The Rebellious Host | ✓

Laina

The first thing my eyes lock on is a blinding white light above me. At first I think I'm dead. Then I realize that one, that's stupid since I can feel my body, and two, I can feel my body. Not like how I did when Autumn Skies was in me- this is different. I'm totally in control, and her annoying presence is gone.

Slowly the blurring colors around the light move into focus. First I recognize Mel, standing above me and giving me a strange look. The second is Jamie, his eyes lighting up when he realizes that yes, I am still alive. And the third-

"Jared?" I ask. Thank God, I can talk!

He looks down at me for a moment, then he realizes who I am. I sit up, looking at my brother half in surprise, and- much to everyone's confusion- half in betrayal.

"How do you..." Melanie trails off.

Jared gives me a strange look, but I understand the message. "Know each other?" He finishes Melanie's thought. "She's my little sister."

Everyone looks back and forth between us, confused. Of course they don't see the resemblance- I'm around thirteen years younger than my brother, since my mom was eighteen when she had him and thirty-something before she and my father had me- but my hair is also somewhat darker than his. Not to mention I barely hit five feet, and he's like six-two. Our eyes are different, too- his are a honey color, and mine are blue, like our mother's. He looks like a mix of our parents, the best of both of them, while I apparently look more like our grandmother.

Jamie's eyebrows scrunch together. "But you two don't have the same last name."

I let out a laugh. Leave it to Jamie to figure it out. Everyone looks at me as if I'm slightly insane, with the exception of those who actually know me- meaning Mel, Jamie, Jared, and Uncle Jeb, who had insisted ever since I was younger to call him that.

"Our parents divorced before I went into kindergarten, when I moved next door to you and Mel, Jamie. Jared lived with our father, and I lived with our mother." I move my eyes to Jamie. "She took back her maiden name, Sennett, when we moved."

"You two look nothing alike." Ian- I'm surprised I remember his name- says.

Jared and I look at each other, and he rolls his eyes. "I'm almost thirteen years younger. I'm almost fourteen. Our parents got married right after they graduated high school, and had him not that long after that. I was born- what was it? six years- before they were divorced."

Jared nods. "They didn't give us a real choice on who we were going to live with. Our mother took Laina and disappeared." He turns to me. "That wasn't even your real name."

Now everyone looks confused, even Jamie. "What was it?" he asks. "I only ever remember your name being Laina Cecil Sennett."

I shake me head. "I don't remember. I only ever remember it being Laina."

Jared sighs. "It was Roxana Skylar."

I nod, remembering. "You used to call me Roxy. Or by my full name when you were mad." I smile, but it quickly fades. "You know that the week after you left, I came to visit you and Dad?"

"Really?" he asks.

I nod. "You, Dad, Jackson and Ryan." Everyone looks confused. "Our brothers." I explain. "They're like, six years older than me."

"How are they?" He asks. "Our family, I mean."

I let out a long, low breath. "Well, let's see. Last time I checked, Dad had been in the hospital. Heart attack. He died three hours after it happened. I was over at his house. Mom and Jackson are gone, meaning they've got Souls in them."

"And Ryan?"

I give him a sad look. "Killed himself. Two years ago, I think. Maybe last year. I can't remember. But he told me before he did it- he did it at night- that there were things that he would be happy to forget. A-and then that night..." I close my eyes, trying hard to keep the image from my mind and failing miserably. "We found him dead in the bathroom. There was so much blood..." The image of the white bathroom, the tiles splashed with crimson and my brother's lifeless body hits me full-force.

Someone grabs my hand, and I realize that it's Jamie. Everyone else is silent. He slowly turns my arm over, and his expression is strange when he sees the scars lining my arms, some of them newer than others. The Soul- Wanderer- sucks in a breath when she sees the white lines.

"What are these from?" Jamie doesn't look up from my arm.

I touch the scar on my wrist, and my other one. "Suicide attempts. After Jackson and Mom became Souls." I touch from the second to the fifth. "After Jared disappeared." Fifth to the last ones, the thirteenth. "After you and Mel left."

He flips my arm over, touching the barely-there ones, thanks to the Souls' medicines. "And these?"

One side of my mouth pulls upwards. "My attempt at suicide when they found me."

Ian's eyes move to my throat. "And that one on your neck? It looks new to me."

I'd seen it in the mirror before Autumn Skies and I had come here. I give a wry smile. "My latest attempt. She was driving me insane- the Soul, I mean- so I grabbed a steak knife and I guess the rest is obvious. There's probably a scar on my stomach, too. That time I ruptured my stomach and intestines, and clipped my liver and kidneys. That one hurt."

Uncle Jeb watches me for a minute, a rifle in his hand. "You sure tried hard to find a way out." He says at last.

I nod. "I thought everyone I cared for was dead. Or so I thought. And anyway, death and I have always been quite close, right Jamie?"