Rule #5: Violence is the Answer
Rebels Destroy, not Heal
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"Peyton, where are you going?" Mom calls.
I shrug my jacket on. "Archer's house."
Usually, this would be the truth. I've been going over to Archer's house in the last few days, whether it's him teaching me to ride or horse or working on the treehouse together. But today, I'm planning on doing something entirely different.
Lucky's missing.
I've been leaving cat food out in a secluded part under our backyard porch for her every day. It's always been empty by afternoon, but since three days ago, she hasn't touched it. So, today, before all my relatives arrive, is my best chance to go look for her.
"Why don't you take Bettie, then?" Mom suggests. "She hasn't met Archer, yet. I'm sure she'd love to meet him."
Bettie, my cousin who's the same age as me, glances up from her romance book.
Her glazed eyes show that she couldn't be less interested. After all, Melody nearly spent an hour telling our cousins about how ugly and annoying the Raine family were so that Bettie and her twelve-year old sister would stay away from them.
So far, it's been working pretty well.
"No thanks," Cousin Bettie says, letting her silky brown locks fall in front of her face. "I'm not really the social type of girl. I'd prefer to stay inside and read a good book."
Melody smirks from behind her magazine.
"Fine with me," I shrug and leave before she decides to change her mind.
When I slam the door behind me, red and orange leaves brush away from the impact. One of them crunches under my boot as I climb down my steps.
On the days it rains, Lucky comes back dry and unharmed. That must mean she's found a safe place to stay overnight and away from dangerous weather. I've searched the neighborhood the last two days and haven't found any signs. There's only one place left.
I march to the patch of trees behind Archer's house.
If something happened to Lucky, she would either retreat back to her shelter or come to me. She hasn't come to me, because she either won't or can't. I've done nothing in the last few days that would make Lucky lose her trust, so I'm assuming that something happened to her.
So, I need to help her.
There's a couple of new cars in Archer's driveway when I pass it.
That's right. I remember him telling me that some of his cousins were coming today as well. It's the weekend, so most of the family's coming over for Thanksgiving.
I tug my black beanie lower, hoping it covers all my strands, and quicken my pace so that I'll go by unnoticed. Especially since Archer's talking with some his family. He catches my eye, but I duck my head down.
Just ignore him, I tell myself.
But a familiar few barks make me stop and turn around. Buster, white fur and all, comes running him to me.
"Hey cutie," I say, bending down to place a kiss on his head.
Behind him, Archer approaches me.
"Good boy," He tells Buster and crouches down next to me. "What's with the outfit? Are you on a secret spy mission that you can't tell me about?"
I glance at my entirely black outfit, complete with a belt and a first aid kit (just in case). "Something like that. Did you send Buster after me because you knew I couldn't just ignore him?"
"Maybe."
I roll my eyes, but smile. "Were you talking to your cousins back there?"
"Yeah. It was hell."
"I know the feeling."
"You should come inside with me, so that we can suffer together," Archer tells me. He tugs on one of the pink strands that escaped my hat.
A warm feeling spreads throughout the body, like I'm lying down in a meadow on a warm summer day. It makes my face feel warm. I used to feel happy with Irene and the others, but Archer makes me feel a different sort of warm altogether.
"I have my misson to do, remember? It's very important."
"Must be," He lets go of my hair. "Tomorrow then?"
I nod.
He smiles.
Before my face can get any warmer, I push myself up and wave goodbye to the both of them. A roll of thunder echoes above us.
"You better hurry!" Archer calls. "It's going rain soon."
The woods behind Archer's house isn't really a forest as much as it a patch of trees. But the trees themselves are huge, thick and wide enough to get lost in. Nobody ventures in them because of all the dangerous branches waiting to fall down and the bugs.
"Yuck," I slap a mosquito on my arm.
But Lucky must be in here, I think. The canopy from the large range of leaves is perfect for blocking a storm. Still, I wouldn't want to test it out. Lightening strikes, creating the whole sky to flash white for a millisecond. If there lightening nearby, it's best not to be in the woods. I turn back, promising to come after the storm passes.
"Meow."
I turn on the flashlight I've brought with me. "Lucky?"
Another one. It sounds like it's coming from below me. I crouch down until I find a narrow burrow, formed by fallen branches and piled rocks. It's tiny, but enough for a small animal to hide inside. I get on my knees and crawl under the branches in order to find the cat.
Then, hidden in the corner, two yellow eyes blinks at me.
Since the rest of Lucky's fur is black, her eyes are the only thing that stand out to me. As I get closer, I see that her fur is matted with dirt and twigs. One of her front paws lies at a crooked angle, a dark liquid coming from its wrist.
"Are you okay?" I crawl closer, but stop when she hisses at me. It seems that our growing relationship between the last few days doesn't matter when she's injured.
"Okay," I mutter and take out my phone.
A drop of water lands on my arm.
I search up the nearest animal rescue center. Unfortunately, Peter's told me that he has no idea on how to treat injuries, otherwise I would have brought them to my work. So, I'm stuck with another rescue center outside of town. I dial the number on their website and press my phone against my ear.
While the phone continues to ring, I try to creep closer to Lucky. Her arm is injured so she can't run away or claw me like she's done before.
