Secrets (why don't we) discontinued

28

We pull up the location. "Which one are they?" Megan asked. "I'll show you." We walk to the very back in the corner. When we arrived, she knelt down to read. "I'm loving memory Lisa and Kevin Steel. They got buried together?" Megan asked. "Yeah, they did. It's kinda poetic." I say trying to lighten the mood. She giggles a little bit. "Wait, how did you know where that were?" "I go here sometimes to clear my head and talk out stuff." I say. "You visit our parent without me? Is there anything else you are keeping from me?" She asked. "Actually... yeah there is." I pull out the box. "What is that?" "You'll see." I say giving her the box. She opens it and sees pictures. Pictures of our parents as teens and adults. There are also pictures of us as babies As she digs deeper into the box, she finds the note. She unfolds it and reads.
The note says:
To our two beautiful daughters,
For starters we just want you to know, this was not your fault. We just are just not happy with our lives. We will always love you. Megan, listen to your sister. She is just trying to look out for you. And Sarah, please look after your sister. Lead her in the right direction. We are counting on you to help Aunt Karen and Uncle Roy to raise her. We will always be watching over you guys. We love you so much.
Love, mom and dad.

"How do you have this? Who is Aunt Karen and Uncle Roy? Why aren't we living with them?" She asked. "Well, let me start from the beginning. You were 3 and I was 5 when our parents died. I didn't know how at the time, I just knew we weren't gonna see them anymore. So we went to go live with Aunt Karen and Uncle Roy. Aunt Karen was sweet. She was like a second mother. But Uncle Roy was an abusive drunk with anger issues. He would always try to beat us but I didn't let him touch you. I used to hide you in the closet and pray that he wouldn't find you. That means that I would take all of his anger." Tears slipped from my eyes as I continue "This went on for years until one day. I was 7 and you were 5 at the time. He was extremely angry. He came into our room unexpectedly, I didn't get a chance to hide you yet. I grabbed you and we hid in the corner. Aunt Karen jumped in front of him to tried to fight him off, that gave me time to call 9-1-1. I told them what was happening and the woman in the other end told me to hide. We hid in Aunt Karen and Uncle Roy's bedroom. I locked the door. There was a lot of screaming. Then silence. Then there was a bang on the door. I got scared and the woman told me to search for a weapon. I didn't see one, all I saw was a box that had a label on it that read give this to the girls when the time is right - Lisa and Mark.
I heard another Big Bang and the door looked like it was about to come off. So I grabbed you and hid in the closet. The closet was thankfully in the bathroom in the back. I hid us by a pile of clothes. I heard the door bust open. I covered your mouth and shut my eyes. I heard other voices and then a woman came to get us. When we were being escorted out, I remembered to get the box. I've kept it ever since." I explain. She is bawling her eyes out. She brings me in a hug. "Thank you." "Hey, it's a big sister's job to protect her little sister." I laugh. We stand there hugging for a little while. She pulls away and her face is wet from tears. "I don't know how to thank you." Megan said looking at the box. "You can buy me lunch, I'm starving." I laugh. She laughs too. "Let's go." I say. I sling my arm over her shoulder and pull her close as we walk to the car.
At the In and out
We sit and eat. I pull out my phone and take a picture of Megan.
Hours later
It was night and I was in my room scrolling through Twitter when I hear a knock on my door. "Sarah, can I sleep in here with tug tonight?" She asks. "Uh yeah, sure. Why?" "I just don't want to sleep alone tonight." She said. I scoot over. She closes the door back and lays down, putting her head on my lap. I stroke her hair until I hear her light snores. I turn off my lamp, lay down and go to sleep myself.