'This is my new home,' Illena thought, 'and yet I don't feel welcome here.' Even though she was welcomed into her brother's house, the rest of his family looked at her like she was intruding on their property.
"So, my dear sister, let me show you to your room." her brother said as he started up the stairs. Illena followed him, still feeling the stares of her brothers sons and daughter burning into her.
Soft footsteps followed her down the hall, but she didn't let it bother her. Illena stepped into the room. Her new room, although somewhat small, was still lovely. It had two windows, lace curtains, a chest with drawers for her clothes, and a puffy white bed. Sitting down on it, she put down her suitcase and smiled at her brother.
"Thank you so much, Calvin." She said. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't said that you'd let me stay here." Calvin nodded, and walked over to the window, opening it.
"Well, sister, what else should I have done. We have no other family now that our parents are dead. You have no one else to turn to, and what kind of brother would I be if I let you catch your death out in the cold roadside."
The mention of their parents' death made her flinch. The only other people that she had ever loved were now rotting in some coffin under a patch of dirt. The worst part of it was, it was all her fault. She should have just let him go on his way, instead of chasing after the man who stole her purse. Now her parents were dead, most of her money was gone, and she didn't have any idea of what was to happen next.
Illena felt the bed dip beside her as Calvin sat down. "Illena." Calvin began. "I know what you're thinking. Really, nobody blames you. You aren't the one who shot them. We all would have done the same and tried to get our belongings back, but nobody could have known that man would get so cross about it." This made Illena feel a little better, but she still felt bad about it.
Calvin patted Illenas back before getting up and heading down the hall, leaving her all alone in her new room. 'Why me?' Illena thought, 'Why am I so useless? I have no clue as of what to do. I should probably ask around about what jobs are open. Yes...' She unpacked her things as she thought, unaware of the three children watching her from her doorway.
The oldest one, a boy named Michael, motioned to the others to back away. "Come on you guys, we shouldn't bother her on her first day here. Let's not stress her out." Michael said. The middle child, the daughter Laura, frowned at this. She really wanted to find out what kind of lady their aunt was. Their father never mentioned them ever having an aunt, so when he said that his sister was coming over to stay with them, she was slightly suspicious.
"Michael, can I please go in and talk to her just once?" Laura pleaded. Michael shook his head no and turned to walk away, with Jed, the youngest one of the three, following after him. Sighing, Laura reluctantly followed too. It might be awhile until she would get to talk to her aunt. The only thing left to do now was to wait and hope for that time to come sooner rather than later.
Finally, after an hour of unpacking, Illena was finished. 'Now what should I do?' She thought. 'It's not as if I have anything to do except wait until dinner. I might as well get to know my family, seeing as I'll be here awhile.' Illena headed down the hallway and stopped at the top off the stairs. She could hear her niece talking, and heard her name mentioned.
"Why won't father let me talk to Illena." Illena heard Laura say. "I want to ask her how she got that bruise on her arm."
The older brother, Michael she remembered his name was, sighed. "Laura, you shouldn't ask people about their past if it's something that they don't want to remember."
'Michael is nice. I bet he wants to know about it just as much, but he won't let himself be rude.' she thought, slightly smiling.
Taking in a calming breath, Illena walked slowly down the stairs, and sat down at the table. The children were all staring at her with wonder in their eyes. "Well if you all wish to know," Illena began, as she lifted her dresses sleeve up just enough to show the dark finger marks on her left arm, "I can tell you all about it. It happened 3 days ago. I was walking home from the theatre, when out of nowhere a man steps out and snatches my purse.
"Of course, as anyone would do, I tried to chase after the man to get my belongings back. I ran for a couple of minutes before I caught him, and got my purse back. I left quickly, trying to leave so that he couldn't follow me back home, but apparently he did. That night, when I came home, there was a knock on the door. Father went to open the door, and there was suddenly a scream, and the sound of a gunshot. Mother rushed out soon afterwards, and I heard her scream too, and a second gunshot.
"I was scared! The same man from earlier rushed into my room, grabbed me by the arm, and put his gun against my head. He told me to go get all of the money we had in the house. After I had gathered together all the money, he said that he was going to take me to his hide-out, rape me, and then sell me to the local brothel. I was dragged out of the house until the police quickly arrived.
"I got the money back that the man tried to steal, but there wasn't that much. I was forced to sell the house since I had no way of paying for it, seeing as I didn't have a job. Afterwards, I only had enough money for the train ride here. They left most of their money to your father. I'm sorry to have intruded in all of your lives, but I have nowhere left to go now because of that horrible incident. Thank you for letting me stay here."
Laura was shocked. 'Daddy never told us about it...poor aunt Illena, she was actually in the house when granddad and grandma were killed. She could have died too, if the police hadn't come when they did.' Laura leaped up out of her seat, and ran to her aunt. "You must still be so sad from that great tragedy! Poor aunt Illena!" She cried as she hugged her.
Laura heard footsteps a few seconds later, and then felt two people try to hug Illena too. "Yes. Poor aunt Illena." Michael agreed.
