A Quartet of Desire

Chapter 23: The Farmhouse

*Saoirse's POV*

Our abrupt departure from Chicago flew by as a whirlwind nightmare. I didn't know when I would see my parents again or when we would be allowed to return. We couldn't bring our phones or any personal belongings, couldn't even call to tell our parents goodbye and that we loved them.

I had insisted on Claire sitting in the back with me as I propped my sore ankle up on the center console in front of me while Kathy drove us to an undisclosed location. Even though we had asked her to elaborate now that we were in the car, she remained silent and focused on her task.

Claire had silently cried herself to sleep, our arms wrapped around each other in a protective embrace. I was worried and already missing my own parents, but I could only imagine how terrifying this was for her. Her family was vile, and I knew that her disappearing from their family business where she worked her ass off would anger them. They also wouldn't have their Cinderella to clean up after them for however long we would be gone. Tara would be pissed that Claire was on this "vacation" instead of her. If there was one thing I hated more than anything else it was conniving two-faced women who tore other women down.

That was Tara in a nutshell. She thought she was all that and a bag of chips, and it showed in her behaviors and mannerisms. Her ugliness only shone brighter around Claire when she tried to distinguish herself as better than her sister. I couldn't stand her when we were kids, and I only grew to detest her more now as adults.

We went to school together, and although we were constantly in the same classes, there was never a moment when we got along. As a matter of fact, I had beaten the shit out of her in sixth grade after she told me only ugly unwanted kids had red hair. I got suspended, but she got off the hook just because I broke her pig nose. My suspension hadn't mattered to me, though I received a hell of a lecture from my parents after that incident.

Come to think of it, that was the first time I met Sean. I had been dragged into the principal's office and forced to sit on a wooden bench to wait for my parents to show up. I still had streaks of Tara's blood on my face and hands, but I didn't care. My head was held high, and I refused to let anyone bring me down. I was proud of myself and no matter what any adult said to me nothing would change that. Sean was two years older than me and walked into the principal's office escorted by a hall aid. After she dropped him off, he took one look at me and instead of sitting as far away from me as possible, he chose to sit down next to me.

"Is that your blood?" he had asked, his voice cracking as preteen boys' voices did. He had pretty green eyes and blonde hair, and my little heart had been excited to have a cute boy interested in me even for a moment.

"Nope. I beat up Tara because she said my red hair was ugly," I explained to him, as if he could possibly know who I was talking about. I smiled at him with pride as he stared at me.

Sean had tilted his head at me and leaned in to get a better look. "She was wrong," he said after a minute. "Your hair is really pretty. Want to be my girlfriend?"

"What?!" I had shrieked, my head whipping to look at the insane person next to me. Just because I thought he was cute didn't mean I was ready to date anyone. "I don't even know who the hell you are."

He pretended to be offended. "I'm Sean Donnelly. Your parents probably work for my family, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not quite sure if that was true or not. The name Donnelly did sound familiar, but I didn't remember where from. "Dunno, but I'm still not dating you."

"Why?" he asked, this time actually offended.

"Stranger danger, dude. Plus, I'm not interested in dating anyone right now, especially someone who looks way older than me."