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Song for this chapter: Jason Walker - Echo
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So long yet so soon to be back at the same place I once sweared I was never going to return. All those memories from my childhood overwhelm my body as soon as I walk through that metallic gate then through the road decorated with giant trees to the sides.
The memories when me Denny and Sia used to play for hours behind these trees, race with each other through the long road that once was our path to heaven and now is just a path that leads me to hell.

How strange... all this looks like yesterday and not 10 years ago because I can still hear Denny's and Sia's voices behind the trees.

Flashback*

"Come on Bryan it's your turn to close your eyes." Denny and Sia say in the same time.

"That's not fair. Sia saved me." I say crossing my arms over my chest.

But you have to close your eyes! It's your turnnn." Denny says trying his best to keep a serious face.

"I don't wanna! You can't make me!" I reply.

"Ohhh come on pleaaaaseeee Bryan! We don't have much time. Come on...please.." he begs as he makes puppy dog eyes at me.
It wasn't working so I gave in.

"Alright alright fine but only if you promise we'll go somewhere afterwards!" I agree knowing full well Denny would never break his promise.

"I'll slowly count to ten then I'll open my eyes." I say and they agree.

When I finish counting I tell them that I opened my eyes and then I start looking for them.

"I can see you." I hear Sia say in a low creapy voice.

"Hahaha... very funny." I reply rolling my eyes while I look behind one of the trees.

"I'm a ghost." Denny says and they both start laughing.

"Come on guys. Where are you? I'm tired." I say after a few minutes.

"We're hereee." They both say in a low voice chuckling.

Wait a damn minute... I know where they are. I say to myself while I walk towards the old tree that has a large cavity inside her trunk.

"Ahaaa! There you are! I found both of you I say to them then I start running to the place I close my eyes.

"I won! I won!" I say smiling as I dance around them and they start smiling.

"Siandra! Siandra where are you?" We hear our mother say angered.

"Oh no. I think they fought again with each other." Denny says worried.

"Yeah but why is she calling Sia?" I ask.

"There you are." Mom says coming towards us as soon as she sees us but she's carrying two large bags with her.

"Where is she going? Why does she have two bags with her?" I ask Denny.

"Come on Sia. We have to go." Mom says grabbing Sia by her hand.

"Where are we going mommy? Sia asks.

"Away from here." She replies simply.

"Mommy can we come with you to?" I ask her.

"No. You two have to stay with your father." She says.

"Please mommy! Don't leave us alone with daddy." Denny says in a sobbing voice but she continues to walk away without turning her head back.

"Please mommy! Don't go!" I say crying as I follow her from behind but before I catch her she climbs in a taxi with Sia and drives away.

"You two enough with crying! Come back inside now!" Our father says angered and we both turn our head looking at him scared as we walk inside the house.

End of flashback*

"Mr. Bryan! We're here." Harry says as soon as he parks the car.

"Hhh... Here you are again Bryan. In your own personal hell." I say to myself while I step out of the car.

"I'm surprised you're not running away yet Mr. Bryan" Harry says sarcastically as he walks over to my side and opens the front door for me.

I smile at him a little and he guides me to the stairs leading to the main hall in the house.
As soon as we reach the second floor where my mom is staying, Mrs. Taylor who has been our housekeeper since I've started to remember things calls from downstairs.

"Harry! Is that you?
What took you so long!?" She calls.
I chuckle lightly as she yells his name.
Mrs. Taylor, a middle aged woman with her short brown hair tied up in a bun, comes around the corner and stops dead when she sees me. Her eyes widen as she stares at my face for a few moments before her hand flies up to cover her mouth and her eyes fill with tears.
She climbs stairs quickly then takes me by the shoulders gently and gives me a tight hug.

"It's really you..." Mrs. Taylor whispers.
"Where have you been Bryan?" She asks in a sobbing voice.

I pat her back and nod my head, trying to calm down from seeing her again after so many years as I hug her back.
She's the first person that loved me unconditionally without judging me and for that I loved her like I once loved my mother. She took care of me when I was in my lowest.
"Come on lets go downstairs to the living room. You must be tired." She says as we break the hug.

I take a deep breath and let out a laugh as I shake my head and follow Mrs. Taylor downstairs towards the couch.

