Be Happy Sister
Chapter 1
The midnight wind blew peacefully on a lone house where two children live alone. Their parents were taken by a group called Targent who were taking any archeologist or scientist that had knowledge on the mysterious ancient race known as the Azran. The oldest child was a boy named Hershel. He was a brown-haired boy with light brown eyes that at first glance one would think they were crimson, wearing an orange vest, green pants, a red bow tie, and black shoes. He firmly held a flashlight over one of his father's book about the Azran. He wanted revenge on the very thing that had taken his parents but that meant he would have to learn everything about Azran in order to do so. He had kept reading until he heard sobbing from upstairs. Knowing it was his younger sibling he didn't waste anytime dropping the book and quickly dashed upstairs.
Once there he was greeted with the sight of a little light-brown haired girl around the age of five. She was sitting up in her bed in a white night gown. She frantically rubbed her hand across her face to clean away the tears spilling forth from her dark brown eyes that almost looked black.
Hershel frowned at the sight of the sobbing girl as he slowly walked over to her bed. When he sat down next to her the girl instantly darted her head up, her face now facing his.
"Oh, Hershel!" she sobbed.
The girl threw her arms around the boy and buried her face in his chest.
Hershel began stroking her back, not even bothered that her tears were staining his vest.
"Shh, it's alright, Thelina. It was only another nightmare." he comforted her.
Thelina lifted her head up and sniffed her nose a few times that had become stuffy from her constant crying.
"Th-they took you in my nightmare. I dreamt those bad people took you like they did mommy and daddy." she replied in a shaky voice.
Hershel was not surprised by this confession. He knew his sister was far too young to have such a tragedy happen. He hated Targent for them putting his little sister through such a horrifying experience. He wanted his sister to be happy, not in the constant fear of the corrupted group that stole her happiness. Hershel tightened his grip slightly around Thelina as that fateful night's events played in his mind. He could remember the pounding on the door while his mother had begged for him to keep his sister safe. He remembered Thelina screaming and crying as he pulled her into the kitchen cupboard with him when the Targent men had broken down the door. He had shielded his sister's sight from the horrific scene but as for him he could see from the small crack from the partially closed cupboard door. He saw how the men had seized his father who was struggling to get free. His father had only given up when one of the Targent men had knocked his mother to the floor by grabbing ahold of her leg when she tried to run, causing her head to get a bad bleeding wound when it slammed against the floor and render her unconscious.
"Hershel?" Thelina whispered in a small voice, awakening her brother from his thoughts, "I'm too scared to go back to sleep. Can you please stay with me?"
Hershel laid his hand on top of the young girl's brown hair as he gave a weak smile and nodded.
Thelina instantly laid her body over to the side, making sure her head was resting in her brother's lap. The presence of her brother next to her began comforting her shaken nerves. She could feel Hershel rubbing his hand along her arm to help lull her to sleep.
As her eyelids began to droop she said "Don't ever go away Hershel. I want to always be with you."
Hershel remained silent when his sister had fallen to sleep. He saw how peaceful she looked compared to how she was moments ago. He wanted nothing more than for his sister to be happy and freed from the tragic life they both live. He leaned his head back against the headboard as he noticed how tired he was himself. He glanced down at Thelina to see her wrapping her arms around his torso and snuggling her head against him. Hershel couldn't help but smile at this sight before he leaned his head back and slipped into slumber. It was the rare moments of peace that he cherished with his sister and he would do anything to make sure she could keep those moments forever.
The next morning Hershel was startled a bit when he heard loud knocking coming from the front door. He noticed the sound was also making his little sister stir as well.
Before Thelina could fully wake up, her older brother hushed her and told her to go back to sleep. She was worried at this response, having grown frightened of the sound of knocking ever since their parents' abduction. But due to the lack of sleep she got last night she found herself too sleepy to object. With a small yawn she allowed herself to slip into slumber once more.
Hershel gently slipped Thelina's head off of his lap before getting off of the bed. He cautiously made his way down stairs, not sure if Targent had come back for them. He bit his lip nervously as he reached the front door, mulling over whether he should open the door or not. Finally after thinking about it for a few seconds, Hershel took a deep breath and gathered up his courage before opening up the door.
His eyes squeezed shut when the morning sunlight temporarily blinded him, preventing him from seeing who was in front of them. At that moment he heard the sound of paper flapping a bit next to him. He opened his brown eyes and they were able to adjust enough to now see the person before him was a mailman holding out a letter for him.
