Chapter three: "The Dalys."

"Why were you home late?!" John slurs as I enter the house.

"I had detention," I said calmly.

I was really hoping that he was going to be passed out so I wouldn't have to deal with this, but I guess luck wasn't on my side as always.

"Detention. What for?" He slurred standing up with an edge he always had in his voice when dealing with me. It seemed like even acknowledging me and talking to me took so much effort than needed since I was such a burden.

I quickly moved towards the stairs when he stood up scared, he was gonna do something. "I-I-I got into a f-fight."

"A fight?" He said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a scowl.

He started to make his way towards me making my fear heighten. "You? Fight? Such funny words put together."

John laughs eerily and I clench my jaw. "Sorry I w-won’t do it a-a-again."

"I'll teach you another lesson. Maybe you'll learn more than what you learn in school." He takes his belt that was somehow always near when he needed it and folds it making sure the metal part is the one that'll make contact on my skin.

As he gets closer, I back up going up the stairs.

"You can't get away from me." He laughs again and continues to slowly make his way towards me as I go up the stairs away from him. My breaths started coming faster when my back hits the wall meaning that I won’t be able to escape.

"P-please I won't do it again. S-sorry." I beg him even though my pleas wouldn’t do anything but make him want to hurt me even more as though it was a game, he took pleasure in.

"Too late for that!" He says before hitting me.

I gasp suddenly in need of oxygen and sit up panting. I frown as I look around the unfamiliar room realising that I wasn't in the car anymore. I was in a nice bedroom that I liked a lot since the colours were of a dark theme that seemingly, as cliché as it sounded described and soothed me.

The walls were all navy blue and there was a white chandelier hanging from the ceiling that stood in for a light. The bed I was previously laying in was grey with white, black, and small pink pillows and a fluffy bed throw too.

I got up out of the bed and began looking around the room. In one corner next to the right side there was a desk and a chair. There was even a lamp, a laptop, and nice decorations that hung around the room. On the left side of the bed, there was a door that led to a balcony, but I decided against going onto the balcony just in case I wasn't supposed to.

On that same side of the bed, on the wall next to the balcony, there was a couch that when you pulled on it, extended making it larger and there were loads of pillows on it and a fluffy blanket fit for two people to share. There was a large flat screen tv on the wall that faced the bed. The remote was balanced on top of it.

Near the T.V, was a door and when I opened it I almost gasped but as always, I kept my cold facade on and showed no emotion even though there was no one here. There was a large walk-in wardrobe with a desk full of different makeup brands, perfumes and brushes on it and a large mirror.

There was also another door that leads to a bathroom. There were already towels in there and when I smelt them it smelt fresh which let me know that they were newly washed. I looked at the shower and there were already soaps, conditioner, and shampoo. The sink was large and had a lot of facial care products, hair products, more towels, and other things too. The toilet was nice and clean compared to the one back at home in England that was full of dirt. Rat infested even. Whoever owned this room would be able to keep good sanitation.

I went out of the bathroom and sat on the bed just looking around the room in awe. Whoever owns this room is the luckiest person ever. I mean what person would hate to live here. It's clean, it's spacious, the colours go well together what's not to like about it. The room is so nice that I almost smiled with envy. Almost.

I got up and wandered around the room lost in my thoughts. As I was wandering around the room thinking about how cool the room is, the door opened. Surprised I stepped back even though I was a good few feet away from the door. A tall man with brown curly hair and green eyes opened it, he looked nice and around the age of about.... twenty?

"Hello, Avery. I hope you like your room." The boy smiled. My eyes widened but only in the slightest as I didn’t want him to see my astonish. This room... was mine? No way this is too good to be true.

I stared at the boy with my usual blank and cold expression, but it didn't seem to phase him one bit and he continued.

"I'm William, but you can call me Will for short and I'm your new... brother?" He said the word brother unsurely. But it really is a question to ask. He's not my brother by blood so he's obviously not my brother but then he's also not my stepbrother since Mom or John never had a different family, well none that I know of. So, then what is he, my foster or adoptive brother? Either way, I didn’t seem to take much care of it at the moment as I was still processing that this glorious room was mine.

"Here's your bag, you can unpack your things and come downstairs when you're done." William or Will said putting my bag in the room or should I say my room before closing the door and leaving.

I began unpacking my things and quietly humming a song as I did so. Singing is also something I liked doing but not as much anymore since my Mom left. Mom used to always sing me to sleep and her voice would be nice and calming. Every time a new song would come out, we'd always learn the lyrics and make silly dances.

I almost teared up at the memory. Almost.

I put my clothes into my walk-in wardrobe. It really didn't take that long since I didn't have that many clothes, so I was done in about fifteen minutes. I stood up and left the wardrobe.

When I opened the door of my room, again I was awed by the house. There was a large staircase and when I looked down it looked out to the main hall place. I don't know, but there were couches in placed in a small semi-circle facing what seemed to be the front door.

There were people sitting down on the couches that were placed in the middle. I spotted Will amongst them then nervously but calmly made my way down the stairs making sure my face was blank and cold, unemotional.

When I got down, I locked eyes with one of the people that sat with Will.

"Hello." He said. When he said this the rest of the heads turned and looked in my direction and I felt uncomfortable being stared at by them but, of course, I didn't show it.

Since I didn't say anything another voice spoke. "Hi Avery, we're your brothers."

