An Echo in the Wind

Chapter 11

I was 15 years old. We were all having a bad few days with my brother being officially charged with murder. They stuck him in prison a few months prior, but the charges had just come through. 

He got charged with life in prison for the murder of Talla Henrikson. His girlfriend. My mom was trying to hold the family together, but my dad was breaking down. My parents had barely spoken to each other in months. Their fighting had gotten bad, and then my brother got arrested, and now it's like they hate each other, like they were both blaming each other for raising him to commit murder on an innocent girl.

Austin was a mess. He didn't understand fully when our 18 year old brother got taken away. That morning, he was particularly down in the dumps, so I suggested that we all go to the park as a family and have a picnic. 

Mom thought that was a wonderful idea. I asked Dad if he would come, but when he heard Mom was coming, he refused. 

I sighed and walked out of our small home with just Mom and Austin. I should've seen the signs.

He had been pushing us away since it happened, blaming himself for Derek's actions. It wasn't Dad's fault though. Derek was just a psychopath and we hadn't realized it until it was too late. 

Dad had been pushing us away, just like he did that morning. He seemed extra out of it that morning, but I was too preoccupied with Mom and Austin to notice. 

I shouldn't have left. 

The picnic was great. It was a nice day out, warm, bees buzzing and new flowers sprouting from the ground around trees. Lots of children played on the playground and Austin happily jumped it to play with them. Little kids were funny that way, they made friends so easily, with no worries in the world. 

Mom and I had gotten to bond really well that day. We caught up and things seemed like they were finally starting to become normal again. We talked about boys that I found cute in my class and complained about teachers. 

I had this old guy named Mr. Kywoski who was a real asshole and when I told her about him, my mom told me she had him when she was in school and was surprised he was still teaching because he was really old when she went there.

After that, I suggested that her and Dad try marriage counseling and that them fighting was affecting Austin negatively. 

She agreed that maybe it was worth a try. I was happy to help and even happier she was willing to get it. 

She told me she'd call as soon as they got home and try to make it work between them. I really wanted it to work. 

I wanted us to be a family again, like we hadn't been in so many years. 

I had just a few more hours of driving left until I could get my license, so Mom had let me drive home. We stopped to get some snacks and a DVD from RedBox on the way home. She said we could have a family movie night and she promised she was really going to make it work and try real hard with Dad. 

I opened the door to the house with Austin right behind me while Mom got the bags. 

An odd smell hit me as I walked in though. It smelled like iron, a rust-like smell. I walked into the living room, a smile on my face that fell instantly and immediately turned Austin around, covering his eyes with my hands. 

He hadn't seen it. But I would never forget it. 

My fathers body laid on the floor, surrounded in a pool of blood, a crimson covered knife in his hand. I would find out later when the police came that he had slit his own throat.