Chapter 22

<11 years ago>

"Mommy!!! Where are we going today?" Seven year old Brandon ran down to his mom cutely smiling and spreading his arms for her to hold him.

It was his sister Olivia's fifteenth birthday the previous day and he knew his mother must have something big planned for her since she said they will be going out.

"If I tell you, you'll tell your sister and it won't be a surprise for her then." The middle aged lady gave her son a big hug and held his chubby cheeks as she smiled at him fondly.

"I won't tell her I promise!" Brandon held out his small pinky, making his mother chuckle at his cuteness.

"Aww my baby! We're going to a beach house where daddy will be waiting for her with a big surprise birthday party." Mrs.Foster whispered to her son who was now beaming with delight.

"Really? Daddy will be there? With a party?!" The boy screamed and started dancing around the kitchen.

"Calm down baby your sister will hear."

"Oh no then she won't be surprised!"

He covered his mouth with his two little hands and acted like he is zipping his lips shut. His mother smiled again, not being able to resist his cute acts.

"What's going on here?"

Olivia entered the kitchen, smiling at the cute little dances her little brother was engaged in. He didn't know she could see her although he had hid behind a chair of the dining table in the middle of the room.

"He's just excited that we're going out." Mrs.Foster covered up for her little son's mistake quickly. 

"We are?" Olivia grinned at her mother as she nodded in response.

"Guess where we are going to! You'll be surprised to know who will wait for us there!!"

Young Brandon gave away the information that he promised he wouldn't.

"Brandon! It was our little secret!!" His mother reminded him with a pout while he gasped as he realised what he has done.

"Aww my little brother is the cutest little bean!"

Olivia bent down until their eyes were level and pinched his cheeks, his little giggles making her smile wider.

Once the mother and her two children were ready to go to the beach house that Olivia then knew about because of Brandon, they got onto the little red car of Mrs.Foster. Singing along with his sister to the songs playing in the radio at the back of the car, Brandon swung his little feet which were too short to touch the floor of the car once he was seated.

He was so excited to go to the beach house. He loved the beach more than anything and the news of staying there for a week made him scream with happiness. He could barely control himself and Olivia and Mrs.Foster found him dancing around the bathroom and singing his heart out ever since he got to know.

Mrs.Foster's phone rang and she sighed slightly, looking at the caller ID and knowing it was her boss. Answering it was the only option so she turned down the volume of the radio and brought the phone upto her ear while driving with the free hand.

Olivia proposed a game of silence to Brandon to stop him from whining to his mother to make her turn on the songs again so they could continue singing. Little Brandon brought a finger onto his lips and stared intensely at his sister so he could catch her if she cheated. Most of the time he lost to Olivia because Brandon wasn't the type who could be quiet even for a minute. But he was determined to win this time no matter what.

"I'm really sorry sir but I'm out of town right now and I can't come at the moment. I had already informed you about taking a week off."

Mrs.Foster said and Olivia looked at her mother worriedly to see that she was getting frustrated.

"Please wait one second sir." Mrs.Foster turned to Olivia with the phone away from her a bit so her boss wouldn't hear their conversation. "Honey is it okay if we go back home today because something came up in the office and I have to go. We can go to the beach house tomorrow after this is solved."

"Yeah mom it's totally fine." Olivia smiled in comprehension.

"Thanks hone-"

"MOMMY TRUCK!!!"

Brandon's terrified voice made his mother turn her eyes back to the road immediately to see a huge truck which seemed to have lost control coming their way really fast. Letting go of her phone in an instant, Mrs.Foster turned the steering wheel to avoid the truck hitting their own car. Her eyes widened seeing that the truck driver had done the same, but unfortunately he had also turned to their way.

The two vehicles collided with each other just a few seconds later, the passengers' petrified screams making the accident seem even more violent. As the metal crashed together the windows shattered into tiny little pieces, some wounding the people inside as they flew in every direction.

Brandon shut his eyes tight just before the massive impact and didn't open them until he couldn't feel his body and was no longer dizzy. All he heard was screaming and screeching sounds. He felt half dead by the time he opened his eyes, being unable to move even a finger he searched for his mother and sister using them.

Then he finally saw them.

He would've been more comfortable not knowing if his mother and sister were safe than seeing that scene.

There they were, mother crushed under some part of metal of the car and sister rolled off on the road, both lying in pools of blood, lifeless.

Brandon's eyes blurred, he wasn't sure if it was because of his tears or because he was getting unconscious. Either way his heart felt really heavy for some reason as a huge lump in his throat making his breathing really difficult for him. His eyes slowly shut themselves, his heart still silently praying for his mother and sister to be safe or and to turn all of this into a dream.

...

Voices.

Muffled cries.

Begging and screaming.

The little boy's eyes fluttered open, his head feeling like it's being hammered into pieces by someone. Looking around slightly, it was evident he was laying down on a hospital bed in a room where there was no one else but him.

The voices became more clearer as the seconds passed by and now Brandon could make out the words spoken.

"NO DOCTOR PLEASE! SAVE MY DAUGHTER PLEASE!!"

"I'm really sorry Mr.Foster but we've tried our best."

"NOOO SHE CAN'T LEAVE LIKE THIS!! NOT LIKE THIS!!! NO!!"

"I'm really sorry sir."

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID WHEN YOU CAME OUT OF MY WIFE'S OPERATION!!"

Silence.

More silence only broken by the cries of someone.

Brandon knew whom they belonged to.

He was only seven but he was able to understand what was going on.

And he didn't want to believe it.

He stayed lying on the hospital bed, tears streaming down his eyes as he didn't attempt to stop them.

How he wished all of this was a dream. He couldn't believe how his ecstasy turned into his worst nightmare in just a matter of few minutes. The day's events flowed into his little mind one by one like a film.

Mother sharing the secret of his sister's surprise birthday party at the beach house with him.

Dancing all around the house thinking about the week of fun they'll have together.

Singing songs with his sister in the car while mother was driving it, smiling widely at her children through the rear view mirror while she does so.

Then there it was.

The huge truck.

The impact.

Deafening screams.

Loud screeches.

Blood.

Lifeless bodies of his mother and sister.

More blood.

He couldn't be silent anymore and started screaming with agony and the trauma that he had gone through, making his father run into the room to the check on him.

"I want mommy! Call Olivia daddy!! Call them daddy I want to see them!!!" He cried and begged his father who broke down in front of his son.

"Brandon sweetie they-"

"Call them daddy please!! I want them!"

His father didn't know how to respond to his son's innocent begging, since lying would've made it worse as he was there to witness it all.

"Listen to me Brandon, Ol-Olivia and mom-mommy are okay, alright? They're now in a really good place and-"

"Then send me there too!! I want to be with them!!!"

"Please Brandon you're all I have now." Mr.Foster's voice broke down once again and he started to cry as he fell onto his knees, his head buried in his hands.

Both of them were crying now, none of them trying to stop the other or their own tears from flowing.

They only had each other to hold on as of that moment...

Until...

"Brandon I'm here for you. I'll be both your sister and mother."

The boy looked up with his blurry eyes to be met up with a little pair of someone else's, whom he had a feeling that will be the one to be by his side forever...

His best friend...

Kara...