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 Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:17 pm
While it had been a bit of time since Leander had last snuck up the tree by the house just so he could break into one of his sister’s rooms, he could still rely on muscle memory to get the job done. He had parked his car a few streets away at a local park, just to avoid suspicion in case his father decided to take a nighttime drive around. Creeping through shadows wasn’t so hard, especially not in the neighborhood he’d grown up in.
Leander didn’t expect to warrant much concern from the neighbors; it was a cold night so he was bundled up effectively enough to conceal his identity without looking terribly suspicious. Between the hat and the scarf, he didn’t think he had anything to worry about. Still, it was cold enough that he wanted to get inside as quickly as possible—even if he hadn’t been worried about someone seeing him.
He hurried across the yard, avoiding the windows as best he could before he climbed the tree he was so familiar with. With great caution, he meandered from one of the stronger tree branches to a more sturdy the foothold on the side of the house.
It wasn’t that he intended to invade his sister’s privacy, just that he was worried about her—and some conversations were better had in person. So, once settled and convinced he wasn’t going to fall, he reached over and rapped lightly on the glass. He kept his gaze averted from the window; he could see the light on so he figured she was probably in her room, but he intended to wait until she opened the window before he chanced actually looking inside.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:21 pm
It was so easy to brush your hair when there wasn’t much hair to brush. Kelly had been repeating this mantra for the past few weeks, and while she was pleased that about two inches had finally grown back...her hair still wasn’t where she wanted it to be. She hadn’t really worked anything out with her parents either...and Bea…
Well. That was something that she just didn’t want to think about right now.
She had made an utter fool out of herself and that was all there was to it.
Kelly was about to just give up for the night and fall asleep right there at her desk when she heard the knock on her window. She paused and glanced over, unable to contain the smile that formed on her face, and quickly she clambered across the bed, forcing the window and screen open as wide as they would go.
“Leander! What are you doing here? If dad finds out he’ll kill the both of us.” There was obvious joy in her voice though, seeing her brother made her happier than she thought it would. “Did you come to see me?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:22 pm
Leander instantly summoned a grin when Kelly answered. There was nothing false about it; he was genuinely happy to see her. It was just cold and his teeth wanted to chatter too much to make it easy.
“Of course I came to see you! It’s been forever.” He made sure he had a good grip on the frame before he reached his free hand through the window to touch her hair. “I bet he made a stink when you did this, yeah? But it looks good on you. Big change, though! I’m due for a cut myself but with this weather,” he shrugged, “I’ll take every bit of extra warmth I can get.”
He shivered and flashed another grin. “I’ll be less conspicuous if I’m in your room, you mind if I pop in? You can say no, I might just fall to my death though.”
He couldn’t help but be in a good mood; it was good to see Kelly again and all he wanted to do was squeeze her.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:22 pm
Moving out of the way, Kelly nodded. “Of course…I’d offer you some…” Her voice trailed off and she clambered off the bed, opened one of her desk drawer and pulled out an unopened package of Oreos. “Nevermind. I have cookies up here no problem.”
She moved back to the bed and shut the window softly once he was inside. Pausing after another moment, the teen got up once again and, grabbing one of the spare blankets from her closet, stuffed it to block off the crack under her door. “There…now it will be more difficult for them to hear us…because seriously, that would be all I’d need was for dad to either find out it’s you who’s here…or for him to think I have a boy in my room who isn’t you…either way I’m just some dirty filthy whore who should have never come home so…”
Kelly shrugged and took a seat on the bed again, opening the cookies and taking one. She looked at it for a long moment, and then quietly put it back in the package. “Help yourself, Leander…I’m not hungry.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:24 pm
Leander moved from where he’d been by the window and made his way to her bed without any hesitation. He flopped onto it and reached for the blanket on her bed. He wrapped it around himself and hooked an arm around her shoulder, draping both it and the blanket over her as well.
He kissed her temple and drew her close to him in a protective way, like he might have done when she was afraid of something when they were younger. “You? Some dirty, filthy whore? With a boy?” He scoffed quietly. “Yeah, right.”
He eyed the cookie she had lifted and then lowered. “I’ve never known a girl who refused an Oreo unless she was on a diet—which you don’t need to be, you look amazing—or unless something was wrong.”
He paused for a second and then asked gently, “Is something going on?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:24 pm
Kelly leaned into the embrace and snuggled deeper into the blanket, letting her eyes close. “You know how dad is. He loves finding excuses to hate you…an ever since I was gone…I’m clearly nothing better than a pariah. Because clearly I was just off having sex and doing drugs and getting into all sorts of mischief, and he’s utterly convinced that I belong in jail…he doesn’t believe that I was kidnapped…and that there were others who had the same thing happen! Bea had…”
She clamped her mouth shut and looked away. “It wasn’t just me, is what I’m saying. It wasn’t my choice. It’s not like I ran away from home…and dad seems to think I did. And he…It’s just…”
Swallowing, Kelly shrugged. “It’s just been different around here. And it’s not that I’m on a diet…I’m just not hungry much ever…nothing tastes good.”
