The Runaway Sister

eleven | movie morning

I'm running. Running. Running down a long hallway. The flats are filled with crackheads like Mum's boyfriend. I scream. Scream. 

"Come back, stupid girl!" Mum's boyfriend yells. What's his name? I don't know. Why? Why? I've known him for years. 

"Leave me alone! Someone! Help!" I cry out. "Help me!" No one comes out. No one stops him from throwing a beer bottle at my head.

It scrapes the back of my shin. I collapse onto the dirty floorboards in pain and exhaustion. His rough hands yank me back into his flat. 

I hide under the bed for the rest of the day. 

I can't wait for the holiday to be over. 

I wake up panting and sweaty. I suddenly feel cold, yet clammy. I'm hot but shivering. What's wrong with me? 

I go to the bathroom and splash water onto my face. 

My reflection is depressing: red eyes, tangled hair, dark bags underneath my eyes. A lone tear slides down my face. 

What would life have been like if Mum didn't die? 

What would it have been like if Uncle never took me away to begin with? 

———

Someone pounds on my door. "Go away," I tiredly mumble from underneath my comforter. I snuggle in deeper, but then the door opens. I hear someone's muffled snickering, and then suddenly I'm over one of the twins' shoulders. 

I immediately begin to pound on the person's back. "This is abduction! Help! Someone?!" I shriek. 

Then the person, who I can only assume to be Logan because muscles drill into my legs, stops abruptly. "Where are you taking our sister, Logan? Hm? Luke?" Alexander asks coldly, but I can hear the tiredness seep through his tones. 

"We were only going to take her to the movie theatre!" Luke exclaims. 

Alexander doesn't say anything for a moment. "Don't make it messy, alright? The Bertellis arrive at six." 

"Alright!" Luke giddily agrees, and they continue on their quest. 

Before long, I'm plopped onto a leather sofa in a dark room. "You woke me up for what exactly?" I ask, yawning. I take a pink plush blanket folded beside me and wrap myself in it. I think I resemble a burrito by Luke's giggles. 

"To spend quality time with us, duh!" Luke says. 

"Why? Should we sit you down in Alexander's office? Would that be more fun?" Logan suggests. 

I roll my eyes, and lean into the couch, sleep weighing heavily down on my eyelids. Logan gently smacks the top of my head. I glare at him. "What the heck was that for?!" 

"No falling asleep. It's in Alexander's rules, right? Especially during an action movie," He says. 

"Alexander said nothing about not falling asleep," I snap. 

"He, in fact, did say something about being snarky," Zachary says. I whip around to see him smirking. He falls into a chair in the row behind mine. 

"Why are you here?" I ask. I'm still terse about him stopping me from running away. 

"Wow, Ev. I really feel the love." He places a hand over his heart, raising an eyebrow at me. 

Luke falls next to me, wraps his arms around me, and makes me lean against him. I try to slip away, but his grip just becomes tighter. "I like personal space," I mutter.