Card deck of Jokers

Chapter 1

"Don't be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart"

~Roy T.Bennett~

Cold and Bitter

I travelled with Delmira to the house.

The sun was blazing and the leaves were circling with the wind.

Of course saying that I wasn't nervous would be down right lying. My stomach was churning and my hands would become pale every now and again.

I could of disagreed with the counsel. I should have disagreed. I've done it before. I could've forced them to not send me away.

But I didn't.

I tried with all the little clothes that I had to cover up the marks and bruises from before. Some of them left permanent scars down my arms and others I'm sure would heal away nicely.

I'm not really the open type. I never have, never will be. That's just who I am. I'm also very closed off.

Things are so bad now that even tapping me on the shoulder brings back awful memories.

I did flinch a couple times. When Delmira hugged me as a greeting I pushed her back out of reaction. She was shocked and I'm pretty sure I felt rude afterwards but she gave me a smile and shook my hand instead.

I don't think anyone informed her about my past, to which I'm happy about, so her soft smile was surprising since she didn't know much about me.

As we walked through the concrete pathway that lead to the door I stared in awe. It wasn't a mansion but it definitely didn't come close to ordinary sized houses.

Maybe for her it was normal in Australia. For me I thought it was luxurious.

She laughed while seeing my reaction and patted my head with reassurance.

I ducked my head out of her reach, declining her show of kindness. I didn't mean it in a dismissive way and I hope she didn't take it personally. I just felt uncomfortable.

She nodded her head remembering that she made the same mistake twice and broke her stare from mine before searching for her keys.

In the corner of my eyes I could see a girl peaking through the room curtains trying to inspect who was the new visitor.

The moment our iris' made contact, she closed the curtains blocking her from sight.

Delmira opened the door and walked inside with a gleaming smile shining from ear to ear.

"I'm home" she said loud enough to hear.

I could hear faint whispers before everyone came rushing down for some type of welcome.

Fuck.

I hated being made centre of attention.

They all gave me eager stares nudging each other as if to grab their attention of my presence.

I looked down at the ground before shifting my gaze to the wall, away from their stern looks.

"This is Regan Marshall" She said before hinting the kids to do something.

"Ohhh *cough* I'm Katy" one girl said.
She had this long black hair and hazel coloured eyes. "I'm 16"

I still had my eyes at the wall trying not to make any eye contact with them.

"Lucy" another said with earphones in her ears while looking at her watch and climbing back up the stairs. She, however, had a dirty wash of blonde hair and a perfect mix between grey and green eyes.