Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (6 page)

“Austin’s in love with me,” I whispered to
myself while pulling a t-shirt over my sports bra and work-out
pants. I also suddenly recalled Dad’s hesitation to let Austin go
back to Mom’s house. “Dad
knows
Austin’s in love with me…” I
murmured thoughtfully, pushing my feet into my favorite blue-flame
house shoes before grabbing a pillow and blanket and starting for
the door, but pausing with my hand on the doorknob. “I don’t know
what to do about it…” I uttered before sighing deeply and heading
downstairs.

Austin’s blue eyes darted up the stairs as I
started down them and I faltered over my step, nearly tripping
myself as his eyes widened before falling to the floor. Whatever my
face looked like, apparently told him more than I had meant for it
to and I forced myself down the last few steps and into the living
room where I piled my things on the loveseat. I was the shortest,
so I’d sleep there, but as I went to sit down, Austin was suddenly
sitting beside me and I realized Jason wasn’t in the room.

“You’re a very smart girl, Arianna…” he
started quietly as I actually settled onto the loveseat and let my
eyes shift to his fidgeting hands, “You’re great with puzzles, too;
which I guess is what all of these little things could add up to….”
He paused and took a deep breath before looking so intently at me
that I had to look up into his bright blue eyes, “Just because you
know how I feel about you, doesn’t mean you have to change
anything. I don’t expect you to feel the same, and I will be your
brother as long as you’ll have me.”

“You wouldn’t even let me have a date to
prom,” I whispered, it seemed silly then, but true, “You didn’t
keep guys away from me… because you were being an overprotective
big brother… you kept guys away from me… because you didn’t want to
share my time with anyone… but you’re the one… who put the space
between us.”

“It was much needed space, I assure you… or
I wouldn’t have put it there… you and Jason are going to have to
figure things out for yourselves… I did what I felt I needed to do,
and I won’t regret it,” he continued softly, “Not that….” He sighed
and shook his head, “I regret some other things I did… but not
that….”

“I don’t know how to react, Austin… besides
the fact that everything makes a lot more sense now…” I mumbled
while he reached out and lightly tucked my hair behind my ear and
my eyes flickered to the floor before looking at him again, “Like
the way you find little ways to touch me… like tucking my hair
behind my ear….”

“Would you two just kiss again already?”
Jason blurted with a hint of anger in his tone while he loudly
plopped a large bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and a few
canned drinks, two of each of our favorites, I noted. “Even I know
you love her, Austin… but I’ve known that for a while now… since my
classmates started dating… I started recognizing the way you treat
her as more than brotherly.” He chuckled distantly as he fell onto
the sofa, staring at the can he opened. “Besides… if you two get
married… we won’t ever have to be apart….”

“We need to go to sleep… we have a lot to do
in the morning… and I won’t lie, it’s not going to be an easy day,”
Austin evasively added before climbing into the chair beside the
loveseat, his feet resting on the ottoman while Jason started one
of our favorite horror flicks.

“You sleep,” Jason countered with a smirk,
“I’ll sleep after the movie ends and this popcorn is gone.”

I laughed and jumped onto the sofa beside
him, grabbing the popcorn from the table and setting it between us
on the cushion but Jason set it back on the table and scooted over
to close the distance between us, his arm wrapping around my
shoulders.

Austin started to say something, I saw him
move like he was upset, but instead he shook his head and curled up
in the chair. I heard him mumble something beneath his breath;
something that sounded like “It’s not my business.”

The last thing I remembered was Jason and me
laughing at the really fake blood that was ‘gushing’ out of the
neck of the ‘slaughtered’ victim in the movie. The next thing I
knew, Austin was gently shaking my shoulder to wake me up. As I
moved to settle deeper into the warmth of the sofa, I realized it
wasn’t the sofa that was warm and my eyes widened. Austin laughed
distantly and nodded over my head while I woke up enough to realize
that Jason was stretched out on the sofa behind me, his arm draped
over my waist.

“Yeah… I’d say you two need to figure
something out pretty quickly,” Austin faintly remarked, a distant
smile on his lips, “We have to get to the police department to meet
with Detective Gaines. Dad called and said we should be there
within the hour.”