"Are you hungry? What a silly question. Of course you are. I'll make you your favorite pasta then I'll make a chocolate cake for you." She says excited as she sits next to me on the couch.
I smile at her but don't speak. I know if I talk she will start crying and she deserves her rest. So I nod my head and let her continue to speak.
After a few minutes talking she stands up.
"I'm going to the kitchen to prepare the dinner it's going late but don't think that our conversation answer now because we have a lots of other things to discuss with each other." She says smiling a little.

"Okay." I reply smiling and she turns around to walk away.

"Mrs. Taylor?" I call her.

"Yes my dear? What is it?" She asks.

"Is... is he here?" I ask her in a low voice.

"No. He isn't here don't worry about it." She replies smiling a little and then walks away.

"Hhh... let's do this Bryan before he comes home." I say to myself as I walk upstairs to my mothers room.
When I reach her room the door is opened and she's laying on her bed that is surrounded by lots of stuff that are used to keep her alive, I suppose.

Her room is darker than she used to keep it. The only light is from the moon that comes from the window that is in front of her bed.

She looks as bad as Harry said. Her skin looks pale and her hairs have fallen a little. She looks like she's asleep. Maybe she's in the effect of some painkillers or something.
I walk close to her bed and put my hand on her forehead to check her temperature but to my surprise she's cold.
"Maybe she needs a blanket." I say to myself in a low voice as I start walking to the wardrobe to find someone to cover her but as soon as I take my first step something stops me. More specifically someone stops me grabbing my hand.

I turn around to see my mom looking at me while holding my hand.

"Don't go." She says in a low voice.

"I... I was just gonna grab a blanket for you because you're cold. Are you cold?" I menage to ask her as I look into her blue eyes.

"Don't worry about me because now that you're here I'm feeling much better." She says smiling a little.

"Okay then." I reply simply as I look at her while I am standing right next to her bed.

"You know that you can come closer if you want." She says and I move closer to her a few steps.

"So... how have you been?" I ask her nervously as I scratch my head a little.

"I've been better. How have you been? It's been a long time since you last visited me." She says.

"I have... I have been busy." I reply without looking at her while I fix my hair.

"Ohh..."

"Yeah." I reply simply.

"You've been that busy that you didn't have time to even see your mother." She says.

"Excuse me! You should be grateful that I came to see you now." I reply.
"I mean what did you expected me to do huh!? Did you wanted me to fall into my knees and say how much I've missed you after you separated Sia from us then you left us to live with our dear father when we were ten?" Is that what you want?" I ask her.

"You're never going to forgive me. Aren't you?" She asks crying and I just look at her.

"Hey. You're here." I hear someone say from behind me.
I would recognize that discussing voice that used to torture me in my dreams when I was little everywhere.

"I was just gonna leave." I reply without looking at him.

"Come on son. Stay a little bit longer. Can't you see that your mother is sick?" He says.

"Don't you dare call me your son! I'm not your son!" I reply while I look at him angered and he doesn't say anything.

"Please John!" Mom manages to say in a low voice crying.

"It's okay Amber. We're not fighting." He says as he wipes her tears then kisses her forehead.

"I have a surprise for you." He whispers to her.

"There is no greater surprise for me then this John. You brought me my son and now I can even die happily." Mom says as she looks at me.

"Are you sure about that honey?" He says then looks towards the door.

"Knock knock..." Sia says as she enters the room smiling.

"Siandra! You are here to?" Mom says excited.

"My mom needs me soo... of course I'd be here. I wouldn't miss this." Sia says as she hugs her.

"Hello brother."

"Hey." I reply simply.

"So good to see you here. I thought that you're never gonna come here. After all... you said that this isn't your house anymore."

"Well technically, this is in your house to. It's his house. And yes. I am not here to stay I just came to see her. That's all." I reply.

"Jeez... relax. I'm just kidding." Sia says smiling and I just look at her trying to figure it out what is she trying to do.

"Sia can I talk to you outside for a minute?" I ask her.

"No. Not now, because I want to spend some time with my mom." She replies hugging her once again.

"Excuse me sir. Dinner is ready." Mrs. Taylor says.

"Okay. We will be there shortly." He says and she leaves.

"Honey, I'll call the nurses to take care of you. Meanwhile we're going downstairs to have dinner." He says.

"I'm not hungry. I'm staying here a few more minutes then I have to go and find a place to stay." I say.