My head shot up at this and I stared at each one of them in turn. One... Two... Three... Six. There were six of them. I was going to have six brothers. I thought Will was going to be the only one but boy, oh boy was I wrong.

"I'm Jesse. I'm the oldest one here since I'm twenty-four years old." I looked at the man that spoke. He had a thick mane of dark brown hair that was a mess with a shaved beard, his eyes were piercing but it didn't really affect me since Johns were way worse. He was wearing police attire and I easily guessed that he was a policeman.

I didn't say anything so Will spoke next. "As you already know I'm Will. I'm twenty years old and I'm a chef." He seemed to be very calm compared to the others who were giving each other looks because of my reclusive manner. What did they expect?

"I'm Elijah. You can call me Eli or whatever. I'm eighteen. A senior too. " The one who spoke and introduced himself as Eli said it very bluntly. He was wearing a short-sleeved top and ripped jeans. Since his arms were bare of any fabric it exposed his sleeve of tattoos on both arms. They were interesting. When I'm older, if I make it by then, I want to get a couple of tattoos too. Maybe he can help me. Well it doesn't look like he would, he seemed like he was probably an intimidating person but again, it’s not as bad as John.

"I'm Damon. I'm seventeen. I'm a junior." Damon said this bluntly like Eli. I looked closer at him and realised that he also had tattoos too. Maybe he and Eli are very similar.

"I'm Benjamin or Benji. I'm sixteen and I'm a sophomore." He winked at me probably to ease the atmosphere, but I just stared at him not saying anything.

"I'm Alexander but you can call me Alex. Preferably Alex. I'm Benji’s twin if you haven't noticed so I’m sixteen and a sophomore too." The next one said.

When I looked back and forth between them, I realised they were identical twins. Cool. As I looked at the twins, I noticed their differences that made it easier to tell them apart. One of them, that being Benji, his hair was more strawberry blonde than Alex who's hair fully blonde.

They all then looked at me expectantly and I realised that I was meant to introduce myself too. So, I did.

"I'm Avery Moneece. I'm sixteen too and I'm in year eleven and I'm from England. " I said. I had a thick British accent that suited my voice well, so I was happy that I didn't sound weird but since I had an accent, I hope they were able to understand what I said.

But then I realised they were saying things like being a junior, senior and sophomore and I remember that in America they called their years of school differently.

"Year eleven?" Damon asked.

"She's a sophomore," Jesse said giving me a reassuring look to which I returned with a blank stare.

"Well Mom and Dad are at the company doing work, so they'll be back in time for dinner. In the meantime, you can have a shower and change into your pyjamas since it's getting late. To pass the time when you're done, I'll have the twins show you around. " William said standing up.

All the boys stood up too going up the stairs and I quietly followed behind them. I watch as they all enter different rooms, supposedly their bedrooms, before entering mine.

I sat on the bed and thought back to the events that happened downstairs. They all seemed OK, but Damon and Elijah were a bit iffy. They also had cold expressions on too, so it was hard to read them.

I went into the walk-in wardrobe to get pyjamas but remembered that I didn't have any.

“Aah fudge,” I said to myself. I could ask them for something. Wait no. That would be scary. I'll just make do with the leggings and jumper that I have.

I went into the bathroom and stripped off my clothes before stepping into my shower. I turned it on and let it run for a bit before going into the warm water. It was soothing and it relaxed my tense muscles.

After I was done, I dried myself and put on my so-called pyjamas. My hair was wet since I decided to wash it, so I got a hairbrush from the bathroom sink table and brushed it out before putting it into a messy bun. My hair had grown long, so as a result, my bun was thick even though it was wet. I can’t even remember the last time I cut it. I looked at the facial products and decided to use them. It can't hurt right. Making my decision I did, and my skin felt smooth while rubbing in the cream. I didn't forget to use the ointments for the bruises and rub it all around my body. Hopefully, they go away quickly.

I thought back to the fact that here in Carolina it was way warmer than in England and that I'd have to eventually wear something that showed some skin like shorts or tanks tops or something along those lines but I vow to endure the heat of wearing jumpers and jeans until the bruises are gone. I really can't risk anyone knowing about the bruises or how I even got the bruises in the first place.

I went back downstairs but not before pausing at the edge of the staircase and hearing their voices chatting.

"It seems like she doesn't talk at all," Benji said.

"I know right," Alex said agreeing.

"Maybe she's mute." Benji laughed at the joke that he, himself made and I hear three others join along.

"Haven't you guys also noticed that her face is like so blank? I doubt she shows any emotion with that poker face going on." Damon laughs before biting into an apple.

"Guys stop. You've only known her for like what? Ten minutes and you're already forming opinions based on the way she acted. She's been through a lot so let her have a chance to adjust and trust us and maybe she'll change." Jesse scolded.

I was happy that he was sticking up for me but also worried too. Since he's a cop he'll probably know something about me and the way he spoke suggested that he did.

"She's just doing that for attention. I mean it’s not every day the Daly family adopts a child." Eli said with a shrug of his shoulders.

I take a deep breath and my lips tremble as I listen to their comments about me. I thought that I'd be able to get along well with them and that we'd be able to behave like real brothers and sisters. Well, I guess not. I know my life is destined to be like this, but I just don't want to come to terms with it yet. Looks like my unrealistic fantasy is about to end.

With one last look at them, I ran up the stairs as fast as possible and close my bedroom door as soon as I got inside.