Bane of My Existence

Starting from next week, all updates should be back on track, and hopefully we’ll get back into a schedule quickly, since we’ve been a bit distracted lately. Sadly, my update day may change, since I have a lot of stuff to do on Tuesdays, so it may end up being a Saturday or Sunday, leaving me more time to work on pictures and not have as much pressure on my shoulders, which I don’t work well under.

Apologies for not getting updates up the past week or two, I’ve been on holiday, and then when I came back things were kind of hectic and I was a bit out of whack.

Thankfully, I should start working on the next update tomorrow. I hope you guys enjoy, and stick by the legacy even though I’m a complete idiot who can’t update very well!

Thanks again,

Craig 

Chapter 4

Rose’s POV

The sweet smell of bacon woke me from my peaceful slumber, my eyes fluttering open as I slowly sat up. Realising I was in the living room, I went into a state of confusion, wondering how I’d ended up there, before the memories of last night came flooding back.

I sighed, moving cushions and blankets out of my way, getting up. The scratchy carpet beneath my feet, sent a prickling sensation over my entire body, making me wish Mum had spent a little bit extra to get some better carpet.

Dragging myself through to the kitchen, I was met with a joyous sight, Haden frying me bacon.

“Hey.” I greeted him, taking a seat at the kitchen table, my stomach growling at the sight of such amazing food.

“Hey Rose.” He acknowledged me, slapping perfectly cooked bacon onto a fresh roll. Not too crispy, not undercooked and no fat in sight.

Haden was always a chef to me, he cooked me breakfast almost every day, like it was his second job. He’d gotten so used to it, that I didn’t even have to ask anymore. I’d just wake up from my restless sleep and he’d be in the kitchen, getting busy, ingredients sprawled over the counters, pots and pans sizzling on the stove. I’m useless in the kitchen, while he’s the complete opposite. It’s completely unfair. He can make the fanciest, most delicious meals and I can’t even toast a slice of bread without burning it.

A few seconds later, Haden appeared at the kitchen table with two plates. Each had a bacon roll on it, resembling a little slice of heaven. He placed one in front of me, and the other at his empty spot at the table, sitting down next to me and beginning to eat.

I wolfed it down, my appetite crazy for some food and this was perfect thing to cure it, savouring each and every bite.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, indicating that I’d received a text. Taking it out, the message said it was from Ty, so I opened it up quickly, feeling excitement rise up inside of me at the thought of going to visit my brother for the first time in years.

Hi Rose. Come 2 my place at 12 so we can go see Damion.

Looking at the time, I quickly finished my roll since it was already half eleven and I only had half an hour to get ready.

“Just realising that you got up in the afternoon, sleeping beauty?” Haden smirked, watching my reaction when my eyes flicked to my phones built in digital clock. “You slept like a rock. Maybe I should stay over more often?”

I rolled my eyes, chuckling softly at Haden’s jokes.

“Can you drop me off at Ty’s apartment at twelve, please?” I asked, standing from my chair.

“Sure.” He replied, taking another bite from his roll.

“Thanks!” I smiled, heading for the stairs. “I’m just going to get ready.”

After a quick shower, and drying my hair, I pulled on some fresh clothes. By the time I got back downstairs, Haden was already in his car and waiting for me.

You never have to ask him twice, I thought to myself as I jumped in the passenger seat. Haden had some silly radio on, so I changed it to my favourite band and listened to it on the way.

“Are you sure you’re fine with going to see Damion without me?” Haden worried, glancing over at me.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll have Ty with me, he can do a good job of protecting me too.” I replied, smirking at the thought of them both being my private body guards.

I let my mind drift, thinking about why Damion had left us behind, why he’d abandoned his own family to go take over a stupid gang. Damion wasn’t that responsible as a kid, or well behaved, always pulling pranks on his teachers at school, flooding the bathrooms wherever he went and picking fights with innocent people including Ty and Haden. It just didn’t seem right that he could be in charge of so many people, organising them and looking after them, just generally helping them out.

In school, Damion would never fail to get detention every single day. I remember one week, he never got any and Mum bought him a brand new video game, completely shocked and proud that he lasted so long without getting in so much trouble. It was pointless giving him detention anyway, he hardly ever turned up.

When he got into High School, he started ditching school altogether, claiming he’d rather hang out with his friends on the football pitch or in the park. I think the only reason he acted up so much was for attention, from my parents and his peers, always trying to stay the centre of attention for a little bit longer. After all, it’s really hard to get attention when you’re the eldest of five kids.

Eventually, Haden and I pulled up outside Ty’s apartment. Ty was already waiting for me, impatiently tapping his foot against the sidewalk, leaning against a wall lazily. Jumping out the car, I yelled my goodbyes and went over to greet him. He looked worse than usual, like he hadn’t slept last night either.

“Hey.” I smiled, skipping over to him.

“Hello.” He replied, pushing himself of the wall and approaching me. “Look, Rose, I just want to make sure you’re aware that Damion will probably not be how you remember him. So don’t expect him to be.”

“How many times do you need to tell me? I’m not expecting him to be, anyway, trust me. Where does he live?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Only a short walk from here.” He started walking ahead of me, making me run to catch up.

As we walked, I started to wonder about Ty. Looking at him now, he’d grown older, changed into a new man, in more ways than one. For a start, he’d stopped taking drugs, which was as big as a surprise as when he’d started. I couldn’t help but think, why did he ever start in the first place?

I’d tried to ask him that question numerous times, but I’d never gotten a direct answer in return. It was like he was avoiding it, trying to dodge the subject as much as possible. His most common answer was: “Because I want too”. I was one of the first people to find out about his problem, accidently of course. I had walked into his room, forgetting to knock, and caught him in the act, as high as a kite.

He begged me to keep it a secret, he pleaded with me to not tell Mum. I didn’t tell her, of course, as I’d already managed to lose Rebecca and Damion and I knew that if she ever found out he would be long gone, chucked out and forced to fend for himself. She’d make us all cut ties with him, which she ended up doing anyway. I’d assumed it was a onetime thing, but I’d obviously been wrong. I started to notice him taking more and more, but I kept my mouth shut since he’d made me promise to keep it between the two of us.

Instead, I tried to make him stop myself. He didn’t listen to a word I said though. Then things went very wrong, very fast. Mum found his stash and threw him onto the streets instantly. I felt terrible, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

He called me nonstop, telling me that he was sorry and asking me to convince Mum to let him move back in. I did try, but every time I mentioned his name, the conversation was shot down and Mum would ignore me blatantly, like a spoilt child. Ty stopped calling after a while.

“Ty… Why did you start taking drugs?” I asked, unsure if it was too personal of a question and whether he would answer me properly or not.

“I was at a party, everyone else was taking them, and so I joined in. I gave in to peer pressure and the need to be cool, but I wish I never had. It’s wrecked my life. My mate gave me some more, and I became dependent on them.” He explained. From the expression on my face, and the silence that halted our conversation, he knew how I felt. “I’m sorry for making you keep it a secret, it wasn’t fair on you.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t have told Mum anyway.” I admitted, falling in step beside him.

