Caged

Prologue

Three years ago

By the time I had finally given up and decided to walk home, almost two hours had passed.

It was now dark; the last rays of the sun had retreated early because it was winter and daylight turned more scarce with every arriving day. I huddled my arms tightly around myself as a brittle cold settled in, sending shivers down my spine. As I started my walk home, not bothering to call any of my brothers, I let the streetlights illuminating the path ahead guide me. The only sound audible to my ears was of the cars occasionally driving by, and I eventually decided to enjoy the chilling calm as I quickened my pace.

Sophia had promised me a couple of nights ago that she would pick me up from school and we'd head out into the city—just the two of us. It was a Friday night and it got exhausting pretty quickly being surrounded by boys who didn't understand us the same way sisters understood each other. I needed the alone time with her.

I'd been looking forward to today ever since, but she had never showed. Calls and texts ended up being pointless, so I eventually gave up, deciding she was busy or she had forgotten. Although, it was difficult to believe she would forget; it wasn't like her.

I didn't realize I was adrift in my mind until I was standing in front of my house with no idea how I got there. I noticed that a few of the lights were on behind the blinds, but Sophia's room was shadowed by darkness. Elijah's car was parked in the driveway, so I figured he was the only one home. It was unusual though since he was always gone on Friday nights, but I didn't ponder it for any longer as I marched up our cobblestone driveway.

As soon as I got inside, I quickly threw off my shoes and chucked my bag somewhere inside of my room, before I headed to Sophia's room. A peek inside told me that she wasn't there. Everything seemed clean, like always. The only unusual thing I noticed happened to be her blinds being down. She usually always left them open, no matter the weather or time of day.

I closed her door, biting my lip in thought as I slowly marched downstairs, startling slightly when I saw my oldest brother, Elijah, through the patio doors. He leaned against one edge of the patio, looking down, while he spoke to someone on the phone.

I slowly strolled over to the patio doors and opened them, causing him to glance towards me. His lips twitched and he said something quietly into the phone that I didn't catch, before he hung up and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Hey, Iz," he said, leaning back against the edge as he gripped a bottle of beer. "You just get home?" He asked casually, bringing the liquid to his lips.

"Yeah," I mumbled, shifting on my feet as I watched him grab his phone again. I walked over to the edge so I could stand next to him, and looked down at the pool water softly flowing below us, the lights in our backyard casting a soft glow onto the azure water. The waterfall created a ripple effect as it streamed into the pool. "Sophia was supposed to pick me up, but she never came. I waited a long time."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Elijah's confused gaze flash towards me. I looked up at him. "Why didn't you call me?" He asked.

I shrugged, tracing my finger across the sleek black edge of the railing overlooking the backyard. "I walked home," I replied simply. "Do you know where she went?"

Elijah shook his head and picked up the bottle again. His eyes followed my gaze to the waterfall below. "She hasn't been home all day. I'm sure she's with a friend or something."