DAMAGED

chapter27 ☪

tiny little author's note :-)
this is the first out of a twice-a-day update
stay tuned :-)
•••
Kassie's POV

"It says here her parents were... Lindsey and Derek Cromwell." Missy told me, squinting at the fine print in some documents.
"Those are my parents!" I replied immediately, standing from my chair. Missy and Wolfie both looked at me as if I'd gone mad.
"Sorry." I mumbled and sat down awkwardly.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to - Oh, dear." Missy began, organizing the mess of papers furiously.
"Do you know why they would send her here? Do you know why they lied to me and only brought one twin home?" I asked.
Missy sighed, taking out more files. Wolfie yawned, stretching his arms and making me notice his muscles. I reminded myself to focus and looked back at Missy.
He smirked as if letting me know I noticed. I blushed just as Missy took out another file.
"I don't think I know the answer to your questions, but this might help. It's really dedicated to Rosie, but I suppose it won't matter if you just look through it." She explained, sliding a file my way.
I blinked, unsure of whether to open it. At least it might give me some answers to help me make my way out of this jungle of questions.
I flipped the corner of the file, letting the paper fall out. It was a letter written by my parents for Rosie. Mom's note in the front, dad's in the back.
I sniffled. Their handwriting struck me with nostalgic familiarity. I felt Wolfie looking over my shoulder.
I looked up at him, and he gave me a small, reassuring nod, closing his eyes for a few seconds.
I bit my lip and began to read Mom's note.

My dearest Rosie,
By the time you are reading this, you are probably curious as to why we left you here. It may seem like a selfish choice, but you don't even know the half of it. You see, a very mean man has been trying to steal my baby girls. I hope you'll understand. Anyway, you have a twin brother and a big sister. I hope you guys find each other one day. You'll love them! Ashton and Kassie would've gotten along with you so well. Poor Kassie, she was so excited to have a mini-her running around... Please bear with us, baby girl. This is for your own good. I love you forever. :-)
Forever missing you,
Your mommy, Lindsey ~

I frowned. What mean man? What? Now I'm even more confused...
I turned the paper to my dad's letter.

To my beautiful daughter
Rosie, first off, I want you to know that your whole family and I love you very much. However, you need to know the reason as to why you're in an orphanage. Your softie of a mother didn't want to explain with the details because she doesn't want to frighten you. Alright, anyway. A very sick man wanted to steal your sister when she was a baby (Oh yeah, did I mention you have siblings?) and he wanted to sell her. Luckily, we were able to pay him the money so he'd leave us alone and stop the threats. You see, your mom and I knew some classified information about the government, and he caught us talking about it one day, and that's when the threats started. Anyway, he wanted to take you no matter what, so we did what we had to. We didn't want to give you away to a drug dealer. Your twin brother was saved because the man only wanted girls, so that's a good thing. Please understand that we love you a lot and we'll meet again someday, with God's help. If only, Rosebud, if only...
Derek Your Father ~

