𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 • 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟗 : 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

Anna stood, frozen in place with the towel in her hand, blonde hair damp from her shower. There they stood. The two people from her dream finally in front of her with names to their faces. She had been seeing her brother and sister. She didn't know what to do. She didn't remember them, she didn't know them. She knew they were related but she had no memory of them.

"Leon told us about what happened to you, how you don't remember us." Claire said as she watched her baby sister look at them with such a lost and confused look on her face. She wanted to run to her, to embrace her in a hug. Leon walked over to her, gently guiding her over to the couch. She was still in shock it seemed.

   "We brought some stuff over to show you and your clothes. Claire wouldn't let me throw anything of yours away." Chris said with a smile, setting the box he was holding down on the coffee table.

"That's because I never accepted that you were dead. Looks like I was right." Claire said with a smile. She grabbed on of the pillows from the couch and sat down on the floor, Chris following suit. Claire opened the box, Anna leaning forward to peer inside. Picture albums, cassette tapes, jewelry, and other things filled the box. This box contained what had been her life before this. This held the answers she craved so much. Claire reached inside and pulled out the first of two picture albums, setting it on the table for her to see. Anna looked over at Leon, looking for some guidance as what to do. He gave a small, reassuring smile. He knew this was a more difficult situation. Staring at family members as they looked back at you, remembering years of shared memories that you couldn't access.

Anna slowly opened the book, the cover reading Anna in silver letters. She turned to the first page, looking at the first picture. It was a family photo of the Redfields. A much younger and skinnier looking Chris stood in front of the two she assumed were their parents. Their dad stood with a smile identical to Chris's holding a year old Claire in his arms. Their mom held a little Anna in her arms, wrapped in a blanket.

"That's the day you came home from the hospital." Claire said with a smile. "Mom was so excited to bring you home finally. You were born four weeks early. She always said you didn't want to get left behind by me and Chris as you got older." She said fondly. It pained her that her sister couldn't remember them, but she did her best to hide it. She knew if Anna noticed how hurt she was, she would feel awful. It was just the way her sister was, had always been. Anna studied the picture for a moment, her fingers reaching out and touching each of her parents. She knew she should feel something, anything. She didn't feel anything. She turned the page, eyes scanning the various baby photos that littered the two pages. A small baby Anna laid out on a blanket, staring up at her big sister as she laid beside her. Another of her staring up at a younger Chris with big wide, blue eyes. The next page contained photos of her first birthday. One was of her in a high chair, in just her diaper, digging into a piece of chocolate cake. Frosting was everywhere from her hands to her mouth to her chest and belly. Anna chuckled softly at the picture. Claire smiled at the reaction. She could see that the old Anna was still there. It was still her baby sister sitting in front of her. Anna continued looking through the photos, seeing more birthday photos, pictures of them on family vacations. She saw how her and her siblings had grown up, Chris and Claire growing into teenagers and soon young adults. As she turned the pages, her parents soon disappeared from the photos, the three now just being in all the photos. Chris noticed the confusion on his baby sister's face.

"Mom got sick and didn't make it, Dad let himself go and died six months later." He explained. "After that I was given custody of you two since I had just turned eighteen." Anna nodded slowly, glancing over at her older brother. He had been quiet for the most part, just sitting there watching her. She looked through more of the photos, noticing the difference in them. They weren't posed like the ones before. They were more random, little moments in time. Some of the girls on the couch in poor lighting, watching movies. One of Anna studying in their room, pajamas on and a pen in between her lips as she stared at the books on her desk. They felt more natural, like windows into what her life had been like. She came to a picture of her in between her brother and sister, dressed in a cap and gown with a diploma in her hand. A high school graduation, her high school graduation. Claire smiled as she looked at the picture.

   "You were so excited to be done with high school. You were already interviewing with S.T.A.R.S. I think you had an interview two days after this picture was taken." Claire said with a proud smile. "You just wanted so bad to follow in Chris's footsteps." Chris smiled a little, but there was a sadness in his eyes.

   "If you hadn't joined S.T.A.R.S none of this would have happened." Chris said quietly. "We wouldn't have lost you for so long." He said.

   "If you hadn't joined, you would have had a normal life."