Forgot To Count

1: The Shed

Fia
The sleeves of my oversized grey jumper are soaked and tear-stained at the ends. Yet, when Jace grabs them to pull me up from the floor, he doesn't seem to notice.

He scares me. Not because I don't know him or what his intentions are but because of his clothes; they are obviously expensive and they are so spotlessly clean that I don't want to touch him, out of fear of leaving any marks on his crystal white shirt. But the elegance and sharpness of him invites me in, making me want to face my fear and touch him. It almost feels like when a parent warns you of danger which just made you want to do it even more. He looks to be a couple of years older than me, eighteen, maybe nineteen, but completely out of place next to Liara and I, under a bridge. You would expect to find someone who looked like him in his huge mansion with shining walls, whiter than the tip of a perfectly manicured French nail. Or in a casino drinking the finest, most expensive wine.

Liara, however, doesn't intimidate me or make me feel belittled at all. Her rosy cheeks look rough and dry and her scruffy clothes hang loose on her thin, wiry build. Her white blonde hair is long, ending near her elbows but it looks like it hasn't been washed in weeks, unlike Jaces', which looks softer than a cloud. Big green eyes illuminate her face, making you see past the scar slashed across her hollow cheek and find beauty in her heart-shaped face.

A delicate, bony hand holds onto mine and another is put comfortingly around my back. "Are you okay?" Liara coos to me, as though I am a baby.

I don't say anything. My voice would probably fail me, anyway.

"Let's just take her home, Liara." Jace answers for me, taking my other arm almost as gingerly as Liara had.

My eyes grow with fear. "No!" I scream, suddenly scared. "You can't! It-"

Looking me in the eye, Jace cuts me off. "Be quiet, unless you want anyone to hear us." He hisses in my face. Before he said that, I had thought I could trust him, but the anger in his eyes changes my mind - they are going to kill me. I feel my heart beat pick up speed and my breath hitch in my throat.

Liara and Jace link one arm through each of mine, half pulling, half carrying me, up towards the road. I try to pull away, but then give in as I realise that I probably deserve whatever they are going to do to me.

They loosen their hold on me as we walk further down the street which I guess was to try not to cause suspicion.

"Where should we take her?" Liara asks Jace, but she doesn't try to keep her voice quiet, like I would expect a murderer to.

Rubbing his chin in thought, he answers, "Probably the Shed. Oak will be annoyed if she doesn't get to meet her tonight."

I don't know who Oak is but I am not sure that I want to.

After a few more minutes of them leading me down the street, Liara pulls us down an alley to our right. On either side of us, two hedges loom up high, engulfing us in darkness. I grow tense as they carry on forward, as though a torch is guiding them the way.

All of a sudden, I halt to a stop, Liara and Jace nearly pulling me over in my abruptness.

"What's wrong?" Liara asks.

"I thought I heard-." I'm cut off.

Suddenly, I am knocked backwards, a scream escaping my lips. I stumble, almost falling to the ground.

An excited giggle sounds through the darkness.

"Oak!" Jace and Liara scold, almost simultaneously.

I'm confused and scared - but not terrified like you should be when knowing your death is near.

"Come on!" A new voice squeals and a hand clutches my arm, pulling me to the left. Cautiously, I carry on being pulled into nothingness until I bump into the person in front of me, who has suddenly stopped.

I sense Jace approaching me from behind and tense. Whoever was in front of me, starts banging on something; it sounds like wood. A flood of light surrounds us in an instant and I have to squint until my eyes adjust enough for me to see a door creaking open.

From what I can see on the outside, the door is the entrance to a small wooden shed. Holding the door open, is a young boy with curly, black hair piled on the top of his head, smiling at us. The girl, who - I'm guessing - had been banging on the door, looks slightly older than him and has long, brown hair pulled tightly into a high ponytail.

"Jace, Lia, where were you- Oh. Hi, I'm Marble." The boy reaches his hand out to me and when I take it, he shakes it, over enthusiastically.

I feel Jaces' hand on my back, pushing me forward. "Get back in the Shed. Make room for her, Oak."

"OK, JJ." The younger girl - Oak - shouts and skips past Marble into the Shed.

Stepping into the Shed, I see another boy, about Jaces' age, sat on a beanbag. He looks up from his phone, smiles at me and carries on playing on his phone. There are cushions, pillows and duvets thrown all over the far side of the Shed, which Oak is tidying up, making it look more like a bed.

Jace chucks his coat over the back of the chair pushed under the desk and gestures for me to follow him. He opens a door to a small sink, a toilet and a small chest of 4 drawers. "You can borrow some of Liara's clothes to sleep in - they're in the second drawer down. Once you've cleaned up, Oak will show you where to sleep." He doesn't smile as he shuts the door, he just looks exhausted, but I don't feel like I am not wanted.

After changing into Liara's clothes and washing my face, I take my clothes out of the bathroom, not really knowing what to do.

"Here, I'll take those." Liara says, taking my clothes and throwing them in a cardboard box. "We'll get them washed tomorrow."

A tap on my shoulder, makes me turn around to Oak. "You can sleep next to me, Fia. Look, I gave you the pink duvet!"

"Where's Jace?" I ask, noticing his presence gone.

"He's in the house. It's beautifu-." Oak is cut off by a sharp glare from Liara. I decide not to ask anything more until morning.

Oak slides under the covers, as do I, before she starts talking. "Why were you crying?" Had Liara and Jace told them?

"Oak!" Liara says, annoyed. "Leave her alone. Go to sleep. It's late." Then, she flicks a switch and the light disappears.

I shouldn't be here. I should be dead.