A/N: What you need to know about Flowers In the Attic for this chapter.
1) Chris and Cathy's younger brother wants to keep a mouse he caught.
2) Everyone's (but the bad grandmother who locks the kids in the attic) hair is blond in the book. Well, that's part of the family anyway
Her dreams are a jumbled mess, mixing together until she's unsure where one begins and the other one ends.
Chris stares at her accusingly, thin lips set in a harsh line while their father tells Max he can't keep the mouse. The smell of acetone is strong in her nose as she falls back onto the old worn mattress in the middle of the lair, strong hands leaving bruising marks on her arms and a hard mouth moving angrily against her own. "You two need to hurry or you'll be late," Harper tells them from her place on the old fashion couch, sewing together the badly creased spine of a familiar book, although the title has long since been worn away. She can see her mother's back as she walk away claiming she would not forget her own kid, blond hair swaying in the Caribbean wind and bare feet hot against the sandy beach.
Sleep is a broken thing that night, coming and going as it pleases until Alex is left with dark circles and slow movements as her alarm blares in her still room. She's unsure if it woke her, or if she was already awake.
Her best friend is surprised when the dark haired girl doesn't plop her lunch bag down on their usual table, but doesn't comment. She's the girl that "doesn't care what anybody thinks" and if she wants to sit at the "upperclassmen geeks" usual spot than she will. It's different but it's lunch with Justin and Zeke, so it's not hard for the auburn headed girl to bite her tongue. Alex is still angry at Justin for the nail polish incident; her mother claims she's overacting and the young wizard refuses to acknowledge the little voice in the back of her mind claiming that she may be right. She's irritated, exhausted and strangely frustrated and he's always been there for her to take it all out whether he's to blame or not, no reason for that to change just because something happened last night; even if she's unsure what.
Lips turn up in little amused smiles as she makes jabs at him and steals his dessert and this just infuriates her more. Harper and Zeke don't seem to notice the siblings odd behavior, happily chatting away about something the other two have already tuned out.
She goes to Earth Science, hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep but find herself sketching a quick picture of Chris and Cathy sitting on a roof, shoulders just brushing; if she accidently colors the two supposed to be blond siblings' tresses in with her black pen and forgets that Chris has curly locks it's all just artist liberties really.
Harper finds her sleeping in an empty art classroom before last period and wakes her. She's not sure if she should be grateful or not; she can't skip English without risking another call home, but she feels better, a little clearer with just those couple hours of sleep and wonders what would happen if she was allowed just a little more time.
There's only a quiz that simple and easy; she's still one of the last in the class to finish, but she thinks she did ok. Mr. Thompson opens his mouth to tell her something, probably a reminder about the book report due just a week away, but she beats him too it, turning back to her seat before one syllable can escape his lips and pulling out the paper back.
It isn't until after school, after she's passed the part where Chris tells Cathy they have to leave before the snow comes, and is walking next to her best friend, her brother on the other side while thinking about dinner and bed and the smear still marring her comforter that she gets it; something shifts and clicks into place and suddenly, she knows.
A/N: I'm thinking two more chapters left. I have a one-shot for JONAS that I've told one too many people and they are now expecting that I'm thinking I'm going to need to finish first before I post chapter five. We'll see how the writing bug bites though to see which gets out first.