"Mark Sampson has been proven guilty for the actions of child abuse, murder, attempted murder, child-selling, and identity theft. Case dismissed."
The case was closed a few months after their death, finally, the deaths of Andrew and Addy were justified. I was so happy.
I looked at Evanna, who was staring at papers at her stand. We were 'witnesses', though we hadn't witnessed their deaths, only the abuse. "Hey... Evanna... What'll happen to us now?"
I now realized how hard the world was to an orphan and a child who was sold by their mother.
Evanna was too shaken up to respond. She had seen her parents being killed and knew something was terribly wrong with Mark Sampson.
The judge then gave us both a sentence, but not one of jail time. We were both mandated by the court to counseling to help us cope with what we'd been through.
We took our sessions separately at first, discussing our traumas in individual sessions with experienced psychiatrists and psychologists. The process was long and intense, but it helped us heal in ways that neither of us could have imagined before.
Each session explored different aspects of our trauma, from our experience exposure to abuse, fear of abandonment, feelings of guilt and shame for not being able to protect Addy and Andrew, trauma related to the violence itself, grief for their deaths and other losses in life due to these events, trust issues related to those who betrayed us all those years ago.
Throughout the months-long process we found comfort but it was a long journey to get there.
Eventually, we were both taken to an adoption center. We were two scared children in a world that seemed so much bigger than us and yet, here we were hoping for a chance at a new life. Luckily, it didn't take too long before we found one.
A few weeks after our arrival at the adoption center, Evanna and I were adopted by nice newlyweds who weren't able to carry any children of their own. They welcomed us with open arms and treated us like family from the start.
Our adoptive parents not only provided us with love and support but also helped provide everything else we needed in order to move forward with our lives: therapy, education and financial assistance when needed. For once in our lives, we had stability and safety around us—something we'd never really had before.
We slowly began to trust them more and more as time went on, slowly becoming the parents we always needed.
Our adoptive parents enrolled Evanna and I in college courses to help us develop skills for our futures. As part of the deal, we had to maintain a high grade point average but that was a small price to pay for the chance at a brighter future.
We took classes in business, economics, accounting, computer engineering and psychology so that we could start building up our resumes with relevant experience. We also started networking with professionals in each of these fields—it was an amazing opportunity to learn from those who had been doing this for years!
Together, we were able to make something of ourselves despite all the odds. We both were able to finish college and now have promising careers ahead of us. It's been five years since then and Evanna and I are still thanking our lucky stars every day for having found parents who cared enough about us and saw our potential even when no one else did.
Though... Our future could have been Andrew McMillan and Addy Bushroot's too. Mark ruined our lives, it drove Andrew to craziness and Addy didn't know until last minute she would be dead soon. I still blame myself for not telling them or knowing sooner, but the past is in the past.
I just hope they find peace in heaven.