Learning to Fly

Chapter 11: How Can I Escape

Disclaimer: Just having fun with Stephenie Meyer's characters and world, all credit goes to her for creating them.

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My sister was screaming.

She was screaming. My vision blurred for a moment, then suddenly, everything was crystal clear. I heard her scream, but I couldn’t hear what she was screaming. Her voice was so loud, my ears ached. Why was no one coming to her rescue?

What the hell was even happening?

I ran from the doorway through the living room. I perceived that my mom was lying on the couch with earphones in, but I didn’t take the time to ponder what that meant. I ran straight to the source of Kate’s screams.

She was in the kitchen, and so was Steve.

He was hitting her. Hitting her.

I saw red.

I felt adrenaline course through me, and my body went into instant fight mode. Something it had never truly been in before. Not like this.

I pulled Steve off of my sister. He was a two-hundred pound man, and I’m not that strong. But I swear, he flew across the kitchen and slammed into the pantry, shaking the entire house.

He didn’t get up. I picked up Kate, who was crying and trembling. I kissed her cheek then carried her out of the kitchen, practically running into our mother.

“What the hell was that noise?” my mother’s voice broke the silence.

“That noise was Kate screaming,” I said angrily. “It had been going on for minutes. How could you have just now heard it?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I was talking about that loud crash, what was that?”

“That was nothing, dear,” I heard a voice behind me say. It was Steve. Kate yelped and hid in my hair. My body shook with anger. “I just tripped and fell into the pantry door.”

“Oh, well as long as you’re okay,” my mom replied. I couldn’t believe this. It was as if she hadn’t even heard Kate’s screams.

“I am now,” Steve replied huskily. Oh God, I thought. He patted my head as he walked around me, causing Kate to cringe and me to growl. He grabbed my mom and kissed her passionately, as if he truly cared about her.

I turned away from them and carried Kate upstairs before things got too salacious.

I still saw him groping her butt before the walls censored the view.

I carried Kate into the bathroom, where I set her down on the toilet seat. I locked the door then sat down on the edge of the tub opposite her.

                “What happened?” I asked. She was still crying, and she wouldn’t answer me.

                “Where did he hit you?” I tried again. She pointed to her shoulder and back.

                “Can you turn around please?”

She silently obliged.

I rolled up her shirt, until her whole back was shown. I gently pressed my fingers across her skin, asking her where it hurt.

Not that I needed to. There were already two huge bruises forming.

“And where on your shoulder?” I asked.

Kate pointed to her left shoulder, touching the back of it, just over her heart.

“I’ll be right back,” I told her. “I have to go get some ice.”

Just as I unlocked and opened the door, I felt Kate grab my waist and say, “No, don’t go down there!”

I disentangled myself from her arms. “It’s okay, Kate. I’ll be right back, less than a minute.”

I left the bathroom and shut the door again before she could argue.

I quickly jogged down the stairs and ran into the kitchen. I heard Mom and Steve in the living room. I took the long way around so I wouldn’t have to see them.

In the kitchen, I put ice into three gallon-sized Ziploc bags. I wrapped the bags with paper towels, and then ran back upstairs to my waiting sister.

“Here you go,” I said, placing one bag on her shoulder. I held the other two against the bruises on her back.

“Lizzie?” Kate asked.

“Hmmm?”

“I miss home.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, curious.

“I miss Mrs. Kale and Rylee.” Rylee was Mrs. Kale’s daughter and had been Kate’s best friend.

“I miss them too,” I replied. “But, we have an opportunity to make new friends here. Have you made any new friends yet?”

“There’s this one boy named Adam, and he’s really nice. But none of the girls like me. They think I’m weird.” Kate added a child-like hmph at the end.

“You are not weird, Kate. They’re the weird ones for not wanting to be friends with you. My advice? Just be nice to them. They’ll come around. Besides, this was only our first week here. They just need some time to get used to us.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. Okay, so you wanna know how my day went?”

“Yeah! Did you go surfing? I know you like surfing. Was it fun?”

I laughed and told her about surfing. I left out a lot about what really happened. Jackie, Embry, and my breakdown in the car, all were forgotten. I enjoyed just talking to my sister.

We talked about nothing and everything for hours. We talked well past ten o’clock, Kate’s usual bedtime. At about 10:30, however, I realized that Mom or Steve might want to use the bathroom, and that would not be a good situation.

I relocated Kate to our bedroom. She laid down and almost instantly fell asleep.

I smiled at her. She was so strong, even though she was still just a child.

Thirsty, I walked down the steps to get a glass of water, even though I didn’t really want to go anywhere near my mother or Steve. As I passed the living room, I heard Steve’s snores.

Great. I would have to remember to evacuate this room tomorrow morning before Kate got up. And sanitize it.

I got my drink and walked back up the stairs, thinking of Kate and how I would have to protect her from our monster almost-step-dad.

Inexplicably, I also thought of Embry. I wished he was here.

I needed a savior.