Soitera

28. My House

Armen and I leave about 8 in the morning. The trip down here took most of the day. I'm not looking forward to this.

We fly to the airport in a helicopter. Then take a six-hour flight. Then we take another helicopter to the school. We land at 3.

"I thought that would take longer."

"We don't have to wait around for security or bag checks. Shuttles are the worst. And there was no drive time." He puts one of my boxes in a van. "What time does this school let out?"

"Half an hour."

"Let's get out of here quickly. I don't want to deal with high school drivers."

The pilot jumps out and moves the rest of the boxes.

Armen drives us to a house about four blocks away. "I think this is it. But nobody is here." He peeks in the window.

"Where are they?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

I jump straight off the porch and Dante catches me.

Armen looks at Dante like he's going to punch him. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, that was too good to miss." Dante opens the door for us. "I wondered where the van went. I had to go pick up some stuff. I got back, and the van was gone."

"It's full. You'll have to unload it."

"I'm not surprised." Dante winks.

I walk into the living room. There's a couch, chair, and coffee table. A TV sits on an entertainment stand. The house has dark hard wood floors. The trim and accents are the same wood as the floor. The walls are creamy white.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall." Dante takes my arm. "What do you think? You're very quiet."

"It's pretty."

"Are you going to be ok living here?"

My whole body shakes and I turn to him. "I live here?"

Armen cracks up laughing in the hallway. "Yes. This is where you'll live until you go to BlackRock. I thought we already discussed it. Where is the bathroom?"

Dante rolls his eyes. "There are only 5 doors in that hallway. I think you can figure it out." Then he grabs my arm. "I'll show you around."

I have one spare bedroom. It's not like rich people's houses. There's only a bed and dresser in it. But I'm happy to have it anyway. Next is a closet. It started as a bedroom, then they moved my clothes into it. I'm happy they didn't burn my clothes. That wouldn't have been good. Now, I have a whole room for clothes. Armen's in the bathroom, so I don't get to see that. There's an office with a desk in it.

"I'm super excited about homework now."

"That's weird."

"I have always done it on the ground in the garden before. Desks are amazing."

Dante leads me out of the office. I think he's just ready to go home.

My bed is huge. And it has blankets and sheets on it. Six pillows. I jump in the middle of it. "I HAVE..."

Armen runs in. "Stop jumping on the bed. You'll break your neck. Get down."

Dante opens another door. "You have a master bath here."

I run in and scream. Then I jump on him and hug him.

"What?" Armen comes in and rolls his eyes. "Damn. I would hug you too."

It's got a huge tub with a TV pointed at it. I could cry.

"We couldn't fit a shower in this room with the bath. But I figured the bath was more important. You can always shower over there if you're in a hurry."

"Thank you. This is perfect."

I follow them to the kitchen. Now I'm in shock. The kitchen has an eat-in dining room. A nice table with six chairs. I can't even speak anymore.

"The laundry room through this door. Right on the other side of the kitchen. And everything is on one floor, so that made the security easier for me."

"This is perfect." Armen goes through the cupboards. "Nice distance from the school. The house seems safe."

"It is. The entire area is safe. I still went above and beyond with security. Can't be too careful with a 17-year-old living alone. But I haven't seen any issues from a safety standpoint."

"Good. And grocery delivery?"

"We got Harry's menu last night. I didn't get it in until this morning. It's going to be delivered tomorrow. Then every Wednesday from now on."

"Is Harry coming here to cook?" I sit at the table.

"No." They look at me curiously. It's like they just realized I can't cook.

"Did he send peanut butter? OH NO. I LEFT MY PEANUT BUTTER."

Dante shakes his head. "It was on the list. You're fine."

"Is there a big bowl anywhere?"

Armen leans on the counter. "Are you trying to go to your garden?"

"Yes. I want a cucumber."

"Can I come with you?"

I wanted to see my old house too. I don't want them to see it. "No." I hold up my arm. "I have my tracking device on. I can go."

Armen gets big bowls out of the cupboard. "Please? I want to see this garden. I've heard so much about it."

"Fine. But it's a secret garden. You can't tell anyone."

"Can I come?" Dante grabs a bowl. "I promise not to tell anyone either."

"Fine. This is becoming less and less like a secret. Everett ruined it."

