"Emma!" Claire screams from next to me. I look through the window and see Emma being smashed head-first into the wall. That's it! I'm not a baby! I can fight for myself. I leave Claire standing on the edge of the roof holding onto the shirts, and climb the shingles, gripping the rope with my cold hands. "Olive, what are you doing?! Claire shouts up at me.
"Saving Emma," I say under my breath. I reach up and grab the windowsill, pulling myself up. The blue haired man sees me out of the corner of his eye and drops Emma's motionless body on the wood floor, turning to grin at me. Clonk. Emma's head hits the foot of the bed. Oh, I'm going to destroy this dude.
"Oh, hello princess, did you want to come along with your friend here?" The man offers, gesturing at Emma's body.
"You're so annoying! Quit smiling!" I shout, and let my mouth gape open, bees streaming out. The man yells out and swats at my bees as they swarm around him. I giggle. This is so fun to watch. But the man seems to recover fast. He leaps straight through the bees and the next thing I know he's standing right in front of me. I gulp.
"Enough tricks!" He yells at me, and with a quick shove, I tumble off the window ledge, flying down the roof. The stars in the misty black sky blur past me as I roll down the shingles, screaming all the way.
Slam. I crash into Claire and she screams, falling off the gutter. We throw our arms out to take hold of something- anything!- but grab air.
"OLIVE!" Claire shrieks as we tumble through the air. The first thing I hit is a tree, my head slamming into a branch. Out of the corner of my eye I see Claire land in the bushes. Thud. I hit the ground, clouds of dirt spreading around me. My eyes flicker shut, and I welcome sleep like an old friend.
"Olive, wake up." I feel someone shaking me and my eyes flutter open. Claire crouches next to me, a bloody gash right across her forehead. I feel an object under me and reach under my back, pulling out a big sneaker. Not just any sneaker. Victor's sneaker. We have to find him.
"Are you alright?" I ask, standing up. I brush off the dirt from my skirt, and Claire does the same.
"I guess so. I think I hit my head on the side of the house though," she says, touching the bloody gash.
"I think you did," I reply. "How long have I been out?"
"Only for a couple of minutes. I ran over to you right after I recovered from the fall," Claire says. I nod, and walk over to the window that shows the living room. Claire joins me and we peer through the glass. The first thing I see is a big body bag laying on the couch. This was the one the man was holding in the backyard when I first saw him. "We have to go, Olive," Claire says quietly.
"It must be Victor," I say under my breath.
"Huh?" Claire says from next to me. The next thing I see is the blue haired man coming down the stairs, a motionless Emma being dragged behind him.
"He's dragging her like a sack of potatoes!" I gasp. What a careless jerk. I'm about to barge in through the front door when Claire grabs my arm.
"Come on, Olive. We have got to go get a neighbor like Emma said! They can help!" She pleads.
"I ain't a coward, Claire!" I say, pulling my arm away. She looks back at me, flustered from my sudden outburst. "I'm sorry, Claire. I just can't leave Emma and Victor in there with that disgusting man!" I explain. Through the window I see the man stuffing Emma into a second body back.
Snap. Me and Claire jerk our heads towards the sound. From behind the tree a teenage boy steps out into the moonlight. He has short, frizzy black hair, and freckles dotting his nose. His hands are stuffed in the pocket of his jacket, and he's wearing dark black sweatpants. "Woh, what are you two doing outside?" The boy asks, surprised at the sight of us: two little girls with bloody wounds standing in their front yard at ten o'clock at night.
"Who are you?" I shoot back. Me and Claire lock arms and step closer to the boy.
"Uh, I'm Zach? Remember me? I'm Victor's friend," The boy explains.
"Uh… Nope, don't remember you," I reply, crossing my arms. Zach sighs.
"Nevermind. I was supposed to meet Victor at the movies, but it looks like he blew me off!" He complains, throwing up his arms. Oh… That's why Victor's window was open. That also explains why I fell on his shoe during me and Claire's roll down the roof.
"Well, Victor's… sleeping right now so go home," I tell him.
"Victor? Sleeping? At ten o'clock? I think not. Was he grounded or something and sent you out here to tell me he's sleeping?" Zach laughs. Boy, this boy is stubborn.
"Listen kid, we don't have time for this-"
"Hey, I'm like ten years older than you!" Zach interjects me. It would feel so good to just smack him. Creak. The front door begins to open and spiky blue hair pokes out. The man's coming! I grab Claire and Zach's hand and while Zach protests I yank them to the side of the house, out of the man's line of vision.
"What's going on? Who was that guy?" Zack questions, pulling his arm away from me.
"That's the guy that has Victor," I answer.
"We have to get to a neighbor's house and get help!" Claire hisses, tugging my arm.
"Fine. I've got a plan, and it includes both of you so listen up," I instruct.
"Wait… did that guy break into your house? Is that why you have those bruises?" Zach demands, with a frightened face.
I nod. "Now listen." Zach gulps and bends down so I can whisper the plan to the two of them. We should've just called the police.