A Wash Cycle to Live (Eyeless Jack X OC)

10 years ago

The rain patters against the girl's window in a soothing manner, providing something for her mind to focus on in the darkened room.

It has been hours since her mother put her and her four years younger sister to bed and the whole time, the girl has lain in her bed with her eyes closed.

It's not as if she's had any distractions, the light went off the second the door closed behind her, curtains drawn over the tiny window. Her sister wasn't there to whisper to her, as her parents had moved the girl into the tiny, spare box room to make sure she has peace a long time ago. The sound of the raindrops hitting the glass pane had the same effect as counting sheep to the young girl, holding her in a state of half dreaming she's becoming accustomed to. Floating in and out of a dream, only half related to what she was just thinking about, some muffled voice in the back of the girl's mind wonders how long she's been like this.

CAW CAW

A crow screeches outside her window, startling the teenage girl. Her eyes fly open, scanning the room for any sign of movement for a few seconds before her brain has the chance to catch up with what had happened.

Then, the beating in her chest subsides and she groans, staring blankly into the ceiling for a few moments. Her eyes wide open now, she heaves her body, flopping onto her other side. She picks up the alarm clock on her bedside table- she always leaves her phone across the room, no temptation for her parents to accuse her of not doing enough to get to sleep- and holds it to the curtain-covered window. Using the flashes of light gifted to her by passing cars, she reads the time on the clock.

1:03 in the morning.

Damnit.

The girl heaves an even bigger sigh and sinks into the bed with such force she throws her favourite stuffed animal off the bed on accident. Cursing under her breath, she leans over the bed and grabs the toy, having stopped fearing monsters under the bed years ago. The toy safely in her arms, she fluffs the blankets up, turns the pillow over and snuggles down in a fresh position. After all, it's school in the morning and she can't afford to be running on this little sleep.

The ticking of the clock and the rain on the window soothe her again, lulling her into comfort. She feels her muscles relax and hang so heavily, so desperate for sleep, yet her brain still resists. Her thoughts dance from topic to topic, one moment thinking about the cute boy from her English class, the next about her recent test in the same class, then moving on to the girl who always one ups her in tests and oh how good she always is at maths, the young girl wishes she could be better-

Just like that, her thoughts become fluid, her mind a river and her consciousness simply floating. Unbeknownst to her, she spends literal hours like this, flowing down a stream of half related memories, plans and questions that she'll forget before she's even moved on to the next.

For once, her muscles don't ache with the feeling of resting in one place for too long and she's happy to float, for as long as it takes until she falls asleep.

Then, just out of ear shot, three thuds fall against the window in quick succession and the young girl thinks with that same muffled voice what a strange occurrence it is, three raindrops falling in exactly that pattern.
But then it happens again. And again. And after the fourth time, a hiss comes not from the window, but outside the girl's door.

"Rose? Are you awake?"

Rose blearily opens her eyes, blinking as she realises a few stray beams of light have started to stream through the window. She rolls over and checks the clock.

3:45 in the morning.

"Rose?" The voice calls again.

Now coherent enough to recognise it, Rose understands that not only does the voice belong to her sister, but it also sounds rather worried.

"Yeah?" She calls back.

"Are you awake?" Her sister asks again.

Rose considers it for a moment, but she recognises that she's been trying to get to sleep since half eight last night and still hasn't managed to. So, she doesn't see much point in trying further.

"Yeah."

An audible sigh of relief comes from outside her door.

"Can you help me? I'll do your homework for this week if you help me and don't tell mum or dad."

Rose sighs as she stretches, sitting up in bed and pushing the blankets away.

"You can't do my homework, your ten. I want this week's allowance- you know mum gets you what you want anyway."
There's no bitterness in this, it's a fact, one that both Rose and her sister have and will continue to exploit many times.

"Fine! Just help me!" Her sister demands impatiently.

Rose crosses the room in a couple well placed steps, excellent at navigating her dark room. She flings open the door and glares down at her sister.

"Will you shut up? You don't want mum to hear, do you?"

Her little sister glares at Rose and walks away, not even checking to see if Rose is following behind her. But, naturally, she is. She catches up to her sister quickly, before she can press on the light switch for the landing's light.

"Are you an idiot?" Rose hisses at her sister in a hushed tone, "You'll wake them up. Just go."

Her sister blinks up at her, eyes big.

"I'll fall down the stairs in the dark! Don't you have any brains?" She hisses right back.

"More than you do, apparently." Rose grumbles, ignoring her sister's hushed, indignant cry.

Rose pushes past her sister and takes the first couple of steps down, one hand on the railing and one outstretched to her sister. Her sister takes it, allowing herself to be guided down the steps. It takes a few minutes, but the extra time spent is worth it to not wake up their parents.

Once safely at the bottom, the little sister stumbles around until she reaches the kitchen, light still left on. At first glance, nothing is wrong with the kitchen, but then Rose notices a large brown stain on the rug that was definitely not there before.

"Amy. What did you do?" Rose asks her younger sister.

"I woke up too early and I was trying to make myself hot chocolate so I could go back to sleep but when I picked it up the mug was really, really, hot and I dropped it." Amy's words come out in a rush.

Rose nods and walks over to the kitchen sink, running some warm water into the bowl along with some washing up liquid.

"Get some paper towels and press them into the rug. Don't rub, just press."

Amy, for once, does as she's told as once the bowl has a decent amount of water in it, Rose takes a cloth and submerges it in the bowl. Then, she takes the soapy cloth and scrubs at the rug, all the while muttering to Amy how to do it properly so she doesn't ask Rose to do it for her again. With the stain mostly out, Rose takes some more paper towels and lies them along the wet patch on the floor. She stands on them, noticing the half empty cup of hot chocolate on the kitchen counter.

"Tip the bowl out and put it back in the sink, then go up to bed. I'll make you a new one." Rose says.

Amy nods and does as she asks, muttering a 'thank you' before slipping out of the kitchen.

Rose is once again left alone, but this time, without the pressure to lie in the dark and sleep. She puts the powder in the cup, pours the milk while boiling the kettle, the ritual allowing her to breathe a little easier.
And, with the moon shining out the rapidly lightening window, the kettle bubbling beside her, Rose feels safe.