A Sort of Reunion [Chaos]

"Trig! Please, Trig. Come on, come on, Trig." I shake the ten year old's shoulders, almost hysterical by now. When I pull my hands away, they are slick with his blood. From where his head slammed into the wood of the chair. Shakily, I grab his small wrist and fumble for a pulse. It takes me longer than usual because I shake so much. Finally, I find it and relief floods over me. He's not dead. He's not going to die. He's even breathing, but it's terrifyingly shallow. This time he has gone a step too far. I can condone him hitting me, but I never allowed for him to touch Trig. Now he's crossed that line, I won't stand for it.

I step up slowly, well aware that the one side of my face he's hit repeatedly must be swelling at an alarming rate. His face is red and he grunts with effort as Tammy struggles, though gradually those grow fainter. I lurch forwards as his grip grows stronger. He is going to kill her! I know he is. "Stop it! Stop, please! You're killing her!" When my cries seem to go unheard, I attack his back with my fists. He sweeps me away effortlessly, like I'm nothing more than a sack of potatoes. I might as well have been.

I'm helpless as I watch her die right in front of me. I've never felt so terrible in my life. Her eyes connect with mine and I struggle to interpret as much as I can. The light in her yellow eyes appears to die and I let out a strangled cry, one of my hands reaching out weakly as though that would somehow help us. Save us. No, stay with me. Please. Please, don't leave me all alone. His grip slackens and finally he drops her and stray tears squeeze out from between my eyelids as her hand drops, lifeless, by her side. I wish now that I could just die as well. I hope that he will put an end to me because I can not imagine going on without her. But apparently I don't deserve the mercy of the Gods, because I'm still alive. I'm still here. And she's gone.

My father turns towards me and he grins. I'm repulsed and shrink away backwards, edging into a corner. Maybe he'll just leave me there to wallow in the unfairness of it all. But he bends down and pulls me up just as effortlessly as he knocked me down before. "See, Kaya, it is done. Now you're coming back with me. End of story. Pick up your brother." No, no I don't see. I see absolutely no end of the story. This will never end. But I obey mechanically and walk towards the corner in which Trig still lies, curled up.

I bend down but his harsh whisper stops me short. "She's still alive," he whispers fiercly. I freeze, I'm sure that father can't here Trigs' whisper. "I just saw her move." I start to turn my head but Trig's hand shoot up and prevents me from doing so. With an astounding force, one that a ten year old should not even possess, he pulls me down until my face is level with his. "He hit you. I couldn't let him do that." I nod. I'm not quite sure what he's getting at. "Together we can overwhelm him."

The sensible side of my mind decides to switch back on and I understand. He's finally seeing. He finally saw what Roger Lentach is capable of. Determined not to let him raise any suspicions, I pick Trig up in my arms. He's still light. But he won't be in a couple of more years. I've only taken three steps towards the door when Trig suddenly whispers, "now." I drop him but he's prepared and lands on his feet. He rushes at father who is caught unprepared for the attack, pushing him headlong into the coffee table. Or what used to be a coffee table. I run over to Trig's side. With the combined effort and the element of surprise, it doesn't take quite as much as I thought it would to knock him out. I step away, disgust clear on my face.

Trig's still punching him, but I gently touch his shoulder. He flinches. "No, Trig. Stop. Don't kill him. I don't want you to have to live with that. Go and find something to tie him up with." I don't want to think about what to do afterwards. I can't imagine killing my own father. I don't want Trig having to witness that. But what else can we do? We're helpless, really. But that is something to worry about later.

I whip around and am kneeling next to Tammy in a matter of seconds. I hardly dare to breathe. "Tams?" My breath halts. Oh, God. She's dead. But then she groans and a finger twitches feebly. That's all it takes for me to break down completely. I sob uncontrollably, cradling one of her cold hands in mine. I rock back and forth, trying to calm myself down. "I thought..." I choke as another sob prevents me from finishing my sentence. "I thought you were dead. I saw you die." My other hand moves to her face and I push some of her raven hair out of her face, stroking through it gently. It calms me down immensely. "But you're okay. You're okay. You're still here." I want to hug her, but I'm not sure if that would be severely detrimental to the situation. I don't want to hurt her. So I just bring her fingers that are still cradled in my hand, to my lips. "I love you," I murmer and know for sure that it is true.

