The Ashes

Chapter 17

Sorry I had exams ily
~

"Come with me. Make a sound and you're dead," a man's gravelly voice utters ominously. I twist around, trying to find Luke, so he can protect me from this stranger, but all that's left of him is a mess of duvet that he had probably wrapped around himself before leaving to sleep in his own bed and leaving the disordered pile behind. A wave of hot breath brings me back to my imminent situation. What the hell am I supposed to do? I can't call for my brothers, or he'll kill me. Panic rises in my airways, clenching my trachea; air becomes limited and I start to tremble.

"I gave you a chance," the stranger snarls, "to come quietly."

Instead of continuing with his sentence, he grabs me by my sore arm and I struggle uselessly against him, crying out.

"No, no, please -" I whimper, shaking my head.

"Shut the fuck up."

At this point he has succeeded in dragging me to the front door, which he pulls open, the useless security chain clanging loudly against the hardened wooden surface. My brother's voices begin to echo down the stairs. Evidently realising something is wrong, they begin to call my name anxiously, with increasing intensity. My assailant does not bother to close the door behind him, instead pulling me harder with renewed strength towards a small black van with chipped paint and a covered number plate. At this point my tears are forming a steady stream down my face, my muscles trembling with the effort of delaying the inevitable. I aim a kick at the man's legs and miss.

"Thalia!" One of my brothers' voices gets louder, soon joined by the other. I can hear them thundering down the stairs. "Thalia! Wake up!"

I am perfectly awake, thank you. Why aren't they helping me? My breath comes in short pants, and then my eyes fly open to focus on my two brothers leaning over me, worry etched in lines on their faces. My arm throbs as though the nightmare was real.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I wave them off, ignoring the wetness on my cheeks. "It was just a nightmare." In my mind, however, the terrifying scene is replaying repeatedly. I draw in a shaky breath, sliding the heels of my hands across my face to wipe away the tears. My eyes feel puffy; I must have been crying in my sleep.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No," I say, turning away into my pillow so they can't see how much I was affected. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay," Luke says, sliding back under the covers without me having to ask him. I can tell he doesn't believe me. Suddenly there is an unexpected dip in the bed in front of me. I open my eyes slightly to see James lying on my other side, leaving me effectively sandwiched.

"Sleep well," I hear him say under his breath.

~

"Thalia! Please remove yourself from bed and switch off this alarm before I deform it permanently."

"Thalia. Thal. T. Thalia Alice Crowler. Thalia."

"Fine."

Without waiting for me to do it myself, Luke yanks off my covers and thrusts the small red clock in my face. I push the OFF button and raise an eyebrow. It's not that difficult and I proceed to tell him exactly that as I shoo my brothers out of the room so I can get dressed.

Once they are gone, I peel off what I slept in an examine myself in the mirror. There's the usual list of things I dislike such as my too-large thighs, but now I guess I can add the dark purple bruises knotted around my biceps. Turning away, I get dressed then make my way downstairs, where (surprise!) my brothers are again fighting over the last portion of chocolate cereal. As they argue, I steal the package and eat it without them noticing. I smirk as the cling of my bowl in the sink finally draws their attention.

They both look for the box, and realise it's gone.

"You're dead," Luke threatens melodramatically. Cereal is a serious business for both of them. He lunges for my waist, tickling me mercilessly as James helps him pin me down.

~

"Jesus-"

"That's me."

"-what the hell happened to you?" Kat laughs as I walk in. She holds out her pocket mirror and I see my ponytail hanging out in wisps and my cheeks and eyes red.

"Those little fuckers."

"Who?"

"My brothers."

The teacher walks in then, cutting off the conversation.

"Please turn to Act Two Scene 3 of your Macbeth text."

~

A kiss is pressed to my cheek as a greeting. Harvey takes his seat next to me, resting his hand on my knee under the table.

"Hello to you too," I say bemusedly.

"Hi."

I eye him suspiciously. "What?" He asks innocently.

"Keep the flirtation to yourselves," Kat teases, "nobody wants to see your PDA."

"So, I was wondering," Harvey begins.

"I knew there was something."

"-if you wanted to go out on a date with me tonight."

I examine his expectant face. This is the first time he's ever explicitly put a label on our days out, yet looking back I suppose that they were more than friendly. I'm wary, though. A part of me fears getting hurt if I let people in, and however sweet Harvey may be, the same goes for him.

"Give the poor boy a chance," Kat whispers loudly. Harvey is just looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, okay. What's the occasion?"

"There isn't one, really. See you after school," he grins triumphantly, picking up his tray and leaving.

"I didn't technically say yes," I call at his retreating form.

"Ah, but you were thinking it," he calls over his shoulder, smirking.

-~~
Ok so I know this chapter was dull af but I had exams and loads of stuff going on so I'm sorry
And yeah
Ily ❤️