Hasn't anyone ever told you not to Blink?
Blink and you're dead.
Blink and you're forgotten.
Don't Blink.
You've been warned. Good Luck
x x x x x x x
Meet Tunbridge College's walking mystery. A girl named Blink who eats candy to quell her smoking u...
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Hours later, Blink was curled into a small ball, napping away on her little sister's bed, while Justin sat beside the girl on the ground. She insisted on playing Barbies with Justin while Blink sat on the bed and watched the two act out the lives of plastic dolls.
She'd fallen asleep pretty quickly after Justin made the two girls laugh so hard, they could barely breathe.
Now, Justin and the girl laid on their stomachs— Althea with her tongue poking out of her mouth in concentration and her eyes trained hard on Justin's large hands as she painted his fingernails. The color was pink of course, but Justin couldn't say no to the girl if he tried.
A few short hours and he already found himself wrapped around the little girl's finger. She was like a miniature version of Blink in every way possible. Not only did they have the same hair, skin tone, and smile but they both were a bit guarded at first, letting him know the little things before they chose to trust him and share more.
"You're the only one who lets me paint their nails" she smiled, moving on from his pinky finger to his ring finger. "Blink never lets me because she doesn't even like the color pink" she rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"So, Blink visits you a lot huh?" Justin blew on his nails when she instructed him to.
"When Mom lets her" she shrugged her small shoulders. "Sometimes I hear her come in, but she never makes it upstairs because of her fighting with Mom. It gets really loud and then it all goes quiet when the men in black outfits come in."
"What?" Justin couldn't hide his confusion.
"One time I tried to see if I could go down to Blink instead of her coming to me, but first Mom yelled in her face and then these big tall guys," she paused to open her arms wide to demonstrate how big the guys were, "in all black came and dragged Blink out. She was kicking and screaming, but when I tried to stop them, Mom yelled at me to go back upstairs and that she'd take the piano away if I ever did something like that again."
She frowned. "I don't want her to take it away because it makes my sister happy, so now when I hear them argue, I stay in my room and wait until it all goes quiet"
"Do you know where they take her, Althea? When the big men come in and get Blink, do you know where she goes?" Justin felt bad about fishing such secrets from a girl so innocent, but how in the world could he not ask questions about something so sketchy? Something about this whole situation wasn't right, he knew it, but the way this girl was so oblivious to the family's evident problems was astounding.
"No, I asked mommy once but she told me those are the guys who take bad people away" she continued painting his fingernails as she spoke. "But Blink's not bad, right? She's my sister and she's nice to me and she brings me things that mom doesn't let me eat. Like candy"
Justin shook his head, sitting up so that his brain could process exactly what he was hearing. "I don't think Blink's bad at all. She's one of the good guys."
"She's like a superhero!" The little girl giggled, stopping immediately when the door to her room swung open. In the doorway stood her mother, her hair down and resembling both of her daughters. Her clothes were more relaxed than when they first arrived. The one thing that hadn't changed was the angry scowl on her face.
Ignoring Justin and Althea on the floor, her eyes flew to the girl sleeping peacefully on the bed surrounded by the thin pink canopy material. "Diem!" Her mom's voice was forceful. Blink didn't wake, but her eyebrows began to scrunch together and after her mother tried again, her voice full of pure hatred this time, Blink was up and apologizing frantically.
"Its time to go. You've been here long enough. Get out" Her mom's arms were folded over her chest in an impatient manor, the gesture going a long way when she leaned all her weight to one side and began tapping her foot.
Springing to her feet, Blink made her way across the room and towards the door. She stopped to place a chaste kiss to Althea's head before she gripped Justin's hand tightly and ushered him towards the door.
"Bye, Blink! I love you!" The girl screamed, only realizing her error when Blink yelped from the force of her mother's hand on her cheek. Releasing Justin's hand who was frozen in surprise, Blink crashed to the carpet on her butt. As her mother began taking small steps towards her, she used the hand that wasn't pressed against her cheek to scoot herself away.
"I swear I told her not to call me that" Blink's lip trembled, her tears resurfacing when she heard the instant cries of her little sister.
"I didn't mean it Mommy! I'm sorry!" Althea cried out, stumbling to her feet to force her mom away from Blink's form.
Shaking his head as if snapping into reality, Justin moved to stand between Blink's cowering form and her mom, who stood over her in pure spite. He knew exactly how it felt to be thrown around and belittled by a parent, and he refused to allow it to happen if he could stop it. Especially if someone as young as Althea had to watch it take place.
"I don't want that name spoken in this household ever" she made sure to enunciate the last word, hoping that it would get her point across. "That is a failure's name and I won't tolerate it." With her eyes snapping to each kids, including Justin's, she turned suddenly and walked out of the room, taking the angry cloud above her head with her.
"She's fucking crazy," Justin muttered, turning around to scoop Blink up once again. Setting her on her feet, he wiped away her fallen tears before he bent down and did the same to her miniature replica.
"Bye, Justin" the girl whispered sadly, standing on her tippy-toes to tell him to take care of her sister while she was away. When they sealed the deal with a pinky promise, Justin stood, switching roles with Blink this time as he grabbed her hand and lead her back down the steps to the first level.
Making sure the pathway to the front door was clear, Justin intertwined their fingers as he tugged Blink behind him. She remained still and silent, not even blinking as he grabbed her bag from the porch and slipped each of the straps onto her shoulders.
"You've gotta lead us from here" he whispered down to Blink, giving the row home full of secrets one last look over the girl's shoulder.
Since I am going through this story and editing it, and this chapter is the first to feature a bit of abuse, I feel like I should put a source of help here. 1-800-799-7233 is the United States National Domestic Violence hotline that is free to call 24/7/365. I apologize if you live outside the US, but I'm sure a quick google search can help anyone in need
