Tradition Comes Third

Cold Dinner

Author's Note: Sorry it took me a bit to update!

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 I tried to wash most of Ava's blood off her back in the bathroom in the basement. I found her one of my hoodies in the laundry room. I helped her shimmy into it with her sore back. The sweater was much too large and ran past her fingertips. Her eyes were red from crying. She undid her braids. She tried to pull her hair up, but her face winced in pain. I took the elastic from her hands and tried my best to tie her hair up for her.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"It hurts," she said. "Let's just go upstairs."

I took a step towards the stairs, and Ava slid her fingers through mine and grabbed my arm. She clung to me as we climbed up the stairs. I opened the door and heard voices coming from the dining room.

"Remember to go with what they say," Ava whispered in my ear. "We'll gain their trust."

In the dining room, Dad was sitting at the end of the table. Taylor was sitting on one of the chairs on the side next to Jared. There was a girl with short blonde hair sitting on Jared's lap. She had one arm around his neck, and she had a pair of large glasses on. Dad's lips lifted into a smile when he saw me.

"Have a seat." he said. I looked at the table to see there was a glass of water at two of the places. "Your Mom and Emme are cooking dinner. You two can share a chair."

I pulled out a chair and sat down. Ava sat down on my lap. I put my arm around the base of her back to avoid her wounds. Ava had a tight grip on my hand.

"This is my girl Leah," Jared said.

She gave us a wave, and then pushed her glasses up her nose. Ava said that both Mom and Carrie were kidnapped, and I wondered if she was too.

Mom walked into the dining room with a bowl of mashed potatoes, and a bowl of mixed vegetables. A woman with curly brown hair, and a nose that seemed to twitch every few seconds walked in behind Mom. It must be Emme. She had a platter of meat in her hands. They set it down on the table, and took a seat. Ava's grip tightened on my hand.

"Smells great," Taylor said. "I'm starving."

"Thanks for bringing us this treat," Dad said.

The plate of meat was being passed around, and they were all piling some on their own plate. It was passed to Ava last, and she placed it in the middle of the table.

"Ava," Dad said. "You two need to eat some."

"No thanks." Ava's voice wavered as she spoke. "We're not hungry."

"Just a bit," Dad said. "Our guests were nice enough to bring this to us."

Ava let out a shaky breath. She told me downstairs to never say no, so she is not following her own plan too well now. I reached out and grabbed the plate, and put a couple of pieces on our plate. The rest of the bowls were passed around, and I loaded our plate.

"Have a piece, Ava," Dad said. "You'll enjoy it."

"I'm not -." she started to say.

"Ava, I thought you would have learned your lesson downstairs. Do as we say. We're trying to take care of you."

Ava reached for the fork. She took in a deep breath, and cut a small piece of meat. Her hand was shaking as she brought it up to her mouth. I looked around the table to see everyone was watching her intently as they were eating. Ava opened her mouth, and then closed it right away. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.