Death Will Always Win

I'll see You There

"Damn it Madeline!" She heard the growling voice yell from behind her just before she could slip into the back hallway of the home. She drew in a quick breath and turned. Uncle Lewis stood behind her, a tall and bloated man that currently had stuffed himself into a pair of well-worn sweatpants and a t-shirt of a band that nobody had listened to in over a decade. A sneer formed on his lips and the redness in his face indicated that already he was well into a few drinks. For a moment, Madeline wondered how one could get that drunk in the hour or so between him getting home from work and her school.

"Y-yes, Uncle Lewis?" Madeline stammered as she turned to him, her body tense and a hand tightly grasping the strap on her backpack.

"Where the fuck did you hide your brother at?" He stomped forward, wobbling slightly before leaning in and shoving his face into her own. The smell of booze was strong and it nearly made her gag as leaned away. "That little shit was supposed to clean up the house! I told him to clean the house! And, he's not cleaning. He's gone!" The man rambled as Madeline stepped back, eyes focused on the position of his arms. Conner was gone? But he should've been home from school a half hour ago.

"I don't know." Madeline confessed as she tried to ease her way around him. "I just got home from school. You know he gets out earlier-"

"Bullshit!" Lewis screamed and lunged for her, an arm wildly swinging down at her. She ducked to the side and spun around him, tears starting to well in her eyes. She slipped off her backpack and prepared to dodge again, but the alcohol seemed to work in her favor. Lewis stumbled and it took him a moment to get his balance back. "You hid him somewhere from me! Where the fuck is he? Where did you put him!"

Oh god! Conner was missing? She racked her brain then. Uncle Lewis probably threatened him into cleaning and got out of hand. Conner could've hid though he know that was the worst thing you could do. If Lewis found you...no amount of makeup would cover up those marks. It was a series of "sick days" then. He must've run! He never did that before but that had to be it.

"I didn't do anything with him." she spoke as she straightened, her own anger boiling to the surface. "You ran him off! You finally did it!" Madeline screamed, a well of new-found courage forming within her. If he ran off her brother...if he let anything bad happen to him...

"Don't you talk to me that way!" Lewis snarled down. An arm rose, lifting to position itself into striking position. Madeline lunged forward, both hands slamming into his chest in a hard shove and the man stumbled back before falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"If anything happens to him while he's out there, I swear I'll kill you!" She yelled down at the now bewildered drunkard. "You're the worst! And I'm done. Done!" And, with those words, she turned to make her way for the door.

"If...if you say anything, I'll-"

"-take you both to hell with me." she shot back without missing a beat. "Well, then I'll see you there." Madeline slammed the door behind her as she bolted outside to find her brother.

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