The Underground

Chapter Four

"Hey." I hear, my head being jostled from where it rests by eager hands. I feel like I had just fallen asleep, and now I was being roused again.

"Key, you gotta get up, your dad called." The voice I now recognize to be Emery's says. I hear Keeyan groan, before I feel his gaze fall on me. 

"Don't worry, I don't even want to know." Emery assures,  evidently laughing at Keeyan's current situation.  

"You're such a sicko, Emery." He groans, his voice still thick with sleep. "She was upset about the entire situation, my dad said I was supposed to take care of her." He then defends. 

"Hey, Aurora." Keeyan whispers, shaking my shoulders. I groan, burying my face into his chest, causing both of the boys to laugh. 

"I know, I know. But you've gotta get up, we have to get going." He says, moving my hair off of my shoulders. 

"We have to go somewhere?" I ask, my voice quiet. "Yeah, we have to go home. It isn't safe for you around here, I don't want anything bad to happen." He informs. 

"Okay, I can get up, I can." I say, smiling as I push myself off of Keeyan's chest. "Alright, well, I have to go call my dad, we will let you get ready." He smiles, pulling Emery out of the room with him. 

I sigh, walking up to my closet. Today was a day of mourning, that was one thing I knew for sure. All of the brightly coloured clothes in my closet looked so out of place, so wrong. They didn't belong there, they were too happy. They reminded me of my dad, the happiness he showed even in the roughest of times. 

Part of me wanted to burn them, watch the flames engulf all I had ever known. The smoke rising up to the sky would symbolize a new beginning, a new me completely. But the other part of me wanted to cling tightly to any memory of him I had at my disposal. 

I quickly pull myself out of the trance I was in, grabbing a pair of black tights, wool socks, a grey sweatshirt, and my black combat boots. 

I run a brush quickly through my auburn curls, slipping the beanie on my head to tie off the outfit before slipping on my black combat boots and exiting my room. 

Who knows when I will be back here, if I will be at all. As Keeyan said, I am not safe here, I almost died last night. 

I trudge down the staircase, grabbing my purse with my emergency supplies in it before meeting the boys in the kitchen. 

"Ready to go?" Keeyan asks, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I nod, my words being caught in my throat as I look at the frames that line the walls of my childhood home. 

He raised me, he was the only one that was there for me my entire life, he is gone, forever. Keeyan shoots me a sad smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Come on." He urges, rubbing my arm comfortingly. 

I nod, holding my head up high and walking towards the front door. Getting out of here will do me some good, that is one thing I am sure of. 

My breath hitches in my throat as I pass my father's room. He insisted that his room had to be the first one when you entered the house. That way no one could get to me, it is sad to see that it didn't work.

Against my better judgement I peek my head in the room, seeing his body still laying pale, cold, and lifeless, on his bedroom floor. The only colour around him at all was the dried crimson that surrounded his corpse. 

I feel my legs begin to shake under me, struggling to hold my body upright. "Aurora, you shouldn't be here." Emery says, putting his hand on my shoulder. 

His attempt at physical comfort is enough to send me completely over the edge. I fall to my knees on the once white carpet, transforming to a sobbing mess in the blink of an eye.