And honestly…she was starting to seriously doubt that anything ever would again. After eating rocks for so long…she had really…
She was just so stupid.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:25 pm
Leander was quiet for a moment before he rubbed Kelly’s arm reassuringly and gave her a quick squeeze. “Sounds like you’ve had some excitement since I’ve been gone.”
He didn’t quite sound like he was joking; he understood the severity of her words, her emotions, but he needed time to process things, too.
“I don’t know what happened to Dad to make him such a jerk, but you know there’s nothing wrong with you, right? He’s projecting his own insecurities on you, and he’s taking out all his frustrations with the world on you. And you didn’t do anything wrong. You hear me? You haven’t done anything to deserve it. So I’m serious, if you ever need to get away,” he shrugged. “You can run away with me. I’ll figure something out, but you shouldn’t have to live like this. I don’t like seeing you so sad, so worked up. And I mean, you’ve already been kidnapped once, so what’s the worst that could happen?”
Except, his lips pursed for a second and he asked, “Do you want to talk about that, though? …I doubt you’ve had a chance to get anything off your mind under this roof. Did they drug you or something?” Did it mess up her tastebuds? Had she been to see a doctor?
Worry was written across his face, even now, but he tried to offer her a reassuring smile all the same.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:25 pm
Shrugging, Kelly moved closer to her brother, hiding her face against his shoulder and giving a deep sigh, one that belonged to a tired old person, not a seventeen year old girl. “If you had a place to live…I really might…I really might take you up on that if you can get a place to live…I’ll get a job to help if I have to but…I don’t know…if things don’t get better…I’ll give it until the end of the year…I’m sure they can’t stay so awful until then…right?”
She tried to inject some hope into her voice, but the words fell flat even to her own ears. When Leander asked about the ‘kidnapping’ though, she fell quiet and simply shrugged. “I…I don’t really remember. I just know I got pulled into a mirror or something and…and then when I got back a while had passed so…I don’t know what happened. I don’t think they drugged me…”
Did she eat strange space rocks? Yes. Did they drug her…? She didn’t think so…they turned her into an almost crystal servant…but they hadn’t…drugged her…
There was a beautiful queen who she would have served until her own death…but they didn’t drug her…
“I don’t know. It was just…one of those things that happens in this city, I guess…I just never thought it would happen to me…”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:27 pm
Leander’s lips pursed as he considered his sister’s situation. He was mad—mad at whatever had happened to her, and mad at their father for treating her so poorly. He was certain that Kelly didn’t have a bad bone in her body, and ever after how things had gone with his father, he couldn’t imagine why he’d want to pick on her.
“You got this, Kel. If you need to move out, if you need an apartment or something, I’ll make it happen.”
He didn’t care how many jobs he had to work to make it happen, but he’d do it.
“You just keep in contact with me, all right? I’ll save up, in case something happens and you need a quick escape. And in return, all you have to do is try to be happy—and tell me a little more about these ‘weird’ things.”
It was no secret—to her, at least—that he was fascinated with the odd things that happened in Destiny City. But he was more worried about her mental health, her sanity, than he was in prying about her experience.
He needed her to be okay.
This was not okay.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:27 pm
Kelly nodded. “I’ll keep in contact with you…like I said, I’m going to give it until January…but I don’t think I’ll be staying here much past then unless something changes a lot…but…” She shrugged. “I…I’ll tell you what I can of the weird things…but Leander, I don’t really remember anything. I just remember being pulled through the mirror with B--…” Sighing, Kelly pushed her hair roughly back behind her ear.
“Pulled through with Bea. And then we were back, but time had passed and I don’t know. I don’t remember what happened. I just know…it did happen.”
She wished that she could tell him though. She wished she could just tell him everything but…it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t safe. She couldn’t talk to anyone about what was going on…and it was slowly causing her to go crazy. “Thank you for being here for me…It means the world. Honestly. I hope we don’t have to get a place together…but at the same time…I’m kind of excited to live with my favorite big brother again…so get someplace to live quick, okay?”
Glancing up at him, Kelly gave a small, very forced smile and then looked away as it passed.
She would get better. Eventually. She would make sure of it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:36 pm
Leander nodded; he didn’t really plan to start looking unless he knew that she was thinking about moving out. If they needed to, they could stay in a hotel for a while until they found a place. He was doing all right in his car; he made enough money to survive and save up, but he wasn’t going to invest in staying anywhere unless they needed it. Just because he had some money didn’t mean he had enough; he could have afforded a few months but if his car went, that meant there was no fixing it.
If Kelly didn’t need a place to stay, he’d wait.
But, the moment she needed something, he’d find somewhere.
He smiled and rested his head against hers. “If things get bad, I’ll bail you out. With dad, or anything. Even if I have to break every mirror in Destiny City to keep you safe, I’ll protect you. I love you, Kels.”
He’d do anything for her. He just hoped things started to look up for her sooner rather than later.
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