The officer that dumped the news, Officer Tobin, escorted me to my locker to clear it out, before leading me to his cruiser. My parents died in a fire hours ago. I couldn't wrap my head around it, too shocked.

I heard laughter and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Caitlin had followed with her posse, taking photos and laughing. "Your friends?" Tobin asked.

I scoffed. "Definitely not."

"Ah. Bullies?"

I nodded, not bothering to look back. "At least I will no longer have to deal with them," I mumbled as he opened the passenger side door. I slid in, shoving my backpack between my feet.

Officer Tobin tried to make conversation but I quickly shut that down with silence. When we reached the police station, He escorted me through the people milling around, leading me down a hallway to a lounge. "You can wait in here until your social worker arrives. She'll be here soon."

I nodded again. He stayed for a moment, studying me, before leaving and disappearing down the hallway. I sat there in the empty office, the silence pressing in around me. My thoughts were a whirlwind, dark and haunting. The news of my parents' death lingered in the air like a dense fog, impossible to escape.

The images of fire danced in my mind, the flames consuming everything. I pictured our house, the one place I had both hated and feared, now reduced to ashes. The idea of my parents perishing in that inferno should have filled me with horror, but all I felt was a hollow emptiness. They were gone, the source of my torment extinguished in a blaze that burned away years of suffering in an instant.

Their deaths were supposed to mean something, I thought bitterly. A tragic loss, a reason to mourn. But my memories were not of loving embraces or kind words. They were filled with screams, bruises, and a darkness that seeped into every corner of my life. I had longed for freedom, and now it was handed to me in the most brutal way possible. I wondered if this made me a monster, feeling relief instead of grief.

The guilt gnawed at me, even though I knew it was irrational. I didn't set the fire. I didn't wish for their deaths—at least, not in any way that mattered. But the relief was undeniable, mingling with my darkest thoughts. The nightmares of my past seemed to fade, replaced by a void that was somehow less terrifying. I could finally breathe, yet each breath felt tainted by the smoke of what had been and what was lost.

I tried to imagine a future without them, a future where I could wake up without the weight of fear on my chest. It felt surreal, like a distant dream I didn't dare to fully believe in. Freedom was a strange, unfamiliar concept. The shadows of my parents' action and words still lingered, but their grip on me was loosening, their voices fading into the background.

Someone cleared their throat. I glanced up and saw a young woman, maybe in her early thirties, standing in the doorway. She had long blond hair in a side braid and wore a blue blouse and tan jeans. "Hello, Alina. I'm Heidi. I'm so sorry for your loss ..." she said something else, but her words were lost to me.

Everything, my thoughts, my emotions, blocked by waves of grief that consumed my body, tears at the edge of falling. I couldn't believe it. Free, I'm free.

Free.

Free.

Free.

I couldn't stop the word from repeating itself in my thoughts, over and over and over again. A part of me felt relieved. Was that a bad thing?

"What - what happens now?" I choked out, wiping my eyes with my sweater sleeve. "I don't have anyone - I don't have any other family."

"I need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?"

I looked at him, tilting my head. "I don't understand. Why do I need to answer questions? Questions about what?" Officer Tobin reentered the lounge.

"We need to ask you about your family. Sometimes the smallest piece of information can solve a case."

Heidi sighed and touched my shoulder in comfort as Tobin straightened his vest. "We believe the fire might have been set intentionally."

+++

Who would want to kill my parents? Why?

I couldn't help but wonder as I stare at the nuggets from McDonald's, lounging in an interview room with nothing but the clothes on my back and my physics notes. The house burnt so badly that all my belongings dissipated. I had nothing.

My parents weren't criminals, nor did they know anyone who would want to hurt them. Right?

"Alina," my social worker called from the doorway. I hadn't even noticed her come in. "You'll be staying with me tonight. Come on, and it's been a long day, I'm sure you want to sleep."

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at her apartment. Heidi had a cozy place, I'd give her that. For tonight, she managed to convince the officers to ask me questions tomorrow. She lived alone, except for her cat, Dwight. She unlocked her fifth-floor apartment door and beckoned me to enter first.

