The Blood We Shed

Chapter 7 - Kevin

I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried.

I couldn't stop thinking about what I was going to do to Ray. I felt as horrible and cruel as my parents, and that said a lot. I was taking Ray on my bike, which had two seats on it, to the bus stop by the grocery store. That was the closest one after all.

I changed into a purple hoodie and some black jeans. I couldn't be noticed. I wanted to look like a normal twelve-year-old who meant no harm. I grabbed the pouch with the money and headed to Ray's room to wake her up.

Ray was fast asleep in her bed like I told her to be. I felt grateful for such an obedient and sweet sister. Now I was throwing her away like she was a used toy I didn't want anymore.

I went up to Ray's bed and woke her up. "Ray, wake up. We have to go."

Ray's eyes fluttered open as she woke up from her slumber. She stretched and yawned like a baby bunny. "Okay...five more minutes?"

I sighed. "Ray, this is serious. We have to go..." Then I suddenly thought to myself, This is one of her last moments with me. I have to treat her nicely.

"Fine. I'll wait. Then we get ready to leave, alright?"

Ray laid down again. "Okay, Kev..."

She closed her eyes again, leaving me five minutes to spend. I looked around her room. The walls were baby pink, and the carpet was beige. There were crayon drawings pinned to the walls that Ray made in preschool. I noticed that our parents were in neither of them. It was always either flowers, dogs, nature stuff, or herself. Sometimes she included me in her drawings, which I always appreciated.

She adorably signed her drawings. She learned how to sign them as a five-year-old, and she always signed them the same way. She always signed them with her name in capital letters.

I thought it was a beautiful signature for a nine-year-old. She wasn't artistic, but her handwriting always looked like her signature, which I loved. I was going to keep a drawing of us together to cherish.

Her bed had a black leather bed frame with purple butterfly bedsheets. Her pillowcase and blanket matched them. She had a lavender canopy net over the three-foot-high headboard. The floor was scattered with dolls and play kitchen stuff. Her wardrobe was black and in the corner of the room next to the window with gray curtains.

I was going to miss hearing her play with her dolls and kitchen set, pretending to run a restaurant. She one time tried getting our parents to play, but they told her that they were busy. Probably busy drinking alcohol and watching soap operas, along with romance movies that were for 18+.

My family was never perfect. All because of a stupid mark. My only wish was to not have this mark. Have both me and my sister free from this torture. And all of the kids that had it. The ones that died because of it.

I checked the time on my watch and realized it had been five minutes. I walked over to Ray's bed and woke her up by gently shaking her shoulder. Ray stirred and woke up.

"Are we leaving, Kev?"

I replied, "Yes we are, Ray. Get ready."

She obeyed and twenty minutes later, she was ready. I wanted to cry, but I had to seem tough. This was my little sister. She should be more scared than me. We exited her room after grabbing her stuff and snuck down the stairs.

Our parents were asleep on the couches in the living room. My mom had an empty bottle of champagne in her right hand, which was dangling off the side of the couch. She was a beautiful woman in a witch-like way. She would've been a successful Hollywood actress if she hadn't been arrested for shoplifting when she was 22. She had attempted to steal a designer bag that cost around $200.

Overall, she was a cruel woman. If I could, I would report her to the police. I would say, "Hey, this woman, Natalie Smith, is abusive to her children, along with her husband, Sebastian Smith. She has a criminal record and is an alcoholic. Please send her to jail for life, please, and thank you!"Our dad was just as bad. He was more abusive and hated us more than anything. I gently pushed

Ray toward the back door, wanting her out the more I looked at our parents.

I whispered, "Hurry!"

Ray whispered back, "I'm trying!"

We were soon in the backyard, and I quietly shut the door behind me. I took a deep breath and kicked the stand of my black and red bike. I helped Ray onto the back seat and got in front. I biked to the grocery market in silence. I felt like I was leaving, too, feeling excited and free as I traveled further from our house.

I felt confined in that house. I rarely went out due to the mark. I only went to school or the grocery market. Nowhere else. We arrived within five minutes. I stopped the bike by the bus stop and kicked the stand down. I helped Ray off the bike and hugged her tight.

"Here we are, Ray. I'll miss you. You are...an amazing sister. I love you more than anything. Remember me, alright, sis?"

Ray sniffed.

"A-Alright, Kev. I love you, too."

I watched with a heavy heart as Ray got onto the bus with her backpack. She sat down on an empty seat on the bus and stayed away from as many people as she could. She was very shy and had social anxiety, so it made sense. She seemed anxious and ready to cry any second. But she hated crying in public and would wait to cry when she was by herself, where nobody could see or hear her.

I waved to her, and she turned to me, her eyes filled with tears. She waved back, and I couldn't help but tear up as well. I wanted to take her back home, where she could be with me. Most people would add "safe and sound" to that, but it would be the opposite for her if she were back home.

Home was not safe or sound in our case. The middle of nowhere was safer. I'd find her again one day. I just have to find a way to do so.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter was three times shorter than the previous one. I just wanted this chapter to be about Kevin letting go of Ray. I love angst and all, but these characters' backstories are so sad😭. Love y'all!❤️❤️❤️

-Sally Delaney, author of this book