I laughed at how he signed his name, blinking back tears. He was more straightforward than my mom was.
Both of their handwritings seemed so fresh; as if they wrote this a while ago. At least now I have a better understanding of everything.
"Can I keep this?" I asked Missy, my voice small.
"I'm sorry. This was meant for Rosie to read it, and I'm not even supposed to-"
"Right. Sorry, I just..." I handed her the paper.
She looked at me with a pitiful smile.
"I should - I better go." I stammered, standing up and intertwining my hand with Wolfie's.
He squeezed it gently before letting go and wrapping his arm around me instead, pressing me closer to him.
"I look forward to seeing you here soon." Missy told me nicely, and I nodded, taking a deep breath.
"We're taking Rosie to the park. I kinda promised her last night, so..." Wolfie said.
"You know she has health conditions that should not be tampered with." Missy replied, shaking her head.
"Yeah, well, with all due respect, how is keeping her inside for the rest of her life while the others are having fun helping? A little fresh air is good for her, unless you want to make her a mentally unstable person." Wolfie retorted, and Missy remained silent.
He took me out of the office and into the bedroom.
Rosie was looking out the window to where the other kids were longingly.
"Rosie," Wolfie called, "We're going outside."
The little girl turned around in the blink of an eye, her curls bouncing. "Yay! I love you! Silent hug!"
She squeezed him and skipped to the door to wait for us.
Wolfie sighed and examined the wounds the whip gave him once she left by lifting up his shirt a bit.
"Do they still hurt?" I asked, unsure.
"I really need a cigarette right now." He muttered, carefully letting his shirt fall back in place.
"We can buy some on the way, I guess. Have you ever considered switching to electronic?" I asked as we walked to the door where Rosie was waiting for us.
"All addictions suck. I should just stop." He told me before heading to open the door. Rosie got in the way immediately.
"Wait! I was talking to Wayn and he says friends need names. What are your names?" She asked curiously.
"I'm Kassie." I told her.
"Kazy what?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Kassie Cromwell." I replied, and she gasped. "We're sissies!"
I shrugged. "Yeah...I guess we are."
"Kazy and Rozy!" She clapped.
I laughed.
"We should go before it's dark." Wolfie stepped in suddenly, opening the door.
We began to walk to the garden.
"She looks like my little brother... Like Ashton..." I told him, sighing.
"You miss him?" He asked, intertwining our hands and picking up Rosie to cross the street.
I nodded. "Imagine Rosie meeting him now. It's just sad that they're all gone just like that."
"That's the sad part, I guess. Look on the bright side. You still have your sister." He shrugged.
"I know. If only, though, Ashton was here, and Jarett were nicer, maybe we all could've pulled through. Tuvi would've been happier with more people supporting her. If only, though..."
"You and your family say 'if only' a lot." Wolfie mused, putting Rosie back down as we continued to walk.
"Oh, yeah, my dad said so in the letter." I remembered.
Rosie coughed, and Wolfie stopped.
"Are you okay? Do you want me to carry you the whole way?" He asked her softly. I smiled.
"Can you? You can be my horsie!" Rosie exclaimed before coughing again.
"Yeah. Let's go." Wolfie carried her easily and we continued to walk.
"I really miss him. I mean, he was my little brother." I sighed just as our surroundings began to look more familiar.
His eyes lit up, as if an idea occurred to him, but Rosie began to speak. "You never told me your name."
Wolfie looked at me before answering her. "Actually, little Rosie, I didn't tell you because I didn't like my name, but I think I'm going to change it."
"Cool! To what?" Rosie asked in amusement.
Wolfie looked at me once again before replying. "Ashton. Ashton Radke."
I blushed for seemingly no reason and smiled. "You did not just do that."
He rolled his eyes. "Why not? It's better than Wolfie."
"I don't know. Don't you have to be eighteen to change it?"
"I'll change it officially when I'm eighteen."
I laughed. "So, do I just like, call you that now, or?"
"Sure. In honor of your little brother, right?" He said.
I nodded.
"Are you two married?" Rosie asked, giggling.
Wolfie (or Ashton) and I laughed. "No."
"Oh... Where are we going?" She continued.
"We're going to a magical place where things almost happened." Wolfie/Ashton smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "Stop it with the cheekiness."
"What's cheekiness?" Rosie asked.
"When you have a lot of cheeks, and Wol - I mean, Ashton - has a whole face just full of cheeks." I replied quickly before laughing at my response.
We arrived at the garden.
"Woah!" Rosie breathed. "I wanna play in the pool!"
"Nobody can play in the pool now, Rosie. Two people were playing in the pool once and almost took playtime to a new level." Ashton explained, still very cheeky.
"Hush, child." I laughed.
"Let's sit." He said, and we all sat on the soft, welcoming grass.
"Are you just going to tell everyone now to call you Ashton?" I asked after a while. I found it kinda sweet that he'd do that in honor of my baby brother.
"Sure." He shrugged just as Rosie stood up to examine flowers nearby.
As soon as she wasn't looking, I had his lips pressed against mine for a few seconds.
I looked at him. "Why did you-"
"I felt like it." He replied, making me smile.
There was a moment of silence as we watched Rosie picking some flowers of different colors.
"Kassie?" He spoke after a while, and I looked up at him.

"I need you." He whispered.
"I need you." I repeated.

Need is stronger than love.