Lament

Chapter Four

"Let go!" My mother screamed, thrashing against the grip of a soldier. Peter, Blake, and I had all gathered outside, watching the scene unfold. Panicked, I surveyed the area for Violet.

"Violet!" I called, looking around frantically. She was nowhere to be found. The soldier had locked my mother into his arms, and another was aiming a gun at her and shouting.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Blake yelled, running up to the soldiers. I lost my breath as Blake confronted the soldier. I stepped in between the two automatically.

"Terra, get this asshole off of me!" My mother screamed, as classy as always.

"She spat in my face!" The soldier shouted, still aiming a rifle at my mother's face.

"It won't happen again, sir." Blake said. Peter stood next to me, pulling me back against my will.

"You're right; it won't!" The soldier said, readying his weapon.

"Stop!" I screamed, "where is Violet?!" My mother didn't reply, as she was trying to catch her breath. She gasped as the soldier's grasp choked the air out of her.

"Let her go, she has a little girl!" Blake pleaded. Finally, the soldier threw her to the ground, where she panted for air. Her brown hair had been chopped into a messy short style, and her severely malnourished body appeared sickened and sober.

"Where is she?" I demanded. The soldiers remained alert, as if waiting for my mother to rebel against them.

"Someone took her," my mother coughed, "about a week back, Max took her and left. Said he'd be a better father to her than I'd be a mom,"

"Who the hell is Max?" I shouted.

"He's who we were living with," she explained, sitting up. The lack of remorse in her voice sickened me. The world spun around me, and I felt ill.

"Are you kidding me?" I croaked. She shook her head, looking up at me. My mind was torn between rage and agony. In a sore attempt to express both, I threw myself at my mother and began to beat my fists around, screaming. "How could you?! She's a little girl!" I cried, sobbing.

Peter tore me off of the woman, holding me back as I thrashed around. The soldiers were now aiming at both me and my mother. I screamed into the air, giving up my fight.

"Shoot me," I begged the soldier, "Please,"

"Don't!" Blake yelled, putting his arms around me and letting me sob into his shoulder.

"Why are you here?" Peter asked my mother.

"I came to get Terra. Terra, I have no money."

"You came to suck money off of her?!" Peter yelled. Blake had lifted me and was carrying me toward the house quickly. I bawled into his chest, memories of Violet leaving flooding into my mind. This time, my leg wouldn't stop me from finding my sister again.

"Blake, Blake," I repeated his name in gasps, "we have to find her. I can't let her go like this."

"She's gone, Terra. Please just focus on us now and keeping us safe." He pleaded, still holding me as we sat in the bedroom. I cried harder, as I knew he was right. We must have sat for hours; me crying until I was empty and numb, and him trying to console me.

"You need sleep," he whispered after a while.

"I'm sorry, Blake," I muttered, shaking my head. The tears had finally stopped, but the agony in my heart remained flaming.

"Why? You've never done anything wrong," he said. I sniffed, looking up into his eyes. He brushed some of the smeared tears from my face, and I could see the pain his expression conveyed. "I know this is hard, Terra, but you need to move on. Violet is going to be okay; she is somewhere where there aren't soldiers" I tried to believe him, taking a deep breath. I knew, despite my pain, that there was nothing I could do. I had to help Blake now, and that's what mattered. I nodded, taking another breath and pushing the numbness in. The pain faded slightly, but still raged. I decided not to let Blake know.