The Purge

On guard

The door opened with only the slightest creak, but it was enough to instigate Ray. He shot up off the mattress in a cold sweat and fumbled on the ground for the nearest thing he could use as a weapon. When he turned to the door, he found Roc smirking, his hands held up by his ears.

"Woah soldier...you gonna kill me for bringing you breakfast?"

Relieved, Ray scoffed, flinging down the shard of glass and sitting up properly. Light streamed through the attic for the first time, but Ray still felt worn out. He could feel the heaviness of his bags weighing him down, and the soreness of his back from the dodgy springs in the mattress. Roc handed him a Mc.Donalds bag and hungrily, Ray tucked in, devouring the content of the individual wrappers.

"So...you have 10 hours, what's your plan?" Roc began, slowly and seriously unwrapping his burger. Plan? Ray lifted his face to look at Roc, mid-chew.

"I..I didn't think I'd need one" he said quiziccaly, which caused Roc to laugh.

"Look Ray, I can give you a refuge, but that doesn't make it 100% clan proof. I mean, look what happened last year to Misfit: he had bloody metal reinforcements, but that didn't stop The Clan, did it?"

Ray cast his mind back to last year, the tradgedy of Misfit. They had been close freinds, and the memories still pained him. He had to witness the long, slow death of Misfit as The Clan unmericfully forced their way into his home and set it alight. From that day forward, Ray swore he would never have anything which would ignite jealously in others, for it could only make you a target; In Misfit's case, a big house and a big heart. Everyday, he would have to pass Mrs. Perez, or atleast the crazy, scitzophrenic, ungroomed woman she had become. Despite her off-railed behavior, the remaining softeness in her eyes reminded Ray of who Misfit was.

"So...this isn't enough?"

Ray snapped back into reality a his eyes went round the room. Roc was right. The Clan could more than easily climb the rickety ladder, or come in through the shattered window. The only key they required was the secret. The secret of Ray's whereabouts.

"Look...Im gonna teach you to fight. Atleast then, The Clan will have a challenege on their hands" he chuckled, taking a bite out of his burger.

"What about Kiyah?" Ray asked, flinging his now empty wrapper into the pile of growing trash on the floor. At the sound of her name, she wriggled in her spot, still sound asleep and as peaceful as ever, "She couldn't hurt anybody even if she wanted to"

Roc smiled fondly at her, huddled to herself. In her, he saw everything he wanted his own daughter to be, and treated her as is she were. The bond between him and Ray made Kiyah his responsibility, and he wasn't about to take it lightly. It wasn't long before she squirmed and slowly opened her eyes, squinting as the unusual bright light blinded her.

"Roccy, your here!" she smiled tiredly, sitting up on the mattress.

"Yep, I told you you'd see me" he grinned, kissing the tip of her nose and pressing her bag of Mc.Donalds into her hand. Her eyes lit up as she saw the bag, and she hungrily ate. Suddenly, she relaized she had eaten over half of her burger, and guiltily held it out to Ray, her eyes hung with shame.

"Sorry Ray..." she mumbled "This is for you...I forgot, Im sorry, I was just so hungry"

Ray laughed as he pressed the burger back into Kiyah's hands. Like he said, she couldn't hurt anyone even if she wanted to.

"Kiyah, that's yours. I've already eaten" he chuckled warmly. "Come on, eat up. We've got to get you in and out of school before it gets dark again, and your already late"