“How is Mum, by the way?” He asked, taking a turning when we reached a rundown looking street.

“The same, I guess. She’s still really overprotective.” I told him, smiling.

Ty chuckled, a strange sound I’d never heard come out of his mouth before. I hadn’t seen him smile or laugh properly since I’d first seen him in the alley.

“When you leave, you start to miss all her fussing. Her constantly telling you when to get home, telling you over and over not to go out alone, not to walk home without your friends… You miss it all.”

At this point, we began to enter one of the more dangerous parts of Auberon, the bad part. My Mum had drilled it into my brain never to come anywhere near here. If there was ever a rape, murder, fight, robbery or shooting in the newspaper, it mainly happened here. I should have guessed that Damion lived here, after all this is the place where all the gangs hang about.

Every wall and building was masked in graffiti. Bad words, crude drawings, horrifying threats and cool tags covered every inch of concrete. I could just make out tiny little dents in the walls, as I passed rundown building after rundown building, where I presumed bullets had hit and managed to pierce.

I followed Ty, stepping over piles of rubbish, smashed up toilets, piles of shit (unsure if they belonged to humans or dogs), and burnt bins and benches. Avoiding the stray dogs that lumbered about, and the lifeless bodies in the street that smelt of piss and cheap beer, not sure if they were dead or passed out.

Finally we reached a decaying building, crumbling at the edges and the smell coming from within made me want to throw up. It looked like it had about three floors, most of the windows smashed or boarded up. On the front, there was one tag sprayed on, the only graffiti on the whole building (surprisingly, since the others were so covered in it). It read “Bane’s Turf”, with a creepy looking symbol behind it.

“Well, this is definitely the right place.” Ty whistled, pushing over the entrance doors and stepping in.

The foyer was damp and disgusting, empty of people but full of rubbish.

“Damion’s on the third floor.” Ty said, beginning the long march up the creaky stairs.

We eventually reached the third floor, shivering from the cold gusts of wind that blew in from the holes in the walls, and the horrible unwelcome feeling we were beginning to feel.

There was a long corridor leading up to a set of double doors that would have looked fancy in their time, but were now hundreds of years old and becoming quite mouldy. Two men were leaning against the wall, blocking us from entering, looking gruesome and tough. Their skin was full of crappy tattoos, their noses broken and mushed to the side, their faces covered in scars and bruises…

Just my luck that they were standing guard at Damion’s door, right?!

When they spotted us, their eyes narrowed automatically, focusing on us, the evil intruders.

“Who are you and what do you want?” One of them snapped, spit flying from their mouth, as we slowly walked forward.

“We’re Ty and Rose Bane and we’re here to see our brother, Damion.” Ty answered, his voice quavering.

The two men looked at each other, as if having a silent conversation, before turning back to examine us.

“Damion didn’t tell us he was expecting visitors.” The other growled, his voice deep and croaky.

Were these men really guarding Damion? The only reason I could think of was that since Damion was their leader, they had to protect him from rival gangs.

“He didn’t know we were coming.” Ty explained, glancing between the two buff men.

“Do you think we’re thick!? We weren’t born yesterday. What gang are you from?” The other barked, the muscles in his arms bulging as he tensed.

“I bet they’re from Lockwood’s gang.” His friend remarked, looking us up and down.

What the hell were we going to do!? We couldn’t just stand here and let ourselves me killed.

“We’re not part of anyone’s gang!” Ty tried to yell, trying to come off as confident but failing miserably.

“Check ‘um for weapons.” One of them instructed the other.

Nodding, the blonde haired one approached us, snarling under his breath. He checked Ty first, stuffing his hands into Ty’s pockets, patting up and down his legs, checking his shoes and finally moving onto his upper half. The man pulled up Ty’s top to reveal a gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans.

The man pulled it out, scoffing in disgrace and tossing it to his partner, who was smirking triumphantly.

“That’s just for self-defence.” Ty yelped.

“Yeah right!” The red haired one yelled, pointing his chubby finger at me. “Check the girl!”

Luckily, he found nothing on me, stepping back and turning to his fiery red companion to give his verdict. I was still shocked, trying to get over the fact that Ty had a gun. Why? Why would he ever think he needed it?

“What do we do with them?” The blonde asked, glaring at me and my brother.

“We take them to Damion and let him deal with ‘um. It’s his favourite part of the job.” The other man replied.

The blonde one grabbed my arm, so tightly it hurt and shoved a loaded gun to my head. I heard the other one do the same thing to Ty, but was too scared to turn and look.

“If you two try anything, we won’t hesitate to blow your brains out.” Red threatened, pushing Ty forward.

I was terrified. I’d never been within metres of gun, and now one was being pointed at my head.

Blondie shouldered the door open, dragging me inside with him. The cold metal pressed against my temple, painfully reminding me that if I made a wrong move I was dead. Red and Ty followed after us, bringing us inside Damion’s apartment. This visit wasn’t going exactly to plan…

I spotted Damion sitting on his couch, a half empty beer in his hand, the TV switched to football. His eyes never left the screen, but from my muffled noises of fear and the sound of guns being pushed against our heads, he could easily tell what was happening. Smirking, he beckoned Red and Blondie over.

They pushed us forward slightly, guns still pressed to our heads.

“Damion, these people are claiming to be your brother and sister.” Blondie announced, shaking his head at how ridiculous it sounded.

Damion turned to get a look at us, his eyes widening when they landed on my hunched figure. His eyes filled with both surprise and alarm, yet they were cold and disbelieving.

“Put the fucking guns down!” Damion barked, standing from his seat and bounding over to us. “They are my brother and sister, you twats.”

The two men lowered their guns immediately, letting go of our arms and taking a step back.

“Sorry Damion, we had no idea. And that guy was armed with a gun!” Red explained.

“Just get out of here, and if I see any of you hold a gun to Rose or Ty again, I’ll fucking kill you.” He yelled after them, as they practically ran out the room, scrambling to get away.

Damion’s appearance hadn’t changed since I’d last seen him, apart from the fact he’d gotten more tattoos but that was the only difference.

“Wasn’t that a hostile welcome?” Ty whispered to me, his voice still shaking, visibly showing his fear.

“What the hell do you two want?” Damion snapped, as he collapsed back onto his couch.

Normally, Damion would never dare talk to me like that. Maybe Ty was right, maybe he had changed. One minute he’s overprotective, the next he doesn’t want to look at us. What was his problem?

“We need to talk to you, Damion. Something’s happening to us.” Ty murmured, stepping forward.

“If you guys have developed super powers, leave me out of it. I’ve watched enough movies to see that I’ll die in the first few minutes.” Damion spat, taking a slug of his beer.

We stood in silence for a few minutes, not sure on what to say, or how to start explaining the whole issue.

“Well, spit it out. I haven’t got all day.” He trained his eyes back on his TV. “If you two can fly, then bugger off out of here.”

