It should have never happened. It was an accident, a mishap, a tragedy, but it should have never happened. Not to him. Not to Aaron.

Well, to be fair, there were many things that shouldn't have happened to Aaron that did. The death of his parents one particularly icy winter. That was sad, but life happened. Or, at least, that's what all the social workers had told him and his three siblings as they were shepherded into foster care. Foster care. Another thing that shouldn't have happened. Houses over crowded with tiny, grabby hands begging for another scrap of food and that became too cold some nights to get any real sleep.

His oldest sister, Sarah, shouldn't have been drifting away from her younger siblings. She should have taken on the role as mother—or something—and reassured them all that they'd be fine. One day. That's all they needed to hear, but they never did. Not from her lips, anyway. Sarah shouldn't have been so okay with the fact that her younger brother, Aaron's older, soon rose through the ranks of the foster mob by beating the smaller, weaker ones. No, she definitely shouldn't have been okay to see him come home every night with split and bruised knuckles.

Vincent, the aforementioned brother, shouldn't have beaten up on other kids. He shouldn't have felt the need to attack just to feel secure in his survival. Aaron one time heard his foster mom making excuses for him: saying that it was just his way of dealing with witnessing his parent's death. Another thing that shouldn't have happened, but did. He'd hear Sarah, though, sometimes, mutter under her breath that PTSD had nothing to do with it. Aaron heard a lot of things he shouldn't have.

Aaron's twin—older by less than three minutes—Danielle, shouldn't have been so protective of people she didn't know. She shouldn't have worn her heart on her sleeve. It made her vulnerable, and in the foster system, being vulnerable made you a target. Luckily, she was Vincent's baby sister. His favorite. She was safe so long as he loved her. Danielle shouldn't have stepped in front of some stranger kid. Shouldn't have protected him from Vincent and his goons. Shouldn't have made him mad. But she did.

Aaron shouldn't have been in the house. He should've been out with Danielle at the park, or with Sarah, hidden away in some corner. He shouldn't have been reading his favorite Dr. Seuss book on his brother's bed. He shouldn't have been anywhere near Vincent that day. He shouldn't have been in his line of sight. But he was.

Aaron should have never died.

2: Chapter One

Dead center in the middle of Concord Lane stood a magnificently large house. It had a large swimming pool equipped with a diving board and hot tub, a three car garage, crystal chandeliers, and a perfectly manicured lawn, but so did all the other houses on the block. These luxurious items weren't what made this house special, in fact they made it completely ordinary. What did make it special, however, was the fact that it had been uninhabited for well over twenty years. It always had been, always would be, or so said the surrounding neighbors. So when two moving vans pulled into its roundabout driveway, it caused quite the stir. The neighbors peered out from behind their curtains and blinds, gossiping with one another about who could be moving into the house across the way. The family moving in drove up in two separate cars behind the vans, parked, and exited their vehicles. As they came into their new neighbor's views, their appearance caused many pairs of eyebrows to raise.

In the first car, a sleep, black SUV, a tall, slender man with an aristocratic face stepped out of the driver's side. He opened the backseat door and out hopped a small girl no older than ten. She was obviously his daughter. They shared same straight nose, sharp chin, wavy pale blonde hair, and honeyed brown skin. Seeing this, one neighbor muttered "Italians," disdainfully under his breath. The father picked his daughter up effortlessly, not even putting a wrinkle in his three piece suit, and walked towards the second car. This car looked nothing like the first. It was an old beater of a mustang with more dents than the neighbors would like to count and made a soft whirring noise as it drove down the block. It looked like it had recently been resurrected from the junk yard grave yard. Out of the driver's side stepped a boy, barely sixteen, who was the spitting image of his father with the exception that his hair reached just above his shoulders, whereas his father's was much shorter. The final person to exit a vehicle was another girl who looked a bit older than the boy, but who was decidedly not related to the previous three in any obvious way.

