This is officially the longest story I've ever written :O

Chapter 18

I lower the hover car to the ground. We drive in silence except for Prim's occasional, "Turn here," and "There up ahead."

"This is it," she says as I pull up to a decently sized house.

Prim continues to sit in the car. She won't move. I get out and open her car door, "Come on Prim, let's go see him," I hold out my hand for her to take.

She ignores my hand completely, "I can't."

"Why not?"

She looks around her desperately looking for an excuse, "It's err, um, Lucy. If I go in she'll escape and get us sent to jail."

I look back at Lucy. She was still tied up and had by now fallen asleep, "Then I guess it's good you thought to tie her up," I hold my hand out for her again.

"She'll find a way."

"Then we take her in with us, now let's go," I hold my hand practically in front of her face now.

She shakes her head sadly, "It's no good. What will I say to him? 'Sorry, but I'm a selfish coward so I abandoned you and the rest of the family'? What will he think when he finds out the truth?"

"Prim, he'll understand, now take my hand."

"No matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to move."

"You haven't tried at all Prim."

"Yes I have. Ever since you put your hand out the first time my mind has been screaming for me to grab it but my hands won't listen!"

I sigh sadly. I reach over her and unbuckle her seat belt. I pick her up with one arm behind her knees and the other supporting her back, "Should we get Lucy?"

Prim looks to the back seat, "No, she's asleep. Besides I just said all that to stall."

"Yeah, I know."

I carry Prim's light body up the steps to her front porch. I look down at her, "Think you can stand on your own?" She looks concerned but eventually nods. I put her down on her feet. She grabs my arm desperately to keep balance. I take a step forward, towing Prim behind, and ring the door bell.

There's a long space where nothing happens. Prim looks up at me, "He's not home, let's go."

"No, we drove this far, he better be home."

Almost as soon as I finished my words the door opened a crack. Part of a young boy's faces pears through the narrow opening. I can tell he only sees me, "Who are you?"

Prim nudges her way into view, "Hey Thresh."

His eyes grow wide and he throws open the door. He falls into his older sister. Almost instantly, her arms release me and wrap tightly around him. He puts his head in her shoulder and mumbles words I can't understand. Somehow Prim does. She strokes his hair as he stops talking and just starts bawling. Soon she is crying too. She takes her head and rests her cheek on the top of his head. It's hard to tell whose tears are whose.

Finally, they pull apart just enough to see each other's red puffy faces. Prim has her hands on each one of his shoulders; his arms are still wrapped around her waist. She coughs a sob, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you here all alone. I didn't want to leave at all. I just," soon she is crying so hard she is past the capability of speaking.

Now it's Thresh's turn, "I thought you had died. You didn't come home from your friend's house that night and the next day there was a fire in the woods and I thought maybe you had gotten in it. You always did take walks in the woods so then the fire and," now he is again crying.

I gently nudge them inside. They willingly follow and sit down on the couch. I feel really weird being in the room, "Do you guys want me to go make you something to eat?"

Prim's face has dried, and she fingers Thresh's hair as he continues to cry into her shoulder, "Some tea would be nice," she looks down at Thresh and using the softest, kindest tone I've ever heard and says, "You want some tea? Does that sound good?" He only sniffles and nods.

I make my way into the kitchen and can only stare. It's a mess. Dirty dishes fill the sink. Empty cereal, pop tart, and other boxes crowd the counters. Soup cans, candy bar wrappers, and eaten Cup o' noodle cups litter the floor. There are sticky puddles everywhere that I don't know what they are.

I start opening cupboards and find them all empty. I open the fridge but only smell rancid meat and old fish. I start opening drawers. Finally, I find a drawer containing spices and other plants. I find primroses flowering around every spice. I guess this was his way of mourning. Off to the side of this deep drawer I see the tea packets. I grab two and turn to find their kettle. I can't find it in the piles of dishes so I find two mugs, quickly wash them and then fill them with tap water. I open the microwave. Food is caked onto every corner of it. I find a dirty rag and wipe the microwave clean. I heat the water in the microwave and allow the tea bags to soak for about a minute.

I grab the mugs and open the kitchen's swinging door with my shoulder. I look over the kitchen one more time. Poor kid, he must have been having trouble taking care of himself.

I come out and hand them their tea. They each sip at it gratefully. Soon, Thresh is asleep in his sister's lap. She gently twirls one of his loose, short curls around her finger, "You know we can't leave him, right?"

I nod, "Yeah, I know. I don't know the last time he ate Prim, that kitchen is pretty much torn apart. When I was looking for the tea packets, there wasn't anything in the cupboards or the fridge or anything."

She looks down sadly, "Yeah I kind of figured. Thresh always had people caring for him. Before I left, I don't think he ever cooked a meal by himself, well, except cereal. If cereal even truly counts."

"So is he coming to four or are we moving to twelve?"

"Let's take him to four. We need to take Lucy home anyways." Prim stays quiet for a long time, "You don't think she'll have us arrested do you?"

"Not if we pretend we're her friends and it was just one big joke." Prim nods slowly, I can tell she's very tired, "Let's sleep here tonight, we'll head off in the morning."

She yawns, "Ok, but before we leave twelve, there's some one I want you to meet."

Any guesses on who? Review me!