The Grabber

Battle Scars

The sound of cars driving down the street slowly awoke Andrea. She felt her sticky, stiffened skin as she slowly raised herself up. She noticed her hand in her brother's, who had slept on the floor beside her. After all, there was only one mattress. Not even a bed frame. Andrea looked over herself to see what she couldn't last night. She sighed as she noticed immediately she would need to try to cover up her wounds. She didn't have time to try make up. It wouldn't cover this.
"Michael," she whispered to wake her brother gently. She slipped her hand from his as he began to stir.
"What, what's up?" He said in a groggy voice as he yawned. Andrea stood out of the bed, only to wince at the pressure on her legs.
"School," she breathed. Michael stayed on the floor without opening his eyes.
"Okay? I'm out of school, that's your problem." He tried to go back to sleep as Andrea rolled her eyes. Michael had graduated last year. They couldn't afford to send him to college, so Michael was in search for a job to save up. Andrea was pretty sure he had stopped searching a while ago, but their parents never brought it up again since Michael is usually out anyway while she's gone.
"I have to get dressed, idiot," she said as she lightly nudged his side. He winced. "S-sorry..." she bit her lip. Michael slowly sat up.
"Fuck..." he whispered. "Damn bastard..." he muttered as he looked at the wall. Andrea looked at the wall for a moment as well before turning to her dresser. "You're gonna need long sleeves or a jacket or something," he spoke gently.
"I know," Andrea sighed. Luckily, she owned a lot of long sleeved shirts. "I'm gonna take a shower... I'm all sticky."
"Better hurry before dad wakes up," Michael said as he stretched. He tried to hold back a wince. As Andrea grabbed her clothes she finally decided on, she and Michael left the room quietly. Michael went back to his room to get ready himself. On these mornings, he would walk Andrea to school so he could make sure she was okay and got there safely. It was also when he would go out to do his own thing. Anything to get out of the house. As Andrea quietly closed the bathroom door, she laid her clothes on the countertop beside the sink. She paused to look at herself in the mirror. Dried tears and sweat covered her pale skin. She turned away as she began to remove her shirt. She always wore a tank top underneath. She winced as her arms raised. Bruises. Great. Although she didn't see them, she could definitely feel them. She didn't need to remove the rest of the clothing to know what other wounds were present. She could feel the blood on her legs acting as adhesive against her pajama pants. It wasn't enough to be seen through the pants, luckily. She would have to be careful cleansing herself and dressing.

...

"I keep looking for Bruce on his bike to say hi," Andrea sighed as she walked down the sidewalk beside her brother. "But... he's..." she couldn't say it. It would make it more real if she did. She didn't want it to be real, but she knew it didn't quite work that way. Despite not knowing him very well, she still felt sick to her stomach just knowing he was gone. Suddenly snatched up off of the streets.
"I know," Michael nodded softly.
"Do you think..." Andrea looked to her brother slowly. "he's still alive? Just... locked away?" Michael didn't shift his gaze from the sidewalk as Andrea questioned the matter more.
"I... don't know..." he shook his head. "But which one would be better for his sake?" He said as he finally glanced at Andrea. She slowly looked away as she thought. Depending on what the Grabber was doing to him specifically, it might be better for Bruce to be dead. As much as she hated to think about it. At least he wouldn't be suffering and in pain.
"Well, here we are," Michael sighed as the two reached the school yard. Andrea watched as students went inside. Some remained outside talking to their friends. "Bye bye hug for your big brother?" He smiled at Andrea with opened arms. Andrea just laughed as he tried to hug her as she continued to push him away.
"I'm only a year younger than you," she laughed.
"I know," Michael chuckled as he stopped and ruffled her hair. "Alright, be safe, have fun, behave and all that. You know the spiel." Andrea nodded as she waved goodbye.
"Well, there you are," a familiar voice sang. Andrea turned with a smile.
"Hey," she greeted her friend.
"I didn't see you after school yesterday. You okay?" The two began walking towards the school. Andrea nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. A guy named James wanted me to meet with him after school yesterday."
"Ooh, a boy," she teased. "How was it?"
"What?" Andrea recoiled a bit with a scoff. "No, we didn't do anything, I swear."
"Uh huh," Rebecca chuckled.
"We didn't! He just showed me his music library. Now we have an agreement kind of thing where I can borrow a record or cassette to listen to, then exchange it once I've finished."
"Oh, so like an actual library, but with music," Rebecca nodded. After a few seconds, she shrugged. "Or a drug dealer." Andrea laughed at the thought.
"Get those psychedelics, man."