After eating, Daniel headed home. He slept till 4 pm but still felt drained out of energy.
When he got home, no one was there.
His father, Kerem, was a business man. He was on yet another business trip.
His step mother was a stylist. She owned a clothing store not far from home.
Kerem married his second wife, Miray, after his divorce with Daniel's mother, Emilia.
Kerem loved Emilia. If he had to admit it, Emilia was the only woman he ever loved. He learned that he should have been more faithful to her the hard way and only knew her worth when it was too late.
Daniel's parents were only together for 4 years before his mother asked for divorce after she discovered her husband's adventures behind her back. He was always a women magnet and quite the charmer after all.
Warm tanned skin, Dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, Kerem has all the charisma of an authentic turkish man. That is what made her fall for him in the first place.
After the divorce, Kerem won Daniel's custody. The child was only 3 years old at the time and couldn't choose for himself. He was the heir of their fortune and the beholder of the family's name after all. Kerem had to get the custody.
Emilia didn't have enough power to get her toddler by her side. She had to move on, start a new life. Just like her ex husband, she remarried and had kids. But always thought about Daniel. Never forgot his birthday, sent him gifts and cards on holidays. Gifts that he knew nothing about and never received. His father kept them from him and planted in Daniel's head that his mother abandoned him to remarry in Germany, where she used to live. The man wouldn't risk his son going to find his mother at his own will and choose to stay by her side.
Despite it being far from the truth, that still made Daniel hold grudges against his mother, A grudge he learned to live with, he would never forgive his mother for abandoning him.
To him, she was a stranger. He even forgot what her face looked like and what her voice sounded like.
All he knew was that she was beautiful, at least according to his grandparents because his father never told him anything about her.
Daniel had a half sister from his father's side, Elin. She was 3 years younger than him. Elin was more of the quiet type that always minded her own business and didn't mingle in any argument her parents had. They weren't close as any brother and sister would be but she treated Daniel better than her mother did, at least.
Elin had her father's round deep brown eyes and her mother's silky black hair and olive skin. Despite the young age, she was already becoming a beautiful young lady, just like her mother, Miray.
Miray always despised both Daniel and his mother. She was behind the cause of their divorce after all. Although she knew the truth about Emilia, Daniel's mother, she never told him. She made sure he hated his mother. Moreover, she didn't help his relationship with his father to go for the better, either.
To her, that boy was on hers and her daughter's way to inherit the fortune, after all. Although she loved Kerem, after so many years of one sided love and unfaithfulness, she stayed for the benefit of money and power. She lost sight of the little values she had and was focused on showcasing the best image of herself. She wasn't the best mother, let alone the best stepmother. She only cared about what she wanted and right now, what she wanted was status and recognition.
Thankfully, Daniel couldn't care less. Neither about the fortune or his stepmother's behaviour towards him.
The only family members the young man cherished were his grandparents who unfortunately lived far from him now, his Turkish grandparents. He could only see them twice a year or so. They were the only couple that Daniel considered a rare example of true love and everlasting love and faithfulness.
He thought that everyone cheated and that sooner or later anyone was able to betray him and leave him behind. That is why, he never got close to anyone to the point of getting attached to them. Only mingled in platonic relationships out of boredom or pure pleasure. His reasoning was that you either cheat or get cheated on. His father's and stepmother's side relationships and flings did nothing to prove his theory wrong.
It was around 1 am but Daniel couldn't fall asleep. He spent a good amount of time on his phone. Playing games, watching videos, texting and flirting with girls and got yet an other ridiculous amount of phone numbers he didn't bother to save. Too easy, those girls were easy to the point of being boring.
This felt oddly familiar. More like a déjà vu. Without thinking, he went to open his conversation with Anya.
"I'm sure that stubborn girl is dead asleep by now" he said to himself noticing a smile slightly drawing on his face.
He enjoyed teasing her. She didn't cling to him like the other girls did. That aspect drew him more to her.
Without hesitation, he texted.
D:
"Are you awake ?"
5 minutes passed and she didn't reply.
He was about to leave the chat when-
A:
"Yeah"
D:
"I thought you would be asleep by now."
A:
"I was asleep.
Just ... something woke me up."
D:
"Did our neanderthal have a bad dream ? Haha"
A:
"Actually... yes."
D:
"And what might that be ?"
A:
"You really want to know ?"
D:
"Why would I ask if I didn't ?"
A:
"I killed my parents."
D:
"Oh..
Well, it was just a dream.
Think nothing of it."
A:
"I wish it was the case.
But it's not."
D:
"If you are joking, now is the time to tell me."
A:
"Again, I wish I was.
I don't even know why I'm telling you all this."
D:
"Ok.
Do you want to talk about it ?"
A:
"I don't know if I should."
D:
"Well, that's a more reason to tell me. What are the odds of you ever seeing or meeting me? They say telling strangers your secrets is better than close people, sometimes.
Because you are less likely to see them again so you are more keen on letting it all out without fear of prejudice.
But then again, it is up to you."
A:
"When I was 11, my parents had a car accident because of me."
D:
"Well, were you the one driving?"
A:
"No"
D:
"Did you try to stop the car on the road when it was moving?"
A:
"It wasn't like that."
D:
"That means you didn't kill them, Anya."
A:
"They were in the car because of me in the 1st place."
D:
"That still doesn't make you responsible.
You just said you were 11.
You were still a kid."
A:
"If not because of me, none of this would have happened. They wouldn't even be in the car."
D:
"Please stop.
It's not your fault.
When we're young we tend to blame ourselves for things we didn't do and the trauma affects clings deeper."
3 minutes passed and she still didn't reply.
D:
"Anya?"
D:
"Are you there ?"
D:
"Is everything ok?"
A:
"I killed them, Daniel."
D:
"Do you want to tell me how it happened ?"
Anya didn't answer. Daniel got more worried. He didn't know why he sympathized with her. In some way, she must have reminded him of how he blamed himself for hid parents' divorce. The only difference was, he didn't care about his mother because she got over him. In Anya's case, she loves her parents, it's clear as day light. It must've been so hard on her... all those years to live with such a trauma.
Daniel texted again. By now, she didn't even leave 'seen' to his texts. He got more worried and without thinking decided to call her. Thank god that app had a calling feature.
No answer.
A rush of a protective instinct rose in him and made him set his mind on hearing that she was ok. He needed to know she was.
Daniel went back to texting.
D:
"Pick up"
A:
"I'm ok. I'll be ok."
D:
"Anya.
Pick up!"
Without waiting for her reply, Daniel called again. No answer.
Then again. Still no answer.
In the third try, he was losing hope and thought it was best to respect her choice, when she picked up!
"Anya ?"
"...."
" you don't have to talk I-"
"H-hi, Daniel"
Such gentle voice that made his heart sink as he heard her say his name ... Daniel. It came out so sweetly but in such a sad tone.
No one called him Daniel in a long time
"Are you sure you can talk, Anya? "
"Y-yes" she said with a shaky voice while sniffing quietly.
Sniffing?
Wait
Is she... crying ?