Her hair was dark brown and straight and her skin had a rosier complexion than their golden coloring. In truth, she was so unlike the other three that most, if not all, the snooping neighbors wondered about her presence. Was she a friend of the son? Perhaps there to help him move in? That seemed too good of a friend too be true. And when the younger girl reached out to be held by the elder, the confusion only continued. Surely she couldn't be the girl's mother. Surely not. Perhaps she was the nanny? She still seemed too young for even that position, but it was more likely. The neighbors needed to know, they lived on this type of information, after all. So they scurried off to their kitchens and began throwing together 'welcome to the neighborhood' recipes like apple pie, casserole, and artichoke dip so they'd have an excuse to go over and talk to the new family.

"The neighbors sure are nosy," the boy wrinkled his nose as he looked across the street and saw the flickering of the curtains: a tale tell sign of spying. "They better keep their slimy, stupid—"

"Robert," his father cut him off sharply, "they're just curious. It's only natural. Now, stop sulking and help direct the moving men with our items. Danny, be a dear and help him, won't you?"

Danielle, the main source of interest for the gossiping neighbors, put the younger girl down on the ground and threw and arm around Robert's shoulders, "Come on Robbie! It'll help take your mind off things."

Robert sighed despairingly, but visibly relaxed at Danielle's touch and was easily led away from the prying eyes of Concord Lane. "I want to come, too!" A chirp of a voice yelled behind them. The little girl ran at full speed to catch up with them.

"Don't wear yourself out, Rae," Danielle laughed, smiling at her younger sister's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, we're gonna need all hand on deck, you know what that means?" Robert asked. Rachel shook her head no. "It means you better not fall asleep on us half way through unpacking you little rascal!" Robert picked her up and swung her around playfully, causing a shriek of glee to sound from Rachel's mouth.

"I won't fall asleep!"

"You swear?" Robert teased, holding out his pinky.

Rachel wrapped her own pinky around his and nodded seriously, "I swear."

"Good," he put her back down. "Now why don't you go guess which room is yours." And with that she was off. Robert watched her go, a small frown on his lips. "She'll be okay, right?"

Danielle stepped in front of him and used two pointer fingers to turn his frown into a strange looking smile, "She'll be fine," she consoled. "This place is a fresh start for her. Us too, if we want to it be."

"You really think that?" He asked, his voice laced with cynicism. Thoughtlessly, he reached up and rubbed his thumb over a long, silvery scar high up on his cheek, close to his ear. His hair did a good job covering the blemish, but if pointed out, it became impossible to notice.

"No," she told him honestly. His eyes finally flickered down to hers, "but I figure if I keep saying it, it's bound to be true. Now, seriously, come on. Dad wants us to help the movers."

Guiding her brother by the hand, they walked up and into a moving van and began to help unload its contents. It took several hours to completely unload both moving vans, and then several more to move everything into the house. By the time the movers packed up their trucks and left, the sun had begun to set and Danielle and Robert were covered in grimy sweat. Rachel, as her brother pseudo-predicted, had fallen asleep half way through the move on a couch they had set up in what would be the living room. Their father had disappeared as well to attend to a few business calls and other matters that neither teenager cared to investigate.

Waving the workers goodbye, Danielle and Robert sat outside the front door on the concrete stoop overlooking the driveway. "Too bad the pool isn't filled in yet. The water would be a nice cool down." Robert commented lightly as he re-tied his hair into a sloppy bun.

"Yeah," Danielle agreed offhandedly as she stared down the street, on the lookout for any nosy neighbors who might try to come over and introduce themselves. There wasn't a person to be seen, but she knew it was only a matter of time. She might not be able to hear the whispers surrounding them, but she knew she was the topic of many of them. It was only to be expected, really. People were always confused or curious about her: about her appearance, her age, her presence with her family. Adoption never was anyone's first thought after all.

"Robert," their father's voice called from behind them. "Go and wake your sister, it'll be time for dinner soon. I figured we could just order pizza for tonight. You and Rachel can drive around town—in my car, of course. I'm sure there's a decent pizzeria around here. Money's on the kitchen island."

