High & Low | Crystal Rain

Ep. 4 | A Family Torn

While Rain had actually enjoyed that they were now always together as a family, she could tell there had been a change in her parents. They would stay up late talking in hushed tones filled with tension and anxiety.

Adults never realized how much children heard when they thought they weren't listening, Rain was no exception. The conversations ranged and even though P and Rain would lay awake listening intently, they could only put a few words together. One topic that would always come up was money, being tracked, and where they'd have to go next.

Both her parents had always been about helping those less fortunate and that didn't change once they moved. But both children knew that the confident people everyone saw in their parents was only a facade and were not the same troubled people they were inside their home. Still, they were always loving and wise, at least that's what P and Rain always saw, who would want to hurt them?

Rain's mind raced as she weaved through the narrow alleys, did the men in white have something too with the topics of her parents late night discussions? Did they really owe a debt that they couldn't afford to pay? As a young seven year old, her mind was filled with countless scenarios, she wasn't even paying attention when she crashed into P, cutting her off at a cross section.

They shared one quick glance of urgency before taking off together. There was no race today, their steps were evenly matched by their determination, equally as frantic. As they grew closer they could hear the screams of a woman, their mother.

They rounded the corner and came to a screeching halt. P ran to their mother's side, she was hunched over, her eyes welling up with tears. Her timid gaze stared at the men across from them towering over her husband, who was already beaten and bruised on his knees. Her gaze only left them when P ran over to her, as she quickly wrapped him in her arms as any protective mother would.

Rain made a move forward to join them but a hand grabbed her shoulder. Shion had caught up to them and shaking his head, held her back. Even though he was not much older than P, he had a seen the dark underside of life outside the Street.

He had lived on the Nameless Street longer than both the siblings and was deeper embedded in not only the freedoms of the town but its dangers as well.

Rain tried to break free from the older boys grasp, but he held a firm grip and with piercing eyes and a silent shake of his head silenced the rest of her efforts. His voice came out lower than a whisper, "You'll just be in the way, trust me they'd want you out of harms way."

Rain could only watch as the conversation that her father was having with the one of the men continued, "You didn't think we wouldn't find you?" The man leaned over and locked eyes with her father.

"Please, I've given you everything already, our business, our house." The realization that these men were the reason her family had lost everything and moved to the Nameless Street dawned on Rain as she continued to listen to her father's weak voice.

"I just need more time," her father's eyes fell to the ground as the man in white stood tall again with a turned up nose. "That's what you said last time and the last time. What more can you offer me? This?" The man pointed towards her family and their humbled shack of a home. Seeing a potential threat, the small P stepped in front of their mother, who quickly pulled him back behind her and whispered in his ear, "No."

The man stepped past her father and leaned over the two, "You're a tough little boy aren't you? Looking after your mother and sister like a good little boy." He gave them a crooked smile and with lifeless eyes glared over at Rain, who slightly retreated behind Shion who in turn partially stepped in front of her.

Turning back around, the man stepped in front of her father and with a deep sigh and disgust in his tone carried on with his interrogation, "You want me to give you more time? This was your last chance. Take him away!" With one tug her father was lifted off his feet, beaten down and as he lay bloodied on the ground was dragged away.

Only a whimper and shaky "please" could escape her mothers lips as she and her brother screamed for their father. The man in white turned around one last time, "You know the one good thing about this disgusting street is?...No one will ever look for you or care for you, even if you disappear," and with one last smirk the man disappeared into his car.

As soon as the entourage of black cars disappeared from view, her mother collapsed, the brave face she had put on gone and the rest of her tears flowed freely from her face. She embraced a teary eyed P as Rain felt Shion's grip loosen and she made a b-line right into her mother and brother's arms.