Before We Rise

Chapter 27

1928-      Age 4

She ran through the woods, trying to find something. She climbed slowly over a fallen tree then continued running. 

"Arrrrrrhhhh!" A boy jumped out from behind a tree, scaring her. 

"Ahhhh." She screamed back and the older boy started laughing. A tear slid down the girl's face as she felt scared from what the boy did. The boy stopped laughing once he realized that he hurt her feelings.

"Oh, дорогая сестра, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you that much. It was just a game." The boy apologized to the small girl.

"Why you scare me for?" The little girl asked, still scared of being with the older boy. The boy's smile fell as he pulled the girl to him and hugged her. He tightened his arms around her as she wrapped hers around the taller and older boy's body.

"You know I never mean to purposefully frighten you, Райли." He whispered into the girl's hair.

"What that mean?" She asked.

"It's your name. It means your name." The boy said, pulled back to look at the little girl. "Let's go home. Momma probably worried." The boy led the girl out of the forest and back into the house.

"Momma!" The little girl yelled out, trying to alert their mother that they were home.

"Momma, we're home." The boy yelled out after her. The little girl climbed up the five steps and into their room. She ran to her toy chest and pulled out her favorite toy, a stuffed bear. When she turned around, her momma was standing in the doorway.

"Momma!" The little girl said loudly, running over and hugging her. Her momma stood stiffly as her arms around her waist. The girl pulled back and looked at her momma. "Momma?"

Suddenly hands wrapped around her little throat and her hands flew up to her momma's wrists. Her hands tightened around her throat as the little girl struggled to breath. The little girl looked up at her momma and saw an emotionless face. She reached up with her hands and yanked her momma's hair like she did when she was a baby. Her momma let out a cry and then stomps came from the hallway then into the room.

"Momma! Stop!" She heard the older boy yell. The boy grabbed onto his momma's wrists and tried to pry his hands off the little girl's throat. "Momma, let go! You're hurting her!"

The woman let one hand go and backhanded the boy across the face. The boy fell to the ground and the little girl dropped to the ground, taking her momma with her. She straddled the little girl and tightened her hands on her throat. More stomps came from the hall and the little girl's father stood in the doorway, shocked.

"Loraina, stop!" The father ran at his wife and tackled her to the ground. He managed to restrain her as the little girl got moved away by the older boy. The older boy held onto the little girl as she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back as he tried to sooth her.

"It's okay. It's okay, Райли."

The older boy held the small girl in his arms as he watched his father tie his momma to a chair. 

"Whatever you do my son, do not untie her." The father told the boy. The boy nodded and rubbed the little girl's back. 

"Why would Momma do this to her? What did Райли do?" The boy asked. His father finished up tying up his wife before kneeling in front of his son. He rested a hand on the back of the sleeping little girl and she flinched under his touch, whimpering slightly. The boy rubbed the crease of her elbow and she calmed down. "What did she do for Momma to do that?"

"Your mother is very sick. She didn't understand what she was doing. She didn't mean for it to happen, she just doesn't have any control over it." The father explained.

"Momma tried to kill Райли." The boy said again as he held the little girl tighter. The father tapped the boy's hand.

"I know. That's why you can't untie her. Do you understand me?" The boy nodded at his father. The father leaned forward and kissed the back of the little girl's head. "Now, I have to go back to work. You watch your mother and Райли."

His father left and the boy laid down. The little girl woke up as the boy passed out. She untangled herself from the boy's arms and caught her momma's eyes. Her eyes looked dead. No emotions in them. She walked over to her and reached out to touch her. Her momma jerked at the raised hand and the little girl yanked it back.

It started to get dark in the room so the little girl went to turn on the light. But when she went to turn it on, the light busted. The little girl frowned and went to find a candle. She climbed up on the counter and looked through the cabinet. She placed a few candles on the counter then grabbed the box of matches. She climbed down and spread out all the candles through out the house.

She placed on in the living room, on the table next to her Momma and lit a match. She lit the candle and backed away from it. She bumped into her momma and her momma's hands reached for her. She jumped away, right into the table with the candle on it.

The candle fell onto the ground, catching the carpet on fire. The little girl backed away from the fire as it came closer to her. Soon the chair was on fire then the curtains over the window. Her momma watched her as the fire came under her chair. Her momma started to scream as the fire started to burn her skin. Smoke quickly filled the room as the older boy woke up from the smoke going into his lungs. He looked at the little girl and her scared expression. He moved over to her as his momma's screams got louder.

" Райли, get out of here. Go!" He ordered the little girl, pushing her towards the door. The little girl ran for the door then out of it. She ran into the street and turned as the house caught up in flames.

The screams from her momma reached her ears as she stood there in the street. Then the sound of the older boy's screams reached her ears. She jumped at the sound of it. The door opened and fire exploded from it. A figure came running out, straight to her.

"Райли! Райли!" She heard the older boy cry out. She ran to him as tears came down her face. She looked up as the house came crashing down, with her momma inside. A hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. Her father was standing in front of her.

"Listen to me, it wasn't your fault. Okay?" Her father said, rubbing her back.

"I hurt Momma. She's going to be mad at me." The little girl cried. The father looked back at the older boy who was covered in ash. He looked back at his little girl. He grabbed the little girl's hand and the boy's and led them away from the now crumpled house.

3 months later- Age 5

The older boy watched as the little girl jerked in her sleep. She let out a cry and the boy shook her.

"Райли, wake up. Wake up." The little girl shot up and into the boy's arms. "I have you. I have you."

"I saw Momma burning. Why was she burning?" The little girl asked. The boy pulled back, grasping the little girl's face and looked into her eyes.

"Momma was executed. She was taken by some people and was experimented on. She tried to strangle you but father saved you. Momma was executed in the middle of the square, in front of the city for anyone to see." He said the same line for the billionth time. Father thought that it was best for her to forget what she had done and convince her and her mind that their momma was executed. Not burned to death.

"Then who are you?" The little girl asked for the billionth time. The boy smiled sadly at the little girl.

"Me, I'm Roman. You're imaginary friend, Riley" He lied to her. Father thought it was also better for her to not know that he ever survived the fire. Or that he ever existed.

"I have an imaginary friend?" She asked and he nodded. She nodded back before laying back down and falling back asleep. Roman reached over, smoothing out her hair and rubbed one of his thumb on the crease of her little elbow.

"You may not remember me in the next few months but I'll always be your older brother. I will always be here for you. I will always love you, Riley."