My brows crease in worry when I see her expression. "Shh. It's going to be alri-" but I'm stopped short upon hearing her confused "what..." and seeing the look in her eyes. She can't remember. I feel like my blood just froze in my veins and temporarily, I pull my hand away from her face and stare down at her in disbelief. She can't remember what had happened? How much damage did he do?

I push back my panic, deciding that hysteria won't help either of us any further. "You were dead, or at least I thought you were. You looked at me and I - I... I didn't do anything." I burn with shame. I basically left her to die. Tears brim against my eyes and threaten to spill but I manage to hold them back successfully. "I'm so sorry, Tammy." I lean down and touch my lips gently to hers. It's barely a kiss, but I feel her breath against mine and that's all I really wanted.

Trig crouches down next to us. His eyes are wide and I detect unshed tears in them. I long to hug him, to comfort him and to be the big sister I was supposed to be this whole time. But she needs me more at the moment. Plus, I can see that he's trying to be strong. I let go of Tammy's hand briefly and trace the wound on Trigs' head. The blood has dried into a metallic-smelling clump. "I'll put some salve onto your wound later," I promise and am then forced to refocus on Tammy.

Her question causes me to look at the man who is my father and I shake my head. "No. No he isn't dead." Trig was determined to kill him and I don't doubt for a second that he would have. But I don't want my brother growing up a killer. Not even for his alcoholic-abusive father. My grib on Flight's wrist tightens and I narrow my eyes. "No. No, you won't. I won't let you go to jail for him," I spit out venemously. I don't know how to deal with him for now, but I'd rather not worry more than necessary about it. Killing him isn't an option.

"I'll double-check the ropes and he'll eventually sober up. We see from there." I glare hard at Trig and Tammy in turn. They better not try and do something stupid. "I want you to finally go to bed, Trig. You too, Tam." I crack a smile, quite sure that neither of them really likes to be ordered around. But then again, both of them look so tired.

I shake my head. She doesn't get it. It's not that easy to kill a person. I can't just do that and have that resting on my conscience forever. Despite all the hurt he causes, he's still my dad. My eyes widen at her words and then I notice that although she's trying to move, she can't. Even though my experience in medical training is nonexistent, I know that not being able to move or talk is a really, really bad sign.

I throw an alarmed look at Trig, whose expression mirrors mine. He won't know what to do either. I can see where my fathers hands have throttled her, in no doubt causing more damage than I can determine at the moment. I'll have to get her to a healer. Carefully, I gather her in my arms. I'm terrified of possibly hurting her any more and I stand up gingerly. "I'll get you to a healer. My neighbour, two houses down, knows how to do some basic stuff." I know that she can't do much, but she can certainly do more than Trig or I can do.

If Tammy had been in her normal state, I wouldn't have managed to pick her up. She's so brittle now that I can hold her without straining myself too much. "Go upstairs, Trig. Through the window, the way you left and clear up all of the furniture again. I'll be back... soon." The words come out of my mouth in a pressed, hissing manner. I can't carry her for too long, my muscles aren't used to this type of strain as of yet. I don't allow myself to cast a glance in my father's direction. I'm afraid that the sight of him and what he did to Tammy will make me lose all rational thought and do the unthinkable.

It's a crisp, cold night now and the sky is scarily empty of a moon. It's a new moon. I never liked that because it meant that it's even darker around here than usual. The government won't give us streetlamps around this side of town. It's a waste of money, a waste on people who are already viewed as the filth of society. "Don't you dare fall asleep now," I warn her. I know enough about people falling unconscious when in that kind of physical trauma and I know that it's important to not let the person do just that.