Sure enough, while Lucky growls in threatening way, she makes no move to attack me. I press my hand to her fur. It's nowhere near as soft as I imagined it would be. Instead, it's prickly, stiff and somewhat sticky. I push away my disgust and run my fingers over the fur in back soothingly. After a minute or two, she begins to relax.
The phone goes to their voicemail.
"Shit," I mummer and dial the number again.
Another raindrop falls and lands on my phone. The clouds and canopy make the area surrounding us become darker and darker, until the only things I can see are the glow from my phone and Lucky's terrified eyes.
When my phone goes to voicemail again, I hang up.
"What now?" I murmur.
I can't just leave Lucky out here, especially when it's about to rain. She's still young, after all. I might get hurt, but it's nothing compared to the terror she'll feel when the storm becomes even worse. With a sigh, I take out my first-aid kit.
It's time to put those Zoology course from last summer to use.
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I manage - after a couple of injuries - to get close enough to Lucky so that I can treat her paw. I've wrapped it up with gauze, but she still won't let me pick her up. When the animal rescue place refuses to answer, I have no choice but to leave her there.
The rain is starting to clear up, Bright sunshine cracks between the dark clouds, casting rays of yellow and orange across the shimmering tides.
I walk past Archer's house tiredly. My body aches from crouching down in a cramped space with Lucky for so long and my clothes are drenched wet from the rain. All I want to do is go to my bedroom and take a long nap.
But that hope vanishes once I reach my house. A couple of fancy cars are parked in the driveway and when I walk inside, there's a large crowd in our living room. Moms kiss each other on the cheek. Dads make jokes. Children glance at each other awkwardly.
"Be warned," James says, suddenly popping up next to me.
"For what?"
"Oh plenty of things," Melody attacks me from the other side. "Cousin Bettie came in first place in a Science Fair and won Homecoming Queen, so Aunt Sue's never going to stop bragging. Uncle Tom's broke both his legs and mom's getting loaded with chores. Oh! And Grandmother arrived."
My heart sinks. "Dad's mom? Or mom's mom?"
"Mom's mom."
I groan.
"Don't worry," Says James. "We'll protect you."
"Yeah, we've got your back." Melody mutters. "Uh, but not right now. We've got to go. Stay strong!"
With those final words, my sibling slink away to the shadows. Before I can go after them, a horribly familiar voice calls my name.
"Ms. Peyton Monroe. It's nice for you to finally grace us with your presence. I'm honored."
I sigh and turn around.
The room hushes as grandmother folds her arms. "And exactly where have you been, young lady?"
"She's just been at Archer's house, mother," My mom sighs. With the dark circles under her eyes, I'm sure she wants to deal with this drama even less than I do. Even so, I see her warn me with her eyes to keep my mouth shut.
"Oh, so with another boy then?" Grandmother says loudly. "I see nothing's changed. I'm guessing by your ridiculous hairstyle that you haven't gotten past your animal-worshiping phase yet either."
I say nothing.
"What? No smart remark this time?"
I shrug.
"Humph. Why are your clothes all wet anyways?"
"Archer and I were working on the tree house." I remind myself to text him about my lie later, just in case my mom brings it up.
She sniffs. "Ah, that neighborhood boy? Sounds like another trouble-maker. Melody's told me all about him. Maybe if you weren't whoring around all the time and started studying like your cousin Bettie, you wouldn't get into such dire situations again and again."
I glance at mom. She shakes her head ever-so-slightly. I press my lips together."
Meanwhile, grandmother's moved on to another part of me. "What's that first-aid kit for? Maybe you got another concussion again - just as I said, another case of a teenage girl trying to get attention. If you weren't hanging out with that boy so much -"
"We're just friends."
"Then, what's that on your neck?" Cousin Bettie says suddenly, her eyes narrowing. She has that sly glint in her eyes that I hate.
"Nothing."
I clasp my hand over the marks on my neck, ignoring the smug and knowing look that Cousin Bettie gives me. In reality, It's a claw mark that Lucky gave me earlier when I was trying to apply the gauze, but nobody would believe that.
"Is that a hickey?" Bettie demands.
"No."
"Then what is it?"
"None of your business!"
Before anybody can tell me to stop, I turn around and storm away. But I look super guilty as I keep my hand on my neck. Cousin Bettie shakes her head and returns to her novel. A couple of parents shake their heads in disgust.
"I knew it. Honestly, Lucy, if she were my daughter, I'd give her a much harder discipline. I know you don't believe in violence, but sometimes that's the only way you get rid of the evil inside of -"
I slam the door behind me.
With a groan, I set the first-aid kit next to my bed. I change into my pajamas and pull my pink stands up into a bun. But just as I'm about to crawl into my bed, something shifts under my blankets. I freeze, only to hear a soft hiss from below.
I yank off my blankets.
Right on my mattress, crawling up my pillows, lies a giant, striped, snake.
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See, I told you I'd update early this time. :D Also, I've put a list with every single character in RoaR so far in Chapter 13.5 just in case anybody is confused about the charecters.
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Anyways, I don't have much to say except thanks to everybody who's been reading, voting and commenting on my chapters, but especially to Infinity9o23o14 who voted on every single one of them. You guys rock!
Thanks for reading!
QotC: Besides Peyton, who's favorite member of the Miller family? Least favorite?