"That's a good idea. Blame Everett." Dante holds the door open for me.

They go to the van, and I go to the road. "Where you going?"

"Get in and we can drive."

"There's nowhere to park... Fine. You can drive." It's pointless to argue with them.

They park in my dad's driveway without me telling them where to go.

"How did you know where I lived?"

Armen says something and stutters. I didn't catch it.

Dante opens his door. "It was on the van gps. He was following that."

The front door has a weird lock on it and paper taped to it.

I stare at the papers. "What happened to everything inside?"

Dante stands beside me. "We got your stuff out before the orders went into effect. I don't know if anything else got removed. These papers say the property cannot be entered anymore. And nobody is getting through the locks they put on the doors."

I never used doors anyway. "The garden is over there in the woods." I point across the overgrown yard, and they take off towards it.

I sneak around the back and dig my box out of the bush. Then I open the window. The locks were busted on the window long ago. I land on the mattress. The mattress and blanket are the only things still here. They took everything else out of my room.

I check the bathroom first. It was across the hall. The hamper only has one outfit in it. It's mine and one of my fancy bra sets is in there. I grab the hamper and keep going.

Now that I've seen other houses that are nice, I realize how disgusting this place is. It's broken and smells. Holes litter the walls. There are mushrooms growing in the closet carpet.

There's a big crash and Dante comes out of my room.

"You good?"

"Yea, I'm not as small as you. Finding anything?"

"A very expensive bra."

"Sorry. Must have missed it."

"It was in the hamper." I shake the hamper and move to the kitchen. I grab a box of trash bags. There's nothing else here. Even the appliances are ancient and beat up.

I check the washer and dryer. Then steal the toilet paper. I don't want to run out of that.

I stop at the end of my dad's hallway and stare into it. "I still can't go that way."

"You've never been back there?"

"That was his room. I don't know why, but I never even peeked. Something told me to stay out and avoid the area. I have no idea what's back there. I've never even put a toe in the hallway."

"I'll check it. You keep going. There might be pictures or something."

"Thank you."

I check the kitchen cabinets then go back to my room. I sit on the bed and hug my knees. I had a sad existence. I didn't know how sad it was. I remember Everett staying here with me. That must have been horrible for him.

"Give me the basket and come on. Where did Dante go?"

"Looking for pictures." I pass the hamper out the window, then climb out behind it.

Dante comes out a few minutes later. "This window was not made for me."

"Good." Armen puts the hamper in the van.

I lead them to the garden after that. Then my mouth falls open. Everything is ready. There's so much. I haven't been here in nearly a month, and it's overflowing.

I turn slowly to the boys. "I'm going to need more than a bowl."

Dante goes in a circle. "Yea. This is insane."

I see my cucumbers and run for them. I sit in the middle of the plants and eat.

Dante laughs. "I guess we're doing the picking part, and she's doing the eating part."

"She'll pick too, but she needs to get her fill first."

There's a crunch sound and all of us turn to it. It's away from the road where there shouldn't be any noise. Maybe an animal is in here.

I stand up and sneak.

A black-haired lady that's covered in tattoos steps out from behind a tree and smiles. "I think I'm lost."

"The road is that way." I point.

She walks towards the boys, and I see something fall out of her hand. I hear her say. "She's yours now."

"You dropped something. I'll get it for you." I run and pick it up. It's a little trinket box with flowers painted on it. There's nothing inside, but it's a pretty box.

I run towards the road, but she's gone.

"Where did she go? She dropped her box." I hold it out for them to see.

Armen puts his arm around me and stares into the air. "I think she left that for you."

Dante nods.

"What is wrong with you two?"

Dante's eyes move to mine. "She had wings. She changed. Did you see that too?"

"Yea, I thought I was crazy." Armen rubs his face. "Her clothes and hair turned white. The tattoos disappeared. Big wings made of feathers were suddenly there. Then she was gone."

"I'm glad I'm not crazy. I saw the same thing."

"A real angel was here?" I jump up and down. "YOU COULD HAVE YELLED OR SOMETHING."

Armen laughs and pulls me into a hug. "I am positive they've been here the whole time, kid."

Dante nods. "Yea, that would explain this garden. Let's go get a tractor or something."