2 Chapter One

Edited 4/21/20

"Devyn! Where are you?" I heard Miss Donna of Miss Donna's Foster Home yell. I've been living with Miss Donna for 10 years now. I'm one of the oldest in the foster home, so mostly all responsibilities fall on me and Kasen.

"I'm coming!" I yell back. Walking down the steps I could hear a voice that were not any of the foster kids. It was masculine and deep which was odd since we don't usually get walk in visitors anymore.

"Right this way. Devyn should be down in a bit." I heard Miss Donna say as descended down the staircase.

"Okay. No rush ma'am." The stranger said, a southern accent dripping off his tongue.

"Ah, here she is!" Miss Donna said, clapping excitedly as I came off the final stair. Don't ask me how she knew considering she was in the opposite room with her back facing me... Miss Donna's just good like that. I was about to take another step, but when my eyes made contact with the stranger standing in our living room, it's like I was rooted in place.

Who is he? He looks so familiar and yet I have no memory of him...

"Devyn! Stop dragging ass and get over here! There is someone who would like to talk to you!" She said, turning to face me. When she gestured her hands in a 'come here' motion that seemed to pull me out of my trance. I blinked and shook my head violently, almost shaking my beanie off in the process. Miss Donna chuckled.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" I muttered as I walked over to where she and the strange man were standing. As I got closer, I realized this is not a man but a teenagar, possibly not much older than myself.

The more I looked at him, the more he looked like... well me. He has the same green eyes and the same dark brown hair I had before I dyed mine jet black. There are some very noticeable differences though. Like, I have a scar right above my left eyebrow and one on my collarbone from my childhood before I came here with Miss Donna, and compared to me, he literally looks like a rich pampered stuck up.

"Ah, Devyn. I'll just leave you two to talk." Miss Donna said walking away. I wish she didn't though; I feel like this is someone from my past and I don't know how to face things from my past.

The stranger stared at me for what felt like forever; I wish I could just pull this beanie over my head and disappear into it. I groaned silently and sat down on one end of the couch, gesturing for him to do the same. He sat down on the opposite end, his eyes never leaving my face.

I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I asked feeling irritated that he was just staring at me. "I feel like i should know you since you are here and all, but i cannot remember a thing before i was 7 years old." He flinched at my choice of words even if they are the truth.

"Yes, Devyn, you are right. You should know me." He stated, looking at his lap.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Erik," He said.

Why does that name sound familiar?

A sharp pain in my head made me double over and clutch my forehead. I must have screamed in complete agony because the last thing I saw before I blacked out was a look of fear and worry on Erik's face. How he got to me so quirkily I don't know, but i think i felt him lay me down on the couch as well before everything turned to black.

Like a movie projector inside my head, scenes played in my head.

DEVYN NICOLE!" Daddy yelled, clearly mad for some reason and waking me up in the process. I drug my butt out of bed and immediately knew something was wrong. Erik never gets up earlier than me, and yet he's not here. I walked into the kitchen to have something glass thrown at my head. It missed by a long shot, but that didn't stop me from flinching. "Explain this," Daddy growled as he turned a piece of paper around to where I can read it from my side of the table. I hesitantly walked up to the table and began to sound out the words written in sloppy, tear stained handwriting.

"Daddy, I can't read this," I complained. He sighed and read it to me. Once he was done I realized why he was mad. Mommy left us. She took Erik with her, and Daddy blames me. I opened my mouth to say something when my tummy started to rumble. I couldn't help it. I giggled because it sounded like a lion's roar. Daddy smiled for the first time today.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Daddy exclaimed as he ran to the kitchen. He came out with a present. "Happy Birthday, Devyn," He said as he slid it over my way. I eagerly opened it and saw it was a pair of ice skates.

"Ooh! Ooh! Daddy! Can we go to the rink today? Please!" I asked excitedly as he just stared at me.

"Sure, go get ready," He said with no emotion but that was okay. I had enough to last for the both of us. I ran to my room and got dressed. My clothes probably didn't match but I didn't care. I ran back and Daddy was already waiting for me.

"C'mon," He said and then we were off. We got in the car and Daddy lets me sit up front.

We were halfway there and I was playing with my Barbie's that Mommy always kept in the car. Suddenly, we were upside down. Before I blacked out, Daddy grabbed my face, spit in it, and growled out, "Your mother and brother leaving is all your fault, so if you live I hope you have to live with that for the rest of your life."

By the time the rescue squad arrived, Daddy and I both were unconscious.

===

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The steady beeping made my head hurt in annoyance.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," I heard someone say.

"Devyn, can you open your eyes?" I heard a soothing voice ask me. I moved my

head slightly and opened my eyes.

