Order Of Confessions

Chapter 6: Rogue

Rouxs POV

It'd been around a month since Roux stepped a foot in this place and to her surprise, Aunt Julie was not as sweet once you get used to the atmosphere. One time Roux wanted to get some snacks in the middle of the night because she was hungry after running outside with the kids but Aunt Julie was adamant on not taking anything from the fridge.

"Don't ask for snacks again and if you do as much as set a foot outside this room, you'll be locked in the attic for a day," She had said, clenching her jaw.

Roux listened and stayed put while others were getting in bed. Tiana, her new friend tucked into bed beside her. Tiana was about 5 years older than Roux, and the only friend she made here the others didn't like the new member of the family very much and treated her like an outcast. Tiana mostly scared them off but they bullied Roux whenever she wasn't around.

Sometimes the older boys, who were around Tiana's age, would dress up as scary monsters by wearing cheap masks and scare her at night. Other times they would steal her dessert after supper or pull her hair if she was ever in front of them. 

 "Lights out," Aunt Julie said as she left the room.

An hour passed and then two, a light chorus of snores filled the air that matched the ticking of the clock. When Roux was sure the boys had gone to sleep in their bunks, she finally snuggled in her blankets and closed her eyes, her eyelids heavy.

"Roux! Wake up!" a familiar voice said.

Roux jolted up in her bed and looked around.

It was Tiana.

"Let's go get snacks," Tiana whispered.

"But.. But Aunt Julie, she sai-"

"Oh don't worry about her I'll take of that for ya. Now c'mon!" 

Roux stepped out of her bed and made her way towards the bedroom door, following Tiana. Stepping out the door felt like a portal to a different world. The hallways that were usually filled with laughter and voices, were so quiet Roux could hear Tiana breathe as they made their way to the kitchen. Roux looked out the windows and spotted an owl hooting on a branch, its bright eyes peeking through and looking directly at her. A shiver went down Roux's spine as they made their way forward.

Roux kept watch as Tiana slowly cracked open the kitchen door. Roux felt like her heart was beating out of her chest, she turned around to see Tiana already near the fridge door holding some garlic bread she found on the kitchen table. 

Tiana looked at Roux and smiled and a moment later her expression changed into fear and she dropped all the garlic bread on the floor. Roux looked behind her to see Aunt Julie standing across the hallway with her arms folded across her chest.

"That was very clever of you Tiana. You seem to have taken a partner to do your midnight shenanigans with you," said Aunt Julie, looking at Roux.

Before Roux could take a look at Tiana again, Aunt Julie barged into the kitchen to get a hold of Tiana. On her way out, she gripped Roux's arm as tightly as she could and practically dragged them up the stairs to the attic. Tiana struggled and punched Aunt Julie on her side but to no avail, she gave up after a while. 

They reached the attic door which was a fragile, broken down wooden plank on the ceiling with a heavy duty lock. Aunt Julie opened the door to reveal a ladder which she pulled down so they could climb. It was Rouxs turn to go up first as she had been the easiest to handle and she didn't want to get into more trouble by bolting down the stairs. The attic floor was dusty and creaked as she stood up and walked around, she could hear a cluster of chirps from the corner of the room. Probably a bunch of rats, Roux thought. 

The attic was filled with old furniture draped in white sheets and a bunch of boxes on the side.

"I'll be back in the morning," said Aunt Julie, locking the door after Tiana got in.

"What do we do now?" Roux asked Tiana.

Tiana looked around and thought for a while. She made her way toward the window on the opposite wall and looked down.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan. It would take a while, we need the clock to strike 4 before we leave," 

"We're going through the window?" Roux asked.

"Maybe,"

Roux could feel the room getting smaller and smaller with every minute passing by. Tiana took off the white sheets from the old furniture, tore them up into long pieces and tied the ends together. they were going to escape the old fashioned style and could only hope nobody would hear them leave. The clock struck 4 and Tiana took the bundle of "rope" and threw them out the window after tying one end to an iron bench that was bolted to the floor.

"We're good to go," Tiana said, matter of factly.

Roux looked down to see that the rope had almost reached the ground down below.

This was going to be a long night, she thought to herself.