Ty sighed, before explaining everything. Damion eventually stopped watching the TV, and started to actually look like he was paying attention as the tale unfolded and gradually became more serious. When Ty finally finished, we gazed at Damion, expectantly, waiting for some sort of reaction. Slowly, he turned to stare back at us, saying one simple thing.

“What the hell do you want me to do about it?”

My hand shook at my side, desperately wanting to smack him across the face, slapping him so hard in the cheek he’d go flying across the room. He was being such an asshole!

“Nothing.” I shot back, speaking for the first time. “We just thought you might want to know that your life is in danger. You know, because we’re your brother and sister and want to make sure you’re safe! And we were going to ask if you wanted to help protect and warn our other siblings but you’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t give a shit! Come on Ty, let’s go.”

I stormed for the door, not wanting to spend another minute with that monster.

“I’m in deep shit all the time, I’m never safe.” He commented, not bothering to stand up and call me back.

I heard Ty begin to walk after me, trying to catch up as I charged for the door, my face bright red and my heart thumping out of control.

“Rose.” I heard Damion call out from behind me, but I didn’t stop. I just kept walking. “Oh come on, please don’t be like that, Rosie.”

Rosie was Damion’s old nickname for me, and hearing him say it again caused a flood of old, happy memories come back to me. I stopped, groaning internally that he’d gotten me again, and turning on my heels to face him.

“I’ll help, if you want. I can get you weapons in case someone approaches you, and I’m pretty sure I know a way we can get our hands on some money if it comes to that. How much do you need?” Damion asked, and I felt a smile slip on my face.

“We don’t even know if they want money, for sure. I think we should just wait and see what happens.” Ty broke out.

“What are we going to do then? Wait and see if one of us gets killed!?” Damion demanded, still trying to cool himself off. “Look, I’ve been involved in stuff like this before and it never ends well.”

“No, I want to go and warn Rebecca about them tomorrow. You can supply us with weapons until we find out what they want.” I suggested.

“You do know, it’s illegal to have a weapon?” Damion smirked.

“Who the fuck cares?” I shot back, smirking myself.

“Since when were you such a badass.” He remarked, beginning to grin.

“Guys, this is serious. What about Kara and Mum? Are we going to tell them?” Ty butted in.

I had almost forgotten about Kara. I didn’t think we should tell her just yet, it would be too much worry for her since she was getting out soon. Plus, I didn’t want to go near her. As for my Mum, she would freak if she found out.

“No.” I decided. “We don’t want to worry Kara before she gets released, and if Mum is told she would have a heart attack. Just the thought of me being in the same room as you and Ty, would send her to an early grave.”

Suddenly, a man burst into the room, giving me the fright of my life. I span round to face him, as did Ty and Damion. He was red in the face, looking flustered, out of breath and sweating.

“Damion. Lockwood’s gangs here. They’re about to enter the building!” He panted, trying to catch his breath.

“Hold them off! Use guns if you have to.” Damion ordered.

The man nodded curtly, before racing out the room again and vanishing down the corridor. Damion started locking the door, twisting the original look, placing bolts across the door and basically barricading us off.

“What’s going on?” I asked, worried.

“Nothing you need to worry about Rose.” Damion replied, stepping back from the door and double checking if he’d forgotten one of his many locks.

A loud crashing from down below told me otherwise. Then, the loud sound of yelling and cursing rang out down the hallway. Nothing I need to worry about!? It sounded like a warzone down there.

I knew that there was a gang fight, but who were they fighting? Were they trying to get to Damion?

“Damion, why is there another gang attacking yours?” Ty asked, just as confused as me.

Damion groaned, taking Ty to the other side of the room, out of my earshot. Whispering in his ear, he sounded urgent and panicked. There was no way I was letting him away with this. He couldn’t tell Ty and not me! It wasn’t fair.

“Hey.” I protested. “You can’t tell Ty but not me.”

“Shhh Rose, the adults are talking.” Damion smirked, going back to explaining things to Ty.

I felt like I was five again, being hid away from anything that could harm me, forced to try and eavesdrop to learn what everyone else was talking about. Damion and Ty used to always play these games and I wasn’t allowed to join in because I was “too young”.

“Excuse me, last time I checked, I was nearly eighteen! I’m almost as old as you, I’m an adult too.” I argued.

Damion groaned, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re really annoying?”

Now I was raging. He was treating me like I was a baby, and wasn’t letting me know what they were discussing. I slapped him, anger coursing through my veins.

“Ow!” He whimpered, sarcastically. I hadn’t hit him hard.

“Oh stop your whining. Just tell me what the hell is going on!” I ordered, putting my hand on my hip in a challenging position.

“Lockwood’s gang’s here because I fucked his girlfriend.” He admitted, laughing lightly under his breath like the whole thing was a big joke.

“You did what!?” I screamed, shocked that my brother would do such a disgusting thing. Mum and Dad had brought him up to respect girls, I guess all his life lessons turned to shit when he left us.

“Well, Rose, when two people love each other very much, they-“Damion began, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“I know how it works, Damion, and I know for a fact you didn’t love her.” I cut him off, before he could say something that would scar me for life. “Why the hell would you have sex with a rival gang leader’s girlfriend?!”

I couldn’t believe Damion had been so stupid, so selfish and so horny that he’d make such a terrible decision. How had he lasted this long as a leader (of one of the most feared gangs in the whole of Auberon, might I add), if he was constantly doing stupid things like that? Did he even own a brain!?

“I didn’t know she was his girlfriend at the time. Plus, I was drunk and she was a hot slut, who would pass up the opportunity?” Damion explained, smirking the whole time, probably remembering all the “fun” he’d had with her.

A loud bang at the door brought us out of our conversation, slowly turning round to face it, seeing it rattle on its hinges as it was pounded from the outside. Damion and Ty jumped between me and the door, blocking any intruders from coming near me.

“I know you’re in there, you bastard!” A voice roared from behind the door, hitting against it harder and harder making it shake and splinter.

“Shit!” Damion cursed, becoming slightly panicked. “That’s Joe Lockwood. You two get in the closet!”

Ty and I sprinted for the closet at the far side of the room, flinging the heavy doors open with all our might. It was filled with weapons, most lining the walls, held in place by cable ties, but others were sprawled on the floor, or hanging from the roof and some were even tied to the doors. Knives, guns, and all different types of things I’d never seen before.

We leaped in, knowing we didn’t have much time to hide, and swung the door closed after us. Ty caught his breath, trying to hold back the overwhelming fear that lay within him, trying to act hard to support me and impress Damion. I pushed the door open lightly, making a big enough crack that we could peer through and positioned myself so I could spy on what was going on.

The bangs on the door grew louder, barely holding up against the weight being flung against it, as someone was running at it.

One big bang.

One of the bolted locks popped off the wall, tumbling to the grimy stone floor.

Another crash.

One of the iron locks became displaced.

A shaking thud.

The handle on the door crumbled to pieces, scattering across the floor.

A boom louder than no other rang in my ears.

The door flew off its hinges and clattered to the ground, the noise echoing across the room to us, crouched in the closet.

