Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)

Chapter 29

November 20th, 2019

*Alan*

"Are you ready to live with your brothers again?" My social worker asked, giving me a smile through the rearview mirror. I nodded happily.

"I'm going to see my sister," I said excitedly. Kathy gave me a worried look but said nothing, letting me stare out the window as we drove.

It had been seven years since we were last together. I hadn't seen or heard from Amelia since our parents died, but I was glad to finally be seeing her. I'd always found it odd we hadn't gone to school together. I'd been in school with my younger brothers at least. We hadn't been in the same house, but at least we were able to see each other. As for my oldest brother, Cato, I'd seen him just a few days ago during his visitation. I was most excited to see Xander - besides my twin sister - I hadn't seen him either. He was too old to attend the same school as us and he'd distanced himself after we were all separated.

Last week had been Cato's eighteenth birthday. He'd immediately filed for guardianship and was easily granted it, so today was the day all of us were moving back home.

Kathy pulled into the driveway of a giant house - our childhood home. I didn't really remember it, but it seemed familiar enough from the photographs I'd seen.

I spotted Cato and Xander waiting for me and I ran out of the car to greet them without waiting for the vehicle to be turned off. I crushed them both in a tight hug as they did the same.

"Xandy!" I cried, gripping his waist in my little arms.

"Hey buddy," Xander cooed softly, hugging me close.

Another car pulled up in the driveway, delivering Eli and the triplets, who all ran to join the group, shouting and screaming in excitement. It felt so nice to have all my brothers again... but where was Amelia?

Colton glanced around at us sadly.

"Where's Sissy?" he whined. Kathy and the other social workers exchanged a series of glances with my oldest brothers.

"Tell them soon," they advised. The three women left, leaving the seven of us squished together in a hug.

"Cato, where's Sissy?" Cayden whimpered, tugging on his sleeve. Cato sighed heavily, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Amelia isn't here anymore," he answered slowly. My eyes widened.

"She's dead?!" I asked frantically. Cato glanced at Xander warily.

"No, we don't think so. She's just missing," His words seemed to ring in my ears over and over, forming a pit in my stomach.

"Well is she coming back?" Calvin questioned.

"She's been missing for six years, guys. It's hard to say if she'll come back at all," Xander told us quietly. Eli began to cry, and Cato bent down to comfort him.

My sister was gone. Missing. Presumably dead to the world. I wasn't even sad, I was angry. Angry at the world for taking my twin away. We'd lost our parents and now we'd lost our only sister. But I refused to believe she was dead. Amelia was a fighter, she wouldn't give up without a fight. She had to be out there somewhere, I could feel it in my bones.

"Alan, are you okay?" Cato asked, gently rubbing my shoulder.

"She's not dead," I stated angrily. "She's not dead, just missing," Cato looked at me strangely before nodding.

"Yeah, let's think of it that way," he agreed. But even I couldn't miss his doubtful expression.

"Can we see our rooms now?" the triplets pleaded. They were only eight years old, they couldn't exactly grasp the concept of death and missing persons just yet. It was hard for even me - at eleven years old. I couldn't care less about my new bedroom, Home would never be the same without Amelia. I could tell Cato and Xander were pretty devastated too, despite their efforts to cover it up. But I felt the anger start to bubble up inside me, the resentment and sadness eating away at my feelings. I was angry at the world for fucking everything up. How could the universe just take everything away from me? The entire world would pay, fuck all else that would stand in my way.

My other half was missing - how could I ever be the same?

***

I grumpily made my way towards the parking lot, yelling at some freshman who'd accidentally bumped into me in the hallway. My dream last night had really fucked me up - especially after the entire conversation I'd had with my brothers. Seeing Mia in class had only had me longing for her to know the truth. I was peeved that she didn't seem to recognise me - or any of my brothers for that matter. It was like she had no recollection of our family entirely. Maybe she'd been brainwashed or something horrible to make her forget because if she'd purposely blocked us from her memory, I was going to blow a fuse.

"Hey man, take it easy," Harry grumbled as I accidentally shouldered him as he fell into step beside me. "What's gotten you all pissy this morning?" I sighed.

"They found out,"

"Your brothers? About Mia?" I nodded.

"And then my brain had the audacity to remind me of when we first lost her," I said bitterly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it had no right," he mocked sarcastically. I glared at him.

"I was so keen on getting to know her first, but now after my brothers got involved, I'm really missing her as my sister,"

"Well, are you going to tell her then?" Harry asked.

"No, we're waiting longer," I answered, stuffing my hands into my pockets. My eyes settled on Neo Mendosa, and my blood began to boil. I thought about what Colton has said, about him feeding her a bunch of lies. What if he was part of the reason she was so scared of us?

I felt my hands curl into fists as a scowl formed on my face.

"Alan, don't be stupid," Harry warned. He'd told me a thousand times before to never let my anger get the best of me, but I knew he could tell that I was just itching for a fight. But I brushed his warning off, striding over to Neo. That damn snake was going to pay.