Amnesia

Chapter 22

"If you ever find out the truth, we will kill you" I repeated again with a more controlled and firm voice. Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose as he exhaled with a shaky breath. I looked over each letter, I recognised the handwriting from the other notes I had gotten.  I scrunched the piece of paper up and stuffed it into my pocket, I was full of rage and my vision filled with red. If they laid a hand on poor Sammy they were going to die by my hands. Daniel cupped my shoulders and forced me to look up into his eyes. 

"We will get to the bottom of this, I promise." I believed his words, they calmed the blood boiling in my veins. I blinked away the tears and focused back on finding my brother. Before I could say anything I heard a creak and some shuffling from the living room. Daniel held a finger up to his lips, telling me to remain quiet. He walked in front of me and I followed behind, stuck to his back as I peered over his shoulder. We peeked in and I gasped before shoving Daniel to the side and running in. Sammy had climbed in through the window and was holding Mabel close to his chest. His hands were trembling, his eyes wide with shock and Mabel was crying out. 

"Sammy, where were you?" I fell to my knees before him and pulled him into a tight hug. He released Mabel who struggled to escape from our bodies squishing her to death. He sobbed loudly into my shoulder and his body shook with fear. I cooed softly into his ear and rubbed his back to calm him. Daniel walked over to us and crouched down. He patted Sammy's head with his long slender fingers. 

"It's alright kid, you're safe." He whispered. Sammy lifted his head up and looked up at Daniel with a small smile before looking back at me. 

"I hid in the t-trees with Mabel, I was a-afraid they would find m-me if I stayed inside." His voice cracked as he spoke. Tears formed in his eyes and his hair was ruffled and there was a mud stain on his cheek. 

"Oh, Sammy." I reached up and wiped his tears away. Daniel rubbed his face in frustration and stood up to leave the room. 

"Are they gone?" Sammy asked as his eyes followed Daniel out of the room. I nodded and pulled him in for another hug. I was never letting him out of my sight again. I could hear Daniel shuffling around upstairs, followed by a bang and some more things being moved around. 

"I'm so sorry this happened," I cupped his face in my hands and apologised sincerely. I put him in danger. It was all my fault. Daniel skipped downstairs with two large suitcases. He dropped them at the bottom of the stairs with a huff and fixed his messy hair by pushing it back. 

"What's this?" Sammy and I walked out of the room with confusion written on our faces. 

"It's not safe here, you are coming to stay at mine for a while," I was just about to protest his request but he cut me off, "you live out of town Lana, it's not safe and danger can be lurking through those trees. I live by town, there are witnesses about and they'll be less likely to return." I couldn't argue with that, he had a point. Sometimes it was just so hard to argue with him, he always knew what to say and when to say it. It was aggravating, I could never win. I looked down at Sammy and gave his shoulder a small squeeze before ushering him towards the door. 

"What about Mabel?" He whined as he stopped abruptly and refused to leave. I turned back to Daniel with a raised eyebrow. 

"Of course she's coming too." He smiled widely at the little boy. I loved how gentle and soft he was with Sammy, I rarely saw his smile or the slight dimple on his right cheek. It only appeared ever so often but when it did I could feel my heart melt. I reached for the luggage but Daniel swatted my hands away and tutted. 

"You get Mabel, I'll carry these." I scoffed, bewildered with how brave and bossy he was getting. But I liked it. A couple of weeks ago it would have fueled the fire within me and made me angry but recently I was beginning to like this side of him. I collected a few of Mabel's things, her favourite toys, some of her tin food and her favourite blanket. I put everything in a plastic bag and carried the small kitten with my other hand. We exited the house and I locked the door, not that it would stop the intruders anyway.