I know I was supposed to include the new characters and the entry to CHB in this chapter, but I felt as if I needed to include this as well. :)
Thanks to Jessie7517 for your review! I will update! Every day this week, hopefully!
"And I'll have a scoop of that. Ooh, what's that?" I hear Marcus' eager voice from across the parlor.
"Marshmallows and chocolate chunks," answers the short, husky man from behind the counter.
"Then I'll have some of that too."
I sneak up on the boy, practically tip toeing as not to be heard.
"You'll get a stomach ache," I say, scaring the hell out of him.
He jumps slightly; staring wide eyed at me, in yet another defensive position, his raised arms defending his chest and his legs slightly bent.
"Don't kill me!" I chuckle slightly as his face reddens.
He mumbles incoherent words under his breath before returning to the counter and continuing his ice-cream order.
Five scoops later, he sits down at one of the tables, gulping down the frozen dessert.
"You'll get brain freeze," I warn him as I slide into the booth next to him.
He reminds me of my brother. Although I do not remember my brother's appearance, I remember the memories we had shared. Like voice memos saved in my mind.
They haunt me, everything from simple sentences to full phrases. They seem to test my sanity, test my ability to stand. They hit me like bolts of lightning at random intervals. Sometimes they simply faze me, yet sometimes they are too much to bear.
This is one of those moments. Yet this is different. I not only hear his voice but I see him too. I see him in the young child beside me. My younger brother, still haunting me to this day.
I am held completely prisoner to this new, emerging memory. It grabs at me, shaking my violently from the present to the past.
"Don't chug your slurpee, you'll get brain freeze!" I hear my voice shouting at the young four-year-old beside me.
He lifts his head slightly, acknowledging my presence, yet ignoring my words. I feel a slight frustration boil within me. I'm trying to help the child and he accepts none of it, ignoring my words of wisdom as you would a household fly.
"I'm not kidding, Anthony!" I shout in yet another futile attempt to drag the boy from the drink using only words.
He nods this time yet he still ignores my words.
He stops all of a sudden, a chill running up his back and a pain settling into his skull.
"It hurts!" the preschooler complains. "Mommy, it hurts!"
I attempt to quiet him by covering his mouth with my hand, yet it's no use. He bites down and I feel the warm, sticky blood surface. I scream out in agony myself, waking my mother from her "hangover nap."
She stumbles into the room, still slightly drunk from her night out the day before. She grabs at the boy but I intercept, taking her wrist just as she is about to punch his small nose.
She growls at me and aims at me instead. My defence mode kicks in and I manage to get her to the ground, straddling her.
The woman is stronger than me. She knocks my off of her and straddles me instead, reversing our roles. Her hand forms a fist and she aims. My nose, my forehead, anywhere she can reach is hit, kicked or punched in a drunken frenzy.
I cry out, causing my brother to cry as well. I see a small tear flow from his left eye and, amidst my pain, one thought surfaces.
I'll get us out one day.
Sorry, that's kind of short too... Two uploads in one day! I'm on a roll!
New contest! Think of one PJO character that could be used as a best friend for our good ol' fashioned MC Layla! Submit ideas to the reviews section! Winner gets to make up a character for the story... Good luck!