The Weather Weaver - Chapter 9

I continued to run with Lo on my back, Amy chased behind me, swearing and screaming about what she’d do to me if she caught me. Lo clung to me tighter, shaking ever so slightly. She seemed horrified. “It’s going to be alright Lo. I promise she won’t catch us” I said calmly, she gave a small frightened nod. My breathing started to grow heavy and my legs were aching from all the running I was doing, I was surprised that Amy had grown weary by now. Then again if something got her fired up enough she wouldn’t leave it alone until she dealt with it.

The house finally came into view and I felt as if my legs were going to give way. I burst in through the front door and rushed down the hallway, moving into my bedroom and locking the door behind me. Lo jumped off my back and rushed over to my bed, sitting as far away from the door as possible. She was smart. I collapsed on the floor in a heap trying to regain myself, wishing I’d had time to grab a drink before I ran into my bedroom but there would have been no hope at that. Lo glanced at me wide eyed and worried. She bit her lip before saying. “Are you alright Mona?” before I could answer the question my door started shaking violently, Amy was punching my door in an attempt to get me to open it. I sighed, there was no way I was going to even go anywhere near my door. I looked over to my little sister, who was horrified. Without thinking I raised my body up slowly and went to join her on the bed, cuddling her in my arms.
“Mona you stupid cow! Let me in now! I promise I won’t hurt you too much” she screamed, continuing to pound at my bedroom door. My grip on Lo tightened and she sensed my anxiety, squeezing my arm tightly, later leaving a small red mark.

I heard familiar footsteps walk down the hallway and my stomach flopped. Nina was coming to sort out Amy. I knew this wouldn’t be good. I felt sorry for Lo, having to experience this when she was only an innocent and sweet five year old. I could imagine Nina right now, standing outside in the hallway, hands on hips and giving Amy her ‘I’m going to kill you’ glare.
“Amy! What the hell is going on? What’s with all the noise?” Nina asked, her voice sounded as if she was trying her best to remain calm.
“Mona! She always ruins everything! I HATE HER! I wish she was never born.” Amy replied in an angry tone. My stomach flopped again. I flinched, feeling Lo’s nails dig into my pale skin. She glanced up at me, her large green eyes meeting my own grey eyes. For some reason whatever Amy said about me never seemed to effect me but now it seemed to. Her harsh words continued to repeat themselves in my head. Tears stung my eyes and my vision started to become blurry because of the tears.

“It’s okay Mona! I love you!” Lo cried cheerfully, I gave her a reassuring smile, even though I didn’t feel confident. The young girl wriggled out of my grasp and I wondered where she was going, praying she wouldn’t open the door, and then again she wasn’t that stupid. Lo ran over to my study desk, grabbing a few sheets of white paper and a fistful of various coloured pencils before running back over to join me on the bed, she sat cross-legged and handed me a sheet of paper, spreading the pencils in between us.
“Can we draw Mona?” she asked pleading, I nodded in response and she grinned, grabbing a pink pencil and starting to sketch away, biting her lip on concentration. I smiled to my sister, I knew exactly what she was doing, Lo was trying to distract me from the voices from outside, she knew I was scared and was trying to protect me. The concept was kind of funny, being protected by my fairy obsessed five year old sister, even though I was supposed to be protecting her. I shrugged it off, deciding just to play along. As we drew Lo started to sing a strange and slightly out of tune fairy song which she had probably made up on the spot.

Lo jumped as Amy and Nina’s bickering grew louder, she glanced at me as if pleading me to just ignore it like she was doing. I decided to do so. “You NEVER do anything to help this family Amy! You just sit in front of the T.V and treat everybody like your slave! You have it too well off. Mona helps look after Lo; Lo helps out by being a good girl and not a pain in the ass. I have to look after all three of you. Amy you just sit on your ass all day!” Nina screamed her voice tense. The sound of smashing glass echoed throughout the house and Lo jumped again. I sighed, getting up from the bed; I couldn’t believe what I was doing. Slowly I grabbed the doorknob, giving it a sharp twist. I peeked my head out through the door, glass was scattered across the carpet and Nina and Amy both turned to face me. I took a few simple steps outside of my room and Amy’s face twisted into rage. “YOU!” she screamed, bolting forward to grab me. I let out a squeal, retreating back into my bedroom. Nina ran forward, grabbing Amy from behind by her arms. Amy was now yelling and screaming and I was glad that Nina was able to restrain her properly. “Mona, get back into your room now.” Nina said angrily, she seemed as if she could only just hold onto Amy. I nodded, moving slowly back into my bedroom and slamming the door, locking it behind me. I could hear Nina finally let go and Amy’s footsteps came closer until they suddenly stopped and Amy was swearing loudly. “See Amy! That’s what you get for trying to harass Mona.” Nina said tartly and Amy swore back at Nina.

Two hours passed and that whole time I spent in my room, drawing and trying to entertain my little sister. Outside, Nina and Amy had been at each others throats, screaming and yelling. The noise finally ceased and I heard Nina’s voice ring throughout the household.
“Mona, Lo, it’s time for dinner!” Lo glanced to me and stood up from the bed, grabbing my hand in her own. We walked carefully out of the room, the two of them sat on stools at the kitchen bench, eating the pasta Nina had probably been making while they were arguing. On our way to the bench, I noticed a small blood stain on the carpet and realised that Amy had stepped in the broken shards of glass. Lo and I joined them at the bench, sitting as far away as possible before digging into our dinner. An awkward silence hung in the air and even Lo wasn’t talking. As we continued to eat we all jumped as the doorbell rang. Nina stood up from her seat, brushing a stray lock of her hair. “It’s probably the next door neighbours calling about child abuse.” Amy snarled but she was silenced by a cold, icy glare from Nina.

What happened next was unexpected to all of us. Nina let out a small gasp as she opened the door and a woman walked in, her bright red heels looked strange against the carpet. The woman held herself well, wearing a matching red strapped dress, her hair was a tangled, curly ginger brown mess, her hair colour almost mine. Her eyebrows were perfect and her make up seemed to be overly done. The woman glanced at each of us, cigarette smoke filled the air and I noticed she held a cigarette in between her index and middle finger. She elegantly took a puff before blowing out smoke into the air casually. This woman who was standing in our kitchen, was none other then our mother, the infamous Pricilla Haze.