WITH LOSES COMES BLESSINGS~ Chris Landon.

CHRIS LANDON
I couldn't believe my mom, brother and Ciara had been in this shitty place for years. It was like a prison, each one of them were behind different bars without even a bed.

The best days of Jeremy's life was spent in here, he was in the same space with his mother, but Joy was crazy enough to place them opposite each other. They could see each other but couldn't even get close.

I could imagine not being able to feel my mother's warmth despite seeing her every hours of the day. It must have been hard for both of them. And Ciara who knew no one, she must have felt like dying for real.

"Mom! Jeremy! Ciara!" I called out to each one of them, the joy on their faces were beyond description.

They all cried happily, I bet none of them ever thought this day would come.

"Is that you Chris?" Mom asked me and I nodded.

They all looked weak and poorly fed. That monster.

After we got them back to my house and I made sure they had a nice bath and had eaten, I decided to ask them what happened.

"After Jeremy supposedly died, your father wanted to spend time with me just to help me get my mind off it for a while but I waited for him until late at night, he never showed up. Looking at the time, I decided to head home and swore to give him a piece of my mind when I return home. He shouldn't have made such promise if he knew he couldn't keep it". She explained.

"So?" I urged her

"As soon as I turned to leave, I saw a figure staring at me in the dark, it seemed rather creepy to her than scary. I decided to ignore, maybe it was just some homeless person and went on my own way but I decided to move faster just in case. It was then I felt something hit me from behind causing me to fall to the ground. The figure became clearer but it kind of felt like I was hallucinating because I was seeing myself. It wasn't until the woman asked me how about some break from my really exhausting life?" She explained to us.

Seated was Germain, Frederick, Jeremy, Ciara, Khloe, and I. We all listened closely to everything she said.

"I realized this person was completely different but I was wondering who she was, so I asked her and she said she was someone who would make my life better. That was the last thing I heard before I fainted. When I woke up, I met myself in a strange bed. No matter how hard I screamed and called out for help no one responded. I just gave up realizing I was kidnapped. It wasn't until later the woman showed up with Jeremy who was supposed to be dead".

"Wow! You must have been so shocked aunt Lanna. Is it really necessary recounting all of these terrible experiences?" Khloe asked and the cops nodded.

"Necessary for the case" Frederick told her and she nodded in understanding.

"What happened when Jeremy came in?" I asked her

"He screamed mommy. The little thing must have been so scared! I was scared myself. It wasn't until later before he explained everything to me. I felt really bad for not being able to protect him. It was terrible in there, worse when we were moved into that underground cell, her men would hit Jeremy talking back at them and all I could do was watch, scream and get yelled at".

A very terrible experience indeed. I didn't face half of it and yet all I could do was complain every time.

"Well, for me I was finally done for the day, you and Khloe had left me behind for whatever she had to do. I decided to leave school and head home but the bullies came at me and started their usuals. Soon the others left but their leader stayed back and kept hitting me". Jeremy said, starting his own part of the story.

"You were bullied in school? How come you never said anything?" Khloe asked him in anger.

She could have controlled the bullies! She had such great power in high school!

"Yes, I didn't want to bother anyone, especially Chris, he would have called me a weakling and laughed". He replied.

Right! I would have. My immature self only put my brother in trouble.

"Well, that was when she came! At first I thought it was mom, I was so happy. She told him to never come near her son, her voice was slightly different but at that moment I didn't care. Thought it could happen, she then asked us both to come in her car. That was when it all started becoming crazy, I knew mom's car! I asked her who she was but instead of responding, two big men came and threw us both in the car. I watched her burn Philip while he screamed all through! I still hear his wailing in my dreams. When he was done burning, she threw my name tag right there and took me with her."

"I cried for days but no one was there to help me. She hardly fed me and kept telling me I was suffering for my dad's sins. It was about a week after she brought mom." He explained.

"That monster burnt a child alive" Ciara said shaking her head.

How heinous!

For Ciara, she was plainly kidnapped on her way home.

She really had everything planned out well, if I had not come down here, I wouldn't have known anything was off about her.

"We have recorded all of your statements, it would be very helpful in court. Thank you for doing this" Germain told them and they only nodded.

"I asked Kelvin to cook you great meals, you need months of rest, proper feeding and also help of a psychiatrist" Khloe told them and they nodded as well.

"Is Kelvin now a chef? He said he wanted to become a world renown chef" Jeremy asked and she nodded.

"Not world renowned though!" She replied him, he had that sad look on his face from self pity. He could also have achieved his dreams, although younger than Kelvin but they used to be playmates.

"Don't worry, you can always set your life back on track" She assured him bringing back that smile to his face.

-*-
Khloe was heading back home, I decided to take the time out to speak with her.
"Thank you so much for everything, my memories, bringing me to realize a lot of things. I'm glad my family is back home with me". I told her and she smiled nodding.

"I'm happy that you are happy, my only reason for sadness is Annie but I know eventually, everyone would be fine". She replied.

"Right, Annie" I said sadly. The empty space she left in my heart would never be filled by anyone but then, Annie sacrificed her life for three!

"I'm sorry I can't be there for you the way you want me to but I will always be around and love you Chris this way". She told me and I nodded.

It was great she was still there with me after all, either as a friend or a lover, all that mattered was she cared for me.
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Author's note.
I don't even want to recount the terrible things that were spoken of in this chapter!

All I want to do is dedicate this chapter to Annie Gilbert who put her life on the line for the man she loved, one she wasn't aware was her brother to begin with.

Also I would love to thank you all for reading Familiar Face up to this stage! I am sure we are aware it's slowly coming to an end!

Brace up for the last two chapters. I love you all, both my active readers and ghost readers.

❤️