Ephemeral

Chapter 7

I woke up to find myself in an unfamiliar shack house. It was in shatters as the wooden floor was damp and the roof of the house was broken in some places through which the sunlight poured inside. I turned myself to see a young boy sleeping on his backpack. I backed away from him. Then I remembered, I had seen my grandfather's house burning while I was slipping in and out of consciousness while being carried by someone, I guess the man lying near me was the one who carried me and even knocked me out. Suddenly his words echoed in my head,'Trust me...".

I was so lost in thought that I did not hear him shuffle and wake up. "Hello?", he said bringing me back to reality. "...Who are y-you?", I stuttered.

"Ok...Tracy before I introduce myself I want to know if you have read the letter.", he said. I looked at him with confusion and then it struck me that he was talking about the letter which my mother had written to me. I immediately got up and started looking for it.

"Tracy? your letter is with me...", he told me calmly.

I turned around to face him and asked him if he could give it back to me."Sure", he said and rummaged his backpack looking for it. After a sometime he found the file and handed it to me. I opened the file and the letter fell down, that's when I noticed that there was something written on the back. It said - 

Hey Tracy, I forgot to tell you something so I ended up writing this at the back of the letter, I wanted to inform you that, you have an older brother whom we managed to keep hidden from those people. We had instructed him that if any danger befalls us then he would move to the place where you are staying so that he can keep a watchful eye on you and your surroundings. 

To help you recognise him, his name is Theodore, he has locks of dark curly hair covering his forehead, his eyes are a deep shade of blue, he is older to you. But the most important identification is a scar located behind his ear continuing to the back of his neck.Love him dear because he has sacrificed a lot for you.

                                                                                                                                                                                  - Tessa

After reading the letter I looked up at the boy, he matched my mother's description."Hi Tracy, I'm Theodore", he introduced himself with a warm smile. I could not bring myself to believe that I was actually speaking to one of my family members as I was still suspicious about his identity. He must have understood the expression of suspicion on my face so he turned his back to me and showed me his scar. I decided to trust him.

I experianced joy and sadness at the same time as finally felt that there was atleast someone in this world with whom I could share all my thoughts, happiness and sorrows. I couldn't stop the tears as they streamed down my face. He turned around and hugged me as sobs continued to rack my body. I buried my face in the crook of his neck as he held me tightly.

"Shh... calm down Trace, I'm sorry because you had to suffer so much even though you did not deserve it and I am sorry because I was never by your side to love you and protect you like I should have...", he said in a calm voice. I pulled back from his embrace and said," No please do not be sorry, I am the one who should be sorry as it is my fault that our whole family has suffered, and by the way no one has ever called me Trace before", I said as both of us chuckled. I want to have only happy memories from now on.

"Where are mom and dad?", I asked with pure curiosity. He hesitated to answer but eventually sighed and said," Umm....last year when Granpa was killed Ryan found that we were alive and hunted us down. Before they could reach us Granpa had warned us about their arrival and mom and dad told me to leave and find you, but before I left they told me that they will send me signals every month to tell me about their status and Ryan's plans and if they did not send me any signal then that meant that they are in danger. I recieved continous signals untill two months ago I stopped recieving any signal...".

"Does that mean they are in danger? or..", I could not continue.

"I don't know but I am sure that something has definitely wrong..."

"I hope that they are safe...by the way how did you find me at Granpa's house?", I asked.

"Ohh...that's a very long story...", he chuckled as he continued.

Hi readers, I just wanted to explain the hidden meaning behind the picture which I uploaded at the begining...so the flower blossoming means that a new chapter has opened in Tracy's life which is the arrival of her brother. The arrival of her brother introduces a lot of new things in her life just like how a flower introduces a lot of new things for a plant. Thanks and enjoy reading.🌹🌹🌹

~RV