Two more houses to go. One more house. My teeth are actually chattering when I finally reach my destination. It's not even that cold. But the emotional and physical exhertion are trying my nerves. I knock and the time it takes for a little girl to open the door is painstaking. I count backwards in my head, my arms crying out. The girl who opens the door is called Ria. Her hair is the colour of soot and her eyes are dark blue. She knows me from the times I've babysat. Her mother owes me. "Ria," I say, trying to keep calm in order not to scare the girl. "Could you go and get your mother for me please. Now," I add when she hesitates.

But she doesn't have to go far because her mother appears behind her. She has the same coloured hair but different eyes. Brown, gentle ones. She doesn't look surprised to see me. She knew my mother well and knows that I live alone now. But she looks surprised when she sees Tammy. "She's hurt. She can't talk... properly... please, help me." I can't remember her name. I feel horrible because I know she knows mine. But she observes her with professional ease and gestures over to a sideroom that looks to be the empty dining room.

I set Tammy down but I don't leave her side. She doesn't ask what happened to her, her eyes coursing over the angry hand prints on her throat. It's pretty obvious what happened, but I'm sure she just think that it was a street fight. If she asks, I'll use that as an excuse. "Her larynx is bruised and there's a small fracture in her hyoid bone. It looks as if she got lucky," she says and I blink. Does she ask of me to understand? Because I don't. My stumped expression must say as much, because she smiles kindly. I remember her name. Hanna. Hanna Fitzgerald. Of course. "She'll be fine. She needs a lot of rest," she says seriously and then turns around to search through something I can't see. "Here. I'll give you some of these." She hands me a small bag of some kind of painkillers and tears spring to my eyes. These are difficult to come around by.

Kaya Lentach;

I try to ignore the concerned look that Hanna is throwing my way. I can't really blame her though. It's rather late and I've just appeared on her doorstep carrying a girl who looks like she just survived a bloody war. She also knows that I'm living alone with my little brother, that I'm not even of age yet and that I spent a lot of the last couple of weeks crying and fighting with Trig. Those fights can be heard a street away, swears one of the boys in the neighbourhood. Colin. Yeah, Colin. Him and I hardly do anything together anymore. It's that kind of friendship that slowly disintegrated until all that's left of it is saying 'hi' to each other in passing or acknowleding one another with a curt nod.

I avert my eyes after literally feeling that the brown eyes are invading my privacy. "Are you sure you're alright, Kaya?" I don't answer. What should I tell her, really? That my father is right at this moment, tied up in the living room of my house? The same house in which my mother died only two weeks ago? No, I don't feel that I should tell her any of that. It's my problem and I don't want to pull her into any of that. So, finally, I just shake my head and give a twisted-looking attempt at a smile.

My attention is brought back to the wooden table and apparently, Hanna's is too because her brown eyes widen when she spots Ria by Tammy's side. I don't say anything because it doesn't look as though Ria is hurting her. Her mother is by her side in seconds, grabbing the young girl and pulling her away from her siden in seconds. "I'm so sorry, Ria's usually not supposed to be in here when I have patients," she says, smiling at Flight.

She seems to be searching for something and I'm about to ask when I realize that it's me she's looking for. I found a spot in the corner of the room from which she obviously can't see me. So I step forwards and out of the shadowy corner and step around so that I am on one side of her, while Hanna is on the other. At her question, I cast a look at Hanna and then bite my lip. "At a friend's house," I say. "She knows how to help you. Don't worry, you're safe here, love." Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hanna raise a single delicate eyebrow. She's surprised but has enough standard ettiquette to not mention it. Instead she just turns her back on us and starts to rummage once more through a set of bags.

I look back down at Tammy and smile. "How are you feeling?" The note of panic edges its way into my voice and I struggle to banish it. It's not wanted now. "She told me something about you're um... hy-something - " "- Hyoid," says Hanna and I thank her silently. "Yeah, that. You're hyoid is fractured but it can heal by itself. Tam, she gave me painkillers." Now I glance down at her nervously, not sure how she's going to take the next bit. "And... uh... you're not to over work yourself. Like, bed rest and lots of food and stuff. It's got to heal and you won't be doing it any favour if you over exhert yourself anytime soon." I pull a face. No wonder I failed biology. I can't even explain myself properly.