Freedom Flowers

Alex Bolliger

Chapter 1

June 8, 2016

Somewhere in England, name unknown

2:47 AM

Erika looked around. The train car was completely dark, save for her younger sister's reading lamp that had been left on. Smiling to herself, she got up to turn it off. As she moved across the car, it swayed, making her lose her balance. She stumbled over to the lamp and switched it off. The train trip from Paris had seemingly taken forever. She'd taken Maxie from Asia, where they'd lost their parents, all the way back to London. Finally, they were home. Maxie was twelve, but the loss of their parents had made her more clingy. She acted younger than she was, but Erika knew she needed the comfort of a familiar face. She looked down at her sister's sleeping face, barely visible in the moonlight, and smiled. Maxie seemed so peaceful. In her dreams, all the horror of the past weeks seemed to be forgotten. Erika pulled the blanket up around her sister and made her way back to her seat.

As she sat back down, she thought about what would happen next. She was eighteen, so she could take responsibility of her sister. That was reassuring, as she didn't want to have to watch her sister taken away to an orphanage. She supposed she would be allowed to keep the house, as the combined money from her parents' will and her job pay would pay for it. As the two girls had no living relatives that they knew of, Erika knew that she had no one. She couldn't leave Maxie alone, not in her state. She twisted in her seat, trying to make herself comfortable so that maybe, she'd be able to get some sleep. She hadn't slept well since her parents' deaths. As she tried to sleep, she realized that she was fighting a losing battle. She wasn't going to be able to sleep. Giving in, she went back to her thoughts.

It was dark. She couldn't see anything. Scared, she called out.

"Mom?"

No answer. She moved around, trying to find something, anything, in the darkness. She dragged her leg over something sharp, and cried out. She grabbed it, and realized it was a knife. Nearly panicking, she called out again.

"Dad? Maxie? M-Mom?"

Still no answers. They couldn't be dead! Not now...not leaving her alone! Suddenly, a small voice came out of the shadows.

"E-Erika?"

"Maxie! Keep talking, I'll find you."
"Erika, what's happening? I'm scared!"

She moved toward the sound of her sister's voice. "Maxie, are you hurt?"

"I don't think so...but Erika, where's Mom and Dad?"

"I don't know. Maxie, it'll be okay. Just keep talking, and I'll find you."
"Okay. Erika?"

"What?"

" I-I smell something."
She sniffed. Smelled blood. Hurried faster to her sister. Bumped her knee.

"Erika?"

"Yes."

Cradling her, she moved over until she found a wall. Sat there, holding her. Still smelled blood.

"Maxie, where's your flashlight?"

"In my pocket...here."

Took the flashlight, and switched it on. Saw the blood on the floor. Followed the trail, hand shaking. Ended on a bloody mass. She screamed. Something told her that the mass was two bodies. Her parents.

3:45 AM

London, England

Erika awoke, sweating. She remembered why it was that she wasn't able to sleep. She'd kept herself awake purposefully, so as to not have that dream. She sat up, and checked to see if Maxie was still asleep. She was. Sighing, Erika reached into her bag and pulled out her flashlight and a book. She began to read, passing the time until they pulled into the station.