Prison Palace

The Woods

" Ebbie! Mom says it's your turn to wash the dishes," the small, pink-haired girl shouted from the living room as she laced up her old, worn-out roller skates. " Okay! Just give me a sec!" The older, black-headed girl told her younger sister, Cierra, as she admired herself in the full-body mirror one last time. She was wearing a black and white striped shirt with a leather vest that clipped to her new, shiny, leather shorts she bought with some money she earned by doing jobs that her neighbors needed to be done around the house. The shorts had one side shorter than the other so the connected strap could latch around her thigh at just the right height so it could be around the same height as the ending of the other side. She adored how her long, silky, black ponytail perfectly draped over her left shoulder, showing off the braid at the base of the ponytail. She sighed to herself, ' Hmm I wonder if my ax will look good with this.' The warm tan-skinned girl grabbed her ax-like guitar, checking the edge with her finger, almost cutting it. "Ooh, sharp!" Ebbie said to herself as she strapped the guitar to her vest. "I look badass!" She struck one last pose before walking out to Cierra, who was currently playing video games. She was being extremely competitive and rocking with the controller as she played, cursing under her breath when she got hit. Ebbbie shook her head with a smile and walked into the kitchen where her mother was making breakfast. 

"Hey, mom." She sat on the counter and grabbed an apple, just as her mother swatted her thigh with a spatula. "I'm just finishing breakfast," She took a moment to look Ebbie over, "and where ya going dressed like you're in the middle of the apocalypse?" Ebbie rolled her eyes as her mother chuckled. "Just to the woods." She slipped off the counter and walked over to her other younger sister, Teran, who was taking a bunch of selfies. Ebbie frowned and tried her best to avoid the camera until Teran noticed her and smirked. "Hey, it's my fave sister!" Teran exclaimed as she pulled Ebbie in for a selfie. She was obviously doing it to annoy Ebbie, knowing that the girl hated pictures. "Teran. If you don't let me go I will tear your hand off." Ebbie growled through grating teeth. Teran slowly backed off and let her go. Ebbie sighed deeply in annoyance. 

She ventured to her youngest sister, Sadie. Sadie was pretty young but she liked being on her own. At the time, she was playing with her stuffed bunny backpack, pretending to turn him into a frog with her toy wand. Ebbie smiled at her and kneeled to her level. "Hey Sades," she whispered to her gently. "Hi," she mumbled back without looking at her. "Whatcha doing?" Ebbie asked sweetly. The girls' mother was worried about Sadie. She never spent much time with anyone except her bunny and didn't like talking to people. Ebbie tried to help Sadie open up more by talking to her and spending more time with the young girl. "Mr. TwinkleTail is getting turned into a frog because he stole the cookies from my adventure yesterday." She told her. Ebbie patted her head. She scolded the stuffie and Sadie smiled. "I was wondering if you wanted to come out to the woods with me today. I'm gonna go on an adventure and I could use the backup," she said as she tried to make it seem appealing to her. Sadie stood and looked at Mr. Twinkle Tail. "can he come?" she asked softly, holding the bun close. Ebbie sighed. "I was thinking twinkle tail could stay here and it would be just us. Ya know like a girls day." she coaxed her. "...girls day." she repeated to herself as if trying to hypnotize herself into complying. "uh...sure." she smiled a little and went to give the bunny to her mother. Ebbie nodded and as soon as Sadie had rounded the corner, She silently celebrated. 

Cierra died in her video game and looked over at Ebbie. "When did you get here?" she asked, rubbing her ears as she put her headphones up. Ebbie looked at her, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "3 hours ago. you've been playing for too long sis." She walked away to go get ready for the woods.

A few minutes later, Sadie and Ebbie were about to leave. "Oh sweetie bring your other sisters too!" Their mother called from the kitchen. Teran and Cierra were already there and packed for a trip. Cierra had her heelies on and Teran had on slip-on shoes. Ebbie groaned and looked at her phone. She was already 5 minutes late. "Fine but you two better walk fast. And stay close. I'm looking at you, Cierra. No going off to chase animals. And no trying to stop for nature pictures Teran." They nodded enthusiastically as they smiled at her innocently.

Ebbie walked up the hill. She stopped for a second to make sure they were all there. She looked to her side and Cierra looked up at her and smiled. Ebbie smiled back, only to frown as she looked behind her and saw the other two distracted and standing still. "C! T!" she called out to them. Cierra looked up from a chipmunk she had caught. "But I got a pet!!" she yelled back, coming over. Teran said goodbye to some people on her live stream and put her phone away, trudging back to her sisters. Ebbie put a hand to her temples and closed her eyes. "Jesus...Cierra, you can keep it while we're here and IF it complies. Teran, no more live streams." she told the two sternly, a twinge of aggravation in her voice. The two looked at each other and sighed, following Ebbie to her spot in the woods.

Once there, Ebbie took her ax off her back and started to strum it. She looked into the deeper part of the woods, seeing that familiar pair of eyes staring back at her. Her sisters spread out a little and did their own thing; Cierra training her chipmunk, which she had named Camper, Teran taking nature pictures to decorate her socials, and little Sadie was sitting on a stump, playing with some stick figures she made. "I'll be back," she said to her sisters as she ventured into the deeper part of the woods. They all made a noise in acknowledgment. And so Ebbie started her journey...

...into the darkness.