THE STRANGER

18 YEARS LATER...

Nathalia Maori yawned and stretched her arms above her head before getting out of bed. It was the day of her eighteenth birthday, but unlike any other teenager on their eighteenth birthday; she was not as excited as she should be. Maybe it was because she didn’t have anyone to share it with. It wasn’t that she didn’t have any friends because she did. She had lots of friends. But it was a family that she wanted most.

She never really knew her parents. Her mother had died when she was just three years old and the only thing she knew about her, was that she was sick and died in a hospital. No one told her that it was a mental institution and not a normal hospital.

She had lived with her Aunt Debra since she was a baby while her mother was recovering and she was still living with her to this day. Don’t get her wrong, she loved her aunt, but it still wasn’t the same.

As for her father, she didn’t even know who he was. She had asked her aunt about him several times but she refused to answer her saying that she would find out in time.

Nathalia walked out of the bathroom then where she had freshened up before heading into the kitchen where she met her aunt fixing her breakfast.

“Hi honey!” her aunt greeted her brightly; placing a plate of pancakes in front her at the table. “Happy Birthday!”

Nathalia tried to smile brightly but somehow the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Thanks.” She replied picking up a fork and turning to the plate.

“By the way,” her aunt began as she hurried out of the room and came back about a minute later, a large envelope in her hand, “This is for you.”

Nathalia eyed the envelope curiously, her brown eyes narrowing a little.

“Your mother told me to give this to you when you were older.” Her aunt continued, “And I thought that this would be the perfect time.”

She handed her the envelope and Nathalia took it slowly. She had never gotten anything from her mother before and she was anxious to see what was inside.

“Do you mind if I come back for this later?” she asked her aunt motioning to her breakfast, “I really want to see what’s inside this envelope.”

“Sure honey.” Her aunt replied. She understood her excitement but at the same time, she was worried about how she would react to the contents inside the envelope. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was but she had a feeling that it was about Sydney and her relationship with AJ. Nathalia deserved to know who her parents were.

Nathalia got up and headed back to her room. She sat on her bed and opened the envelope as carefully as she could. Inside she found a letter addressed to her. She opened it and began to read.