Standing in the doorway was a man, who I assumed was Joe Lockwood, growling in at us, rage evident on his crazed features.

“You fucked my girlfriend.” He barked, flaring his nostrils and tensing his rippling muscles.

Hi, sorry again for not getting the chapter out on time, and sorry for splitting it in half. It was way too long, so I decided to half it, and the next part will be up very soon (hopefully).

And also, sorry for the lack of pictures, the dodgy photos, and the rough writing.

Hope you enjoy anyway, leave comments below on how it was!

What do you think’s going to happen next? How do you like Damion? 

While awaiting the next chapter, since I’m unsure if I’ll get it out on time, enjoy a random picture of Kara, Rose’s twin sister. 

She won’t be in the next chapter, but she will be in future ones, and I’m using her for a competition, so… Enjoy! 

(It’s really simple, haha) 

Chapter 3 

Rose’s POV

I walked into the visiting area, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to warm myself up. The cold, dirty feeling that radiated from the prison chilled me, completely wrecking me. I hated prisons, and this wasn’t helping at all.

Haden strolled by my side, one hand wrapped protectively round my shoulders, as if to ward off evil spirits but also to comfort me. I hated coming here. That much was clear.

I couldn’t help but think if Dad would cooperate, and could actually give me any information regarding the people who were stalking me and my siblings. If he did know, then would he tell me? Was this something he wanted to let me, the daughter who hated him, know? But most of all, did I even want to know?

I tried to calm myself down, taking deep, relaxing breaths. We crossed the room towards my Dad who I’d just spotted. He sat at one of the little tables, clad with his ugly, orange jumpsuit, which stood out vividly from his surroundings, creating a sharp contrast.

He smiled at the sight of me, but I snapped my head away, ignoring him. It was my usual response, looking at the wall and pretending that I wasn’t forced to come here. Haden nudged me, indicating with a nod of his head to look at my Dad. Realising that I wanted to get information out of him, it dawned on me that I had to be nice. This was going to be hard…

I tossed him one of my fake, sweet smiles that glowed like a ray of sunshine showing off my perfect teeth. You could easily tell it was put on, but I didn’t care much.

Swiftly, I dipped myself down onto one of the old chairs across from my Dad, cringing as it creaked beneath me. Haden took a seat beside me, gently squeezing my knee to let me know that he was there to support me, as always.

“Hey Dad.” I broke out, awkwardly, filling the dead silence that had covered us.

“Hello Rose. It seems you brought your boyfriend again.” My Dad teased, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.

He made sure to comment on that every time Haden came to visit with me, which was almost all the time, so I’d gotten used to his annoying remarks.

“For the thousandth time, we are just friends!” I shouted, catching the attention of a guard, overlooking the session. I mumbled my apologies, avoiding the glare that he sent my way.

“Right.” He smirked, leaning back in his chair, spreading his legs out under the table. “Sure you are.”

I ignored him, directing my thoughts to how I was to bring up the stalkers. You can’t just pop that into a conversation, so I’d have to give it some thought. How would he react when I told him though? I chose to go with a blunt approach.

“Look, I came to see you for one reason only. I have something to tell you…” I trailed off, casting a lingering gaze at him, studying his stone cold face, showing no emotions.

“What’s up?” He asked, his voice telling me that he was growing angry, realising that I wanted something from him.

I never came just to chat with him, I didn’t even like him.

“I’m being stalked.” I exclaimed. “They’ve been following me, Ty, Damion and Rebecca and I have no idea why. It’s been going on for weeks, and I don’t know what to do. They chased me and Ty a few days ago, but Ty told me that it’s been happening for ages! He remembers seeing them at your trial, and I was just wondering if you knew who they were.”

I watched as my Fathers grin dropped, and the colour from his face drained away into a pale, chalky white, making him look as if he’d died and came back as a vampire. He looked ready to faint or vomit.

“Oh god.” He muttered, gulping. “This can’t be happening!”

“What?” I demanded, leaning forward on the table, trying to get him to talk.

“I thought it was over, it was meant to be over.” He rambled, as if he were a madman.

A wave of reassurance surged through me, glad that someone knew who they were and I could have some closure as to who was following me. But I felt both scared and worried, frightened by the way my Dad talked of them. It was as if he was scared of them… The man who tried to rob a bank, the man who shot two cops, was scared of a bunch of stalkers.

“Who are they?” I questioned, desperate to get answers.

“It’s a long story. A bad story.” He directed his eyes to me, wide and crazed, filled with pain.

“Well, we have time.” I shot back, gesturing my hands for him to continue.

“It’s hard to explain. Things are complicated. It’s all linked back to why I’m here in the first place, all linked to why I stole the money.” He replied, not able to look at me as he explained. “I used to work for this strange company. As you know, I was a biologist, fresh out of University and desperate for work. My wife was pregnant, for crying out loud, I was ready to do anything anyone asked.”

“Dad, will you please just cut to the chase?” I spat at him, my voice like ice, cutting at his heart, filled with venom.

“They hired me to conduct experiments. I had no idea what was happening though, they were way too secretive. They didn’t even tell me what I was working on! It was very confusing, but they were other people helping me, people who had been in the company their whole lives.” He explained, his expression growing distant as he faded into the past.

“So what happened?”

“As the experiment went on, they began to ask me to test some drugs on humans. I thought it was unsafe, they hadn’t been tested on anything else first and it seemed like no one knew what the effects could be.”

“You tested on humans?! Are you insane? Why would you ever do something like that?”

“Let me finish, I’m trying to tell the story, Rose… Anyway, I obviously refused. They didn’t like it, so I decided to resign. I didn’t want to work in a lab where they kept everything secret and worked with such dangerous, possibly illegal experiments. When I tried to leave, they didn’t like that either. They forced me into staying.”

“And how did they do that? They can’t force you into doing anything.”

“They threatened our family.” He choked out, tears clouding his vision. “So I had no choice but to do as they said. But they told me that it was too risky to send me back to the labs, instead they gave me strict instructions on how to generate more cash and funding for their projects and experiments.”

“They wanted you to rob the bank?” I gasped out, my eyes widening as it all came crashing down.

He nodded, desperately blinking back tears.

“So I did as they said. And I failed.” He finished, not being able to resist the tears anymore. They came cascading from his eyes, rushing down his face like rivers of salty water before dropping onto his clothes, turning the bright orange dark.

I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, trying to stop myself from crying as well. I treated him like shit my whole life and almost never came to visit him, when he had done so much for me and I hadn’t even known it.

“Then why are they after your family?” Haden spoke up, for the first time since we’d arrived.

“I really don’t know. The only thing I can think of is that I failed to give them the money they wanted and they want revenge. They must have paid a lot of money to cover things up, and hide the fact that they were involved with such a crime. Now they’re after you and your siblings. You have to warn them, tell them what’s happening.”

“What do they want?” I asked, my voice cracking and filling with emotion.

“My guess is money. Just find a way to get them what they want, hand it over and then avoid them at all costs.”