"You can sleep in the spare room." She pushed open a door and flicked on the  light. It had a double bed with a yellow duvet, a throw blanket and a pine nightstand. Dwight, the cat, slept in a ball at the bottom, not even bothering to lift his head. "You might have to share with Dwight. He's friendly, though."

"Okay," I mumbled. "It's nice, thanks."

"Settle in, I'll go grab you some pyjamas."

I  thanked her again as she scurried away, leaving me alone. I didn't have  any clothes but the clothes on my back. I sauntered over to the bed and  scratched under Dwight's chin. He stretched, yawning. "You're a good boy, huh?" I mumbled, yawning again.

She came back with a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt. "These look to be about your size. My little sister stays over sometimes, so they're hers. You can have them."

"Thank you."

"Get some sleep," she said, smiling. "Goodnight. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come and wake me." With that, she disappeared down the hall. I changed into the clothes and pulled my hair back into a messy bun before heading into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Finishing, I crept back into the bedroom where Heidi had set out blankets and an extra pillow.

Tonight was the first night without my parents. The first night without my father coming into my room to violate me. I felt myself hold back a sob, covering my eyes with my hands.

+++

When my eyes fluttered open, I almost forgot about everything. Almost.

Heidi had breakfast on the table. Pancakes with syrup and fresh berries. "I'm not much of a cook." She shot an apologetic smile. "There are a few things we must discuss when we get to the police station."

"Like what?"

She didn't say anything. "We'll leave in fifteen minutes, okay?" I nodded, noticing how she dismissed what I said and didn't seem like she was going to.

I patted the cat one last time and left the bedroom. Heidi and I left her small but cozy, I admit, apartment and went into the parking lot towards her Beetle.

"I like your car," I mumbled, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling. Heidi smiled, revved the engine and drove towards the police. There, their investigative team would continue to search for any family I had, like an aunt or cousin. 

I kept telling them they wouldn't find anything because my mother had been adamant when doing a family tree project a few years ago. We had no family but each other.

She would've told me if I had any other family.

"What happens if you don't find any family?" I asked Heidi, scared of the answer. I shoved my hands into the blue knitted cardigan Heidi let me borrow, ignoring the buzzing of my phone.

"We'll discuss that more when it comes time," she said, a sad expression on her features. "Let's focus on the present ..."

The officer came forward, his gloved hand holding a cotton swab. "I'm just going to swab your cheeks. Open up," he instructed, and I did. It took no more than a few seconds before he finished, pulling back and placing the swab into a plastic tube. "It'll take a few days, but it'll help determine if you have any family."

"Why don't you believe me when I say I don't have any family?"

"We're doing it was a precautionary step. We want to make sure you have no other relatives before placing you into foster care," the officer spoke, softer but factual. It made me wince because he was so final in his words. It scared me. I didn't want to go into foster care. I'd run away before they placed me in foster care.

"What if I have family outside the country? How can you determine that?"

The officer placed the tube into the black case he had brought. "We'll run a detailed inventory of your DNA, don't worry. If you have family out there, we'll find them," he said, slipping off his gloves. The door to the interview room opened, and another officer entered, a woman with two coffees and a brown paper bag.

She smiled. "Hello, Alina. I'm Officer Bancroft, but you can call me Rosemarie. I brought you an iced coffee and a doughnut," she said, setting the coffee and bag down, and sliding it across the table. "I didn't know what you'd like, so I guessed."

I waved off her uncertainty. "No, no, I appreciate it. Thank you." I carefully took the coffee in my hands and sipped it, eyeing the officers. The first officer with the black case exited the room, letting the door click shut behind him. "I suppose you want to ask me questions about my family now?"

It was the main reason Heidi brought me here this morning, that and to do a DNA test.

Rosemarie smiled apologetically and took a seat across from me. "Yes. Unfortunately, I have a few questions to ask. Are you up for them?" She asked like I'd have a choice.

I shook my head. "I don't know what information I'll be able to give you."

"Were you aware your father had been embezzling money from the company he's been working for?" Rosemarie asked, and I blinked.

Did she seriously think I knew that?

"No. I had no idea."