"Delivery for the Bronev family." the mailman proclaimed.
Slightly a bit uneasy, Hershel took the letter and much to his relief the mailman left after that. As he closed the door he examined the enveloped in his hands. Hershel's eyes widened in shock; the letter was from the adoption agency. He quickly ripped open the envelope, remembering how shortly after their parents had been kidnapped, the police had put him and his sister up for adoption. A small spark of happiness raced through his heart as he read through the first part of the later, reading about how a nice family called the Laytons were willing to adopt. But that happiness quickly faded when he learned a horrifying discovery; the Layton family had only adopted one of them and it was him. Hershel's face was pale as he slumped to the floor; he couldn't stand the thought of leaving his sister alone.
"Why? Why does fate have to be so cruel?" Hershel said in a shaky voice as he crumpled the letter slightly in his hand.
He fought back against the tears that threatened to come forth from his eyes. He wanted Thelina to have happiness, not more misery. He glanced down at the adoption papers once again but at that moment he noticed something. While the papers specified his name, they did not show gender or age, meaning the Laytons didn't know which one of them was Hershel.
"If they don't know that..." Hershel started as an idea formed in his mind.
In a instant his face lit up in happiness, there was a way he could insure his sister happiness. He had the power to free her from the chains of misery Targent had placed on her. Not wanting to waste a second, knowing the Laytons would come by that very day, Hershel dashed up the stairs.
"Thelina, wake up I got great news!" he proclaimed as he shook her a bit.
The little girl let out a sleepy yawn as she sat up in her bed.
"What is it, Hershel?" she asked while rubbing the sleep out of one of her eyes.
"The adoption papers came in, there will be a nice family coming by known as the Laytons. I need you to get dressed and pack your things." he said with a smile.
Thelina crawled out of her bed, still very tired. The idea that someone had came to get her and her brother to raise them was very strange. She wasn't sure how she could consider them family, after all she still remembered her parents. She looked over at her older brother, seeing him pick out a orange blouse, a gray suit jacket, and a black skirt for her to wear. She figured her brother wanted her to look presentable when the adoptive family would arrive. She had went in the bathroom, changing out of her nightgown into the set of clothes Hershel had given her along with white stockings, and green shoes. Thelina came out of the bathroom; the only thing left for her to do was to brush her hair to make it presentable as well.
When she was getting her brush, she noticed that her older brother was only packing her things and none of his things. She walked up to him with a confused and worried expression.
"Hershel, why aren't you packing? You're coming with me right?" she asked with a slight frown.
The young boy couldn't prevent the sad sigh that escaped his mouth. He knew he would had to explain to his little sister sooner or later what was going to happen. Without a word he sat down on the bed and patted his hand on the empty space next to him.
Knowing that meant her brother wanted her to sit next to him, Thelina climbed up on the bed and sat down next to him.
Silently Hershel took the hairbrush from his sister and began brushing her hair.
"Thelina, about the adoption..." he started in a nervous tone, "The Laytons could only adopt one of us."
He felt the young girl's body stiffen instantly out of fear.
"They want to adopt me." Hershel continued, "But that would mean leaving you here alone and I can't do that to you. Luckily for us, the Laytons don't know which one of us is named Hershel. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell them that the papers had the wrong name, the name is actually Herminia. That will be the name you will take, Thelina."
His younger sister instantly gasped in horror and quickly spun around to face to him. Tears were already forming in her eyes.
"No, I don't want to go! I won't go without you!" she cried.
Hershel tried to explain to her his reasons for his actions but he was only met with sobbing from his little sister.
She clung onto her brother tightly as she cried, first she lost her parents and now she was going to lose her brother. Her hug didn't last long much to her displeasure. She let out a few quiet sobs as her brother gently pushed her away and got off of the bed.
"Come on now, it won't be long before the Laytons arrive. Let's finish packing up your things." he said as he went back to packing her clothes.
Thelina wiped away the tears from her eyes, despite still not wanting to go she went ahead and helped her brother pack her things.
Hershel at times glanced at his little sister, noticing the constant frown painted on her face. He wanted her to understand that she would be happier with a family to take care of her. After gathering all of her things and placing them in her suitcase, Hershel carried it downstairs with his sister trailing behind him.
