"She isn't even our daughter in the first place. She is adopted. You may tell this to her before killing her." These cruel words kept playing in my head like a broken record. No matter how much I kept wiping away those useless tears of mine, they did't stop flowing.
How can she say that? She doesn't care if I die? They wanted to get rid of me! Why did they adopt me if I was a burden on them? Did they never love me? All those trips to the amusement parks and the showering me with gifts and toys was just fake? Those dinner nights when they would ask about my day in school- it was for nothing? Was it all nothing but just a lie?
With my back pressed against the wall and my head resting on top of my arms crossed on my knees, these were the only thoughts that kept me company in this dingy basement.
There was a knock on the door before I heard Max's voice reaching out to me softly, "Jennifer, please open the door. I want to talk."
Wiping away the remnants of my tears, I reluctantly got up to open the door. As soon as Max laid his eyes on me, he frowned upon noticing my pathetic state. His eyes held an unmistakable reflection of dejected melancholy.
I tried to stay calm and keep my tears at bay, not wanting him to feel sympathy for me or pity me, but I just couldn't control them. I threw my arms around Max as I clung onto him tighly. He immediately held me back and let me cry it all out, ocassionaly rubbing my back whenever a sob would etch out of me.
"What will I do, Max? I have no where to call home now." I cried on his chest, feeling so hopeless and lost. I had been lonely for most of my life but atleast I wasn't abondoned then. But now? The feeling of abondonement by my own parents was something I could have never been prepared for.
Max was silent, most likely searching for the correct words. He moved his fingers through my hair gently, doing whatever he could to make me feel better.
We stood like that for a few minutes. Him just being there for me, to hold me and calm me down was oddly comforting. Somehow, his touch didn't feel foreign. If anything, it just brought to me a sense of belonging which I have recently been stripped off from.
"I can understand how difficult this is for you." Max started, voice nothing but as loud as a whisper.
"You know... you are like one of us now...None of us have parents. We never did." He shared in a small voice.
We pulled away as I looked up at him to see him wearing a sad smile. He brought his hand closer to my face to wipe away a stray tear before taking my hand in his. "Come. Let's go upstairs.. The others want to talk to you too.." I temporised for a moment before agreeing hesitantly.
Damien was standing near a window, looking out with his arms crossed when we reached upstairs. Liam was flipping through different TV channels while Zack was busy on his phone. As soon as they saw us coming, they all stopped doing whatever they were doing and gave their full attention to me.
"Are you alright, Jennifer?" Liam asked while switching off the TV. In his hazel eyes, he held a look of sympathy which I looked away from.
I nodded to his question, observing how Zack moved a little to make space for me on the couch. I was still scared of him but the soft expression he wore on his face made him much more approachable, which is why I sat beside him. Damien also walked over to us and sat down on the other couch.
"If that's how adoptive parents are, then I am glad we never had any." Zack suddenly spoke up, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"I am sure not all of them are like that." Liam replied though he didn't seem sure of his words.
"So, you guys have no parents too?" I asked meekly, tilting my head down to stare at my lap. That wasn't the best thing to ask but I was desperate to change the topic from me.
Max sighed and replied "Yes. Liam and I grew up in the same orphanage." He revealed. He changed his expression to give me a small grin when I looked up to see his face. "Would you like to hear the story of how we all got together?" He asked as I nodded slowly.
"I was a weird kid back then. I still am, but that's off topic." He waved his hand in the air as if to shoo away those words. "The kids in our orphanage weren't that fond of me. They used to call me names and make fun of me. Liam was one of their targets too. One day, when they were about to throw my food in the dustbin, Liam stood up for me. They started beating him up but I jumped into the fight too. We didn't win but that's how we became friends." Max glanced at Liam who was looking down at his feet and smiling to himself, remembering the memories.
"We always had each others back ever since then. Max and I are best friends. Even though he is very annoying sometimes, I never asked for any other friend." Liam contributed, rolling his eyes when Max gave him a proud smirk.
Max continued the story- "When we were 15, a couple decided to adopt Liam but that meant us being separated, so, without double thinking it, we ran away from there. It was a dumb decision but I was happy because I had him."
"Yeah and living on the streets and stealing food and money from people was really something I would have preferred than being adopted and finally having a home." Liam joked to which Max replied with a grin.
"Then one night, while we were wandering in a quite neighbourhood, we heard some yelling and cursing coming from one of the alleys." Liam continued their story.
"We decided to check what was wrong and that's when we saw Zack and Damien being cornered by four big scary looking guys. One of the guys grabbed Zack's shirt and punched him. The others did the same with Damien." Max said.
"We were scared but decided to help these two because we are good people." Liam complimented himself.
"Sure. So then these two morons joined in in our fight and the four of us somehow managed to escape from them." Zack joined in on the conversation.
"We told Zack and Damien about ourselves and instantly became friends because their life was so similar to ours." Max shared.
"You see, Jennifer.." Zack won my attention as he said my name, looking straight into my eyes as he went on, "Unlike Liam and Max, Damien and I were enemies. We grew up in an orphanage too but it was a hellhole for us. The both of us just couldn't stand the other. This one time when Damien and I were in a local park, we got into a fist fight. A man was intently watching us and after sometime, he broke us apart. He was a mafia leader and offered us to work for him in return of money and shelter. Obviously we accepted. Since we both knew only each other there and it was all so new for us, me and Damien eventually became friends." Zack concluded, giving a single glance at Damien before looking back at me.
"Yeah, and so after that night in that alleyway, they took us to their leader and he asked us to work for him too." Max finished.
"You guys work for a mafia?!" I gasped and stared at them with wide eyes.
"Used to." Damien replied. He stared deeply into my eyes, his emerald greens enthralling me as I found myself unable to look away from his simply mesmerizing features. Unlike his otherwise cold looks, he had a much calmer facial expression painted on his face which only contributed to giving him an even alluring essence.
"Yeah, we don't work for them anymore." Max broke me out of my trance.
"And this brings us back to our current situation." Zack sighed.
"How old are you guys?" I wondered. They seemed to be around my age, if not older.
"17." The four of them replied in unison.
"Oh! I am 17 too!" I exclaimed. "Do you guys go to school?" The question sounded stupid when it came out of my mouth for some reason.
"Yup, we do." Zack gave me an incredulous expression, as if I had just asked them the most bizarre thing in the world. "Applewood High."
"I go to-"
"Green Ville, we know." Zack cut me off.
"How do you know?" I asked, looking straight at him.
Zack smirked as he flicked me on the forehead, chuckling later at the annoyed face I made. "We stalked you before kidnapping you."
I gasped and the three of them shared a laugh while Damien just smiled. It was the first time I saw him smile since I met him and I found it to be simply beautiful. The curve of his lips and the faint dimple on his cheek almost had me swooning.
Zack rested his arm on the couch behind me as we all spent the night away chatting about our lives, sharing the most simplest and the most bizarre of experiences we had. Even though they had kidnapped me, I felt at ease with these people. For some strange reason, instead of being scared or wary of them, being with these boys made me feel... Safe.
I felt at home.
How could I not when they were the people who accepted me with open arms when my own parents threw me out of their lives like trash?
My life with these boys was about to change and somewhere deep, my heart knew that it would be for the better.