1. Run
Mom pressed me and my little sister into the cupboard in the kitchen.
"Stay here!" she begged before she closed the door and I heard her feet scurrying out of the room.
We heard a muffled scream of pain and shock from the other room, and I shut my eyes tight and covered my sister's fear with my hand press over her mouth. I rocked her soothingly as much as I could in the enclosed space and kissed her face soothingly.
I felt her tears as they darted from her eyes and over her cheeks, colliding with my skin. She pressed my hand to her mouth more, knowing that she would soon start sobbing deafeningly. I fought back cries of my own; I had to be strong for her.
How did we get here?
I jolted as I heard the door rupture open.
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
"They aren't here! They're at a friend's house," I heard my mothers voice argue.
"DON'T LIE TO ME, HUMAN!"
"I'm not! They are not here! Now leave!"
Where are they?" The taunting voice was too composed.
My mother yelped in pain as her head crashed into the counter, I clasped my sister nearer and watched with wide, fearful eyes at my mothers pained face through the door cracks. The tears fell over of their own accord at my mother's fierce love for us; ardent enough for her to tolerate herself to be persecuted.
The Seeker left the room and, as soon as I heard the front door slam, I pushed my sister off me to the other end of the cupboard and hurled myself from it, landing on the floor beside my mothers weakened body.
"Mom?" I asked while I swept at my tears and ran my hands placidly over my mother's bruised face.
"They aren't like the others," her voice was barely that of a breath as she opened her eyes and surveyed me.
"Mom," I ducked my head into her shoulder and cried, showing her how much of a child I still was.
She rubbed my back as she moved to sit up, and pushed me away from her as she stood up, wincing with each inch of movement.
Callous. Bastards. Although it was one thought, my fury made each word a distinct verdict.
Mom pulled all the cupboard doors open as she filled a backpack with food that would keep without refrigeration. She threw this pack on the table once it was filled and grabbed another bag and filled this with endless bottles of water. WE would need these most.
"You need to go; get as far away from here as you can and stay safe! I love you both, but I have to let them take me," she hurriedly explained as she dashed around the room.
My little sister had left the cupboard and was hugging herself to my side. As soon as Mom stood still, she was dangling off her.
"I love you, baby girl," Mom kissed into her hair. "I love you both," she reached out for me and I all but ran to her encirclement.
"Put these on" Mom ordered after a few seconds. "You haven't got much time left."
"Come with us, Mom. We need you," I begged in tears.
"I'm more a liability than an asset; I'm not as robust as you are anymore. When I say run, I mean to run! Exactly that."
Mom was now dragging me and my sister through the house to the laundry where our backdoor opened to our garden.
"Go!" she cried.
"Mom. Mom I can't—"
"You can! And you must. You're our only chance," she wept.
I shook my head, tears flowing unrestricted down my face now as my little sister clung in my mother's arms. Mom released my sister long enough to pull the key locket from her own neck and pose it over mine.
She pulled my sister away from her and crouched down to plant fond kisses over her face, kissing my sisters tears away as well. When she released her, my sister simply stood there, shoulders shuddering from her sobs and quick uneven breaths echoing through the air.
"Go. Stay safe," Mom breathed as she pulled me to her.
She wrapped her arms tight around my body and I fell into her hold, burrowing my face in her neck and trying to deny my tears.
"Don't look back. I love you. Now go."
Both of our hearts shattered and tumbled to the earth with her words and I felt the tears overcome me. I cried into my mother's neck, holding her tight as if to burn the memory of her into my mind. I held her tight and grudgingly nodded.
I closed my eyes as I persuaded myself away from my mother, my existence, my protection, and grabbed my sister's hand, heaving her along beside me. We reached the back fence, and I bounded on top of the bins there and peeked over. When I had ensured that it was safe, I tugged my sister up and lowered her charily onto the other side of the barrier.
I climbed on top of the fence and swung my legs over to place my fall once my sister had relocated. With one last fleeting glimpse, I shot my eyes up and watched my mother as she stood there, crying and breaking while she watched her two daughters disappear to take flight.
I took a moment to even my breathing after I dropped to my feet and pinned my sister to the wall as two Soul's walked by, oblivious of the Human's hiding in the shadows not five feet from them.
Once it was clear again, I sized my sister's hand and ran around the block, sticking to the shadows from trees and buildings and becoming part of the dimness every time a Soul were to pass by.
We reached the road next to our house and raced across it to the forest across from the front of our house and hid in the gloom. My sister huddled to my side as I held her head to my shoulder and watched my mother being towed from our house.
It used to be a home, I reflected despondently.
"We'll find them, rest assured," the Seeker said.
I took in his tall, muscled frame and dark brown unkempt hair. His mouth was twisted into an evil sneer and his perspiring olive skin reflected the sun almost as much as his silver eyes. He was delicately menacing.
"You'll never find them. They will always run!"
So that's what we did.
I gently tugged on my sister's hand and kissed her cheek before we took off deep into the forest, looping around to emerge into the dulled streets a few blocks away. I found a car in next to no time and hot wired it, tucking my sleepy sister into the front seat and throwing our packs into the back.
I was careful to mind the sped on the road, knowing that's what got them suspicious and that it would only get us caught, but I couldn't help wanting to speed to get us as distant as I could and stay safe. Like my mother had said.
I looked over at my sister, fast asleep and curled into a ball in the passenger seat. I brushed my hand over her soft skin and pleaded for her purity and protection.
I bit back more tears that threatened to plummet and brushed away a few nomadic ones that had escaped.
We're running Mom. We will always run.
