He opened his eyes and looked at me. He took my face in his big hands and placed a small kiss on my forehead.
Not enough.
“I want you to come visit me in two days. We need to talk, I know that, but I need some time to process what just happened,” he said and turned away from me, not waiting for an answer.
So small and fragile, but at the same time too mature for his age.
?
I was walking next to my grandma to that orphanage. She has been an amazing moral support, and I just couldn’t do this without her. And I’m sure that they wouldn’t let a 15-year-old girl go in without an adult. I didn’t wanna end up among the lost souls of that place.
But, as I thought more about it, it might be a good idea to be close to the two of them…
No, it’s not!
My palms were sweating heavily, especially when the name of the orphanage came into my vision, and we stepped inside.
“Hello!” my grandma started talking. “We came to visit Lucas and Paul Stewart. They were brought to you two days ago.”
“Hello!” The nice lady from behind the only desk in the room welcomed us with a smile on her face. “Do you want to adopt them?” she asked, starting to type on the ancient keyboard in front of the computer on the table.
“We are just visiting… for now,” my grandma said, making my eyes sparkle when she winked at me.
“Just a moment, please,” the lady smiled.
I took a second to look around, already feeling sorry for the ones living in a place like this. I definitely didn’t wanna end up here. Everything seemed so old. The walls were cracked, as was the ceiling. The paint was peeling everywhere, and when entering this hellhole, you could only see a simple wooden table in front of a middle-aged woman sitting on a chair that seemedlike the only thing new here. Even the computer she worked on seemed outdated.
“Unfortunately, they are not on our list. Are you sure these were the correct names?”
What she said made me panic and frown. That man told us that this is the right place. My grandma also heard the conversation and confirmed multiple times that this should be the correct location.
“Of course they are! Lucas is a boy taller than me, with blonde hair and green eyes. There’s no way he isn’t here,” I said in a small voice, not being able to describe Paul, either.
I was barely holding myself together, feeling my heart beating a lot faster. The fear wanted to capture me.
What if something horrible happened to him?
“Sadly, that wasn’t my shift,” she told us. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, dear, but I just don’t know how to help you. I can just ask my colleague and send you the details if you leave me a phone number,” she said, looking at my grandma.
She smiled at the lady and dictated the digits of her number, which the old lady noted on a piece of paper, alongside their description. We thanked her for the help and walked out of the foster home.
I felt like something inside me was breaking, making me cry a river. My grandma took my hand and got in front of me, looking me in the eyes and telling me we would find out where they were.
I nodded in understanding and started walking back home. I was getting angrier with every step I took, thinking about the fact that Lucas did something that I wouldn’t ever be able to forgive him for.
Chapter 10
The prisoners of the storm
PRESENT DAY
“I’m really curious what kind of excuse you’ll find,” I nervously say to Lucas, thinking about what I promised myself ten years ago.
I didn’t forgive him. We may have made this dumb plan to start with, but I’m not over what he did. I want to know the truth. I need to know whether it’s true that he didn’t end up at that orphanage and ran away, because it was a shock to see him at Bianca’s wedding. I know that Paul was in the same situation, but he didn’t wanna talk about that day. Also, he wasn’t the one I was upset at.
“I don’t have any excuse, Anmara,” Lucas sighs. “I only have the truth," he says, looking at me. “I did end up at that orphanage, but when we arrived… there was Cathal, a man dressed in an elegant costume, who was looking to adopt a kid. From what he told us after taking us in, his child and wife dieda couple of years back, and he was left with a hollow space in his soul, one he said he wanted tofill.”
I shiver at his affirmation, especially the way it is combined with a strong voice and his features twisted in pure anger. Lucas is mad as hell at him, but I become the same when my brain makes the connection between the notes I received and Cathal’s name.