Knowing a dismissal when he heard it, Robert stood and went inside to grab his sister and the money. Giving Danielle a fleeting glance as he stepped inside, she smiled at him reassuringly. Waiting until Robert pulled out the driveway with Rachel in the backseat, Danielle stared at her adoptive father patiently, "What can I do you for, John-o?"

Rolling his eyes at either her tone or nickname—Danielle wasn't sure which—John sat down alongside her on the stoop and patted his knees bracingly. "Careful Danielle, or I'll think you're trying to lure me into a lecture about nicknames, and that would be deflecting wouldn't it? Dr. Sweeny said you were making progress on that front, so let's not start backtracking shall we?"

Danielle blinked lazily at him, "All right, dad, for the sake of Dr. Sweeny, what did you want to talk about?"

John sighed, "I just wanted to check in with you privately, without any interruption from Robert or Rachel. So," he paused to look at her closely, "how are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said curtly. Looking back out to the neighborhood, Danielle set her jaw and refused to acknowledge what he was referring to. She didn't want to think about that. Not yet anyway.

"Okay, Danielle," he spoke softly, "I won't push the subject, but I will ask one thing of you," he reached out and wrapped both his hands around one of hers. "If it becomes too much, or if you need someone to talk to about . . . anything, let me know, okay?"

Flicking her eyes back to her father, Danielle gave him a tentative nod and squeezed his hand reassuringly, "I will. Thanks, dad."

3: Chapter 2

The very next morning, just as the sun began to crest above the trees and before most of the teenagers in the country would be caught dead up and about, Danielle could be seen stepping out of her front door.  Even though the large house on Concord Lane was cluttered with out of place furniture and towers of boxes piled on top one another, Danielle began to stretch out her muscles with every intention of leaving that mess behind.  Slowly, she jogged to the end of her driveway and as she rounded the corner began to pick up speed.  Running had always been a great relief to Danielle.  It allowed for her to turn off her mind and just let her body take over.  Her feet knew exactly where to go even if she lost track of the name of the street she was on.  School would be starting up again within the next few weeks, both Robert and she would be starting a new school their junior year which exactly ideal, but was a necessary evil.  Or so they had decided.  Either way, soccer season would be starting any day now, just after try outs, and with the recent move, Danielle felt terribly out of practice.  Robert would be annoyed that she went and worked out without him, since his tryouts would be around the same time, but she’d decided last night that she needed time on her own if only for a little while.  Especially considering where she was heading.  Her body might be on auto pilot but she still knew what she was running towards.

                Rounding another corner nearly a half hour later, Danielle realized that not much had changed since she’d last been here.  It seemed like ages ago—almost a decade, really—when she lived in a foster home that stood just beyond that raggedy old tire swing. When her world had been cracked and splintered and she still had people in her life she had known since the day she’d first opened her eyes.  Violently shaking her head, Danielle focused her mind away off that track, not wanting to relive the moment when her world went from partially broken to completely shattered.  Veering sharply to the left down another street—even though the one she was on would have been the more direct route, but also would have led her past the community playground, somewhere she was not willing to go—she wondered how long she’d be able to avoid certain aspects of this town.  The place she was heading was a place her father and brother at home would most likely disapprove of, but she had to go, no matter how painful it might be for her. 

                Two large stone pillars came in to view several twists and turns later and Danielle slowed her feet to a leisurely walk.  Hands on hips, she breathed hard and heavy from the exertion but didn’t stop.  Instead she walked through the twin pillars, past the sign that barely read out the words Grail Cemetery, and along the neatly trimmed path that led through acres of graves.  It took a while, her breathing had completely evened out by the time she found the right grave.  It was old, worn and unkempt.  Letting out a soft curse, Danielle berated herself for not bringing flowers or something with her.  Swearing to bring some the next time she visited—because there would be a next time—she bent down and began to wipe away the moss and grime that had grown over the headstone.  It didn’t take long, the moss was soft and easily to move away, and the dirt was easily wiped away with her shirt.  Eventually Danielle could read the name Aaron Samson clearly.  With a shaky hand, she traced the letters and whispered, “Hey, baby brother.”