“You think he…” I trailed off. I didn’t even
want to be considering that idea and pushed it out of my mind
before carefully slipping out from under Jason’s arm and heading
upstairs. “Give me about fifteen minutes,” I stated and Austin
nodded, not moving from his spot on the floor.

“Jerk,” Jason grumbled, not moving anything
except the eyes which he opened and shifted to his older brother,
“What’s wrong with liking my not-sister?”

“Oh, is that how you’re going to reason your
way through this?” Austin chuckled, ruffling Jason’s hair which
sent a scattering of dried gel flying. “You’re too young, for one,
little brother, to be chasing after our ‘not’ sister. For another,
she’s not going to immediately stop seeing us as her brothers.”

“I’m not that young, Austin,” Jason growled
back, “It’s my thirteenth birthday next week.”

“It’s her seventeenth birthday next month.
It’s four years difference, Jay,” Austin laughed faintly, “But that
isn’t even the point… I’m sorry I haven’t been paying better
attention… I should’ve realized you were going through this….”

“Jason! We need to leave soon!” Dad called
while he closed the door from the garage to the kitchen and Jason
groaned as he pushed himself to sit up.

“I’m guessing you didn’t get much sleep,”
Austin quietly commented but Jason laughed and stared into Austin’s
eyes.

“I slept better than I’ve ever slept in my
life and I do not regret it at all,” Jason clearly recited, his
blue-green eyes intense, “Butt out, Austin… it’s really not your
business….”

“I know you feel that way, but I’m here if
you decide you want to talk, or need to talk… the only thing I
really want you to understand, is this isn’t just about you and
your feelings, you have to remember Anna,” Austin insisted before
standing up and heading to the bottom of the stairs. “We need to
leave, Anna!”

I hesitated at my bedroom door, feeling the
ghost-like sensation still around my waist from Jason’s arm. I
sighed and took a deep breath before heading downstairs and
following Austin to his new car in the garage.

We didn’t talk much on the way to the police
department, I was too nervous about having to give a deposition,
and going through whatever hospital inspection I would have to go
through; but I was curious why Austin was being so quiet and
finally had to ask.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind, I’m sorry,” he
answered quietly, briefly darting his blue gaze to me, “I
know
it’s not right to ask of you… but do you ever think
you’ll stop seeing me as your brother?”

See Austin as just another guy… could I
do that?
I didn’t know, couldn’t know, couldn’t imagine him not
being around. I eventually shrugged when I realized the silence had
stretched on for a long moment.

“Nobody here has to know you’re my sister…”
he murmured and I barely heard him as he pulled up at the station,
“But you’ve got to be careful with Jason, Anna… He really likes
you… and you’re aware that he’s not actually related to you.”

“You’re blowing things out of proportion,” I
argued, taking a few deep breaths to prepare myself for what I was
about to do. Just as I reached for the door handle, though, Austin
leaned over and pulled me back to him, softly kissing my lips.

“No, I’m not,” he rebutted, my breath
catching in my throat, “Sorry… I don’t really mean to keep doing
that… We should get inside.”

I jumped out of the car before he could say
anything else and was halfway to the front doors before he caught
up to me and walked in at my side. He didn’t say anything else, or
do anything else until we got to the front desk and the young woman
behind the counter smiled up at him.

“Wow! Look at you, Austin Gray! You’ve grown
up a lot!” she greeted cheerfully and I noticed the soft wrinkles
around her eyes when she smiled.

“Yeah, I just graduated high school. Arianna
has a meeting with Detective Gaines,” Austin prompted and the
woman’s gaze fell down to me with a soft smile in her brown
eyes.

“Sure, I’ll let her know you’re here. You
can wait for her in interview room two,” she responded, looking
back at Austin, “Do you remember the way?” Austin nodded and took
hold of my wrist as he started down a side hall.

He led me into a room that I was thankful
didn’t resemble the ones on t.v. with the gray walls and two-way
mirror. This one looked more like a regular office room with a
large oak table and cushioned chairs around it and actual windows
that looked out on the parking lot. I fell into one of the chairs
and Austin sat beside me before I looked at him wide-eyed.

