The next morning, sirens woke me up.
What’s going on?
"Hello?" Groggily, I called April.
"Oh my god, Delaney, Marco Brandis was murdered last night."
Rule 2 - Delaney
Turn on all the lights.
The Uber driver unloaded my suitcases and left before I could thank him. As I stood before my childhood house, unchanged for four years, my phone rang. Removing a pink glove, I answered, "Go for Delaney."
"Oh god, you're still doing that?" Summer laughed from the other side. "Please, girlie. Anyways, did you make it home?"
I found the key hidden under a plaster robin and entered the dark house.
"I just got here." Shutting the door quickly to get out of the cold, I shivered and flicked the lights on. The living room lit up. “Holy shit. Nothing’s changed."
"That's kind of creepy," Summer said.
"My parents have always traveled a lot, even before they shipped me off to Shelley Vale," I said. "I bet Marta spends more time here than they do."
"That's so weird, dude. It's like a staged dollhouse."
As I traveled the ghostly house, I laughed at her comparison. It was apt. Outside, we'd been the perfect family. Inside,not so much.Well, not that I could remember, anyway. I’d always had a hard time remembering things.
Reaching the first floor, I was surprised to find my school pictures had continued to be updated every year. All the way up to grade twelve. Priest's stopped at eleventh grade.
That was the year I’d been sent away.
I shook the dark memories away and continued to the second floor.
"Did your parents know you were coming? Where even are they?" Summer asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Madrid, I think. I'm not sure. Ron's originally from Spain, so they go every winter. Mom always sends me the cutest clothes."
"Makes sense, since she rubs elbows with all the fashion moguls."
Before I was born, Mom had been a model in Europe. She retired when my dad died, and then she met Ron and decided never to return to modeling, but instead worked behind the scenes as a photographer, and lucky for her, she met a man who wanted to help.
"Do you want to see my old room?" I switched to video call. At the end of the hallway, I found my room locked. "Oh, that's weird."
"What?" she asked. "I can't see anything."
"Hold on.” I pulled out an old membership card from my wallet and slid it between the door, then pushed.
The smell of Luv's Baby Soft perfume hit my nostrils, bringing a smile to my face as I reached for the light and turned it on. Grabbing my phone and bags, I waved the camera around.
"Wow, it looks like a princess threw up in here."
"I know, right? I love it."
"How big is that bed?"
"Queen. Perfect for sleepovers.” I beamed, touching the familiar comforter.
"Did they let you take anything when you left?"
