Choni

Dusk Till Dawn

It takes a lot to pull an all nighter. Maybe when your at a sleepover surrounded by a group of squealing and gossiping girls it's easy. Or when you and your best guy friend want to stay up and play video games all night.

But sitting there, shivering from fear and from the cold hearted women sleeping downstairs, keeping Cheryl awake into the depths of the night.

She heard scratching on her window and resisted the urge to scream, but instead threw open the curtains in a flurry of motion. There was nothing but a tree branch lightly tapping against the clear glass frame of her window.

She hated this room with its dark walls and enclosing air that seemed to suffocate Cheryl with every breath. It reminded her how much she was truly alone.

Then she saw him. Claudius. Walking towards a car, dragging a bag behind him. The bag was long and black. He picked it up and threw it into the back of his blue pickup truck. Cheryl worried she'd be next in the bag if she disobeyed once more.

Her mother had dug her nails into Cheryl's arm the moment they got home from the police station. She brought Cheryl's eat close to her wrinkled mouth. "There are land mines around your feet Cheryl. Step out of line, and they'll explode"

She then released Cheryl's arm and walked away. Cheryl pretended not to be fazed as she walked up to her room, spending the entire night there and now finding herself awake at two o'clock in the morning, watching a crime be placed out by her father's twin.