Lavender

Come Inside

I've spent my life here, with my dad and 5 brothers. I'm the youngest, at 18. The others should have moved out forever ago, but they get good money selling drugs here. From downstairs, I hear, "Link! Beer!"
I groan and get off the bathroom floor. I don't have a room, so I hide out anywhere I can. I unlock and open the door and go downstairs. My dad is sitting on the couch, 15 feet away from the fridge. I get him a beer from the fridge. All the food is his too. Every day he gives us 20 bucks each to feed ourselves. It sucks.
Percy, my 30 year old brother, came in through the front door and grabbed (you guessed it) a beer. "Still here, huh Link?"
Percy and our brother Jack have a bet on when I'll run away. But I don't know what it entails. Maybe I will.
A few hours later, Percy and a Dad were heavily drunk. And were yelling for me again. When I got down there, my reflexes made me duck. Behind me, a beer bottle shattered against a wall where my head was. Percy laughed and said, "Every time I see your fucking face I understand why mom ran away!"
Dad chimed in, "Yeah, kid, thanks for that."
I heard this often. Mom left a year after they adopted me. Although I'm pretty sure Dad's drug business and alcohol addiction had an influence, my family constantly blames me. That second, I made up my mind. I was gonna run away. After 18 years of garbage, I was actually going to do it. I was done with all this shit.
So I ran. I don't really have belongings besides hand-me-down clothes, so I said screw it. I walked out the door and ran. And ran. It was pouring outside and about 11 pm. I didn't care. I was crying and running and I didn't stop.
Until I tripped. I hit the sidewalk face-first and felt warm blood coming down my skin. I got to my knees, shivering with cold and racking sobs. A hand was outstretched in front of me, and I saw a person smiling gently. I grabbed their hand and looked around, finding myself and the stranger in front of a mansion. I knew this place.
No one knows who lives here. I looked back at the stranger. They were of a thin build, about an inch shorter than me. But I was entranced by their eyes, which were a soft peach color.

"Come inside."