritchett strut towards his black Ford, closing the doors as softly as humanly possible, turning the ignition and bringing the machine to life.

The tiny driveway was brightened only till he made his way out to the street and drove away, heading for Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and she was left in the dark, with plenty of time for the night to end and the first rays of dawn to fall on this part of the earth. She walked back to her room, hesitating at the door, then slowly turning to her little brother's room, opening the door just enough to see him sleep peacefully, spread-eagle and suddenly he turned completely towards the other side, his back towards the door, enjoying an innocent dream.

She slowly shut the door, and returned to her room, the blues, pinks and purples hidden in the darkness, but her pink frilled pillow was the only thing in sight to her sleepy eyes, illuminated by the bedside lamp. She fell on to her plush bed, the softness enough to knock even the most energetic souls into a few hours of slumber, but tonight all she felt was concern and a slight tug of sadness that Ben had lost someone he once shared his life with. The possibilities of what caused her abrupt demise began to play in her mind as she tossed and turned in her bed, the motion making her yellow tank top ride up her trunk a little. She instinctively pulled it down and then the thought of Jason popped up in her consciousness.

He was the same age as her, a week shy from being a senior at high school. The thought of having to begin the new school year without having enough time to overcome the trauma of the loss of one's own mother brought a shiver down her spine. The midnight heat that had consistently brought out sweat as she tried to get a comfortable night's sleep failed to ward of the chills that had erupted within her lean frame.