Stay With Me ✔

31.

"Ky, I don't think you should go in there." Andy is looking out the window at the house Rave and Ever loosely call "home". It looks the same as the first time I came here, the cracks and chipped paint are still there, the grass is still overgrown - although it's dying now with the colder weather. I can still see the boxes stacked tall on the front porch, but even though it looks the same, it feels different - colder. 

"I have to find Ever." I push open the door of the jeep and step out onto the pavement. Andy had parked across the street, in case anyone was in the house, but it seemed to be empty. The only car in the driveway was Rave's and there were no lights on inside the house. I close the car door as quietly as possible and take a look around the neighborhood. There's a few porch lights on at a few of the houses, but no one is out or even seems to be awake. I don't know which of the neighbors is the one that Ever sometimes visits, but by the looks of it, none of the neighbors are up and comforting a terrified child right now.

I hear Andy get out and walk over to me, he's also searching the street for any sign that we're not alone out here. I feel safer with him by my side, so I take a step towards Rave's house, making sure to make as little noise as possible just as a precaution. I don't know how to find her, shouting her name doesn't seem to be a smart idea. 

I'm positive that she isn't inside the house, so I start to walk around it and towards the backyard. There's an old playhouse sitting beside a rusty swing set, but when I look inside she's not there. She's also not under the back porch, hiding in the overgrown bushes, or in the neighbors yard. We searched the entire street, whisper shouting her name and getting no reply.

"Is there anywhere else you can think of to look?" Andy asks, leaning against his jeep as I pace nervously in front of him under the street lamp. I rack my brain, but the only other place I can think of is Haley's - maybe she did take off walking that way, it's the only place she would feel safe. 

"She has this friend that lives on the other side of town, maybe she's headed there?" My shoulder slump and I feel drained. This day went from being perfect to a nightmare in a matter of seconds, and I don't know what to do anymore. I just want to rewind time and have them both sitting at my kitchen table, laughing and listening to my mom tell them embarrassing stories of my childhood. 

I want them to be okay, I want to know that they're okay. I want to see Rave, but I can't go to him without his sister - both because he would be worried sick and because I am worried sick about her. 

"We can drive that way, see if we see her and-" Andy stops talking as we hear the sound of footsteps running down the street towards us. My first thought is that it's Rave's dad or one of his friends coming for us, but when I hear her call my name, I drop to my knees and she crashes her tiny body into my arms.

We're both shaking, sobbing, and holding on to each other as if our lives depend on it. She's still wearing the dress she wore to dinner, but it's covered in dirt and her curly hair has fallen out of it's braid. Other than that, she looks safe and in one piece as I cup her face in my hands and look into her tear filled eyes. She looks exhausted and terrified, like the life has been sucked out of her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head, "But Rave...he...he really hurt Rave and I can't...I can't find him." Her crying starts all over again and her entire body shakes as the sobs tear through her. 

I pull her back into my arms, "It's okay, Rave is at the hospital, they're going to make sure he's okay."

She hugs me again, just as tightly as before. "Where were you, Ever? I looked everywhere."

She turns and points down the street at something I can't see. "We have a hiding place down there, Rave told me to go there. I heard you say my name but I couldn't tell that it was you, so when you came back to the car I got closer to see who it was." 

Andy comes over and crouches down beside us. He softly places a hand on Ever's back and she flinches before relaxing once she realizes who it is. "Ever, I need you to tell us what happened." 

Still in my arms, Ever turns so that she can see him, "We came home and no one was here, so we were going to play a game." She sniffles and I tighten my hold on her, both for her comfort and my own. "Before we started, he came home with a bunch of guys and they were all yelling and mad about money and a job that went wrong. One of the guys accused our dad of stealing his money and product, so they started hitting him. That's when he saw us, Rave was trying to get me out of the room but he saw us and told them that Rave stole the stuff." 

We all three sit there in silence as Ever tries to control her breathing. Andy's expression is patient and gentle as he watches the girl, but I know that on the inside he's just as angry and disgusted as I am at the story Ever is telling us.

"Rave told me to run to our hiding place and I thought he was behind me...but he wasn't. I turned back and they were hitting him like they were hitting my dad, except harder and there were more of them hitting him...when I got to the hiding spot, I couldn't see anymore but I heard the gun and...and I thought they killed Rave." 

Andy hadn't mentioned a gun shot, he had only told me that Rave was badly beaten. "There was a gun shot?" I look at Andy, but he looks just as surprised as I do at the news. 

Ever turns her head towards me, a fresh set of tears in her eyes. "Was Rave shot?"

I don't want to lie to her, she'd see right through me anyway. People like Rave and Ever, they can see through bullshit and lies - they've been lying their whole lives, they know one when they see it. "I don't know."

She wipes her eyes with her hands and stand up straight, my arms falling back to my side as I let her go. "Can we go see him?" 

"Yeah, let's go." 

--------------

The hospital was in view and Ever broke the silence that had been filling the jeep ever since we left her house. I was sitting in the back seat with her, her head resting on my shoulder as Andy drove us to her brother. "Kylie, are they going to take me away now?"

Andy's eyes briefly meet mine in the mirror as I think of how to answer her question. There's no way they can go back to that house, even if the police and social services let them. Rave is eighteen, so he can go wherever he wants but they won't let Ever go with him. 

This is going to break their hearts. They can't lie anymore, it's all going to come out. 

"Let's just make sure Rave is okay before we worry about that, okay?" 

She gives me a weak nod, but I know that she knows she's going to be separated from him one way or another.