Stormy Skies and Broken Tides

Chapter 1: The Blyte's

"Lazarus."
It's a feminine voice, tossed softly into the orbiting darkness of my bedroom, and I turn my head slightly to look at Emily Ioan, who twitches and moves farther into the room, cautiously creeping closer.
"Yes, Ms. Ioan?" I ask, resting my pencil down upon the paper, twisting my body around to fully face the woman who pulled me from a burning house all those weeks ago.
"There's a couple here to see you."
I try not to show the shock that freezes my heart as I rise from my chair, slipping my windbreaker on over my thin shoulders, and as I move to follow Emily she smiles sadly and turns, walking urgently down the hall towards the kitchen.
There is, surprisingly, truly a couple sitting at the table. They're taking in the quartz walls and diamond-chandelier, and I can see the moment when they finally notice that Emily is returning, with company.
The man rises from his seat, kind smile on his face, and reaches out a hand for me to shake.
"Hi," he says energetically. "I'm Whitney Blyte. This is my wife, Siobhan."
Siobhan stands, walking over to stand beside her husband, and reaches out a trembling, hesitant hand. "Hi. I hear you've been here... About a year?"
I nod, not saying anything, and look over at Emily, who has a confident smile on her face as she sweeps into her study, pulling the folder containing my information from the plastic case hanging on the door, and sweeping back out of the room with a practiced ease that made me remember the last five times I was adopted, only to be sent back a day or so later.
"So, Lazarus, if you could go wait in the Living Room for a moment while I talk to Whitney and Siobhan?" Emily questions, looking over at me, and I shrug apathetically before slipping quietly into the next room, falling onto the couch as the TV automatically switches on.
I twitch as the booming sound of gunfire filters through the house, and quickly turn the volume down, but I can't shut down the familiar sound now boiling through my mind like a snake through bracken on the forest floor, crackling and sliding, and I shut the TV off, clap my hands over my ears, and move onto my back, tilting my head back as the noise gradually fades away, leaving me blinking small tears from my eyes as I sit up again.
It's minutes later that a grinning, ecstatic and nearly glowing Emily bursts into the room, bouncing around the couch like a deranged kangaroo, sending the TV into a gravitational turmoil that ended with it going on strike and turning off with a flash of white fading to a black screen that had me looking away from the screen to avoid looking at my reflection.
"Emily," I say, trying to stop the Ioan-whirlwind.
She stops automatically, a half-hearted hop faltering as she took in my incredulously raised eyebrows and blank stare.
"Sorry," she says. "But, anyways, the Blyte's say they'll adopt you! What do you say? Yes? Please say yes. They're so kind!"
I laugh half-heartedly and stand up. "I'll give them a try. Who knows? Maybe I'll find a place to call home."
Emily gives a small sigh, and visibly reigns herself in before placing her hands on my shoulders. "Home isn't a house, place, or a location that you visit a lot, Lazarus. Home is the place you feel safe, where others treat you with trust, and where you will always want to return to, no matter how far you go, or how long you leave it."
I don't have a home, I think. I'm not safe anywhere.
I try not to think about her words as Siobhan pulls me to her, hugging me like an octopus to a coral reef as Whitney takes the papers from Emily, sliding them into his bag as he smiles kindly at me.
"We'll be here at the end of the week to pick him up," Whitney says to Emily, and she nods enthusiastically before saying, "Would you like me to order and fill out the papers to send him to school, or will you just have him homeschooled?"
Siobhan shakes her head. "I think for the first couple months we're gonna keep him at the house, just so that he can get comfortable. If he wants to shift to real school at any time, though, all he has to do is tell us."
I nod at the pointedly spoken words, and she smiles brightly before smacking an unexpected kiss to my forehead, making my face Blaze with stunned redness.
Emily smirks at the sight, and Whitney gives a little wave as he beckons Siobhan out the door, following her as she pulls on his sleeve, the front door closing with a click behind them.
Emily and I stand there for a while, staring at the snowy-white door, before Emily wraps a arm around my shoulders and shows me towards the living room.
"Let's finish binge-watching NCIS before you have to go. I don't think the Blyte's are crime-watching kind of people."
I have to resist a laugh.