How was I meant to do that!? First of all, half of my siblings didn’t even want to talk to me. Secondly, I have no idea where to get my hands on ANY money whatsoever. I was utterly screwed.

“How am I meant to do that?” I demanded, looking frantically between Haden and my Dad.

“I have no idea.” My Dad sighed. “Ask Damion, I’m sure he’ll know where to start.”

The shrill bell rang out into the almost empty room, signalling that visiting hours were over. Quickly, I waved goodbye, got out my seat and left the prison.

Getting into Haden’s car, no one spoke, a heavy silence hanging in the air. My thoughts were firmly fixed on what my Dad had just told me. I wondered if Damion could actually help me, and if he would. Damion and I had always been close, but then he’d left and it was like he didn’t even know I existed anymore. I’d tried to text him or call him, but I never got a reply.

“Rose, are you okay?” Haden asked, in an attempt to comfort me. “If you’re worried about the stalkers, I wouldn’t let them anywhere near you, much less hurt you. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”

“No. Haden, this isn’t your fight. The last thing I need is you getting hurt.” I replied. Silence remained for a few more seconds, before I spoke up again. “We need to tell Ty.”

Haden nodded, beginning to start up the engine. I retrieved the piece of paper that had Ty’s address written on it and read it off to Haden. He took off down the road, driving with his expert eye.

After a few short moments, we arrived outside Ty’s apartment building, looking rundown and disgusting. It was in the bad part of town, and I suddenly felt scared for him.

Getting out of the car, me and Haden climbed the steps that led up to his apartment, climbing and climbing before we eventually arrived on the second floor.

Standing outside his door, my heart sped up, panic rearing its ugly head.

Haden sighed, rubbing my arm, and knocking on the door in front of us.

“Rose?” He answered, appearing out of nowhere, flinging his door open. For a second he was confused, but then his face changed. “Has something happened!? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” I cut off his panicked yelps, putting my hand up and warning him to stop. “I just dropped by to tell you something.”

“What?” He demanded, relaxing slightly but still on guard.

“I went by the prison today to ask Dad some questions.” I explained, rocking back and forth on my heels. “I wanted to know if he knew about anything that was happening to us.”

“When did this happen?” He yelled, catching me off guard. He was red in the face, his eyes bulging from his sockets and his nose scrunched up as he prepared himself for a fit of rage. “I thought I told you not to get involved!”

I knew he’d be annoyed that I hadn’t listened to him, or taken his advice to stay away, but I didn’t regret my decision at all. If I hadn’t gone to see my Dad, I wouldn’t have gotten the answers I desperately needed. If I’d done as he told me, we would still be completely oblivious to who they were and what they wanted. They were much more dangerous than we’d first expected.

“I’m sorry but this was important. I had to try and find out what was tearing our life’s apart, who was hunting us, what the hell was going on. Dad knows more things than we could ever imagine, and if you recognised that man from his trial, I knew he was bound to know something.” I defended myself, trying to reason with him.

“You should have just left it to me! I was going to organise a visit eventually, you just need to give it some time. Do you never have any patience, Rose?!” He snapped back, glaring at me from behind his lashes.

“We didn’t have any time, Ty. If I’d waited for you to get off your lazy ass, we would have been caught by them. And we would have no idea what they wanted from us! We are in danger, Ty, wake up before it’s too late.” I yelled.

“Wait a second, did he tell you something?”

“For a matter of fact, yes, he gave me some very useful information that could save our lives!”

Still angry, he invited me and Haden inside, fuming from my earlier outburst and worried for me getting too involved with this mess.

I explained everything, repeating exactly what Dad had told me an hour before. The more I explained, the less angry Ty became as worry clouded his expressions.

“Oh god.” He muttered, shaking his head and taking gulps of air. “We need to warn Damion and Rebecca, as soon as possible.”

“I agree, they’re in just as much danger as us, they need to be made aware of what is going on, even if they haven’t figured out they’re being stalked yet.” I agreed.

“I’ll tell Damion tomorrow then.” Ty decided, chewing his lip until it was cracked and bleeding.

“I’ll come with you,” I smiled, excited to see my brother for the first time in months. It was going to be like a good ol’ family reunion.

“Rose,” He sighed, gazing at me in sympathy. “Damion might not be the same as he used to be, he’s a changed man. Neither of us have seen or talked to him in ages, and we don’t know how he’ll react when we see him.”

“There is no way you’re not letting me see my brother!” I protested.

I was not going to let this opportunity slip past me, Damion was my brother and I needed to know that he was safe. I didn’t really mind if he’d changed, he would always still be my brother. It’s not like he’d changed so much that he was willing to hurt me, right?

“W-why can’t you…” He started, groaning in frustration.

“He’s my brother too, I deserve to see him!”

“Why can’t you just listen to me for once, Rose!?” He roared, his empty apartment shaking from his shouts, the strained words bouncing off the walls and threatening to burst my eardrums.

I’d pushed him to his breaking point, he never yelled at me like that, even when we had arguments. He’d yell, sure, but this was more like a furious, uncontrolled, wild scream.

I sat in a daze, the silence hurting my ears. Haden squeezed my knee, letting me know that he was there for me. I glanced up at him and he shot me a look as if to say “you want me to beat some sense into him?”. I shook my head, rubbing my hands together, unsure of what to say.

“I’m sorry, Rose.” He sighed, rubbing his face. “I just… I don’t want to see you get hurt. You haven’t seen what he’s like, the people he hangs around with. I saw him last year and I got a dreadful surprise, he’s not what he used to be.”

“Damion would never hurt me, Damion wouldn’t hurt any of us. He’s still our brother.” I spat, annoyed that he would think such a thing.

It was impossible for me to envision a world where Damion would lay a finger on me, he’d always been so nice towards me. He was the one who always stuck up for me and listened to me for hours on end as I moaned and ranted about my day.

“Fine.” Ty gave up, crossing his arms across his chest and letting out a huff. “You can come. But you can’t bring Haden.”

“What?” Haden burst out, almost jumping off the ratty couch to confront him. “Why not?”

“I don’t think Damion will trust us if he’s there. No offence Haden.” Ty explained, sending him an apologetic look.

Haden groaned. I’d always felt safer with Haden by my side to protect me, and I always felt better with him around but sometimes you need to make sacrifices. I could see where Ty was coming from, Damion was more likely to trust us if Haden wasn’t there, he’d always trusted our family more than anyone else he knew.

“If that’s what it takes, then sure. I’ll go without Haden, but I’m still telling him all the details when we get back.” I agreed, examining Haden’s reaction.He didn’t seem too happy, more worried than angry though, but I could tell he knew that Ty would look out for me if anything went wrong.

We said our goodbyes, before departing from his “homely” room. Haden and I descended the creaky stairs, ignoring the smell of piss that emitted from the walls and the sound of music thumping from above.

Getting into Haden’s car, I couldn’t contain my excitement of seeing Damion again tomorrow. Yet at the same time, I was slightly worried.

What if Ty was right? What if Damion was dangerous? I tried not to think about it, focusing on the positives.

