He threw himself on the bed with a sigh, hearing his mom and little sister fighting for the third time that night.
He wished that they would just stop fighting so much.
There wasn't even much to argue about anymore. Nothing was going to ever change. His father wasn't ever going to change. He was still sore from the beating his father gave him a few days ago and had numerus cuts and brusies.
The doorbell rang and his mom and sister stopped their screaming match to open the door and turn the person away.
He walked out of his room in time to see his mom yank the front door open and see two police officers and an offical looking woman. His eyes widen and when his sister spotted him, she rushed over to him and he pulled her back in his room and locked the door. "Get your shoes and jacket on, Ella," He mumbled quietly, pulling on his own beat up jacket.
"Can I help you people?" His mother asked rudely.
"Are you Nancy Caverly?" One of the officers asked.
"I'm with child protective services, ma'am. We would like to talk to you about-"
Mom cut the lady off saying, "The brats?" She scoffed. "They aren't even worth my time anymore. Just take them."
The lady glared at their mother, Nancy, while the police officers pushed their way into the house.
"Kids? We're not gonna hurt ya, come out, ok?" The older officer called out, looking around in disust at the filthy house filled with drugs and emtpy beer bottles laying everywhere.
"The window," Keegan mumbled quietly, gently pulling his sister.
She looked up at him with wide eyes but allowed her brother to pull her anyway. After he and his sister was out of the house, they heard the door knob trying to open. "Hey Mike, this doors locked! Kids, we're not going to hurt you, we promise!" The officer yelled from behind the door, trying to get in still.
Keegan took hold of his younger sisters hand and bolted down the street. He managed to grab a backpack that he filled with a few things they'd both need that he kept packed and ready to go by his window.
"What are we doing?" Ella asked once they were a good distance away from the house, trying to keep up with her brother.
He noticed and slowed down a bit.
He shrugged. "Maybe Jace will let us crash at his place for the night?"
She shook her head. "I met why did we run from them? They wanna help us."
"Like when they helped Cam?"
"We don't know that that would happen!" She exclaimed.
"They could honestly help us, Keegan!"
He stopped walking and turned to her.
"You want them to take us?" He asked.
When she didn't answer he sighed.
"Fine," he resigned quietly. "We won't run again when they find us."
"I'm sorry Keegan, but -" She was interrupted when a police car pulled up beside us and two officers stepped out.
"Are you kids Ella and Keegan Caverly?" An officer they hadn't seen asked.
Keegan rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
"Yeah," Ella answered quietly.
"You're fast," The older officer whom Keegan reckonized at 'Mike' said. "You have to come with us," He said, "You're mother is being placed in prision. Luckily, you have some family in Washington that is willing to take you in."
Keegan didn't have many friends or anything he really cared about in this town, and even though he wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought of living with complete strangers, he knew that it was going to be harder on his sister, regardless of her being the one to not want to run.
He didn't say anything when the officer told them to get in the back, and didn't talk the entire 3 hour trip to the airport where they would fly to Washington the next day.
He and his sister each got a room of their own, so they could both rest comfortably before their flight.
They tried to get Keegan to see a doctor, but he refused, saying he would see one in Washington.
Mike, the police officer, told them that they needed to be ready to go by 5:00A.M. because their flight was at 5:45A.M.
They would be flying by themselves and their family would meet them when they landed.
He showered quickly and changed back into his clothes, wincing as the clothes scraped at the cuts that his father inflicted on him.
He set the alarm that the hotel provided for 4:15A.M. and decided that he would just go to sleep instead of going out to eat the meal the officers said they would provide.
He was a little hurt by his sisters descion but decided to just think about it later because he was tired. He just hoped that this family in Washington would be better for his sister and him than the one he grew up with.
Sleep came quickly to him, along with the nightmares that frequently accompanied it.