AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask yet another question, but I know it will anger my father.
“She’ll stay with us,” he mutters.
What the fuck? Mama is going to lose her shit.
Papa once came home with a little boy they kidnapped, and Mama didn’t speak to Papa for a whole two months.
“It won’t be for long,” Papa adds.
The little boy only stayed two days. Hopefully, things will run as smoothly this time around.
Or things are going to be tense at home for a long while.
“You’ll make me proud,” Papa demands. “Do as you’re told and get the job done.”
“Yes, Papa,” we all answer in unison.
Chapter 2
Everleigh
(Eighteen years old...)
Glancing around me, it’s still hard to believe I’m in Moscow.
I was supposed to take this trip with my parents, but they died in a car accident on New Year's Eve.
Next month will be a year since they passed away. The grief still comes in waves, especially when I see one of the sights Mom always talked about.
We planned this trip for over a year, and it was meant to be my graduation gift. With them gone, I decided to honor their memory by going ahead with the vacation.Russia, Scotland, and Hawaii. We each chose a destination, and right now, I’m on the first leg of the trip.
Sometimes I’m struck by a wave of panic. Honestly, it’s a little terrifying exploring a foreign country alone.
It’s terrifying being alone in this big world.
The only family I have left are Dad’s cousins, who live in Canada, but I barely have contact with them. There is Gillian, Mom’s best friend, and she’s offered that I move in with her, but she has four kids of her own, and I don’t want to intrude.
I inherited enough to live comfortably for the next ten years or so. Money is the least of my worries. It’s the fact that I don’t have my parents anymore that’s scaring the hell out of me.
I was going to study literature and played with the idea of becoming an editor, but that flew out the window when I lost my parents.
Actually, I lost more than just my parents. I lost my friends as well. They tried to be patient with me, but I was too consumed with unbearable grief, and one by one, they stopped interacting with me.
By the grace of god, I managed to complete my final year of school, and now, as I’m traveling through Russia, I have no idea what I’ll do once the vacation is over.
Do I study further? My parents are supposed to be here to help me make this decision.
Shaking my head, I draw myself out of my morbid thoughts and glance up and down the busy street. The city is alive, and my eyes land on three girls as they giggle. It looks like they’re heading toward a nightclub.
I used to be that carefree.
Finishing the last of the coffee I bought thirty minutes ago, I get up from where I’m sitting in a café. Instead of going back to my hotel, I follow after the girls at a slow pace.
Two girls are holding hands. I remember I used to be that close with Bernadette before they moved to New York because her father was transferred there for work.
The girls join the back of a long line of people waiting to enter the nightclub, and I stop behind them. They’re talking Russian, but from the excitement in their voices, it’s clear they can’t wait to get inside.
Wearing a pair of tight, black jeans and a cozy sweater over a white long-sleeve shirt, I’m not dressed for the nightclub.