“So, what do you want to do?” Haden asked, cruising down the road leading to our area.

“We could go back to my house and watch movies or something?” I suggested, wanting to do something normal for once, considering my life in the past few days had turned into one of the action movies I used to adore.

I needed something that would take my mind off things, and forget about my strange life.

“Movies it is!” He grinned, as we approached my house.

Once we arrived, we headed straight for my kitchen, allocating ourselves our usual jobs. I raided my cupboards, searching for snacks while Haden was in charge of making the popcorn.

After finding a mega sized bag of crisps, a wide selection of chocolate and sweets, and litre bottles of Fanta and Coca Cola, I headed into the living room. I slumped onto the floor, searching around for my remote, before finding it on the floor at the other side of the room. I started up Netflix straight away, searching through it for an uplifting comedy that we could watch to brighten up our dark moods.

I eventually landed on Haden and I’s favourite movie, 21 Jump Street. We’d watched it thousands of times, and were super excited for the sequel coming out soon. I selected it, setting up our little fort of cushions, covers and blankets as I waited for it to load. Haden appeared with the popcorn, snuggling down next to me on the sofa.

“What are we watching?” He asked, throwing a handful of popcorn into his mouth, chomping on it with great delight.

“21 Jump Street.” I replied, opening my mouth as wide as possible.

He knew what that meant and chuckled, throwing popcorn at me. Some of it made it to my mouth, but most got lost in my hair or the sofa, as we laughed.

The movie started, just as the sun began to set outside the window, plunging the living room into darkness and completing the cinema effect.

As the movie wore on, I snuggled into Haden, laying my head on his toned chest, and throwing one arm over, hugging him limply. He wrapped his arms around me, eyes still glued to the movie as I slowly drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Expected Update = July 22nd 

Teaser May Be Released Earlier

I apologise for the shortness and quality of this chapter. The chapter was going to be a short one anyone, doubled with me rushing to get all the pictures taken in time for me leaving to go on holiday didn’t set it up for a good one. Reading over it now, I want to change some things and it sounds dodgy at some points but I don’t have time and I have lots of stuff to do. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy and feedback will be appreciated below, haha. 😀 

Chapter 1
Rose’s POV

I walked down the streets of Auberon, alone as usual, kicking stray wrappers and empty cans out of my way as I let my thoughts go wild, ignoring the nippy breeze, the sound of traffic and the taste of smog that hung in the air.

I guess you could say I’ve always been a bit of a loner, the girl who sits in the corner by herself while everyone else laughs and jokes with their friends, the girl who would rather throw up than have to put up with half of the selfish idiots that wonder the streets of this city.

Who wants to be friends with a girl who’s own Dad tried to rob a bank, and pathetically failed and got caught, a girl who’s brother is the leader of one of the most feared gangs in the whole of Auberon?

Yeah, that’s right. The answer is nobody.

I only have one friend, Haden, the only person who’s stuck by me through thick and thin, the only guy who would dare to laugh with me or even talk with me. He’s been my friend for as long as I can remember, always been there for me through all my life events. I can remember vividly the day my Dad was arrested, him being dragged away by the police, and Haden was there, holding my hand in his iron grip, assuring me that everything was going to be okay. He was there on my first day of school, whispering in my ear that things would get better.

Every birthday, every school day, every visit to my Dad… He was there.

Every tear that I shed, he wiped away, every cut that I got he would plaster up and laugh at my clumsiness. He was the perfect friend, there was nothing more I could ask of him.

It doesn’t bother me that everyone is either too scared to approach me, or constantly paranoid that if they do take a step too close I’d snatch their phone. Truth be told, I would never do such a thing. You get used to the assumptions after a while though.

I’m that one person that your parents tell you to avoid, that one person that people turn their noses up at and would rather stand than sit next to on a bus when there are no other seats left.

I’ve never really needed a lot of friends though. I mean, who needs friends when you have four siblings?

My family’s complicated, to say the least. I’m the youngest in the family, but I have a twin, Kara, she was first born though, making her older. Then there’s my three other siblings, Damion, Rebecca and Ty.

Damion’s the oldest, and is leader of some gang but I haven’t talked to him in a while, he moved out ages ago.

Rebecca is one year younger than him. She moved out after my Dad was thrown into prison. I have tried to talk to her, I’ve even stalked her on Facebook, but she just doesn’t want anything to do with our family anymore.

Ty’s a few years younger than her, but yet again I haven’t talked to him since my Mum found “pot” in his room and threw him out, onto the streets. My Mum won’t allow me talking to him, or helping him since she “doesn’t want me getting messed up in bad business”. She yells at me every time I mention his name.

Kara and I are seventeen, but you could say our relationship is rocky (some would even go as far as saying unstable). We haven’t spoken since she was taken to a mental institution for trying to kill me in my sleep! That happened a couple of months ago, and I still have nightmares about it. I wouldn’t sleep for weeks because I was scared someone would try to do it again, and even now I find it difficult, but Mum’s got me onto sleeping tablets to put me out. My Mum insists it wasn’t her fault, that she had a mental condition and she couldn’t help what she did. Apparently, she heard voices in her head that taunted her and told her to do unimaginable things. My guess is it got worse when Dad was taken away.

Then, there’s my Mum and Dad…

As I already said, my Dad’s in prison for trying to rob a bank. When he realised that he’d failed, and wouldn’t be able to get all the money he wanted, he shot two cops and somehow escaped. He returned home and pretended that nothing was wrong, lied right to our faces. That hurt the most, knowing that he tried to keep a charade up, tried to play happy families and continue our lives like he hadn’t just committed a crime. Of course, it didn’t last long. The police were onto him in no time.

He never told us why he did it. Personally, I think he needed money to support his secret gambling addiction.

I’m forced into visiting him every couple of months by my Mum, who is still desperately clawing at what is left of our family. It was like a tornado came in the middle of the night and tore our lives to tatters, leaving us in shambles and my poor Mum to pick up the pieces. Everything fell apart because of him, even if my Mum still has an image in her head of what she wants us to be like, a picture perfect family, it will never be true. I’ll never forgive him for that.

Last but not least, there’s my amazing Mum. Somehow, she survived through everything life threw at her, keeping herself happy and trying to get a smile on everyone’s face, trying to keep our family together. She’s the toughest person I know, she goes through people talking about her behind her back and avoiding her because of what her husband did, each and every day.

Somehow, she still loves my Dad and visits him every chance she gets, with tears flowing from her eyes and a grin etched across her face, grateful for the time they get to spend together.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, dropping back down to Earth. I hated thinking of my family, it made me feel sad and angry knowing that we had let ourselves get torn apart.

I focused on my feet, my eyes tracing the cracks in the pavement. I felt the towering buildings at my side drop away, and a narrow alleyway open up beside me. I shivered, the cold air rushing over me and chilling my bones. Snuggling into my jumper, I picked up my pace.

