A Brand New Ending

Chapter 68

Phoenix



I am seated at the kitchen table, stacks of paper sprawled across the top of it. I stare at each one, realizing that most of them contained words I don't even understand.

"What do you mean it's mine?" I ask, looking up at the eyes of the patrons sitting across from me.

Mr. Bernstein gives me a crooked smile. "The property, the house and its contents are yours."

I still don't believe him. Mr. Bernstein laughs.

"When your father passed away he left you everything," he explains. "The only stipulation was that you must be eighteen years of age to obtain your assets."

I look down at my hands, my vision becoming blurry. He starts to rustle through some papers.

"We tried contacting you as of your eighteenth birthday and we spoke to someone named Carl, but he claimed no one by that name lived there."

I snap my head back up, a sudden fire burning through my body. He had taken more from me than I could have ever imagined. The whole room is silent. When I look back up everyone is staring at me with a sympathetic look on their faces.

"Well," Mr. Bernstein says as he stands up. "If you just sign here, we can be done with this."

Picking up the pen in my hand, I stare at it. It feels incredibly heavy. Putting it to the paper I sign my name and I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Welcome home, Phoenix." He smiles at me before packing up the papers and leaves.

~

The Hendricks' stay for a little while after, Mary explaining to me what this all entails and that they were here for me whenever I needed them. Soon it was just Rain and myself. Another day here and gone.

"Did that all really just happen?" I blurt out.

She just smiles and nods her head. It can't be true.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk," I say. "To you know…process it all."

"Do you want some company?" she asks softly.

"I think I want to be alone," I explain.

Grabbing my sweatshirt I walk out the front door. On my way down the steps I pull it over my head, the hood getting caught around my ears. I stumble forward a little bit and trip over something, a pair of hands catching me. My skin burns where these fingers lay upon me. I pull the rest of it down until my vision become clear, a figure standing before me.

"Braeden."