Scratched

Thirty One

THIRTY ONE

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"Piper," a voice whispered.

I groaned, shoving my face further into the pillow. I was weighted down with too much sleep to be bothered. I heard a sign through my sleep heavy state. "Bloody hell, Ell shove her or something," another voice said. "You can't go about whispering in her ear, thinking that will get her up." A few second passed and then a hand connect with my shoulder. There was a surprising amount of force behind it. So much that it sent me tumbling out of the bed. I flew unceremoniously off the bed, sprawling on the ancient wood floors. I gasped, blinking up at the ceiling as I tried to get my bearings.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, pressing a hand to my head. I was pretty sure I had hit my head on the way down. "I said shove her not knock her across the room!" the voice said angrily. I heard a clatter and then Callum and Ellery wer staring down at me. Callum drug me to my feet quickly like I hadn't just been thrown from sleep. Callum patted my shoulder. "There! All good now shall we take this outside?" He cast a look around, moving from his brother to me. I just stared at him, not understanding what he was talking about. "It's snowing!"

"Congratulations?" I said.

He sighed. "Get dressed."

I frowned. "Why?" I asked.

"We're going outside, doll."

I decided it was fruitless to even argue with them. I pushed them out of the room and began to get dressed. I was thankful that I had crammed my suitcase with everything I had. London winter was unpredictable—you never knew what would happen. It was much like Missouri, in a way, if you didn't like the weather you just had to wait a couple hours. I finished dressing and made my way down the stairs. I looked around, finding them no where. I sighed, making my way out the back door onto the patio. I had barely stepped outside when I was pelted from every direction with snow.

"Go, go, go!" a voice shouted. I was shocked all of five seconds before I got pissed. I swiped the snow from my face just in time to see Callum run out from behind a wall. "The enemy has spotted us!" Callum leaped in behind a tree, taking cover while Ellery popped up to throw another barrage of snowballs. I dodged them, running behind a patio chair. I gathered up the snow, forming snowballs while I defended myself as best as I could. I had grown up with my brother. I had to be tough to come out on top. My mom had been the worst though to engage in a snowball fight. She was vicious.

I peered around the chair, spotting Ellery. I launched a snow ball at him, getting him right in the head. He ran, dodging the other ones I threw his way. "Covering fire! Covering fire!" he shouted as he ran to a tree as well. As soon as the words left his mouth snow balls started flying at me, making it difficult to target them. "Goddammit!" I hissed, forming another group of snowballs. When the barrage ended I opened fire on them, running out from behind cover. I charged them, deftly dodging their snowballs as I did. I was impressed. I rounded a tree, throwing on and hitting Ellery with in the face.

I knew I had screwed up as soon as I started laughing. I had let my guard down. Callum popped out from behind a tree, launching one right into my face. I gasped, spitting the snow out of my mouth. "Son of a bitch," I grumbled, swiping the rest of the snow out of my face. I glanced up at Callum, sending him my best glare. He seemed impervious to it though. He just smiled, high-fiving his brother. The world was not right. I should have beat them out. My defense had been impeccable. I sighed.