Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU

31. A Necklace Of Rope

Two Screechers drug Kate, Michael, and Emma off the terrace and into the house, even as the sound of rain began to beat against the roof. They were pulled through the candlelit hallways, Michael yelling all the way, pleading for the Countess to send them home. The Secretary shuffled after them, huffing and puffing to keep up.

Emma once again tried to fight against the monster dragging her along, clawing at its arm with everything she had in her exhausted twelve-year-old body. In response, the Screecher threw her over its shoulder like she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Still, she pounded her fists hard against its back, even though the feel of that rotted, flaky skin against her knuckles was positively disgusting. 

They were lead up another flight of stairs and finally reached their destination - a heavy door festooned with an intimidating lock. The Secretary giggled as he pulled out a ring of keys. 

"Wait-" Kate said desperately, but the door was already being wrenched open, and she and Michael were pushed inside, Emma deposited unceremoniously on the floor beside them. (Sitting with her legs stuck out and her arms crossed and a giant scowl on her face, she would have looked particularly silly in any other situation. As it was, this day had turned so dangerous that no one even noticed the unintentional humor.)

The Secretary closed the door on them, and they could hear the repulsive man giggle and walk away as the lock snapped into place. The siblings were trapped in this room, this dark, dim room (the only sources of light were far away windows, crisscrossed with iron bars, but letting in a faint, gray haze) with the rain pounding on the roof overhead and their own fear threatening to eat them alive. For a moment, they all just stayed there, breathing heavily, trying not to break under the weight of it all.

Then, Emma let out a gut-wrenching cry and threw herself at her brother. 

He fell to the floor with a grunt as she began smacking him, the scuffling sounds and their scrambling shadows reverberating against the cold floorboards. "How could you!" Emma bellowed. "How could you do that to us!" 

"I was scared-" Michael tried to say, but it was hard to speak when Emma had elbowed him in the face in her attempts to keep brawling, now complicated by the fact that Kate had grabbed her by the shoulders and was trying to pull her back.

"We're all scared!" Emma spat vehemently, no longer caring about keeping up a stoic appearance. She struggled against Kate, who had managed to pin the younger girl against her chest, holding her close and saying her name over and over, trying to get her to stop. "But that don't mean we would have given in to the witch! Me an' Kate wouldn't a' done it! We would never sell you out! I would never-"

"Emma, stop," Kate said, once more, and this time it seemed to reach the twelve-year-old's ears. She burst into sobs and went limp, slumping in her sister's embrace. Her tears dampened Kate's shirt. 

"We could have gotten outa' here, all of us," Emma sniffled. "But now we're stuck."

She didn't say that she blamed Michael for that part. She didn't have to. Both of her siblings could hear the accusatory notes in her broken young voice. Still sprawled on the floor, Michael wiped at his own face. Kate wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but she didn't. She couldn't. Because though she understood why Michael did what he did, she couldn't say the words, couldn't trust herself to be a steady pillar for him to hold on to when she was still so shaken. Her siblings needed her to be strong, and that meant she couldn't risk it all by talking to her brother before she was ready and breaking down. 

After a few moments, Emma's sobs ceased and when Kate released her, she didn't collapse or try to attack Michael, not even when he got to his feet and came to stand less than a foot away from her. She just brushed her tears away and murmured, "where are we?"