Ember || B.E

38|| angel child

My heart pounded as I pulled up to my parent's house, the only car on the driveway being Billie's. I parked carelessly, throwing off my seatbelt and practically running through the front door. There on the couch sat Elodie with red eyes and tear-filled cheeks. Billie was attempting to comfort her but Elodie was clearly very upset.

"Elodie," called out with concern, joining her on the couch while wrapping my arms around her. She immediately fell into my side, sobbing into my shoulder. I rubbed soothing circles on her back and looked up at Billie with a questioning face. Billie shrugged her shoulders with a frown displayed on her lips.

After what seemed like forever but was probably only a few minutes, Elodie relaxed to the point where she was only sniffling. "What happened my love?" I questioned as calmly as possible.

"M-mon and dad," she hiccuped, "I haven't seen them for two days."

"What?" I gently grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back so I could see her face. "What do you mean?"

"They went out one night for dinner. They said they were going to bring me food after but they didn't and they're not answering their phone," she explained, a few sniffles in between her words.

"Have you eaten?"

"I found some food that I just microwaved," she shrugged. "What if they're hurt?"

"They better be fucking hurt," I mumbled under my breath.

"You wanna come to my house?" Billie asks softly.

"I'd like that," Elodie sniffles.

"We can pick up whatever food you want and bake some cookies. Sound good?" Billie proposes with a smile on her face.

"Sure," I agree yet the anger inside of me is boiling up.

Elodie wanted to ride with Billie, which I thought was cute and it gave me a bit of time to think. They both left the house and I stayed on the couch, taking deep breaths. How could my parents do this? How could they leave their angel child alone? She's only 11, and they had the audacity to leave her alone for longer than only a few hours. If they're not in the hospital and on their deathbed, they will be hearing from me that's for sure.

Gathering up enough energy I walked up the familiar stairs and into Elodie's bedroom. Everything looked the same. I grabbed one of her suitcases and filled it with some of her clothes and pyjamas before grabbing her toothbrush from her bathroom. Zipping up the suitcase I walked down the hall, to 'my' bedroom. The door was shut and creaked as I opened it up. It definitely didn't look the same. A bedframe with a mattress, no sheets, no clothing, nothing of mine. Only a desk in the corner. That's all it held. Like they didn't even want to turn it into a useful space like I had contaminated the room and it was under quarantine.

Letting out a sigh I dragged Elodie's suitcase down the steps and set it into my back seat before settling behind the wheel. Checking my phone I had a few missed calls and texts from Harley. Of course, I felt bad for walking out without an explanation but this was important and I just panicked.

I dialled her number before pulling out of the driveway. "Ember. Are you okay?" Harley answered.

"Yeah. Sorry, there was a family emergency and I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry for just walking out," I explained, my eyes focused on the road ahead of me.

"Don't even worry about it. Is there anything I can do?" She questioned, her voice laced with concern and compassion. 

"No I don't think so, but thank you."

"Of course. If you think of anything, I'm just a text away."

"Thanks. Talk to you later?"

"Of course. See you." We said our goodbyes before hanging up and I was left to think as I drove. 

I truly don't understand what could have happened. It's nothing like my parents to just leave Elodie. I mean, my mom practically cursed me out just for taking El to the mall without letting her know and now they're leaving her home alone? It doesn't make sense. 

I could hear loud laughter as I walked into Billie's house. The sight in front of me as I walked into the kitchen was both heartwarming and annoying. Baking supplies were scattering the counters, flour on the floor, counters, and both of their faces. "Having fun?" I chuckled. 

"Yeah! Billie taught me how to bake cookies," Elodie cheesed. 

"Wonderful, who's gonna clean up this mess?"

Both of them glanced at each other, back at me and then back at each other. Billie pointed to Elodie and El pointed to Billie. "I didn't make the mess!" Elodie exclaimed. 

"What? You're the one who dumped the flour," Billie pointed to the floor. 

"And you're the one who started throwing it at me," Elodie gasped. 

"Okay okay, we'll both clean it up," Billie sighed. 

"Fine," Elodie agreed and I made my way to the couch as they began cleaning up. I started typing out a text to my parents asking where the fuck they were. Soon the two of them joined me on the couch with a plate of cookies in front of us. Elodie picked a movie to watch and the three of us cuddled up. 

This, this right here. My two favourite girls beside me with a movie playing, this is perfect. It felt perfect but I couldn't help but feel horrible. The only reason this is happening is because my parents are assholes and if they wouldn't have disappeared for two days, they never would have let this happen. What exactly was their goal by keeping Elodie from me? If they want to cut off all communication with me, I don't have a problem. But for them to tell me I can't contact my sister is where I should've drawn the line. I should have stood up for Elodie and I's relationship but I didn't. 

~~~

My eyes fluttered open to a text-tone notification. Stretching my arms I slowly blinked my eyes open and realized the three of us had fallen asleep on the couch. Elodie's head was on my shoulder, and Billie's was on Elodie's opposite shoulder. Turning on my phone I saw it was 2:00 am and I had a missed text from my father. 

Mark: Where is Elodie?

Quietly and carefully I moved El's head from my shoulder and walked to the bathroom and locked the door before dialling my father's number. "Ember," he answered in a low voice. 

"What were you thinking?" I whisper-shouted. 

"What are you referring to?" 

"Oh y'know, just you leaving your eleven-year-old daughter on her own for two days," I scoffed, anger dripping from my lips. 

"I would never do such a thing. What in heavens sake are you talking about?"

"I can't believe you," I breathed out, pacing back and forth, "Elodie had to contact Billie because she was so scared. You left her on her own and she's terrified that you're hurt."

"How does she have Billie's phone number?"

"That doesn't even matter. God, you infuriate me," I ran a hand through my hair with frustration. "Elodie is safe with me tonight. I'm coming over first thing this morning and you better have a good fucking explanation," I fumed before hanging up. Tossing my phone onto the counter I stared back at my reflection in the mirror. Why is my life so messy?  Taking a deep breath I collected my thoughts and emotions before making my way back to the couch to hopefully get some more sleep for the night.

~~~

A/N: Shorter(ish) chapter but I'm honestly just trying to time out the last chapters at this point. I'm so excited for you all to see how this ends. I love Ember but it's almost time for this story to end. 

Also, it's currently Christmas eve. Christmas is so overrated and stressful like damn. Anyways, happy holidays or happy whatever you celebrate and if you don't celebrate anything then I hope you have a wonderful night!

I love you, always and forever. <3

Words: 1342