“You can’t stay,” I stated in a breath, the
thought of him hearing utterly terrified me, “I can’t tell her with
you in here….”

He stared back at me for a long moment
before nodding. “I’ll leave when you get to that part then…” he
conceded, smiling faintly, “When we leave, we’ll go by the ice
cream shop.”

“Are you trying to bribe me?” I goaded and
he chuckled and shrugged, “I can’t have you in here, Austin… I’m
sorry… but ice cream would be really nice….”

“I know,” he laughed, gently grabbing my
hand and squeezing it, “I know you love ice cream when you’re
upset… I know a lot about you, Arianna….”

Just then the door opened and a middle-aged
woman walked in, her graying brown hair pulled back into a sharp
bun and her eyes only briefly passing over Austin before landing on
me. She had great emotional control, I couldn’t read her at
all.

“Arianna Gray?” she asked and I barely
nodded, “I’m Detective Gaines, you can call me Mary. Detective…”
she paused and almost laughed, “Your Dad asked me to talk to you
today… did you want your brother to stay or go?”

I shot Austin a look and he took a breath
before standing up and letting go of my hand at the same time.

“She said she’d be more comfortable without
me here. I’ll just be in the lobby; please let me know when I can
take her back home,” Austin requested and Detective Gaines looked
at him closer before looking at me again.

“We’re going to have to go to the hospital…
normally, I’d just take her to Doctor Wayne, but your father wanted
to keep this as quiet as possible… which means going to the
hospital,” Detective Gaines informed him and Austin barely
nodded.

“Am I allowed to go with you for that part?”
Austin queried, glancing back at me, but my wide-eyes made him
chuckle, “I’ll be here when you get back, then….”

He left the room and Detective Gaines took
the chair across from me, waiting a moment longer before she looked
up at me.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Arianna… you
should’ve reported this immediately… there won’t be as much proof
now and it’s going to be a lot harder to put this creep behind bars
where he belongs. But you have some proof. I know you’re wearing
makeup to cover your bruise, but we’re going to have to take
pictures of any bruises and document it. We have to document
everything… details… bruises… we’ll have to subpoena your doctor
records… When was the last time you saw a gynecologist?”

I stared at her blankly for a long moment,
forcing myself to sort through my thoughts and suddenly thankful
for my mother’s obsessive behavior.

“My yearly check-up was last month,” I told
her and saw the relief flood her eyes, “Why?”

“Your father implied a lack of sexual
activity in your life…”

“Oh… I…” I faltered, biting my lip and
taking a deep breath, “I am… was… a virgin….”

“That will show up in your file,” she stated
with a soft smile, “It’s a good thing… because the hospital will
show something different. Do you have a boyfriend?” I couldn’t help
the laugh that escaped me and she looked startled.

“Like Austin would ever let me have a
boyfriend…” I muttered more to myself, “No, Detective Gaines… I’ve
actually never had a boyfriend, and didn’t even have a date to
prom… you can ask anyone at my old high school about that….”

“But you just said: ‘like Austin would ever
let me have a boyfriend.’ Why did you say that? You were talking
about your brother, Austin, weren’t you?”

“Detective Gaines… I guess my Dad never told
you… but I was adopted… they’re not blood relatives at all,” I
mumbled, glancing at my fidgeting hands, “I always thought that
Austin was just being overprotective… but… it turns out it might
have been more than that… he made sure our entire school knew that
I was off limits; he’s always done that, so I’ve never had a
boyfriend.”

“I see… I need you to tell me the details on
what happened with…” she paused and looked down at her notepad,
“Mark Owens? Is that the right name, Arianna?”

She spotted the tremor that ran down my
spine before I nodded and took a deep breath. “It was Saturday
afternoon… I guess right around noon, really… I like to sleep in on
Saturdays… Mom was at her boutique… Austin was at work… Jason was…
down the hall in his room, playing video games or something… he
always plays video games with headphones on, ‘cause Mom complains
about the noise…” I paused and took a shaky breath as I forced
myself to remember, “I’m a very light sleeper… so I heard the door
click closed and it woke me up….” A sob shook my body and Detective
Gaines produced a Kleenex from her pocket and passed it to me.