HOME AND AWAY

Chapter 3

It wasn't long until they reached the two bed bungalow. There were bits of broken police type littering the front garden and the house itself looked like it was falling apart; it hadn't looked like that when Brax was last here. As soon as the car stopped, Summer jumped straight out and unlocked the front door before quickly heading inside. Unsure if he should follow, Brax slowly got out of the Ute and followed his sister.

All the curtains were drawn casting the tiny bungalow into darkness, the place smelt strongly of damp and mould causing the wallpaper to come away from the walls. Brax moved into the kitchen where he saw the noose still hanging from the curtain pole, he looked towards the radiator where he saw a bundle of rope; the place where Summer must have been tied. He shook his head and exited the room in search of his sister.

Summer was busy running around her room throwing things into a suitcase, she was thankful that she didn't own much, which made light work of packing. She paused for a moment, aware that Brax was standing in her doorway watching, she shuddered slightly and continued packing as she pulled a suitcase out from under her bed.

"Do you want help?" Brax asked

No I can do it." Summer muttered back, "Can you just wait in the lounge or something? Take anything you want, Richard isn't going to be needing it."

"There's nothing there of any value." Summer replied, "Can we just go please?" She pleaded as a neighbour came running out to meet them.

"If you're sure." Brax said pulling away and ignoring the busy-body neighbour who was trying to get Summer's attention.
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"Thanks for the lift." Summer said as she hopped out of the Ute at Saxon Avenue and grabbed her bags. "I'll go and put these in my room."

"Hi Summer." Casey said as he walked out of the house with his surf board. Met with no response he turned to Brax, "Is she ok?"

"We've been to pick up her stuff from Richard's house." Brax said folding his arms and watching his sister walk towards the house. "That place had some seriously bad karma Case, I didn't like being there one bit."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked dumbly.

Brax sighed at Casey's naivety, "I mean there's something she's not telling us about her life with Richard."

"Ah" Casey replied realising his stupidity, "I'll leave you to it." He said patting Brax on the back as he headed to the beach feeling sheepish.

Brax walked into the house and slammed the door and he sat down onto the sofa at a loss as to what to do. "What's up with you?" Asked Heath as he walked through the door.

"Something's not right about Summer." Brax whispered, unsure as to where Summer was currently.

"Why?" Heath looked confused. "Pup was fine when she left Angelo's, what did you do?"
"Nothing! Well, I took her to collect her things from Richard's" Brax started, ignoring Heath's sighs "Look, the whole house had a bad vibe about it Heath. Something bad went on there..."
"Yeah Richard topped himself and the sick guy made our baby sister watch!" Heath exclaimed.

"No Heath, I mean something else. There's something she's not telling us about when she lived with him. Seriously Heath, I didn't like being in there." Brax was concerned and Heath knew it, which worried him.

The more he thought about it, the more Brax seemed to be right. Summer had been with them less than 24 hours, so naturally hadn't had time to tell them about her life, but he had to admit that whenever Richard was mentioned she seemed to sudden and avert her gaze.

"Hey pup!" Heath chirped when he saw Summer enter the living room.

"Hey" Summer smiled at him which confused Brax somewhat. "How was work?"