Author's note: I decided to go ahead and post again, since the preface was so short. Would love to hear what people think! I also would like to mention I'm not fully editing what I've been posting. I've looked over it, but I'm sure I've missed some things.
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Chapter 1: Uneasy feelings
It was another crisp, winter morning. Snow was still lingering on the trees from the snow that had fallen the night before. I started walking down the path in the garden that led towards the woods. In the summer, the garden would be full of my favorite flowers and trees.
The woods are my favorite place to be alone. I finally reached the rock that overlooked the creek. The creek had a layer of thin ice covering its surface. The woods usually made me feel better, but the lack of life made me feel uneasy. The birds were usually chirping. The only sound I could hear was my uneven breathing. I haven’t been feeling the same, and I couldn’t stop thinking about a heated conversation my parents had a while back. Their words were inaudible, but I didn’t realize that the argument would alter my life forever.
“We are going to have to tell them soon,” Nicholas said with dread.
“What do you mean ‘them’?” Danielle asked , frustration dripping from her voice.
“You know who I’m talking about,” Nicholas replied curtly as he turned to face her. They’ve been having this argument for several months. Neither one of them were going to yield.
“Nicholas, you think they should know before our own daughter!” she hissed. “We have an obligation to our daughter. This is going to change her life and you’re worried about them being informed.”
Nicholas’s eyes blackened, “I have an obligation to them as well. She’s not the only one that this involves!”
“Elizabeth should be the first to know. She’ll have to make the decision.”
I snapped back to the present. The woods usually gave me solace, but it was just unnerving me at the unending silence. I rose up from my position and cautiously got off the rock. I gazed upon a tall oak tree and noticed a crow with piercing, blue eyes. Why do they look so familiar? The crow seemed to notice I was looking at it because it flew away. I really am losing it.
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“I have a business meeting, and I don’t know when I’ll be back,” Nicholas whispered closely to Danielle’s ear.
“Why are you being so discreet about it?” She stepped close to him and glared into his eyes, “Aren’t you going to tell the kids anything? You need to at least need to tell them goodbye,” She was still looking into his eyes, obviously waiting for an answer.
I walked through the door and caught the last piece of their squabble. “Where are you going?” I asked alarmed. My dad and mom quickly jumped back from each other and shared quick glances. He finally glanced back at me, while my mother started to put some milk away that had been left on the counter. Their continuous bickering made me apprehensive, more so than usual. Also, my father’s hesitance to tell everybody about his departure only made me feel worse.
“I’m just going to a meeting about a job opportunity,” he said with a look of feigned happiness.
“I’ll call and talk to everyone when I have the chance. Why don’t you tell the others,” he suggested quickly, preventing me from continuing the conversation. He obviously wants me out of the room. Something was definitely wrong.
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“What do you mean a job opportunity?” Isabella asked innocently. Her face crumpled when I told her the news. Isabella is the youngest and only sister I have.
“He said he’d call when he had time.” I told her, trying my best to give her some sort of comfort. Steven, my oldest brother, strolled in lazily and was still wearing his leather jacket. Only he would wear a leather jacket indoors. Ugh, brothers.
“Pops is leaving again? Hey, maybe he’ll take Mom, too,” Steven started to wag his eyebrows up and down. "Then we could have a raging party.” Isabella looked down and appeared to be on the verge of tears. “Hey, Izzie, I was just joking,” Steven said as he ruffled her long hair affectionately.
"How’s your motorcycle coming along?” I asked him, trying to lighten the mood. Just two weeks ago, he totaled it when he drove through our fence along the backyard. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, if it hadn’t happened four times in the past two months.
“Should have it finished in two weeks.” Steven replied as he tried to maneuver around all the mess that the rest of my brothers had made last night.
Our living room is the biggest room in our two-story house. It had a 42 inch flat screen TV and also doubled as our game room with various game consoles, pin-ball machines, and air hockey table.
I heard footsteps, and looked to see our dad coming down the stairs with a suitcase in each hand. He had told everybody to meet him downstairs in the living room, so he could say goodbye to us properly. He first told Isabella and Jason goodbye. Then he told the rest of my siblings, Dexter, Alex, and Steven goodbye.
As he approached me, he paused and looked at me for one of the briefest seconds. He seemed to think I didn’t notice, but this wasn’t the only time he looked at me like he was regretting something. He then quickly turned to my mom and took her by the elbow to gently guide her out of the room.
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“I’m going to miss you, Danielle,” Nicholas whispered lovingly as he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry for what I have to do,” he said, almost inaudibly.
“What do you mean?” She asked, mirroring his hushed tone. He slowly released her and headed towards the door. He reached out and grabbed the doorknob. He glanced back towards the general vicinity of the living room one last time and turned around to leave the house.
He opened the door and felt the cold air rush towards his face. What am I going to do?
YOU ARE READING
Unraveling Destinies (On Hold)
Teen FictionElizabeth always thought her life was normal. She just wanted a normal eighteenth birthday with her crazy, teenage brothers and adorable, little sister. However, she is far from normal. Her parents were keeping a dangerous secret from her, one tha...
