Chapter Ten
Brianna
Brianna was happy.
It had been a long time since she could say that about herself, but she was well and truly happy. With Adrien gone, and Samuel and Camila spending time with her every day, she was starting to improve.
In her early years, Brianna had been like any other child her age, bouncing all over the place and talkative, very open. But because of… that day… her thoughts skirted over it just like they always did, the world suddenly turned into a scary place. Aside from her parents and her brother Samuel, she trusted no one and closed herself off from everyone in every way possible.
She had been four years old when she stopped talking. It wasn’t that she forgot how, or didn’t want to, but that she couldn’t. The mental scars left from trauma pretty much closed her vocal chords, and she’d never once made a sound since that day.
Recently, though, her vocal chords were getting some exercise. She wasn’t talking, but she laughed sometimes, a lot more than she had for the past fifteen years, and it was all thanks to Samuel and Camila.
Brianna wanted to talk. For several reasons. After she’d met Camila, and realized that Camila had dated Adrien before Samuel, she’d wanted to speak to her. At first, it was so she could warn her about her brother Adrien.
Brianna had firsthand knowledge that Adrien wasn’t a good person, and for this reason, she tended to avoid him at all costs. Any time he’d been home, Brianna had made sure to lock her door and not leave her room until she knew it was safe to leave. Over the years since their parents had died, and Samuel had returned, Adrien had tried to turn himself into a copy of Samuel in every way. He always claimed to be the better copy, but in so many ways, he failed miserably.
When Camila had befriended her, Brianna had tried her best to warn her about Adrien’s games, but Camila hadn’t exactly understood her. In the end, bad things had still happened.
She recalled the day Samuel had brought Camila back to their house and she slept over for the first time. Just thinking about it made her shiver in terror.
“Bri, Camila is staying in the guest room tonight,” Samuel had said in the gentle way he had always spoken to her. “Something bad happened.”
What?Brianna had signed to him. It was Adrien, wasn’t it?
He’d nodded, but he didn’t specify anything.
She’d felt bad that she couldn’t have been of more help.
While she hadn’t been happy about what happened to Camila, she was happy that Adrien was gone. There was no love lost between her and Adrien, and with him gone, Brianna had been improving in all sorts of ways. Lately she’d been thinking of ways to strengthen her vocal cords.
It had been fifteen years, but finally, Brianna wanted to try and talk, and she tried to make attempts.
The first time it happened, they had been out, all three of them. It was meant to be a fun outing, and her spirits had been so high, she’d made the attempt without thinking. Of course, she failed. Instead of words, only rough sounds came out, sounding garbled. But all three of them were surprised that she’d made even that much progress.
At that point, she wasn’t sure if the problem was with her vocal chords or her mind, but when Samuel offered to have someone come and assess the problem for her, and help her, she flat refused with a quick shake of her head. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it on her own, or there wasn’t much meaning to it.
Deciding she wanted to make even more improvements in her life, Brianna woke that morning with a plan. Quickly dressing, she went down to the dining room to wait for Samuel and Camila.
When they arrived downstairs a half hour later, they were surprised to see her seated there.
“Bri, were you waiting on us?” Samuel asked, giving her a quizzical look.
Brianna nodded and smiled. I have something I’d like to discuss, she signed. She’d been using sign language more often as a means to communicate, rather than writing.
“And what would that be?” he asked, clearly surprised.
“What is it?” Camila asked, looking between them.
“She says she has something to discuss,” Samuel commented.
Camila took her seat.
Once both of them were seated and all of them had plates set before them, Brianna signed again. “I’d like to take a car and go to the library.”
“The library?” Samuel looked thoughtful as he studied her.
“She wants us to take her to the library?” Camila asked.