"Trish! Where have you been? We're going to leave, now!" Dad chimed, starting the car. His dirt-brown eyes seemed to get darker with every uptick in his voice. He never did it after Avery died. Never again, he had decided.
"Grandma and Grandpa will take the stuff that is not repossessed by the bank." He coughed, a frown forming on his face. "Ok, Dad." I patted his back and comforted him silently.
He was so keen on this business going well. It was a total failure, business-wise. He was a good person, and that led to his downfall.
Sometimes I wonder if Mother had something to do with the loss of his business. She never liked him leaving us and going on business trips frequently. She wanted him to herself all the time, and that really took a number on his mental and physical health. Whatever, no point in throwing stones when you live in a glasshouse yourself.
"Damn, this house is something, isn't it?" he finally spoke, breaking the silence. We all nodded collectively, a feeling of nostalgia filling our hearts. As I had said earlier, so many things happened here. I was born in this house because it was too late to go to the hospital, my sisters were at the hospital near the house.
There is a big forest if we walk a mile, where we all used to hike. Now I'm afraid of going there, afraid something will come for us all, especially Kiara. She's the only sister I have now. The time had passed so much that I didn't even know what happened all these years. What have I been doing all along? Who have I been and what had happened to me?
A tear dropped from my crest-fallen face. My face had become paler and paler every year and I was too busy getting in other people's business that I had forgotten to take care of my own.
"It's ok, dear. We'll get through this together." Said mom, clutching his hands. They look like that couple from that reality TV show, perfect on the outside, mushy and messy on the inside. But like I said, glass house.
We've been through a lot, and even though I chose this house for its 'specialty', deep down I also hoped that going away from this house and this town would be a cure in itself. We were in debt and drowning in our own ships, but moving somewhere far from here might heal us, even if it is a little bit. I felt like we were all broken and shattered into pieces, there's nothing a little horror that can't bring together a family.
"How long has it been since we left this house?" asked Mom.
"The last we went was when, um, six years ago…" Dad exclaimed, a little shocked from this revelation. Six years. It's been six years since we ever left together, as a family anywhere away from this house and this town. Six years ago, when my sister Avery was still alive.