                Collapsing back on her rear, Danielle drew her legs close to her chest and just sat in front of her brother’s grave.  As she’d grown up Danielle had cried many times.  She cried at her parents’ funeral.  She cried the first few months in the foster home.  She cried when she saw other children beaten to pulps by the bigger kids.  When she found Aaron’s cold, unresponsive body.  She cried when she lost the rest of her family in some way or another.  Yes, Danielle had cried plenty of times in her seventeen years of life, so she knew tears where well on their way as she sat starring at Aaron’s carved out name.  Her nose clogged up, her throat tightened, and even as saliva flooded her mouth, it felt as dry as a desert.  Danielle wiped her nose on her shoulder and took a shuddering breath, “I know it’s been a long time.  I bet I look all different now, huh?  Sometimes . . . sometimes I dream about what you’d have looked like if Vincent hadn’t . . . I think you’d have looked just like me, just, you know, more like a boy or something.  Screw that fraternal crap, right?”

                She paused to take a deep breath and wipe away a few tears that had sprung forth, “You’re not missing much, though,” she tried to joke and let out a breathy laugh, “school’s shit.  You’d have hated it.  We just sit for hours and hours and have even more homework than when we were kids.  Nothing’s really changed there, I guess.”  Danielle had to look away from the tombstone.  Burying her face into her shoulder, her body trembled with barely concealed sobs and bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself rooted.  After a few deep breaths, she finally looked back to the tombstone, “God,” she breathed, “I can’t believe I just told you about school.  I haven’t seen you in years and the first thing out of my mouth is about school.  You’re rolling your eyes at me, I can feel it.

                “The truth is . . . the truth is, Aaron,” she traced his name again, “I miss you.  So damn much. Every single day, I miss you, and it still hurts that you’re not next to me holding my hand through everything.  I hate it, I hate it so much I could scream!”  She paused again, this time to wrap her arms around her body in the hopes she had the strength to hold herself together.  “I wish . . . I wish . . . oh, why couldn’t it have been . . . why you, Aaron?  Just—why?

                “I hate it here, I hate it here, I hate it here,” she began to chant over and over again.  “This place is hell and I wish I’d never come back—” Danielle cut herself off.  She may think of this town as hell—and for her, it was—but Rachel didn’t think of it that way.  Not yet, at least, and Danielle would be damned if she was the reason her baby sister began to think of it as such.  This place would be a fresh start for her, a place away from all the memories and reminders of their old life.  Rachel deserved that.  She wasn’t like her siblings, she wasn’t jaded or broken.  She was just sad.  And she was allowed to be sad.  She’d just lost her mother to cancer, after all.  Everyone was sad, and that made Danielle cry just a little harder. 

                She missed her adoptive mother, Victoria.  She was the only mother Danielle really knew, her memories of her birth other were foggy at best.  Victoria always knew just what to say to put everyone at ease, and would know exactly how to handle to blubbering mess that was currently Danielle.  But she was gone, and she wasn’t coming back, and John thought a new town, a new start, was the best course of action.  Robert and she had been fully on board with the plan—until they found out their destination.  John was adamant, though.  Grail City was second, debatably, only to their previous one, Albia, in their schools and local communities.  It was best for Rachel, Danielle repeated to herself, and so she’d willingly walked back into her own personal hell for the sake of her sister. 

                “Look at me, I’m pathetic,” she muttered with a thick tongue and began to wipe her face with her dirty shirt.  She knew she looked like a mess, but she couldn’t care less.  “Great reunion of ours, huh?”  Sighing, she stood up and tried to dust off some of the dirt on her clothes.  “Don’t worry, Aaron,” she assured the grave, “I’ll be back soon.  Within the week, I promise.  I’ll bring flowers and everything, too.”  Pressing two fingers against her lips, she pressed the same fingers against the tombstone as a kiss goodbye and mentally prepared herself for the walk back home.  The sun was high in the sky now, telling her she’d been gone for at least three hours even though it’d felt only like one.  She’d have to take a cold shower once she was home to decrease the swelling she knew was around her eyes.  She didn’t want her family to know she’d been crying.  They’d only worry.  Or worse, try to stop her from returning to the grave.  Neither option was acceptable to Danielle.

