MISSING: THE LAST FOSTER

Chapter 10

Shekinah got home and it was the first time she had her eyes locked in everything they have here like the vases of her mom, the graduation pictures that are hanged in the living room, their family pictures and all. Her hands are shaking while reaching their family pictures.

When her family was announced dead, she couldn't remember if she felt anything aside from pain. The pain in her heart is overflowing that until now, hunting her, messing her mind and crashing her heart into pieces. Her tears drops like a rain from very heavy cloud.

She touches each family faces in the picture, she couldn't believe her goodbye because she's just going to school was their final goodbye – for life.

Some people are disposing their loved ones stuff – those loved ones that passed away. But she won't do that. This huge house feels so empty now that her family is absent, for good. Shekinah just gulped to the thought and cries in silence.

What more disposing their stuffs, this would feel strange and abandoned. This is her family's home she will keep it still.

"Sheki? Let's eat?" Shekinah turn her head and looked at Hedeliza who's talking in her behind. She wiped her tears and smiled hard. Hedeliza offers her wide arm and Shekinah accepted it with wide arms.

Hedeliza chuckled when she felt the coldness in her shoulder because of her best friend's tears. She caresses her back to make her feel better even just a bit.

"Aahw," Lizle said and joined the hug. "We love you so much, Sheki," she added and give a peck kiss in Shekinah's head. "But the food is getting cold now, how about let's eat first? That would be the best, right? Plus, we cooked your favorite, Sheki."

"Thank you," Shekinah answered and nodded when Lizle held her hand and dragging her to the dining. Her eyes glued to the smiling Raixen who pulled a chair for her. "Thank you."

Shekinah eats silently while the others are trying to pull some jokes. She seems like not here. She seems like lost. She may starting to talk and smiling fake but she's really not well yet. They can't blame her, no one can. The wound that is engraved in her heart is the deepest and that is the hardest to heal.

"Do you want more?" Raixen asked referring to the dessert leche flan they have in the table. Shekinah shakes her head and drink the water and stand up.

"I'm done, please excuse me," she said coldly.

They all looked at her back and she's going upstairs. Shekinah go straight to the nearest room from the stairs, that's Gio's room. Her heartbeat is beating too fast and loud that she can hear it. Her hands are shaking when she is about to hold the doorknob to open it. She gulped several times before forcing herself to slowly open the door.

Her brother's scent filled her nose. She was kind of nervous when she finally entered her whole body in the room and pushed the door in her back to close it. She roamed her eyes around and like before she was always amazed how organized her brother is. This room is very clean.

He knows how maximize the space in the side to give a bigger space in the center. And no one is able to maintain his style, this is going to stay like this, forever. She smiled bitterly when the thought just popped in her head.

She ran her finger in his table where all his stuffs are there. This guy's stuff like those something they put in this hair, his watched and all.

"You will be forever remembered, Gio. I love you and I will love you, always," she mumbled while looking at the trophies and medals inside his cabinet with a transparent glass door.

He collected all of these in joining sports and making sure to win. He was always the winner. He was always been good. Everytime he join and when other players knows they will be competing with Gio Foster, they chose to back out with some reasons, making some valid reasons, making Gio won by default and he don't like that.

His taekwondo uniform and his black belt is also there, they both became black belter in taekwondo. Gio also used to join taekwondo competition and brought several medals and trophies after placing as the champion, while she, she chose to keep her knowledge in fighting by herself. It was just for her protection.

They don't have a one family photo but every one is here in his long cabinet of shoes. Every photos are separated in each frame. There's their dad, their mom, her, his own photo and the baby Jasmien. Jasmien was 2 in this photo taken in her 2nd birthday.

While roaming her brother's room and listening the beat of her heart, her hand was also glued in her chest. She could feel how her chest tightens everytime she touches valuable things that belongs to his brother.

"He was the best in every sport he played, he hate losing that's why no one wants to compete with him anymore." Shekinah turn around when she heard someone speak in her back.

The face of the man who believes she can still do better things face her. She didn't notice he opened the door, she didn't hear anything or just because she was so occupied remembering all the memories she could remember and she had about Gio.

"You were his playmate," she said and looked back the thousands of trophies and medals in his huge cabinet.

"He was very competitive that ended beating me. I was his trainer but he was better than me," Raixen replied.

He's right, he was Gio's soccer trainer. Gio idolizes Raixen that he wants to play Raixen's game.

"He was about to play in the national team next year, he was getting ready for that. But my poor baby brother can no longer play, he can no longer bring the trophy home. He still have places for trophies. He aimed to fill every vacansy this cabinet has," Shekinah said staring at the spaces of the cabinet that meant for Gio's supposedly upcoming championships.

