The sister in the dark

Chapter 21

Part 2: Together Forever

Emily thrusts me onto the floor, opposite Rose, and leaves us tied up on the wooden floor of the tower. Then she leaves with the click of the door locking shut. Now that Rose and I are alone, we can talk.

I lean forward and whisper in her ear, "Rose! I miss you so much!"

I can see her smiling, despite the ragged condition she's in. It looks like she's been held prisoner for a few days, with poor treatment and lack of food.

"Evelyn," she whispers, "I need to tell you this. It's about Hamika."

I can feel guilt coursing through me at the very mention of his name.

"I'm sorry..." I whisper.

Much to my surprise, Rose doesn't get angry. Instead, she laughs. "I can't really be mad. I've killed two people, so why should I be cross at you witnessing someone else's murder?"

She has a point.

"So anyway... I was thinking, earlier, back to when we were 4 years old."

I experience a feeling I have never felt before, love and loss and forget all at once.

"So you remember? Our older siblings? The ones that father had with his first wife before we were born?"

"Yes..."

"Anna and Hamika. They fought, and Anna died. Hamika was sent away, and we never saw him again. Until I started at Stowe..."

I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again.

"Does that mean..."

"Yeah. Yeah it does."

A moment of silence passes between us, like a shiver in the air that prohibits us from discussing this any further.

"Evelyn?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Rose lies back on the floor, evidently exhausted. She curls up as in a ball on the floor, then uncurls with a wince.

"You ok?"

A pause.

"No. Emily bashed me with a big stick when she and Olivia captured me. I think she dented my kneecap."

I shuffle over to my sister and start to examine her knee. I try to reach out to see how bad it is, but my arms are tied so I can't. Then I get an idea.

I lie on my front and stretch my legs out behind me. At least my knee isn't injured too, because then our predicament would be inevitable. With a burst of energy, I flick my feet out and hook them under the rope, tugging furiously.

And with a small snap, the rope is broken and my arms are free.

"Rose? You got a knife or something?"

She angles her head towards her right foot. I reach down and pull a wooden handle out of her boot. It's connected to a rusty knife blade, but below the dirt I can tell that it's very sharp.

A moment of inspiration comes to me as I look around the room, specifically towards the barred window. I stumble over and start scraping off the rust, revealing the smooth grey metal beneath.

I hurry back over to my sister's side, only to realise that she's fallen asleep. I don't blame her, though. She must be exhausted.

As carefully as possible, so as not to wake her, I use the knife to saw at the rope binding her hands and then take off Rose's shoes and roll off her socks to inspect the damage.

I don't really know what I was expecting but it wasn't this. Her whole knee is covered in dried blood and still bleeding from multiple deep gashes in her skin. And the dent in the middle...

I'm not a doctor, not at all, but I can tell that this isn't good. The bleeding, I can stop that, but the dented kneecap is beyond my control. Unless I can make a splint or something.

In desperation to stop the trickle of blood, I pull off Rose's sock and use the knife to slice it into four strips that can act as bandages for the time being. I begin to wrap them around her knee, being careful not to injure her any more. Then I start to look for anything I could use to make a splint for her leg while it heals.

I look around myself for something that could help, my vision catching on the rickety floorboards underneath my feet. With all my might, I pull at a wooden plank with as much force as I have ever had. To my surprise, it comes clean out of the floor. Mother did always say I didn't know my own strength.

I tear off the sleeve of my school jumper and wrap it around the plank of wood. My splint definitely won't be winning awards any time soon, but it's going to have to do. Emily and Olivia certainly don't care about us.

Speaking of those two bullies, where are they? If I was kidnapping my classmates to make them pay for the murder of my best friend, I would keep them under close surveillance, not leaving them in a tower room all day.

Then I realise that it's because they have no choice.

They have school every day from nine o'clock in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, and the school is at least a ten minute walk away. One of them will probably bring us food or water at lunchtime so that we don't starve to death, (I wouldn't put it past them though) but other than that we will be left alone all day.

Rose isn't in any shape to escape today, and to be honest neither am I. She looks so innocent and sweet just lying on the floor asleep. But the calm is just a mask, shrouding the pain and guilt on the inside.

Guilt in her mind,

Pulling her down.

Back with her sister,

But still with a frown.

Pain from within,

A sparrow in flight,

Bullied by Charlotte,

The sister in the light.