                The sound of scuffling feet caught Danielle’s attention.  She looked over to her left and saw a boy walking out of a row of graves across from her own.  He was around her age with shoulder length curly blond hair.  Unlike the members of her family, however, his hair was more golden, like a lion’s mane.  He was huge, too, taller than average and built like a linebacker.  He was dressed similarly to Danielle, in workout clothes, and his sweaty face and damp hair suggested he’d run to the cemetery just like her.  Before she could look away, the boy looked up from the ground and they made eye contact.  The boy’s brows rose in surprise and he came to a stop at the end of his row of graves.  “Who’re you?” He asked.

                Danielle crossed her arms, “What do you care?”

                The boy’s face immediately flushed and he shuffled his feet awkwardly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean—it’s just I’ve never seen—er, well I mean—look,” he looked back up at Danielle and took a few steps forward before extending his hand, “My name’s Leon, pleased to meet you.”

                Looking suspiciously at his hand, she replied, “Danny.”

                Leon pursued his lips, but dropped his hand when she didn’t take it, “Sorry, it’s just, I know everyone in this town pretty much, but I’ve never seen you before.  Are you new?”

                Danielle nodded, “Yeah, just moved here yesterday.”

                “Ahh, the mysterious family on Concord Lane,” Leon smiled mischievously, “Your family has caused quite the stir in the rumor mill, you know.”

                “Apparently,” she responded dryly, “You must really know everyone if you knew what street I lived on.  That,” she said slowly with just a small hint of teasing, “or you’re a stalker.”

                Leon laughed, “Not quite!  No, my mom’s on the city council.  You go to enough of those charity balls you’re bound to know everyone.  Ahh, and she’s a bit of a gossip.  My mom that is.  Don’t tell her I said that, though.”

                Barely—and badly—suppressing a smile, Danielle said, “Don’t worry, you’re slip is safe with me.”  Taking a few steps forward, she joined him on the main path.

                Leon peered around her at Aaron’s grave, “Someone you know buried here?  Or do you just like visiting graveyards?”  Danielle looked back over her shoulder, the smile that was fighting so hard just a second ago slipped easily from her mouth.  Leon, noticing the change, began again, “I was just visiting my dad’s grave, actually.  I try to visit him every Sunday after my mom drags us to church.  It’s a good work out, you know?  Running from Concord Lane to here.  Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

                Shrugging her shoulders, Danielle followed alongside Leon and hoped she wouldn’t have to talk about Aaron.  Leon seemed happy enough to chat away, though, so it seemed like she was in the clear.  He was talking about his mother and his two younger brothers.  “How’d he die?”  She asked suddenly.  “Your dad, I mean.”  Then, after seeing him pause, she added, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.  You don’t have to tell me.”

                “No, no, it’s fine, it was a long time ago so I don’t mind talking about it now.  He died of cancer—leukemia.  I was young when he passed.  Seven, I think.  Can’t really remember.” He shrugged, “Still, I think he’d like me to visit.”

                “My mom just died of cancer, too,” she offered in return.  “Breast cancer, though.  That’s why we moved here: fresh start, so to speak.”

                “I’m sorry for your loss,” Leon consoled.  “And I’m sorry that you can’t visit her grave.  I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t visit dad.”

                “Oh she wasn’t buried.  My dad had her cremated”  She grimaced, “Technically right now she’s packed away in some box,” shaking her head, she added, “her spirit’s probably lecturing me about that right now.”

                Leon laughed again, “Good old parents, nagging their children even in death.  So veering off the topic of death,” he began as they walked past the stone pillars and out the cemetery.  “Will you be going to Grail Central High?”

                “Oh, yeah, I will.  My brother and I will be starting our junior years this year.  How ‘bout you?”  She asked.  Leon looked a little confused about her statement—probably how she and Robert could be in the same grade—but thankfully he didn’t ask if they were twins.  In fact, he didn’t ask anything.  He just answered her question.