As he locked up the suitcase he heard his sister whimper "Please don't send me away, Hershel. I want to stay with you.
Hershel shook his head as he replied "You can't call be by that name anymore. It must now be apart of your name Herminia."
His little sister let out a small gasp upon hearing her brother address her by that name. She didn't want to be known as Herminia; she wanted to remain Thelina and stay with her brother. Before she could say anything else there was knocking at the door. Thelina, now known as Herminia lowered her head in sadness, knowing no matter what she couldn't change her brother's mind.
Herminia's brother kneeled down next to her and placed his on her shoulder.
"Don't be sad, Herminia. I'll always be watching over you." he said with the best smile he could make.
The brown-haired girl lifted her head up, revealing the small tears forming in her eyes.
Hershel took his free hand and wiped away the tears from his sister's eyes. Without another word he took her by the hand, walked over to the front door and opened it up. The open door revealed a married couple. One was a woman with blonde hair tied in a bun with brown eyes and she wore a long purple coat, along with black gloves and skirt, and brown boots. Her husband was a man with curly white hair and a long beard, wearing a black coat, brown pants, and gray shoes.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Layton." he greeted with a small smile.
Herminia grew slightly nervous from seeing the two adults and clung onto her brother's arm.
"Oh this here is my sister Herminia. The adoption agency had wrote the name Hershel on accident due to the name sounding a bit similar." Hershel said, hoping the Laytons bought his lie.
"Ah so this is the little darling." Mrs. Layton said with a smile.
Herminia stayed still as Mrs. Layton stroked her hair a bit. They seemed like nice people to her but she still felt uncomfortable leaving her brother.
"I'm sure my sister will be very happy with you. Things have been rough ever since our parents went... missing." Hershel said, taking a pause when he thought about what word he should use.
The young boy did his best to keep the bravest face he had while talking to the Laytons. He lied to them about how he was going to taken care by a family known as the Phibs when in truth he was actually going to be living alone and continue his studies on the Azran.
"I really wish we could adopt both of you." Mrs. Layton said, "I feel terrible for separating your sister from you."
The young boy could feel his sister tighten her grip on his arm. He smiled as he patted her on the back to silently tell her that everything would be alright. After Mr. Layton had promised that he and his wife would take good care of Herminia the two siblings knew it was time to say their goodbyes. As Mr. Layton put Herminia's suitcase in the trunk, Hershel gently slipped his arm out of his little sister's grip.
The young girl clung onto her brother's hand with a pleading look only to receive a brave smile from him. Mrs. Layton had taken Herminia by her free hand and began guiding her to the car. The brown-haired girl clung onto her brother's hand for as long as she could before it finally slipped from her grasp. She continued to stare back at her brother for as long as she could as she was placed in the car.
Once she was in the car the brave smile on Hershel's face finally faded. His sister was gone now and he would never consider himself Hershel again. He watched as the Layton's car drove off in the distance.
With a sigh he whispered to himself "Be happy sister. This is the beginning of your life as Herminia Layton."
In the car Herminia stared sadly down at her feet that dangled off of the edge of the car seat. She had to get use to the married couple she now would have to consider her parents. She mulled over her new name known as Herminia Layton. She didn't why but she did find the name had quite a nice ring to it.
Mr. Layton glanced up at his rearview mirror and saw how sad the little girl looked. It made him a bit saddened to see his new daughter in such a state. That was when he got an idea.
"Say, Herminia, what do you think of puzzles?" he asked with a smile.
The brown-haired girl instantly lifted her head in interest.
"Well I never really did many but I think I've seen my mommy do a few." she replied.
"Ah well how about I give you a little puzzle to solve?" he suggested, "I am quite the puzzle fan myself."
Herminia placed her hand against her chin. She thought about how the puzzle could be fun and it could help take her mind off of her brother. With that she agreed to give the puzzle a try.
Mr. Layton was amazed at how many puzzles the girl was able to solve in just an hour. He was very impressed at the knack the young girl had at solving puzzles. It was almost like she was a natural at it.
Herminia loved solving the puzzles as well; it gave her mind a good exercise. There were sometimes she would get a bit stumped with riddle puzzles or math puzzles but in the end she managed to shine through. She had been spending so much solving puzzles she hadn't even noticed that they had already arrived at their destination. Her brown eyes glanced around at the new surroundings that would now be her home.
"Welcome sweetie to the town of Stansbury." Mrs. Layton said with a smile.