B.A.D Luck (Currently editing)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Elaina's POV

The picture sat in my hands, light in weight. A lone tear ran down my face. Madella was my older sister by two years.

I look at her laughing gray-blue eyes in the picture. Her eyes remind me of Shane's. They must get their eye color from our father's side. We sit side by side, me ten and her twelve. I remember the day...

"Girls, girls!" I hear the deep baritone voice of our babysitter say. Our babysitter was the nicest person in the world- at least to all of the kids she babysat. She always gave cookies to us right before we went home. She told us it was a secret that she gave us cookies, she didn't want the parents to find out how all of their kids were so hyped up.

Today she only babysits my sister and I. Mother was at the hospital giving birth to her last child. I don't know who the father was but when I first saw the baby, with the same gray-blue eyes as Madella, I knew it was the same man who had gave momma Madella and I. We stay with Mrs. Springs, our babysitter, for the next three days as Mother is in the hospital.

I see her gray hair sway softly against her back as she approaches us. We look at her to see her with a camera and a plate of cookies.

"Stay right there! I will bring the goodies to you," she finally makes it to us as she says these things. Setting the plate on the dock, she snaps a picture of us with her camera. I can see it now, the water lapping at our feet, the trees off in the distance, and the ducks in the background who glide over the water with their soft feather covered tummies.

The picture was a reminder of a great memory. My sisters dark brown hair is in a braid down her back while mine is stuck up in pigtails. Our eyes dance in amusement and we smile real big, having just sang a song about ponies and macaroni on heads. Mrs. Springs gave us cookies and we had a great time with her that week.

When Madella was 14 and I was 12, she started to date this boy. His name was Jason. They had been dating for about a year when they both disappeared.

They didn't quite disappear to me. I mean, I saw them leave. So, to me, they didn't disappear, they left.

It was a Tuesday night, school was tomorrow. I awoke to an engine starting. The noise was light, almost not loud enough for me to hear. We live in a little white picket fence neighborhood so it's not uncommon to hear cars start but what made me get out of bed was the slight creak of my sister's door opening from across the hall.

I jump up from my bed and zoom to my door, wide awake. It was the middle of the night, and it was pitch black throughout the house. Being on the second floor, I creep over to the stairs.

Madella was just leaving out the front door. I run to it, but it closes in my face. In my haste, I slam into it and can't seem to get it open. Just as I open it, I see Jason push Madella into the passenger side and jump into the driver's seat.

They take off down the road, with me running after them. I yell Madella's name but they turn the corner and are gone. I go back into the house and sit next to the door, crying.

In the morning, everyone thinks she ran off. I knew better and I told everyone over and over what I saw yet they still believe their own theory. My mother doesn't say anything, just has an angered expression.

Bringing myself back to the present, I look back at the hole in my floor. A tattered and old letter sticks up from it and I read the note Madella left me.

Dear Elaina,

My dearest sister, I have left, of my own desire I assure you. I just couldn't stand living there anymore, with Mother. I couldn't stand all of the lies, the deceit. If only you knew, you would feel the same. I believe I knew too much in that house, about that house. I wouldn't have been there long if I had stayed anyway... I love you, Elaina. Watch out for Shane and watch out for yourself. Watch out for who you trust. Layla is a good person and I trust her to help you with the times to come. Be careful...

Love,

Madella

I don't know how long I sit there, in the corner with the drying tears and an old letter but when I stuff the picture and note back in the hole and come back out, it's dark outside.

I get out of the dress I realize I'm still wearing and I shower. A light knock on my door has me going to it. Shane stands in his little batman pajamas. His stuffed bear, old and worn down from the use, hangs from his arm- I think he named it Mr. Bears.

"Can I sleep with you? Momma is scaring me again," his voice is soft and cracks a little. I nod and allow him into my room. He runs and jumps into the bed, snuggling into the soft sheets. He's plopped right in the middle of the bed, but I don't say anything. I just hop in next to him and I feel him curl up against my side. He's warm. I've always noticed that about him, how warm against my side he is. I shrug it off as another mystery in this world.

I think about what he said. About how 'Momma is scaring him'. I know what he is talking about, I've seen it. It's where are mom curls up into a fetal position and sits in the corner of her room. All the curtains are drawn and there is absolutely no light. A blanket covers her whole body and she shakes. Her whole body twitches and sometimes she yells out in pain. It creeps the hell out of me.

I think back onto the note "I couldn't stand all of the lies, the deceit." I decide that I will find out about all of these lies. These so called "lies" that chased away my sister, the ones that made her leave Shane and I alone with our crazy mother...

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