Chapter 1.47: A Tragic Past

Tabitha

"Daddy, can we talk?" I asked. I kept thinking about what I overheard mother saying to this boy, and I couldn't believe it. If what she said was true, then I had two siblings I didn't know about and it was kind of upsetting. All I've ever been told was that I was an only child, and now it's like my whole world turned upside down.

"Yes sweetheart?" Daddy asked, smiling at me. I always loved how he talked to me, like I was the only thing that mattered. I smiled, but then shook my head.


"Who are Joseph and Valentine?" I asked. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to hear but I sure didn't expect to see the color drain from his face. He looked genuinely afraid, but of what?

"Where did you hear about them?" Daddy asked me, and I frowned.

"Mother was talking to someone, I think his name was Hayden or something?" I asked, shrugging. The boy wasn't important but the names were, the names of my supposed siblings. "Who are they?" I asked.

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry you had to find about them like that. I've been wanting to tell you but your mother is so insistent on protecting you from it. Honey, Joseph and Valentine are your half siblings," Daddy said. So I wasn't an only child, not by a long shot and all this time I was lied to. My father, the only parent I trusted, lied to me. How could he?

"Why haven't I met them?" I demanded to know.

"It's a long story, and I'm not sure you are ready to hear it," Daddy said. I couldn't believe it, he was still trying to hide things from me.

"Tell me," I snapped. I wasn't staying in the dark, not anymore. He shook his head, and tried to change my mind but I wasn't having it. "What is so horrible about them?" I asked.

"They are not horrible," Daddy hissed. "Fine, if you really think you are ready to hear what happened then I will tell you. It is around the time that you're mother became pregnant with you and after their mother divorced me for reasons I don't know. Joseph was three and Valentine was five, we were in the middle of negotiating custody arrangements. Their mother was watching them in a home much like the one we live in now and we had just returned from an evening out when we noticed our brand new windows were all shattered," he began with.

"Really? Your brand new windows, what does that have to do with anything?" I asked rolling my eyes.

"Honey, listen. I'm not done telling you what happened," Daddy said. "I immediately was suspicious, I didn't think Allison would do such an unprofessional act because she was nothing but professional. I called out to her, and I received no answer. Your mother and I went upstairs, to see if she fell asleep but midway up the stairs there was.... there was blood," he said. I could see the fear in his eyes as he relived that moment, and despite my anger I was truly sad for him.

"Someone had broken in to your house," I whispered, reaching out to him and he took my hand in his.

"Yes, someone had. We followed the blood trail all the way to the play room and that was when we found her.... There she was, laying in a puddle of her own blood. She had been beaten and stabbed multiple times... Oh God, she was so pale and lifeless," Daddy said, tears trailing down his face. "Your mother called the police, and I called out to your half-siblings but just like before I didn't receive an answer. I feared they had suffered the same fate as their mother, but they were no where to be found in the house. The police arrived and looked as well but they still were no where to be found," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm so sorry, I can't believe that happened to you," I whispered, tears running down my own face. "Do you know what happened to them?" I asked.

"No, no one found them. They could be dead, or lost somewhere. The authorities gave up searching after a year, but I haven't. I still put pictures of them up and ask about them. I could never give up looking for them, they are my family just like you are. I hope one day, they will be found and we can all be reunited as one family. The way it should be," Daddy said.