Anna Lovato

Chapter Seven

DEMI'S POV

I opened both eyes, staring around my room. It was quiet and Wilmer was fast asleep next to me. I pecked him on the cheek, careful to not wake him and then crept out of my bedroom. Weirdly, I was still in the clothes from last night. A pair of torn, black skinny jeans and a loose, white cami top. Not quite sure how on earth I managed to sleep in a pair of skinny jeans, but then again, this was my first well deserved rest since that awful morning so I was pretty tired.

I dragged my feet down the hall, my eyes a little heavy and my vision slightly blurred from all the hysterical crying yesterday. I used one hand to rub my eyes in an attempt to wake myself up properly, and the other hand to push Anna's bedroom door open. The room was quiet so I peered around the door and glanced at the bundles of blankets and pillows tossed all over the bed. I couldn't quite make out if Anna was sleeping in it or not, but a few steps forward and I could see clearly. She wasn't in bed and the duvet wasn't messy enough to suggest she even slept in it last night. The ends of the duvet were still tucked in and Anna always pulls them out before she sleeps because she's claustrophobic. 

If I wasn't in a daze, the first thing I'd do right now is freak out and wonder, question and panic as to where the hell she was. But, I was dazed and everything was rushing around me. I felt like I was going so slow but my surroundings - and the people in them - were going really fast. Saying that, it didn't take long for me to rush out of her bedroom and down the stairs to look for her. It also didn't take long for me to find her.

I took a few deep breaths as I hit the bottom stair, looking at Anna sitting on one of the breakfast stools in the kitchen. I was loud when I ran down the stairs but she didn't even move. She just sat there, playing around with her bowl of cereal.

"Anna," I edged closer to her, looking at the uneaten cereal.

"Anna," I repeated myself, but she didn't even move, let alone speak.

I glanced at Anna's bowl of cereal again, and then back at her face. Trying to force a word out of the mute child, I took the spoon out of her hand and helped myself to a spoonful of Lucky Charms. She didn't even flinch when I tugged the spoon out of her grip and she didn't even moan that I was eating her food. She'd usually pinch my side (which, by the way, hurts like a bitch) and snatch whatever I took off her back, but not a single movement.

I tugged out the remaining, empty breakfast stool beside Anna and sat on it. She glanced at me this time, and I forced a smile back at her. It was silent, but thankfully it wasn't awkward. We were both in a lot of pain and we were both distraught, that this silence was kind of healing. It allowed me to think clearly but it did allow my thoughts to cloud my mind, until she spoke.

"Demi," my eyes widened as soon as she spoke, and I quickly put the spoon back in her bowl of cereal.

"What is it, baby girl?" I could see her try and find the words she needed to say, and looking around the room as to not meet glances with me.

But, she didn't speak, instead she just twisted in her seat and wrapped both arms tightly around my neck. I couldn't help but smile at the fact she was finding me as a sort of haven from her sadness. That she was relying on me to help her, although it can be quite intimidating, it was really nice to feel a special bond with the sister I didn't really talk to. That we were able to find a sort of serenity with each other, even in this time of darkness. Whilst lost in my thoughts, I was quickly snapped out of it by the sound of sobbing and the slight jittering that Anna was making, nestled into my shoulder. 

She slowly moved out from the safety and security of my shoulder, and looked at me. Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks were all puffy and red from the crying, but she looked like she had finally found the words she was looking for. She leaned in closer and just hummed the tune to Nightingale, although the tune was a little off as she kept taking breaks to sniff and catch her breath - the breath she had used up on crying. I watched as Anna leaned back out and looked at me once again.

"Sing to me, Demi."

My thoughts were solely focused on what has happened these past days that I can't even remember any of my songs. I stared into space in a desperate attempt to figure out what songs I could sing, but Anna interrupted my line of thought: "Nightingale or Warrior."

This was a hard decision, but my mind was easily made up on what song I ought to sing to my strong and brave 9 year old sister.

"Baby girl, I know that Nightingale would probably make more sense right now, I just want to dedicate Warrior to you." She forced a smile, which melted my heart a little bit. Despite a face full of tear stains and a 'crying cold' she had developed, she still managed to smile. Warrior was made to be about her.

I opened both arms and Anna freely shifted off her breakfast stool and sat on my lap. I kissed her on her forehead and wrapped both arms around her, leaning down to rest my chin on her shoulder.

"Actually, change of song."

She looked up at me when I said that, but didn't speak; as if she was just eager to hear the song. I began to hum the tune of Skyscraper and cuddled up to Anna.

"Skies are crying, I am watching, catching tear drops in my hands. Only silence as it's ending, like we never had a chance. Do you have to make me feel like there's nothing left of me?"

As I was just about to go into the chorus, Anna perked up a little bit, tilted her head and then sang the chorus with me.

"You can take everything I have, you can break everything I am, like I'm made of glass, like I'm made of paper. Go on and try to tear me down, I will be rising from the ground... Like a skyscraper," as we were just about to sing the last line of the chorus, Anna put a finger to my lips and finished it herself.

"Like a skyscraper." 

I was taken aback by her perkiness and just in a state of awe, admiring her bravery. She was absolutely broken but she was remaining strong, not for me, but for herself. We couldn't finish the rest of the song as we were both crying; Anna crying into my shoulder and me crying into Anna's shoulder. 

Although I am still in a daze and I still can't get over the world-crushing news we received not even a week ago, I know now that I must sort everything out for Anna's sake. I may make some mistakes with preparing for her future but if we stick together, along with Wilmer's help - who was now leaning against the kitchen wall, having admired mine and Anna's singalong - we can do it. Now reality is kicking in and I must act fast to help Anna.