Thank you for all 20 reviews! Please, if you have read the story, review it, and try to use constructive criticism. Also, I am going through Writer's Block, so if you want anything to happen in the series, please tell me, and I'll see if I can get your suggestions into future chapters.

A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE

by BizarrePineapple15

Chapter 14: The Sister I Never Knew I Had

"Carmen, Lily, Kitty, Demon, Johnny, bed. Now," demanded Tracy that night at half nine. All the kids had gathered in the lounge at about seven, and Mike had made some sweet and salted popcorn for us all. We were sat around watching movies and playing pool. It was quite nice. Some of the kids had asked me about Siren, and I told them the most that I knew. I was pleased to see Lily – though she hadn't said 'sorry' for believing I destroyed her bedroom, she wasn't avoiding me any more. Harry had gone to bed at half eight, with Tee, Gus and Tyler following at nine o'clock.

"Good night," said Carmen, yawning.

"Night, guys," said Lily.

"You've got half an hour, you lot," said Tracy, indicating Frank, Rick and Elektra. "I'm just going to see if Gus and Tyler are asleep".

Kitty ran upstairs. We followed her up the stairs, constantly pleading with Tracy that we should stay up later. She didn't agree. We cleaned our teeth and went to bed.

"Good night, Demon," said a quite voice. I turned round: it was Kitty.

"Good night, Kitty," I replied. Then, something unexpected happened. Really unexpected. Kitty ran up and hugged me. I hugged her back – I didn't exactly know what was happening. The hug lasted a few seconds, and then she ran off to her bedroom. I thought that it was quite odd, but quite nice that somebody actually liked me. Besides, Kitty was a nice girl. It was just unexpected.

Anyway, I got into bed, turned off the lights and attempted to go to sleep. But I couldn't – no matter what I did. I was having dreams and thoughts about Siren, my apparent sister. What if I hate her? What if she hates me? What if-? Thoughts buzzed around my head. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.

I woke up, excited. Siren was coming. Tracy and Mike had told me that she was 13 years old and was a bit like me, personality-wise, but a bit less prone to hurting people violently. I'd woken up at 7am; Siren was arriving at 9am.

Putting on my dressing gown, I trudged downstairs wearily, turning into the lounge. Harry, Jeff and Tee were in there. Harry and Jeff were underneath the pool table for some bizarre reason which I presumed would be explained later. Tee was playing on the computer. I didn't dare find out what she was playing.

I jerked when I heard a sudden "Jeff wants to know if you're excited". I immediately, reflexively, looked underneath the pool table. It was definitely Harry who'd said it.

"Yeah, I'm quite excited Jeff," I replied. "I didn't know I had a sister until yesterday, so yeah, I'm excited".

Harry and Jeff resumed whispering to each other as I plonked myself down on the sofa. I kept thinking about Siren: I suddenly realised that I was so nervous. Not scared, but anxious. I had no idea what Siren was like. Suppose she wasn't really my sister? No, that'd be impossible. I just... what if Siren started attacking me? She was older than me, so-

"Hello Dangerous Care Kid," said Elektra nonchalantly, strolling into the room and walking to the snooker table, accompanied by Frank, who walked in a few moments later.

"Are you excited?" he asked.

"Yeah. Loads," I replied, as Frank joined Elektra at the snooker table. Elektra took a shot – and the white ball rebounded off two other balls, knocking them into the holes. Frank was amazed. He took a shot – and the white ball hit no balls.

"This might be a bit hard," he realised.

"How about you just give me the five pounds now?" asked Elektra. It was obviously a bet – if Elektra won, Frank gave her £5, if Frank won she gave him the £5. Ingenious idea.

9:00am. I'd not been hungry at breakfast, so I hadn't eaten much due to the butterflies in my stomach. I was waiting upstairs in my bedroom nervously, looking for some sign of the car containing my sibling who I didn't know existed until the day before. I kept looking out of the window for any sign of Siren.

9:02am, 9:03am. The minutes ticked away slowly. Every second seemed to last an hour. 9:08am, 9:09am. Needless to say, Gus was waiting to write down the exact time Siren arrived. 9:13am, 9:14am. Then – yes! A black BMW M3 drove up speedily to the front of the house. I drew my curtains. I didn't want to see her, yet.

I heard a hubbub of noise coming from downstairs. Siren was in Elm Tree House. I heard Carmen shout, "Hiya Siren! I'm Carmen!" enthusiastically. Then, "he's upstairs, do you want me to get him?", again coming from Carmen's mouth. Siren had asked where I was. Then, the noise died down. Siren had obviously gone into the office or the quiet room. I heard feet pounding on the stairs, then my bedroom door was thrust open and Carmen burst in, panting.

"Demon, your sister's here," she panted.

"I know," I responded.

"Do you want to come down and see her yet?" she asked.

I'd made up my mind. "Yes". A delighted smile crept over Carmen's face as she took my hand and ran downstairs, pulling me along like a rag doll. The kids were still at the bottom of the stairs, but had parted to two sides. Mike was there.

"Demon – do you want to see your sister for the first time?" asked Mike softly, almost patronising me.

I smiled. "Yeah".

He led me through to the Quiet Room. I pushed open the door and went in. An attractive, blond-haired girl was sitting on one of the red velvet sofas, next to the roaring fire. It was January, after all. She had a rounded face and her hair went down to her lower torso. She was very pretty, and also very slim. She seemed nice, and gave a nervous smile as I went in.

"Hi, I'm apparently your brother," I said. I wasn't actually sure what to say.

"And I'm apparently your sister," she replied, her blue eyes shining like the gleaming sun.

"Do you, er, do you like being in care?" I asked.

"A bit. I've been in fifteen care homes".

"Only fifteen?"

"Only?"
"I've been in thirty-two care homes".

"Ah".

"I hope you like it here. It's better than some of the places I've been. Ever been to Burnywood?"

"Yeah".

"Better than that".

"So, the people here nice?"

"Some of them. Stay clear of Elektra, the girl with blue hair. I'm convinced she's evil. And also, don't listen to what Johnny says – he's the one normally wearing blue, got braces, brown hair, slightly spiky". As I painted the vivid picture of my worst enemy, Siren listened intently.

"Come on," I said, and we walked out of the quiet room. Ready for a new beginning.