"You can stay here in your own room." Mom says.

"No. I'll stay somewhere else." I reply.

"Come on Bryan! Don't be such a baby." Sia says smiling.

"Please, Bryan. Just for tonight then if you want you can leave tomorrow." Mom says.

I don't want to stay here but how can I say no to her when she's this sick.

"Okay, but I want to sleep in another room. If you wouldn't mind, of course?" I ask him.

"Of course not son. You can stay in every room you want as much as you want." He says then leaves the room followed by Sia leaving me and mom alone.

"You're never going to forgive either of us? Aren't you Bryan?" Mom asks and I just look at the window.

"I don't know." I say still looking at the window.
Mom stays quiet for a moment until she starts coughing a lot.
"Hey? Are you alright?" I ask turning around to face her.

"Yes, I'm fine my dear."  She says while smiling but she looks very weak.

"Can I get you anything?" I ask her.

"No, I'm fine. I need to rest for a while." She replies.

"Okay then. Call me if you need anything okay?" I say.

"Okay." She replies and I turn around and walk away.

"I still can't believe that you're here Bryan." Sia says as soon as she sees me going downstairs and I just ignore her.

"Hey! Don't walk past me like that." She yells as I open the front door to go outside.

"I'm talking to you Bryan! Didn't you hear me?" She asks as she follows me outside.

"He..." She begins to say but I turn around facing her.

"Aren't you tired yet?" I ask her.

"Following you around, yes." She says.

"Oh come on lil sis. You know that I didn't asked you about that. Stop playing dumb. No one's here." I say to her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replies looking away.

"Okay then. I'll explain it to you.
Hmm... where should I begin? Oh yeah... first you pretend to be kidnapped by my greatest enemy who made me transport drugs for him and that enemy also happens to be your boyfriend. Strange right?
Then you invited me to your boyfriends house to talk and your "beloved boyfriend" almost killed me and now you expect me to pretend that everything is just fine. Do you want me to continue?" I ask her in a serious tone.
She stares at me shocked, her face is pale as she looks at me.

"Wait what are you talking about..." She tries to speak but she has no words coming out of her mouth.

"Did you really think that he is so good? That he doesn't deserve someone as beautiful and amazing as you. Did you really think that he could make you happy and love you more than he loves himself?"
Sia remains quiet after listening to my speech. She takes a step back before speaking up again.

"No..." She mumbles and I see tears streaming down her cheeks.
"That's not true." She says and this time I'm able to take a closer look at her face. Her eyes are full of hurt.

"But it is Sia. He isn't the person that he appears to be around you. The guy that you call your boyfriend is actually a ruthless criminal whose entire life is filled with evil deeds and he wants everyone to fear him and to kneel before him."

"It would have been better if you never met or talked to him." I say and she shakes her head.

"You don't know him like I do brother." She says in a sobbing voice.

"Deep down you know that everything that I said is true and that he wanted to date you just to make me angry. You just don't want to except that." I say to her.

"I don't want to except that because if I do then I'll lose the only person that I thought loved me!" She shouts angrily and I just look at her. She looks defeated and lost. I knew that my words had hit somewhere deep inside her. It felt like a knife had pierced through my heart to say those things and to tell her the truth about him but she deserved to know.

"If there is a person in this world that loves you. That person would always be me Sia. Only me. There will never be anyone else. There will never be anyone else who would give their life for you. Never someone who would die for you. Not even in a million years. Not ever." I say hugging her tightly as I kiss her forehead.

"I'll never let anyone hurt you again my jelly bean. Ever!" I say to her.

"It hurts Bryan. " She whimpers into my chest and I tighten the hug even more.

"It will pass soon my everything. I promise." I say to her as we both start to walk inside the house then to her room. Once I get into her room I close the door behind us. I sit down next to Sia and she turns toward me. She lays her head against my shoulder and wraps her arms around me.

"You promises me that you'll never leave me again? She says.

"I promise you that I'll be by your side as long as we both live." I reply.

"Always and Forever?"

"Always and Forever?" I reply smiling.

***

Hi guys! How are you?🙃
I hope everyone is having a great time and that you enjoyed reading this chapter once again.🥰🥰🥰
How was is by the way?😶
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Love you all 😘
Thank you  for reading my story!
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