"He will always be remembered, his team might not have him as a player, but they're always have him as their charm. He will still win the championship." He heard Raixen said.

Of course, her brother isn't a fan of losing. He will surely be guiding his team to bring the trophy home. Sadly, he can no longer put the trophy here. Shekinah went out from Gio's room and slowly opened the room of her parents. She wanted to tell herself and make herself absorb the fact that they are not here anymore. That they will never come back.

If beating herself in pain is what we called accepting, she'll do that. Her friends were right, her family would never be happy if she'll let her life ended in here. She knew that there will be coming times that she's still going to ask why but maybe she can start accepting the fact by now.

She was waiting for Raixen to follow her but there's none. He maybe know that she wanted to be alone, she wanted to savour the moment for the first time that she got her guts of entering the room of her family.

"Mommy, daddy, why do people keeps on telling me that everthing happens for a reason? What reason? Am I meant to live my life alone? I still wish I was with you, mom, dad. I wish I listened to Jasmien, I wish I didn't attend class. I still wasn't able to take the exam. My mind is in mess mom, sometimes I think of moving forward but most of time I think opposite. Mommy, I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start."

"How can I run the company by myself? I am not good as you guys. I am not wise as you two. I am not strong as you both. I am afraid mommy, daddy. I am afraid I might do something you don't approve."

Shekinah lay herself in the king size bed of her parents hugging their family picture in frame she found above the center table in this room. Gone the family vacation, gone the family time, gone the Sunday dinner, gone the every night play with her siblings. Everything's gone. What's left in here is the fact that she had no one and with the millions of responsibility.

Raixen understands everything about Shekinah. She needs time for herself, she needs time to heal her heart. No one can do that for her, just herself. All they can do is to just stay in her back to make sure that nothing bad is going to happen in her while taking the path her palms of destiny engraved for her.

"I am so happy for the improvement that I have witnessed in Sheki, she's doing well, she's doing great," Lizle said, smiling in happiness while remembering the Shekinah now.

"She's fighting her pain, we all know how fighter she is. That pain she is struggling, she can beat that hard and she will be rising back stronger than before." Felix added.

Raixen's heart is dancing in happiness that he and her girlfriend found the best of the best friends. Though, they're friends for decades now and none of them disappoint each other yet, will never.

"I am so proud of her. This tragedy that happened in her life is very unforgettable but I know, we know that she's not a Foster for nothing," Raixen said with a huge smile in his face.

"Soon, we can get our life back — chilling, road tripping, beach, wine, alcohol, music and everything! I know that everything happened was just recently and that was very fresh, I mean fresh. But how long are we going to let ourselves drowned of the pain. We should come up from the deep hole of pain. And that's why we are here, to help Shekinah," Hedeliza cheered and bring her glass of water for a toss.

Everyone smiled and let their glasses make a sound of hitting each other.

And real quick after the toss, their faces went back to how serious is everything they are fighting, remembering how heavy the world their best friend, Shekinah, has to carry in her shoulder.

The door bell ring and they looked at each other and shrugged. They are not expecting anyone to come over.

"I'll check," Felix volunteered, Raixen followed Felix and the girls are glancing each other before stepping getting off from their chair and follow the boys.

Felix was checking the monitor from the inside to see who is ringing the doorbell.

"The guard," Felix said and the girls sigh in relief for no reason.

"Why are you two looks scared?" Raixen asked them and they just answered together a death glare.

"Hello, sir. There are medias that wanted to speak to Ms. Foster. I didn't allow them to enter and told then I have to ask Ms. Foster first." The guard said courageously.

Raixen stepped forward to see Mr. Guard and speak. "Thank you for informing us first, sir. Please tell them Ms. Foster is not going to face them now and also not tomorrow. Please inform them that once Ms. Foster want to speak anything, she will the one to call them for interview," he said. The guard smiled and excuse himself.

"Excuse me, sir," Hedeliza called the guard making him stopped. "When the next days and they still show themselves here, please do not let them in," she said and the guard nodded with a three fingers and as okay sign. Hedeliza also did the same thing.

"He is cool," Felix mumbled referring to Mr. Guard.

"He is, thank God he didn't let those motherf*ckers in!" Hedeliza frustratingly said and rolled her eyes.

"He probably was informed before by Mr. President to never let media's in without informing them beforehand," Lizle replied.

"And that is why Fosters are known for being public figure but no very their personal life. Personal life wasn't written in the internet or anywhere. It was just their good deeds, showing their projects and all. But not including about their family life, their personal life," Felix added.

Raixen went upstairs to check Shekinah for she was there for 6 hours now. He carefully opened the master's bedroom's door and invited his self inside only to found his own sleeping beauty. Shekinah was sleeping soundly in her parent's bed while hugging their family picture frame.