Sam

Charlie has been gone for hours. He hasn't returned yet and no one has told me when he will. I am now sat in my room, where I have been sat for the last 6 hours at the window, waiting for Raymond's car to pull back in. He and Marino left with him, not uttering a word to me but a small wave as he noticed me in the window.

What he leaving me? No way. It wouldn't be a possibility. All I had to do was sit here and wait till he gets back. No matter what happens, I won't move from this spot.

Ebony

I didn't like this Sam girl very much. She seemed odd, weird. I haven't actually spoken a word to her yet because I was too shy at first. When she first came here, everyone in the house was running about and making sure everything was perfect for her and her brother, Charlie. I think that's what his name is.

I haven't spoken to him either. I hadn't spoken to any of the family for a few hours but no one has come to check up on me like they used to, sitting on my window and looking out towards the forest, where my den sat strong. I knew what my family did, I wasn't an idiot like Gia, Elisa and Lexi, who thought our family were just fancy business men as they put too. I think Sam knew what they did for a living too as she seemed jumpy, hesitant like I was for a few years.

I saw someone get killed one night when I was 7, it changed my whole perspective on my family. It was my grandfather and I'm not sure if he even meant to, beating him in a hidden basement in the house, a secret room I had found just there and then. I remember his face of pure anger and disgust as the man was beaten to death, my uncles and cousins watching with an unbothered face.

I never knew why I got treated like royalty till that moment, everyone around me walked on eggshells, even the staff did anything I wanted. But ever since this Sam got here, it was different, they didn't pay attention to me anymore, didn't give me anything I wanted and would even roll their eyes at me. As if they only treated me like that for the title, not because they liked me.

I felt annoyed at first. That this random girl had completely stolen everything from me. However, after she ran away, everyone left the house. No one was around, it was completely deserted. When my grandmother and uncles and aunts left with each other, they forgot me in the garden. All my cousins left to search for her as I watched them, riding off in about fifteen cars with their engines revved.

Not a single one bothered to check where I was, if I was alright.

It was truly the perfect opportunity to do my own exploring. So I did, I went into town without a single soul knowing. I managed to go to the skate park without no one knowing, meeting up with some friends from school that I had known since we were babies. They were the only ones to truly care about me. When I returned home, no one was around, they still hadn't found her and I didn't care if they did or not.

She seemed a little bit of a brat. I wonder how she was raised?

I used to be jealous of this new girl, now I'm relieved. I know what is in store for the youngest girl in the family and she better hope more cousins are born. I was trained for this responsibility but now it's no longer my burden, I was rid of this pressure.

I am no longer the main target to competition, nor was I a potential bride to bring two mafia's together. I didn't matter, even to my cousins who have loved me so dearly through the years. Their entire minds were set on Sam as her brother paced the house, terrified something had happened to her. I was jealous of her bond with her brother, I had always hoped that my mother had more children yet she didn't seem to want the one she already had.

I was the pride and joy of the family supposedly to my grandmother, until I wasn't anymore and she soon forgot my existence.

Gia had made fun of me as my other cousins laughed, Elisa making fun of my hair like always and Lexi just following the crowd, not knowing what she was laughing at. Then again, she didn't know a lot of things. I wanted to thank this girl, now she was home she hadn't left her room since her brother left to help his friend.

I had overheard the conversation, bringing myself a new role of the secret squirrel. Something so small, no one notices it, however, I hear everything that goes on, I know all the gossip.

As I approached her room, I noticed Adam stood outside of it, hesitant to knock on the door as Leo stood staring at him, encouraging him to do so.

"Is Charlie back?", She shouted through the door as he knocked. I saw Aiden roll his eyes as Max sighed, Chris also stood there in silence, not knowing what to do. Chris was my most relatable cousin, he was kind of just there. He had no true title but his name.

"No Sam, but darling, please come out and we can watch a movie, eat some dinner", He said pleadingly as she gave no answer.

"Let's check in a bit, she will become hungry soon and let her know what's going on", Leo said with a small smile as Max shook his head slowly.

"Why don't we just tell her now?", He asked as they all glared at him, shaking their heads quickly.

"No way, she would freak out and try to run off again. It seems to be a habit. No, we wait. They got on the plane hours ago and should be set to land very soon. He will be back in a few days and by then she would of come out of room", Adam said quietly in a hushed whisper. Like I said, secret squirrel.

Max nodded in agreement as they all stepped away from the door, quietly making their way down the corridor opposite to mine. Right, this was my chance to talk to her and find out her deal. I headed down the hallway and slowly opened the door, jumping inside quickly before anyone saw me.

"It's you", I heard her say as I turned around. She was sat on her windowsill staring out towards the front of the house, her hair completely wild as she sat in the clothes she was wearing when she came back from wherever the hell she went.

I nodded at her as I looked around her room. Her stuff still hadn't been unpacked and the bed hadn't been touched so she hadn't been sleeping for all this time.

"So, I'm Ebony", I said to her with a small smile as she nodded, staring at each other in awkward silence as she stayed where she was. I nodded at her after a second to try and encourage her to speak but she stayed quiet.

"This is where you introduce yourself. Your mother never treat you manners?", I asked her jokingly as her face turned cold, staring back out towards the window.

"My mother is dead, always has been. What do you want?", She asked me in an annoyed tone, bored with me now. I rolled my eyes at her with an awkward smile once again as she continued to stare towards the front gardens.

"I just wanted to get to know my new cousin", I said, jumping onto her bed and taking my shoes off. I heard a small sigh from her as she turned to me, staring me right in the eyes.

"You are here to interrogate me more like", She said with a straight face. At least she isn't stupid.

"No, I came here to thank you", I said back with a grin, tucking my legs in between my arms to get comfortable.

"Thank me?", She asked in a surprised tone, it almost made her seem nice for a moment. I nodded slowly as I looked more at her stuff. She had a science poster stuck to her wall above her bed that had cuts along the side. It must be really old.

"Yes, thank you. Now that you are here, all the attention is off me and onto you, so thank you for that", I replied as I looked back on her. She looked at me with a straight face as she nodded, giving a small bow as I giggled slightly. I saw a slight smile from her mouth before she went back to her emotionless face.

"That was all", I said slowly, getting back off the bed and grabbing my shoes as she just watched me. This girl is strange, I thought she would be rude or snarky or even nice but she isn't any of those things. She has a small wall up around her and I will without a doubt break it.

"You hungry?", I turned to ask her before I left. She nodded slowly.

"Alright, I'll bring you something and we can have a girls chat?", I asked her as she looked at me in confusion. Hmm, this was going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.