~Still need 4 more boys!
Ledsia Alieer
So far, my life is a nightmare. I look at Darren from the corner of my eye and glare at him. He was keeping me in this marriage, and in the process, breaking me and my children. One time I got up in the middle of the night, and carried all three of my kids to the front door. I didn't bother packing because I knew that I would make to much noise. I expected Darren to wake up, push the kids back to bed, then take me to our room and beat me. Then we would "make up", as he called it.
But, when I stepped out of the door that night, all that came to get me was the taxi I had called earlier. I smiled at the driver, and drove to my mother's house. She greeted us all warmly, and sat the kids down where the old machine in the corner of her kitchen rumbled to life, and cocoa came out into three mugs. They were the same ones me and my brothers had when we were little. The one with a superhero was Cinna's, while the one with a princess was mine. Jailee went for it at first, but being my mature child; she smiled and handed it to Lena. My oldest reminds me so much of Cinna, always sacrificing something.
Jailee and Lena both look like a mix between Darren and myself. That night I held my youngest close to my chest and smiled when he opened his grey eyes. My eyes. Lena has them too, and I smiled like this too when she was a baby also. Jailee's eyes are a shocking blue, like Darren. When she was born I was still in love with Darren. So, I thought that her eyes looked beautiful. Now, they seem like a curse that pulls me into a world I want to escape every time I look at her.
The phone ringing was like a shrill sound from a horror movie. My mother smiled at the sound though, and picked up the receiver. She looked at me, and brushed back her blue hair, and handed it to me.
"It's Darren," she said happily. I hadn't told her that I was leaving my husband when I had come in, but now I was holding the phone, talking to the man I was running from.
"Hello darling," he said from the other end. His voice felt like a monster breathing down my neck. "Why don't you come home?"
"Honey, I'm with my mother. It'd be rude to leave so soon," I replied, my voice shaking with every word.
"I'm sure she'll understand," he growled. I put down the phone, and looked at my mom with watery eyes. She looked surprised for a second, then, she frowned. She took me in her arms just like I was a little girl again, and whipped away my tears with her thumbs.
"There, there," she hummed. My children all looked worried, but Jailee shooed them all into the living room, and turned on the television. The Hunger Games had been on, and Lena bent over on the couch to cover Caden's eyes. A scream came from the room, and I thought about the tribute that had died.
The door to the apartment swung open, and I buried my face in my mother's shirt as Darren walked in. He looked pleasant for waking up in the middle of the night, and smiled at my mother. She scowled back, and held me tighter. When I had gotten married, my mother was the happiest person alive. She practically skipped down the aisle with me, since she thought she was just as good as my father.
Darren walked past her, and into the living room. "Hey, Buddy!" he said. Caden smiled at his father, and ran into his open arms. I wanted to pluck my baby right out of there, and bring him somewhere far away. Maybe the place where Felix ran eleven years ago. I felt a burning desire to find my brother right then, and felt that is where I needed to go. Some day.
Darren had brought me home, and tucked the kids in bed. I looked at him from the foot of our bed, and he smiled. He kissed me hard, and I tried to break away from him, but he's stronger than me.
Now, I looked out the window of our home, and watch the sun dip under the Capitol skyline. A knock comes from the door, and I glance at it once, but don't move from my post on the couch.
I hear Caden's light footsteps come down the stairs, and the mail slot pull open. He giggles and opens the door. I look back at the entry way, and see Cinna standing there. He smiles, a half smile, and holds out his arms. I run into them, and Caden tries to climb up his leg.
"What brings you here?" I ask him, too happy to think about Darren. Cinna hasn't come to my home since my wedding, seven years ago.
"I have some news," he frowns. I'm still holding him as he looks past my shoulder. "Bad news," he mumbles, seeming more intrigued with whatever is up the stairs. I look behind me to see Darren. He is poorly shaven, and in his pajamas.
"I thought I told you never to come here again," he growls at my brother.
"You told him what?" I scream back, no longer afraid. "Darren, he's my brother!"
"It's fine," Cinna says, turning me back to face him. "I'll see you soon. Call me or something," he whispers, and kisses me lightly on the cheek before hurrying out the door.
"You had no right, no right to-" I let out, and he smacks me across the face.
"Shut up, woman!" he yells back. I look at Caden from the floor, and his eyes have gone wide. He holds out his hands, as if in surrender, and runs away, out the door.
A look into the life of Ledsia :'(
