Red

Chapter 2

As we entered the building Mason bounded upstairs before I could even close the door. I shook my head and sighed. "Brielle, is that you? I'm in the kitchen sweetie." I put my bag down and walked into the kitchen. I stopped at the fridge and grabbed an apple. I sat down on a stool and watched as my mom finished whatever she was cooking. Once she pulled the meat out of the oven, she shut it off and turned to face me. A brilliant smile took over her face as she looked at me. I loved my mother with all my heart, but she wasn't always like this. At night she would change and become an uncontrollable mess. It used to hurt whenever I saw her like that but now, I was used to it.

"Hi sweetheart, how was school?" I took a deep breath and decided to just come right out and ask her. "School was fine. But um. I have a question." I paused and she looked at me expectantly a bright look still dancing in her face. "Well, as you know tonight is Masons football game. It's a very important game this season and-." Before I could say anything else, she cut me off. "No. Absolutely not. It's too dangerous for us to go out. There has been too much activity with the monsters lately and we can't risk it. No" Normally I would have given up, but this wasn't for me and I couldn't let Mason get hurt because of my mother's crazy fear of some unknown beings.

"Mom hear me out." She shook her head violently an angry look apparent in her face. "Mom! Mason has to go to this game. No matter what. You can either take him ask to keep us safe or we'll go out on our own. Up to you." Her eyes slit and she looked at me with the intent to kill. "Brielle Elizabeth. I said no and that's final. Stop this talk of going out at once. Do not force me to lock you both up until daylight because I will. He doesn't need to go there are other games in the daytime that we can go to." I growled and slammed my hands down on the counter. "No there aren't. If he doesn't go to this game, he will be benched and not allowed to play again. You will ruin him. And I promise you mom. If you don't do this for him, I will never forgive you."

We both stood there for a moment staring at each other neither one of us backing down. I noticed my father creep slowly into the room. I made eye contact with him and he shook his head. My father was the calm rational one in our family. Normally I would listen to him and back down but this time I couldn't. For the sake of my brother. I couldn't let him go through anything that I had while growing up. "Brielle think carefully about what you say next." I looked back at my mother and took a deep breath. I will not lose. "If you don't want both of your children to hate your guts then I suggest you listen to what I'm about to say." I felt a cold hand slap my face and I stumbled backwards tears flooding my eyes. She hit me right where the other girl did, so the pain was worse than usual. "I. Am the parent. You have to listen to what I say. How dare you even think about disrespecting me like that."

I held my face and angrily looked at her. My dad had moved and was now beside her trying to calm her down. I knew I was failing, and more tears start to fall down my face. This was my last chance to change her mind. "Mom, I know you care about us a lot but right now you're hurting us. If Mason is benched, he will lose almost all of his friends. He isn't strong like us. He can't handle something like this. It will crush him. And not only will he hate me for failing him, but he will also hate you. I don't want him to end up being bullied and hated to like me. Please mom. The game is mostly in the daylight anyways. We can take dads car and park close to the exit. We'll all bring hidden protection and stay together at all times and if you want to leave, we can. But please. Please! Let him play!"

I couldn't control my tears anymore and started to cry. I felt all the hope drain out of my body and knew that I had just let Mason down. I felt a warm hand pet my head. "Okay. Okay fine. Just calm down. We will go for a bit, but we leave when I say and as soon as I say do you hear me." I looked up to shocked to speak. "Do you hear me?" I quickly nodded my head and gave them both a huge hug. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I pulled away a giant smile on my face. I turned to go tell Mason the good news but was stopped when a handheld me in place. "I'll go tell him, Brie while you and your mother get ready." My dad scruffled my hair and walked away. I turned and looked at my mom who still held me in place. "Mom?" Her body was shaking, and she refused to look me in the face.

"Brielle if you ever disrespect me like that again I will feed you to the monsters do you hear me?" I felt my blood go cold as I waited for her to let me go. "I understand. I'm sorry mom." She let me go and looked at me a worried smile on her face. She then hugged and apologized for hitting me. I just stood there wondering how far gone she really was. I remembered when I was young how she always stayed vibrant and happy around me. But at one point everything got to her and she started to have violent episodes her personality would even change at times. It was a rare occasion, but it did happen a couple of times. One time we went to one of my brothers' games and she could've sworn she saw a "monster". She caused panic in the entire stadium and we all got kicked out.

Mason lost a lot of friends that day, but he gained others. I hope my mother can make it through this game. If anything for his sake. Once we were all ready to go both me and my dad had to force my mother into the car. She had brought several weapons and we had to fight to take away the big noticeable ones. In order for us to pull the car out of the garage we had to at least stuff a couple of big weapons in the trunk. Once she was satisfied, she sat down and held up a weapon the entire way over there. Since it was still light out things were okay but not great. She could tell that it was getting darker by the second. As we pulled into the stadium parking lot a tension spread throughout the car. Mason however was immune to it and looked extremely happy. When he looked at me, I pushed down my worries and gave him a happy smile. My dad found a parking spot close to the exit. It was finally time to go. Me and my dad exchanged a look and all of us prepared ourselves for what was about to happen next.