One second I was walking along the roadside, the next I was being pulled into the alleyway, the sudden jerk throwing me off my feet and causing my heart to stop beating for a second too long. I was suddenly enveloped in darkness, the light from the buildings disappearing and the smell of garbage attacking my senses.

Before I could let out an ear piercing scream, a warm hand covered my mouth, and someone grabbed onto me tightly. I wanted to bite down on the strangers hand until I drew blood, and kick them to the curb but I couldn’t help but think they would be too fast for me.

My back made contact with the hard concrete wall of a building, the air being knocked out of me, and someone pinned me there, not letting me go. My head pounded, and I twisted about, trying to flail my arms and get away. I was being mugged, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was terrified!

Was I going to die? Was this the end!? Was I going to be raped?!

My Mum had always warned me about walking on my own, and I regretted it deeply now. Why hadn’t I listened to her!?

I tried to break free from the persons grip, trying to bring my knee up and make it connect with their stomach, but it was no use. Panicking, I tried to shriek, but the hand covering my mouth prevented me and all I got was a raw throat.

Finally, I calmed down slightly and directed my frantic eyes to the stranger in front of me. Their face was covered by a hood and the darkness didn’t let me get a proper look, no matter how hard I squinted. The only thing I could tell, was that they were clearly male.

“If I take my hand away, will you scream?” The man’s voice whispered in my ear, husky and strained, his breath tickling my neck.

I shook my head, wanting this horrific moment to end. Of course I wasn’t going to scream, if I did he wouldn’t hesitate to cut my throat. I know what people like him did in the city on a daily basis, and I knew that if I didn’t do as he asked then I was going to face the consequences.

Hesitantly, the man took his hand away, probably eyeing me cautiously, hoping I wouldn’t let a noise escape my lips.

Eventually, the man pulled down his hood, revealing his identity. His face seemed familiar. Young, chubby cheeks, strong jaw line and high cheek bones. His eyes glittered a hazel brown, as he eyed me like a piece of meat, awaiting my reaction.

My breath caught in my throat, stopping the gasp I wanted to let out, my eyes widening as a sudden realisation dawned on me.

I was stood face to face with my brother, Ty, in the middle of a dark, creepy alley way about to be attacked by him after he practically yanked me off the streets and threw me about like a rag doll.

“What the hell, Ty!?” I shouted, anger boiling through my veins, a rage rushing through me as I stopped myself from punching him in the nose and pushing him off me. I was seriously debating it…

“Look, Rose, I know that you hate me because I used to do drugs, which I stopped by the way, but you need to listen to me!” He demanded, putting his hand up to stop my protests. “You’re in danger. We all are.”

Now I was more confused than I was angry. What the hell was Ty on about? Was he high or something? Why would I ever be in danger? No one in my school even knew my name, never mind anyone else.

“What do you mean I’m in danger?” I questioned, as he backed up slightly, scratching the back of his neck. His face screwed up into a look of concentration, as if he was thinking of the best way to tell me what was going on.

A loud squeak rang in my ears, forcing my eyes to snap towards the direction of the sound. At the mouth of the alley, a black car had pulled up and parked right at the side, its windows blacked out and the engine rumbling.

My eyebrows knitted together, and I turned to Ty, about to ask if he’d asked for a lift home from some friends, when I stopped myself. The look on his face was of sheer terror. His face had drained, his eyes widened with fear and glued to the car.

“What’s wr-“ I was cut off, as Ty gripped onto my hand and launched himself down the alley, away from the black car.

I felt as if my arm had been yanked from its socket, but had no time to complain since I was already being pulled after him as he raced down the alleyway, dragging me along with him.

“What are we running from!?” I yelled, trying to keep up with him and focusing on not letting my feet get tangled together.

No answer. Just more running.

I pulled with all my might, pushing my heels into the ground and trying to stop him from running away. He stumbled back, turning round to look at me, tugging at my arm.

“Tyler, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!” I demanded, glad that I’d managed to stop him in his tracks.

“There’s no time to talk or explain!” He shouted, trying to pull my hand and make me fall forward, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t going anywhere until he started to explain what was going on.

“Rose! We have to run!” He shouted, pulling me round a corner and trying to get me to start running again. Instead, I gripped onto the corner of the wall and strained to stop myself from moving. “I’ll pick you up and carry you if I have to!”

He gripped my wrist with a painful amount of force, and pried me from the wall, quickly. We took off again, me running with him, knowing that if I didn’t he would carry me and I didn’t want that to happen. Last time he’d given me a piggy back, he’d dropped me on the ground and I’d almost cracked my head open.

Footsteps sounded behind us, pounding against the path a short distance away. I gasped, shocked and stunned, my mouth dropping open and my heart rate speeding up dramatically. People were actually chasing us!

I began to pick up my pace, smashing each foot over the other, taking lunges and leaps, desperately trying to lose them.

Why were they after us!? What had we done to them?

It seemed like we’d been running for hours, even if it had only been around ten minutes, and a sweat was breaking out across my forehead, my breathing growing erratic, as I struggled forward. I was beginning to think that we’d never lose them. I was out of breath, and if we didn’t lose them soon I’d be on the floor, gasping for air.

Suddenly, Ty made a sharp turn. I followed, spinning behind the corner and getting out of sight of the people that ran behind us.

Ty jumped, leaping over some bins and crates, getting himself into a crouching position, and disappearing behind them. Quickly, I did the same, hiding behind the large bins, dumpster and old crates that lay about in the derelict street corner.

They appeared a second later, a man and a woman, dressed entirely in black from their trousers, to their tight black tops that clung to their bulging muscles tightly only covered by a leather jacket. They even wore gloves, and combat boots, their feet pounding by. To my surprise, they ran right passed us.

I let out a sigh of relief, crumpling backwards and relaxing myself. I felt like I was going to keel over and pass out, or my heart would jump out of my chest.

Together, we waited a few minutes, making sure that they had long gone. Gazing at Ty expectantly, waiting for his indication that it was alright to stand up, sure that he knew more about this than me, he finally announced we could come out of hiding.

Luckily, the people were clearly long gone, but that didn’t stop Ty from looking about frantically and jumping at the slightest noise. He was paranoid. Very paranoid. How long had he been hiding from these people?

“I think you owe me an explanation.” I announced, shooting him a glare.

“I know, I do. You must be really confused, but I can’t tell you… Not right now anyway. The people who chased us could still be nearby. They always have eyes and ears on me, almost all the time!” He explained.

“When will you tell me then? You’ll need to start talking soon, you can’t keep me in the dark forever, Ty.” I shot back, confusion, anger and a wild curiosity ripping through me with a small dash of fear.

“I don’t know what to do, Rose. I don’t even know everything myself yet, how do you expect me to tell you?” He threw his hands in the air, frustrated and still glancing about. I noticed the bags under his eyes, dark and droopy, and a horrible sensation shot into my heart, noticing that he hadn’t been sleeping well. I knew how that felt, and it made me feel terrible to know he was experiencing something similar.

