Behind this Bloody Smile

Chapter One

When life collides with death, there will be utter silence; and that will be where the most peace is found.

-W.W

The door creaked to a slow stop as I slid my way through the gap with the grocery bags at my side. I stepped in, pushing the door closed with my foot as I peeked around the empty living room, expecting at least someone other than the T.V to be making noise. I slowly started my walk further into the house as I slithered through the beer bottles that littered the ground and the smoke of cigarettes that were clouds in the corners of the room seeping in. The stairs creaked as I climbed down towards the basement door where our rooms were. Grabbing the handle I twisted and pushed it open to get a glimpse of a small girl with curly brown hair and big crystal ocean blue eyes crying in the corner of the twin mattress. I quickly dropped the Walmart bags and rushed to her side. Her once bright pink school dress was now torn in different areas, exposing her once tan arms now filled with different types of yellow splotches that were not fully bruised yet.

Michael cradled her as she wept in his lap, the adrenaline in his veins pumped with force as my brain pieced together the information I had discovered in under the seconds. 'Andy' I signed 'Where?' Belle looked at me but she just kept whaling until I grabbed her by her shoulders and put her down on the bed and began to run up the stairs again. but this time, further up the stairs to the upstairs lounge. I looked around the area in panic, knowing the peace that was settled in the house was the answer to the silence. One door was slightly ajar with the bathroom light gleaming in the crack. Before I could peak in, the click of the light shutting off and the door creaking open startled me.

A boy with piercing blue eyes and short, puffy brown hair walked out. His clothes hung off of him like he was homeless with taped sneakers and a large discolored splotch of skin turning purple under his eye.

"Mike?" Andy startled out as he grabbed his chest in panic. "What are you doing?" Andy muttered as he looked at me with an almost daze look. I leaned my weight to one foot as I placed my hand on my hip, looking at Andy with anger. "What?" He asked as if he was unsure of why I was looking at him like that. "Oh." His face turned from a look of fake stupidity to a fake understanding. "My black eye, is that it?" Andy questioned as he walked passed me, heading down the stairs as he spoke. "I got into a fight at school and stuff. I won if you wanted to know." I followed him as spoke, staring at his back so he would know that I was right behind him. "Dad is at the store, by the way, I asked him if he could get milk, but he said no. So I hope you got some." Andy laughed to himself as he skipped the kitchen and went straight to the basement.

I didn't wait until he entered the room, instead, I grabbed him right as he was about to walk in. My 14-year-old brother looked scared as I turned him around, making him face me as I pushed him into the large hall closet that held canned food and our small amount of clothes. He knew I caught him, besides him being a lair and Anna snitching, He couldn't hide much from me. Times like these I hoped would never happen, but they did. Whether I liked it or not. My baby brother was no longer a baby. What he was now was a target.

They were good at staying out of trouble for the most part, unless Andy was stealing food with me. I always hoped I could keep him out of what I do to get food, but it's not easy doing it alone. Now that he's older, he understands this, and he helps.

I grabbed his warm blue jacket I violently pulled on it as Andy struggled away from me, trying to make me stop as he pushed me. "Stop, Mike." He muttered as he fought back. "Please?" I paused as I looked into his pleading eyes, aware that my grip was still firmly on his jacket sleeves. Andy sighed as he lightly pushed away before pulling the jacket off himself.