Page 58 of Crimson Flames

Over the past two months, things have started to get better. Dr. K and I have chats one to two times a week, and we finally got the last kid back to her family of those who weren’t sold off.

Lev and Damien wanted to be thorough in checking all of the parents’ backgrounds and connections, and Dr. K helped them a lot with the transitions back home.

I feel like she’s really thriving here with us. She seems happy and has built a lot of good relationships with the kids. They trust her completely, and she is there for them every time they need her.

Damien started taking some coaching from Dr. K and has been helping a lot. Cillian has been in therapy with her too, and the ways he’s grown is nothing short of incredible.

He’s still sarcastic and downright psychotic half the time, but the weight that seemed to constantly press on his chest is gone. We are still struggling with the loss of Aiden, but working through our feelings together has made all the difference.

Lev continues to search for the other camps with Kai’s help any time he remembers new information, but so far we haven't found much.

Kai spends most of his time with us. Between working with Lev, helping out with the kids, and sharing meals with us, it feels like he’s always been a part of this family. My favorite moments are when he comes to my room, sitting with me as I drink my tea and we watch the flame in the garden burn brightly every night.

The first few nights were the hardest, but he always came by. Eventually, it became a chance for us to talk. I learned a lot about him growing up in foster care, and I told him about my past in Ireland, including Enya. He loves hearing stories about us the most.

After the first week or so, I caught Cillian and Boris sitting outside my door when I was telling Kai about how Enya and I would race home from school, taking different shortcuts through our village to try and beat the other.

When we both got too fast, we started doing scavenger hunts along the way. The best day was when we both had to find something that could make noise but wasn’t alive. It couldn’t be as simple as two sticks being tapped together either.

Enya got this look on her face that made me curious as to what she was plotting. When we got back to the house, she was grinning from ear to ear. I showed her the racecar of the boy down the street who let me borrow it. It had sirens and made noise when it moved.

Then, Enya pulled out a chicken shaped dog toy from our neighbor. The toy was hypersensitive and squeaked anytime it was lightly touched or the wind blew the right way. We were miserable and wore headphones for three days straight as the dog played with it constantly outside of our bedrooms in the backyard.

I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants when Enya showed me the toy. She returned it right away, but she was so proud. She won that day, since she completed the task and got back first.

Winning isn’t nearly as good as hearing you laugh, sis.Those words burned in my mind as I tucked them back neatly into the folder I have been learning to open more often. The one labeled ‘good times with my sister’.

After catching Boris and Cillian that night, it’s been the four of us together, sharing stories.

Right now, I wish I could be curled up in my cozy chair with them around me instead of meeting with Dr. K.

I met with Doc this morning, and he knew I was struggling with the news he gave me. He called Dr. K for me, which led me here. Sitting in Boris’ office in the main part of the house, waiting for her.

“Sorry I’m late.” She rushes in, tying her hair up as she goes. “The bloody cook and I had to have a chat about when you say there is no spice in a dish, it actually means there is no spice in the blasted dish.”

Her eyes widen as she faces me, clearly not meaning to ramble, and I snort a laugh. Dr. K is usually very formal and put together, it takes a lot to ruffle her feathers, so I highly doubt the only problem was the food.

“You okay?” I ask her. She sighs as she sits down.

“I’m supposed to be the one asking you that.”

I shrug, loving when the attention isn’t on me.

“You’re the only one that asks that, so now I am asking you.”

She thinks for a moment, turning her head to look outside before taking a breath.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Things are starting to settle down here with the last of the kids getting to go home.”

“There are still thirty four kids here,” I say, running my hand through my loose hair. It feels nice not having it up in a bun like normal. It’s gotten so long in the past few weeks.

“Doc and I have been looking into ways to create adoption plans for them, but this situation is strange. We need to make sure they’re with the right people, not ones who will take advantage of them. A lot of them have expressed that they don’t know if they can fit in with normal kids, and would rather stay with us until they have time to process everything that has happened to them.”

I nod, knowing it’s been hard for everyone. “They train with Damien and Alexi most days. Boris and Cillian help too, but Evie and I have been pretty adamant about the no weapons policy. It makes me feel like we failed them somehow.”

Dr. K tilts her head. “What do you mean?”

Blowing out a breath, I sit forward. “Well, we were supposed to save them from being child soldiers. Yet, that’s exactly what we’re doing by letting them continue to learn to fight and allowing them to see the depths of the underworld. I’m afraid that they’ll never be able to find a sense of normal now.”

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