VICIOUS (II) : peter pan ouat

The in Between

Blaize

She sat on the floor of her room, legs crossed and eyes closed. Stolen incense burns in the corner; it's supposed to smell like peaches but instead just smells like fire. Fingers flick the lighter open, and she can feel the heat of the flame without even having to see it.

She used to play this game with her foster brother, where they would sit on the window sill and look out, hoping one day something would carry them away. Unfortunately, his adoption came, and hers did not.

Instead, the shed came crashing down. The fire licked at the building like her anger. When her foster parents told her to pack her bags, she had laughed, saying that they were already outside. She hadn't had many things to pack.

How old could she have been? 8?

Now, she can only burn the incense at night, and hope no one else opens their eyes. Part of her probation required that she have no contact with any fire, or fire starting devices. Quite recently, hairspray had been added to the list.

Which is why she had stolen some, along with maybe a dozen lighters and six boxes of matches, and put them all in her purse. It clings to her side now, as she breathes.

Opening her eyes, she moves closer to the window. Breathing in the fresh air, she misses the smell of smoke. She misses her first foster brother.

At the window, she closes her eyes, and breathes in. One day she hopes something will take her away. In fact, she believes it.

Elizabeth

Every night, she sat in the small nook on the window sill. There wasn't much else she could do, not after the first month. At first, she had thought about running away, but where would she go? There weren't many things she had gotten to keep after her parent's death, but one of them was the co-op placement at the nearby hospital.

That was all she had, other than the stars.

It had been a sudden passing, and she wondered if perhaps she had been in the ICU that night instead of out with friend, if she'd have seen them one last time. If perhaps she could have helped a nurse move one second faster, and they would've lived.

Of course she knows it's irrational, but she couldn't help the thought in her mind. Maybe one day she'd feel less guilty, but that day wasn't now. Her therapist had told her that she'd reached halfway through the stages of grief, and was transitioning from bargaining to depression.

It was too soon. The dirt on their coffins still fresh. How could she be halfway to over the death of her parents in a month? She still felt the burden of the loss weighing down on her shoulders.

It wasn't possible. They couldn't be dead. Within the month she'll probably feel acceptance, but it was too soon. There must have been something she could've done. There's too much she's missed out, and now she's stuck in a foster home with people she doesn't know.

The stars hang above her. They remind her of her father. He was an astronomer, a scientist. Her mother was more mystical; she believed the stars were where our hopes and dreams lied.

The girl believed one day she'd be up in the stars, and she'd be happy.

Frank

Hide in plain sight; it had always worked for her. After robbing the convenience store, it made sense to camp out on the roof for the night.

Robbing wasn't the right word. Petty theft was closer actually. She had stolen only the essentials, various amounts of food. She didn't mind stealing, but also, she didn't do it for fun anymore. She mostly blamed the police, for chasing after her.

Apparently minors aren't allowed to beat up another girl in the group home, so badly she has to go to the hospital. Also apparently, minors aren't allowed to run away from said group home. It's not like she's on probation anyway, and it wasn't like she started the fight. The other girl thought she was sleeping with said girl's boyfriend.

Believe her, she was not in the habit of angering girls convicted with aggravated assault. Besides, the boyfriend was in his mid-twenties. She was definitely not interested in someone a decade older than her.

Nevermind the fact that said girl had payed her good money to find out if anyone had been sleeping with her boyfriend. Where she got the money, the girl would never know. Not that she cared anyway, it had payed for her taxi ride out of the city. The next day she was planning to sneak on to a train and travel a province over.

But none of that would happen until the morning.

Looking up at the night sky, she hoped it would all be over soon. Hope isn't a strong enough word. She believed.

Alison

It had been weeks since Johnny and Charlie had disappeared. Well, more accurately, it had been months. She felt responsible, hell, she felt broken.

If only they were where she thinks they are. It's fair enough, she has to have at least some idea as to their whereabouts.

She knows Charlotte well enough to know where that girl would disappear to in an emergency, but she didn't think Johnny would leave her. At least, not without warning, or a message.

She missed him dearly. Them dearly. Though she knew it wasn't her fault they were gone, she couldn't help but think it. Charlie was like a sister to her. If she hadn't gone to that dumb party all that while ago, maybe she'd know where the girl had gone.

For now though, she could only climb out on to her window sill, with her feet dangling over the edge.

She'd see Charlie and Johnny again. She believed it.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, this is happening. How do you feel? Who do you think is the most interesting? Which girl is most like you? Literally, the only reason I write is to read your comments and to interact with you. So I'd love to hear from you.

For now, talk to your friends, and I'll see you Friday. (With a cast list of the girls. If you have any people you'd like to suggest, let me know).