Chapter Three
Nora opened the front door of her parents' house, not knowing how an earth she would handle what was about to happen.
As the door swung open, Charlie and Lorraine ran in from the living room and stood in silence in front of their older sister. Nora shook her head and stared at the ground.
"W-what?" Charlie stuttered, looking at his older sister in disbelief.
"No… No. NO!" Lorraine began to scream over and over. Nora wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her into a hug. Lorraine's cries and screams became louder, and before long, most of the younger Bakers were standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"What's going on?" Asked Henry. The kids looked at their screaming sister and their brother who was stood against the wall, silently staring into space.
"THEY'RE GONE! MOM AND DAD ARE DEAD!" Shouted their sister, her face a mess of tears.
"Nora?" Sarah asked, in a small voice. With tears filling her eyes, Nora nodded. For a minute, apart from Lorraine's cries, there was no sound and no movement. A moment of organised peace before the storm.
Ten year old Mark ran back up the stairs and towards his bedroom at full speed, tears already spilling down his cheeks. Henry dropped onto the bottom step of the stairs with his head in his hands.
Sarah stood, her face confused and eyebrows furrowed. She raised her hand to her face and pinched her lips. She walked forwards, then back to the stairs, only to run to Lorraine. The two wrapped their arms around each other, the older still sobbing and the younger with a face of confusion.
Jake was breathing deeply, but his breaths were becoming more rapid. His face was angry and he began to pace backwards and forwards, not knowing what to do with his hands and angrily wringing them together. This continued for little over a minute before the eleven year old let out a scream of frustration and tore a pile of coats from the hook on the wall. He then cleared a shelf of a number of ornaments, which shattered on the floor. His mother had loved the ornaments that she had inherited from Tom's mother. As the boy stormed over to the wall and raised his fist to punch it, Charlie, who had previously been silent approached his brother and secured his arms against his side. Jake struggled, cursed and kicked his brother, who still did not let go. He continued to thrash against the arms that held him, stomping and screaming infuriatedly. The eldest of the brothers pleaded with him to calm down, which before long he did and dissolved into tears.
Jessica and Kim, who were staring at Jake, looking terrified and bewildered, rushed towards Nora and wrapped their arms around her. The two began to sob into her stomach as she hugged them both. Nora looked to the top of the stairs, where the three youngest Bakers sat, looking at their brothers and sisters and the mess of their emotions. Mike, Nigel and Kyle looked confused as their brothers and sisters cried or were silent. Nora stared at them for a minute, not quite knowing what to do, then decided that she would have to deal with it later.
"Go back to bed." Nora mouthed at the children. Mike tapped the shoulders of his brothers and gestured for them to follow him as he headed back towards the bedrooms.
It was a long time until the crying subsided. The siblings retreated to their rooms in their own time. Nora sat on the stairs for a long time. She had comforted her youngest sisters, Jessica and Kim, and had checked on Mark, who was already asleep. She sat, leaning against the wall and trying to sort through her thoughts, which were a tangled mess of pain and confusion, and considered that from now on, she would be the primary caregiver for ten minors, all of whom were in a great amount of pain. She stared at the door, hoping, praying that her parents would stroll in, laughing, perhaps drunk, and apologising for being late. They did that sometimes.
After what seemed like hours, Nora stood up and headed to Lorraine's room, where she slept when she stayed over. She climbed into the bed next to her sister and closed her eyes, both desperate for sleep and wishing tomorrow would never come.
Thank you to my one reviewer hahaha :) More reviews would be great *hint hint*. Any questions, please ask :) Please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes (I'm British) :L xxx