“Please?” I pleaded, clasping my hands together. “If you don’t I’ll have to tell Mum everything. Including the part where you almost attacked me. If we’re in danger and you won’t explain, then I’ll have to take this to the police. You shouldn’t be getting stalked!”

“It might not just be me. I’m worried that it’s all of our family. Our brothers and sisters. Have you talked to them lately?” He grilled me.

“Nope. Come on, just spill it.”

“Fine! I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He finally agreed, leaning in closer, inching his mouth towards my ear and dropping his voice to a low whisper. “Meet me at the cove, tomorrow at 2. I might be late, trying to get them off my tail.”

I nodded, relief washing over me, glad that he was opening up and trusting me with valued information. Sure, I’d threatened to approach Mum and the authorities about it if he didn’t, but he wouldn’t have told me otherwise.

“I could walk you home.” He piped up, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets.

I could already see my Mum having a fit, if she caught me with him. As soon as she spotted him, she would lose it and might even threaten to call the police if he doesn’t back up and stay away from us. And then, she would ground me for weeks and I would never be able to venture into the city by myself ever again.

“No!” I yelled out, biting my lip after realising my outburst. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t want you too. I just…”

I was lost for words. How do you put “Mum would kill me if she saw me with you”, nicely?

“Mum would have a fit if she saw me. I understand. I could still walk you to the street, though?” He offered, biting his lip. His nails were already bitten to the beds, and he’d paled since I’d last seen him. He might have been off drugs, but this issue with the “stalkers in black” had really drained him and he looked physically ill.

I nodded again, feeling sorry for him. He couldn’t even come within metres of his old home without his own Mother freaking out. It was strange that she was trying to mend our family, and keep us together yet she was pushing him away and creating a divide between us, driving a wedge into our relationship.

We walked almost half of the way home, through dark alleyways and crossing main roads, before Ty finally spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

“So, I heard about Kara.”

How could I not see the Kara thing popping up? Of course he knew that had happened, gossip spreads around this place like wildfire, especially if it was about us, the Banes.

“Yeah, she’s being held in a mental institution for now. I think she’s meant to be getting out soon.” I replied, avoiding his gaze, trying to stop my voice from cracking or tears from leaving my eyes.

The thought of Kara getting out gave me the shivers. I still loved her, I always had, but I knew that once she was back to living under the same roof as me I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep again. I’d constantly be on guard, and flinch away from her every time she came a little too near, wither I wanted to or not.

“Are you okay?” His tone softened. I was shaking under his eyes, as they burned into the side of my head. “From what I heard, she tried to kill you.”

I nodded in response, not wanting to talk to anyone about the subject.

“Were you hurt?” He asked, as we neared my street, just a few turns away.

“I was fine.” I lied. “Just a little shaken, I guess.”

When it happened I was totally freaking out, having mental breakdowns, panic attacks at night and the hysterical tears and sobs that escaped my mouth didn’t cease for days. The police had come and took Kara away, and I’d just locked myself in my room and cried. In fact, I didn’t sleep properly for weeks. And then when I started to sleep, I had horrible nightmares.

We eventually got to the entrance of my street. I didn’t want to leave Ty, what if those people came back to get him?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, at the Cove? Half two?”

“See you then.” I muttered, walking away from him.

I approached my house, my thoughts still firmly fixed on what had happened today. When I’d woken up that morning, I’d never expected something so crazy to happen. Was this just the start?

Flinging my creaky door open, I entered my house, soaking in the warm air that hit my face. The mind boggling smell of food being cooked made my mouth water, and drew me forward like a magnet. Following the smell, I ended up in the kitchen, seeing my Mum stooped over a pot, stirring cheesy pasta, my favourite. She’d always been a good cook, she could make anything.

“Hello Rose.” She smiled, stepping back from her boiling pot, which looked like it was almost ready. “You were gone for a while. Were you with Haden?”

“Yep, I was.” I lied through my teeth, again, avoiding her (Mum could always detect when I was lying if she looked me in the eye), and sitting at the table in my seat.

When I was little, my siblings and I would argue about who would sit in what seats every night, so eventually my Mum had enough and came up with a smart plan. She allocated us all seats, and it’s kind of stuck since then, even though I could sit anywhere now. I used to sit next to Kara, Rebecca sat across from me next to Ty, and Mum and Damion sat at the two ends of the table. My Dad never really ate with us, mostly because there wasn’t enough room at the table, but later on he would either be at the pub or eating in the living room so he could watch TV while he chomped down his dinner.

“That’s odd.” My Mum shot me look, and I instantly knew I was dead. “Haden called the house, and asked if you were going out.”

Her face was reddening already, she hated when I lied, especially when I was lying to her.

Great, now my Mum is going to start asking questions.

“Oh! Er… I was on a walk.” I declared, nodding my head vigorously, hoping she’d be convinced. “I needed to clear my head. Y’know, with everything happening lately, I’ve got a lot of stuff on my mind.”

“Like what?” She demanded, her hands on her hips and she was eyeing me up like she didn’t believe any pointless word I was spouting out.

I needed to pull out the big guns, something I would never bring up on my own, unless I had too.

“Kara’s getting out soon.”

I bowed my head, just saying her name was like a stab in the side, my heart burning and my eyes trying to hold back the tears.

It was half true anyway, the whole reason I was outside is because I wanted to walk about aimlessly and clear my head, but then I talked to Ty and things just went downhill rapidly.

“Rose, you know how I feel about you walking around the streets on your own. In this day and age, it’s not safe.  There are bad people lurking out there, for helpless, innocent people like you.” She scolded. “I can’t lose another child, you have to understand, and I’ll do anything to keep you safe even if that means making annoying rules. And I know you’re worried about Kara coming back but when the incident happened Kara wasn’t… Herself. She’s on medication now, and will be in a stable condition when she gets home. Everything will be fine.”

My Mum and I both knew that Kara wouldn’t be back to normal, she never would be normal ever again. She’ll still have schizophrenia, she’ll still hear and see things that aren’t really there. She might even want to kill me more, after all, I was the whole reason she was put in the institution. I’ve tried talking to my Mum about my feelings towards Kara but she just won’t listen. She acts like everything never happened. How can she think that we’re the perfect little family? My own sister tried to kill me, my Dad is in jail, I’m melting down, my Mum is overworked and stressed, my other sister hates us all, my brother used to be on drugs and is now being stalked and my other brother leads a gang. We would never be perfect. We would never be normal.

************

It was 1am, I was lying in my bed, waiting for sleep to come. How could I not be tired after what had happened? I thought I would be knocked out cold as soon as my head hit the pillow. I couldn’t wait much longer, I wanted tomorrow to come, Ty was going to tell me what was going on and I was desperate for some answers.

Yet at the same time, I couldn’t help but think of all the bad things. Did I really want to know?

How could today start out so ordinary and end in fear and mystery?

Hey everyone,  hope you enjoyed this new chapter. It gives more information and background to her family, along with explaining some of the sticky situations she’s already in or will be introduced to in the future. 

Expected Update Day = Tuesday 8th July

Teaser will be posted this Saturday, so hope you enjoy that too.