"Your father was involved in a drug ring," she said, and I didn't think I heard her right. How could he be involved in something like that when he was drunk almost every night? It didn't make sense.

"That's ... impossible. He wouldn't ..." I trailed off, knowing damn well my father was capable of heinous things.

Rosemarie opened a file, pulled two photographs out and pushed them in front of me. They were of my father and two other men, speaking in what looked like a bar. One of them had a long and dark scruffy beard with a neck tattoo. The other man in the photos seemed more professional, fresh black suit, and no tattoos. "Do you know these men?"

"Yeah, they came to the house with their families a few times. Had dinner with them," I spoke low, careful like I'd done something wrong. "These men ... they were drug dealers?"

"Not exactly," she said. "They trafficked drugs around the country. This man, Carlos Melena, is a highly wanted man that's done a lot of bad things, including helping your father obtain illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Do you recall ever seeing drugs in your father's possession or around the house?"

I shook my head. "No, never, actually. My parents always seemed ... clean," I stated, glancing up from the photos.

Rosemarie tilted her head. "How do you mean?"

"They didn't do anything illegal ... at least not in my presence, I mean," I said. Except for what he did to me, I wanted to blurt, but I knew I couldn't tell her. I mean, sure, what could my father do if he was dead? But the shame running through my veins stopped me. "Did my mom have anything to do with this, drug trafficking?"

"Not that we've been aware of," Rosemarie said, taking the photographs back.

"Wait, you have these photographs. How long have you been surveilling my family?"

"For a few months now," she said slowly. "We knew that your father was connected to the ring, but we couldn't prove anything."

+++

Heidi and I went grocery shopping the next afternoon. It was Friday. We were getting along, and she had agreed to be my temporary guardian until they found family or decided to place me in foster care, the system.

"Tacos okay for dinner?" She asked, picking up some peppers. I nodded, not caring much about what we ate because I knew I wouldn't eat any anyway.

"You don't deserve anything to eat," I heard my mother's voice, and I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palm. I felt anxious, slipping my hand into my pocket to take out an ativan that the doctor had prescribed for me months ago. I had them stashed in my locker, thankfully.

Heidi kept asking about me, trying to get to know me, as she said. I couldn't help but think about what happened next. I didn't have any family. My mother's family was dead. My father's mother in a nursing home with dementia, in no condition to take care of a sixteen year old.

I didn't want to go into the system. I heard horror stories. Abuse, neglect, and some children even died in their foster care homes. I didn't want that, I'd rather run away. And I would if it came down to it. Heidi could place me into the perfect family, but I planned to run the second we got word no family was found for me.

I knew there would be no family.

I had no one.

I was an orphan now. I had no siblings. No aunts or cousins or grandparents. I was alone in this world, and I'd have to accept-

The loud ringing of a phone interrupted my thoughts.

Heidi held her phone to her ear. "Okay, we'll come right in, thanks." She glanced up at me and smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Good news. We found some family willing to take you in."

It had to be some mix up.

Heidi and I abandoned the grocery cart and headed out to her car. She drove to the police station in five minutes. My legs were shaking with anticipation. This was impossible. They had to have made some sort of mistake.

I didn't have a family. Heidi ushered me inside, and her arm looped around mine in comfort. Heidi asked for Officer Tobin, the man I'd met at the school, the one in charge of my parent's case. The one who thought my parents were supposedly murdered.

Both Heidi and I were gathered in the same old grey interview room. Tobin spoke with Heidi in a hushed tone for a moment, sharing a file with her and occasionally glancing over at me. It made me frustrated. Why would they do this when they just announced I have family, for fuck sake.

"Enough," I snapped, slamming my hand down on the metal table. "Tell me what you know, don't just stand there." These people were making me more anxious than I already was.

Heidi took a few steps forward, taking a seat across from me, and setting the file down. "Alina, this is going to be overwhelming, but you deserve to know now... you have an older brother. Did you know that?"

I scoffed. "I already told you I am an only child. How many times do I have to say it?"

My social worker shook her head with a sigh. "Alina, you have an older brother named Angelo Morena. He's on his way here from New York now."

+++

Thank you for reading.
- Charlie 🧡