7 yrs, Gone and Forgotten

Chapter 27: Georgia and Flashbacks

Lee/Sydney’s POV

         Standing in front of the old, abandoned house as the sun had begun to set, I didn’t know what to do. It was the address listed for me to first visit and between driving and resting it had taken me three days to get there. The neighborhood looked pleasant, but the house was and eye sore. The grass was overgrown, the shrubbery was dead and wilted, the trees looked to have no life left in the at all. The house stood two stories tall, the glass in the windows was broken and the frames boarded up. It didn’t look like anyone had lived there in many years.

      I looked around and noticed that no one seem to be out at that hour to notice me and I began the walk to the front door. Taking deep breaths and preparing myself for what was to come, I stuck the key in the lock of the door, I wasn’t sure what to expect as the door creaked open. Would I have flashes, would I have a feeling, would I be overwhelmed with emotions. I shook it all away and took a deep breath, I was going to do this, come what may, I was strong and could overcome it.

      I stepped through the door as I let my feet blindly lead me. The house was in as bad as shape inside as it was out, broken furniture and trinkets littered the floor, wallpaper and paint were chipped and peeling. Drywall was drooping and falling from the ceiling, but the smell was sickening, death and mold is all that filled the air. I stepped around the corner into the living room, and it hit me so hard I staggered backwards.

      It was like watching a movie, the house came to life, the furniture was in pristine condition, the walls and shelves were beautifully decorated. The light bounced off the bright white ceiling and it smelled of cinnamon. I was there, much younger, but I knew it was me. I could feel my heart starting to beat out of my chest as I fought for my life with a horrid looking man. I was frozen in my spot; I couldn’t move nor breathe as the man threw my body into the glass table, I could literally feel the glass slice my back while I got back on my feet. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I attacked him, and when the baseball bat encountered my eye, I instinctively grabbed it, the pain shot through my head. I felt the blows he gave me, one after another, and I felt the fight I gave him back. I almost screamed feeling the pain of my arm literally breaking in two as it hit the fireplace, and I couldn’t breathe as his weight could be felt on top of me tying me to the table.

     I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths; I knew without having to see or feel what happened from there. I killed him, I had to, it was me or him and I had to, for; I opened my eyes and turned my head to the small closet under the staircase. The door was cracked and there stood four small eyes staring back at me with fear filling them.

     “Natalie, Nathan,” I shouted as I hit my knees and closed my eyes.

     I had twin siblings, I had a baby brother and a baby sister. How could I forget? How could I forget I fought for our lives? Where were they now?

     All those thoughts came to a screeching halt as another voice rang out through the house, “You worthless child!”

    I turned quickly and grabbed my chest at the ghost of a woman standing over where the body of the man I had killed would have been. It can’t be! I screamed at myself. I looked deep in her eyes, studied her face; it was, a little older now but it was her! Mildred, she knew me all along, she knew who I was, where I belonged.

     Feeling my emotions getting out of control I staggered outside and collapsed on the top step. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths to try and calm my racing heart. “Calm down,” I chanted silently to myself over and over, I had to make sense of everything, and I had to remain calm about it, if I didn’t there would be no way I could continue.

     Finally feeling the world had stopped spinning and I could breathe again I stood and made my way to the car. With every step the memories played over in my head. I felt every hit, every break, every fracture; I felt the fear and determination of saving my brother and sister. As I opened the door of the car more memories opened up in my mind; my friends, school life here, them telling us my father was dead, Mildred marrying Ken, Dylan being ran off; I had another brother, Dylan, older brother. I didn’t have time to ponder on his memory as more came; all the laughs, all the tears, and all the heartbreak I had felt in that home, they were all there at once, I felt them all.

    I climbed in the car and shut the door starting it, and Dylan’s memory hit me again. I white knuckled the steering wheel, he had been at the event, he had been with those people, and he had been near Mildred. They had to have known each other, he had to have known all that time where I was, whom I was with, and what happened to me.

    I grabbed the paper, and my next destination was L.A., I swallowed back all the thoughts I had and took a deep breath excepting the memories that I now had. I had them now, I knew a small part I had lived through, and I knew that I could access them at any given time, but right then and there, I couldn’t ponder on them, I had more to learn, I had more to open up in my mind, and I had more miles to put under the tires.

    I steered the car back onto the highway and smiled as I let a small memory float through my mind, my nickname, what everyone called me, who I actually was, “Sin.” I spoke out loud. “Nice to meet you Sin.” I laughed out loud while turning the radio up, “Come what may, I am doing this.”