"Where am I?" I asked when my vision came into focus. I saw two set of eyes staring at me. "Who are you?"

"Devyn, you're in the hospital," The woman said.

"Who's- Who's Devyn?" I asked and they just looked at me.

"Do you not remember?" The woman asked me and I shook my head. "Kasen, go get the doctor," She said towards the little boy. He nodded and ran to find them. He returned with a man who looked young.

"Alright Devyn, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer me honestly as you can," He said and I nodded.

"What's your name?" He asked and I thought for a moment. Then it came to me.

"Devyn Nicole Waters," I said. He nodded to himself and wrote something down.

"How old are you?"

"7"

"What is the last thing you remember?" He asked and I thought but drew a blank. I slowly shook my head.

"Does the name Erik Kendal ring a bell?" I shook my head.

He wrote something else down and stood up. "Alright, thank you, Devyn," He said to me and then he looked at the woman. "Can I speak with you?" He asked and she nodded. I watched them go and then directed my attention to the little boy.

"Hi! I'm Kasen!" He said, introducing himself.

"Devyn," I said back. I smiled and he launched into a story of how he and the woman- who I found out is named Donna, but Kasen calls her Miss Donna- made it here. Apparently they're from Arizona. He was going to keep going when Miss Donna and the doctor came back in.

"Well Devyn, this is Miss Donna. You'll be living with her for a long time. Is that okay?" The doctor asked and I nodded. "Good. I don't see a reason to keep you, but I do want you to keep a journal and I'm prescribing you some pills to take," He explained mostly to Miss Donna, but to me too. Miss Donna signed the release papers and I was legally free to go.

"Devyn, hey, are you okay?" Erik asked me, waving his hand in my face. I groaned in response.

"Move your hand before I saw it off." I muttered.

"What the hell was that?" Erik asked once he moved his hand.

"Don't ask me. That's the first time that's happened." I said, sitting up. I groaned in pain and clutched my head. I now had a killer headache, but that was not the important thing here. I looked at Erik who had now sat beside me on the couch.

"You're my brother." I said quietly. His eyes shot up in surprise. I don't think he expected me to remember so quickly after telling him I didn't remember anything.

He regained his composure quickly. "I'm your twin brother, to be exact." I nodded once, still clutching my head.

This is so much information.

"That was a memory, wasn't it?" He asked me. I nodded again, not trusting my voice. I wanted to tell him, but I also didn't want to taint any memories he had of our father, the name he has of our father. I may have only just met him, but I know now I have good family and that is all I want.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, changing the subject. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He said back, so I can no longer see him through my side vision.

"It's hard to explain without knowing what you know."He muttered. I turned to look at him to see what his facial expression was,but it was stoic, void of anything.

"I know you and mom disappeared one morning; I don't know why. I know why i lost my memories; I will not tell you why. Does that help?" I asked him. He nodded his head before sighing.

"So, you already know that when we were seven, Mom and I, when you and Dad woke, were missing. Mom was afraid of Dad having a son as a child. She was afraid of what would happen as I grew older. She thought and thought of what to do. Then she had an idea. So one morning, she told me to get up. She said that we were going to go for a drive and get some stuff to surprise you and Dad. If I would have known that I wouldn't have seen you or Dad again, I would have resisted with all I had.'

"We were on the way to Mom's sister's house in Georgia. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. By the time we had made it close enough to Georgia, you and Dad would have been up looking for us. After making the drive myself,I don't see how Mom did it.When we made it to Aunt Valery's house, Mom had got me out and told me to go inside. I did what she said because I didn't know what was going on. I watched from the window and saw Mom give Aunt a suitcase, my suitcase. She looked in the window, right at me, waved with tears in her eyes, mouthed "I love you", got in her car, and drove off. Leaving me with Aunt Valery. Someone I didn't know very well. She left me with someone who was basically a stranger. I found out the next day that she drove herself off a cliff." He said.

"So, that explains why she and you left which leads me to my next question. How did you find me?" I said. He gulped; I didn't like that reaction. I self consciously went to grab my beanie.

"School."

"What do you mean school?"

"I was assigned a project on abusive households. One story interested me most. Yours. Of course, I didn't know it was yours. It wasn't until I researched and found your name all over the article that I realized it was you. After that, I dug a little deeper and found out that you were out here, I talked to my- our- aunt and she agreed to let me come see you. But now that I've seen you, i can't go back to Georgia without you. Knowing you've been alive all these years when i could have looked for you makes me so regretful,but i can make up for the years we lost."

Is he asking what I think he's asking?

"So, what do you say, Dev? Will you come back to Georgia with me?"