                “Same.  My younger brother—Liam—is starting his freshman year,” he snickered, “I can’t wait to see Coach Soko rag on him.”  Seeing Danielle’s blank look, he elaborated, “Coach Soko—Sokolowski—is the freshman football coach and woo-boy is he tough.  He sure knows how to get them into shape.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a drill sergeant in a past life.  Will your brother be trying out for the team?”

                “Robbie?  God, no.  He hates football,” she winced, “Sorry,” Leon just shook his head good naturedly.  “He’s just not built for it.  He’s too scrawny.  He plays soccer, though.  So do I actually.”

                “Ah, the real football,” Leon joked.  Danielle laughed a little and he preened at his success, “That’s cool, what position do you play and are you any good?  Our soccer teams can get a little . . . intense.”

                Danielle rolled her eyes, “All soccer teams can get a little intense. It’s kinda annoying.  I play attacking midfielder mostly, but I’m decent with any offensive position.”

                “You sound pretty confident there.”

                She shrugged, “I guess it’s because I am confident.”  Looking at him peripherally, Danielle smirked playfully, “What about you?  What position do you play?”

                “Can’t you tell?” He laughed and spread his arms, “I was built to be a linebacker.”

                Laughing, she said, “Well that’s an understatement.  When does your practice start?”

                “Same day as yours, next Saturday.  Though technically tryouts are Friday.”

                “But who’s gonna get the field if we both have practice?”  She asked, confused.

                “Oh, right, you’re new.  We have two soccer fields, actually, one for boys and one for girls and a separate field for football.  Crazy, right?”  Danielle nodded her head, “This town just loves their sports.  They’ve invested a lot of money into making sure we have top of the line equipment and fields.”

                Whistling lowly, Danielle could hardly believe it.  Her dad hadn’t been joking when he mentioned how financially blessed this town was.  Though thinking back to her past life here, she wondered if they’d allocated any of that money to the foster homes or any other government run facilities.  As they passed the house with the tire swing—she’d successfully directed Leon down the detour, away from the park—with its chipped paint, overgrown lawn, and broken front screen door, she doubted it.

                “Have you gotten your classes yet?”  Leon asked once Concord Lane came into view.  Danielle could see Robert’s car in the driveway with the hood popped open and his red tool box next to the back tires.  Rachel could even be seen playing with her jump rope.  So much for sneaking in to take a cold shower, Danielle thought.  Hopefully the swelling in her face had gone down enough that she could pass any more off as fatigue from running.

                “Oh, not yet,” she told him distractedly.  “I think we’re getting registered at school later this week, after we have everything unpacked.”

                “That makes sense,” he nodded sagely.  They stopped walking.  Danielle was about to turn right onto Concord Lane and Leon would keep going until he reached his own street. “Hey, so, if you ever want to hang out, maybe meet a few more classmates or want a tour of the town, just hit me up.  Here,” he said quickly, seeing the confused protest on Danielle’s lips.  Leon pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her, “put your contact info in and I’ll text you so you have my number.”

                Smiling, Danielle did as he said and handed back the phone, “Danny Ladon,” he read.  “Well it was nice to meet you Danny.”

                “Nice to meet you too, Leon.” 

                They smiled at each other and with just a few awkward, unsure movements parted ways.  Danielle felt the burn of a blush on her cheeks as she walked up her driveway, stopping only barely to wave at Rachel.  “Who was that?”  Robert’s mistrustful voice called out from underneath the hood of his car.

                “Leon,” she answered.  “He’s a classmate of ours.  I ran into him while I was out for a run.”

                Slowly Robert’s head peered out from under the hood.  He hummed thoughtfully before saying, “I don’t like him.”

                Laughing, Danielle said, “You don’t even know him.”

                “Exactly, and neither do you.  Don’t go letting your guard down here, Danny.”

                Starring her brother straight in the eyes, she nodded and told him, “Don’t worry.  I won’t.”  With nothing more to say, she turned face and quickly walked through the house, up the flight of stairs up to her room where she began the process of taking a cold shower.