Sisters (Part 1)

By: Nightingale

Rating: PG

With inspiration from Firefly and Gip

Christine woke up to a silent apartment. After getting up from the rather large bed that she shared with her two sisters she quietly got dressed. She yawned as she grabbed the tie that she used on her amber hair. She surveyed the room with her brown eyes as she made her way from the bed.

She could sense that there was something wrong but sense neither of her sisters were awake just yet she wasn't quite sure what could damage the calm of the new morning.

"You're on my side of the bed." Came a yell from the other side of the room.

So much for a good morning Christine thought to herself.

"I am not." Protested Kaitlin as she jumped up from the bed to prepare to pounce on Josephine who had rolled over to go back to sleep.

Josephine, the oldest of the three girls, had the same blue eyes as her sister and her father. Only Christine inherited her mother's brown eyes and her mother's understanding. The other two were constantly at each other but always in a loving way. Christine rolled her eyes as the small brawl continued on the other side of the room.

"We're going to be late for school if you don't get off me" shouted Josephine trying her best to push Kaitlin off of her.

"We're always late for school anyways so what does it matter." Kaitlin commented as her older sister got the upper hand and rolled her over.

"The only reason why we're late is cause you two insist on-" Christine started but was cut off by her sister

"Aw I think Christine is jealous," cooed Josephine

"I'm not jealous."

"We can share." Offered Kaitlin as she made her way from Josephine and started towards Christine.

"Kaitlin don't…" warned Christine

"What?"

Christine retreated behind the table and moved opposite of her younger sister so as to protect herself. Any second now their father would come out of his room and yell at them. They weren't exactly being quiet and Christine remembered hearing their father up pretty late last night.

Joseph, the girl's father, was over stressed with his three teenaged daughters. His wife had died a few years ago leaving him to raise the girls on his own. He did his best to put them through school like his wife had wanted and worked himself near to death in whatever jobs he could manage, but the truth was he was tired and depressed.

Josephine came up behind Kaitlin and Christine could just see it in their eyes. They were plotting against her. Using the fact that she was fully dressed and they had yet to change she traveled the rest of the way around the table and sprinted to the door.

Once outside she used as much of her weight as she could to hold the door shut against her sisters. Once they finally gave up she quickly let go and ran down the stairs as fast as she could smiling and laughing as she went.

She turned to make sure her sisters hadn't made it out the door just yet and once she turned around again she suddenly rammed into a tall guy with brown hair and brown eyes who the girls had nicknamed Eyes due to his big, expressive eyes. Neither of the three had had the courage to talk to the guy who lived with his mother and little sister in the apartment below them.

"Excuse me" Christine mumbled as she walked passed him and out the main door

Eyes just shook his head with a slight chuckle as he watched the girl leave. He heard the other two coming before he saw them and luckily pressed up against the wall before the other two came barreling down the stairs straight towards him. He watched as both girls ran passed him still trying to fix their appearance as if they were running late. It seemed to be an everyday occurrence with the girls from the apartment above his family.

As the oldest passed him she dropped one of the books she had been carrying.

"Wait" he called as she passed

Josephine stopped and turned slowly. He held up her book.

"You dropped this." He said

"Thank…thank you" she managed as she slowly took it from him.

"Come on Josephine. We're going to be late." Called Kaitlin

"But we're always late" mocked Josephine

She turned back and nodded to Eyes before turning back to her sister and following her out of the building at a run.

The three girls returned home to a quiet and dark house. Josephine had lit a lamp as the other two girls put their books away. The three had made dinner and waited for their father. After a few hours the three starving girls decided to eat without him.

"Maybe he's just working late." Kaitlin had offered

"Maybe." Added Christine worriedly as she finished up her food.

Now the two younger girls were in bed and asleep but Josephine stayed awake. She sat at the kitchen table waiting. She looked up at the clock and found that it was 2 in the morning. Something about this was just not right.

She looked to the closed door that led to her father's room. Something told her that she should look inside. She took the small lamp and walked over to the door. Josephine laid her hand on the doorknob and just stood there scared to open the door. She took a deep breath and twisted the knob and pushed open the door, which led her into a dark, empty bedroom.

Looking around she noticed that some of his most treasured items were gone. It didn't look like the bed had been slept in at all. She entered the room quietly and circle around. There were no clothes to be seen and the only bag that they owned was gone.

Suddenly it hit her. He was gone. She ran out of the room to the kitchen. She opened one of the cupboards and began to search for the canister that they saved money in. She ended up kneeling on the counter and reaching up to the top shelf to pull it down. She slid off the counter and took off the lid only to find an empty canister.

Panic hit her suddenly. She was stunned and didn't know what to do. Her eyes were wide with fright as she slowly moved to the kitchen table where she sat down numbly. What were they going to do?