1.1 – Hours of Darkness

Chapter 1
Rose’s POV

I walked down the streets of Auberon, alone as usual, kicking stray wrappers and empty cans out of my way as I let my thoughts go wild, ignoring the nippy breeze, the sound of traffic and the taste of smog that hung in the air.

I guess you could say I’ve always been a bit of a loner, the girl who sits in the corner by herself while everyone else laughs and jokes with their friends, the girl who would rather throw up than have to put up with half of the selfish idiots that wonder the streets of this city.

Who wants to be friends with a girl who’s own Dad tried to rob a bank, and pathetically failed and got caught, a girl who’s brother is the leader of one of the most feared gangs in the whole of Auberon?

Yeah, that’s right. The answer is nobody.

I only have one friend, Haden, the only person who’s stuck by me through thick and thin, the only guy who would dare to laugh with me or even talk with me. He’s been my friend for as long as I can remember, always been there for me through all my life events. I can remember vividly the day my Dad was arrested, him being dragged away by the police, and Haden was there, holding my hand in his iron grip, assuring me that everything was going to be okay. He was there on my first day of school, whispering in my ear that things would get better.

Every birthday, every school day, every visit to my Dad… He was there.

Every tear that I shed, he wiped away, every cut that I got he would plaster up and laugh at my clumsiness. He was the perfect friend, there was nothing more I could ask of him.

It doesn’t bother me that everyone is either too scared to approach me, or constantly paranoid that if they do take a step too close I’d snatch their phone. Truth be told, I would never do such a thing. You get used to the assumptions after a while though.

I’m that one person that your parents tell you to avoid, that one person that people turn their noses up at and would rather stand than sit next to on a bus when there are no other seats left.

I’ve never really needed a lot of friends though. I mean, who needs friends when you have four siblings?

My family’s complicated, to say the least. I’m the youngest in the family, but I have a twin, Kara, she was first born though, making her older. Then there’s my three other siblings, Damion, Rebecca and Ty.

Damion’s the oldest, and is leader of some gang but I haven’t talked to him in a while, he moved out ages ago.

Rebecca is one year younger than him. She moved out after my Dad was thrown into prison. I have tried to talk to her, I’ve even stalked her on Facebook, but she just doesn’t want anything to do with our family anymore.

Ty’s a few years younger than her, but yet again I haven’t talked to him since my Mum found “pot” in his room and threw him out, onto the streets. My Mum won’t allow me talking to him, or helping him since she “doesn’t want me getting messed up in bad business”. She yells at me every time I mention his name.

Kara and I are seventeen, but you could say our relationship is rocky (some would even go as far as saying unstable). We haven’t spoken since she was taken to a mental institution for trying to kill me in my sleep! That happened a couple of months ago, and I still have nightmares about it. I wouldn’t sleep for weeks because I was scared someone would try to do it again, and even now I find it difficult, but Mum’s got me onto sleeping tablets to put me out. My Mum insists it wasn’t her fault, that she had a mental condition and she couldn’t help what she did. Apparently, she heard voices in her head that taunted her and told her to do unimaginable things. My guess is it got worse when Dad was taken away.

Then, there’s my Mum and Dad…

As I already said, my Dad’s in prison for trying to rob a bank. When he realised that he’d failed, and wouldn’t be able to get all the money he wanted, he shot two cops and somehow escaped. He returned home and pretended that nothing was wrong, lied right to our faces. That hurt the most, knowing that he tried to keep a charade up, tried to play happy families and continue our lives like he hadn’t just committed a crime. Of course, it didn’t last long. The police were onto him in no time.

He never told us why he did it. Personally, I think he needed money to support his secret gambling addiction.

I’m forced into visiting him every couple of months by my Mum, who is still desperately clawing at what is left of our family. It was like a tornado came in the middle of the night and tore our lives to tatters, leaving us in shambles and my poor Mum to pick up the pieces. Everything fell apart because of him, even if my Mum still has an image in her head of what she wants us to be like, a picture perfect family, it will never be true. I’ll never forgive him for that.

Last but not least, there’s my amazing Mum. Somehow, she survived through everything life threw at her, keeping herself happy and trying to get a smile on everyone’s face, trying to keep our family together. She’s the toughest person I know, she goes through people talking about her behind her back and avoiding her because of what her husband did, each and every day.

Somehow, she still loves my Dad and visits him every chance she gets, with tears flowing from her eyes and a grin etched across her face, grateful for the time they get to spend together.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, dropping back down to Earth. I hated thinking of my family, it made me feel sad and angry knowing that we had let ourselves get torn apart.

I focused on my feet, my eyes tracing the cracks in the pavement. I felt the towering buildings at my side drop away, and a narrow alleyway open up beside me. I shivered, the cold air rushing over me and chilling my bones. Snuggling into my jumper, I picked up my pace.

One second I was walking along the roadside, the next I was being pulled into the alleyway, the sudden jerk throwing me off my feet and causing my heart to stop beating for a second too long. I was suddenly enveloped in darkness, the light from the buildings disappearing and the smell of garbage attacking my senses.

Before I could let out an ear piercing scream, a warm hand covered my mouth, and someone grabbed onto me tightly. I wanted to bite down on the strangers hand until I drew blood, and kick them to the curb but I couldn’t help but think they would be too fast for me.

My back made contact with the hard concrete wall of a building, the air being knocked out of me, and someone pinned me there, not letting me go. My head pounded, and I twisted about, trying to flail my arms and get away. I was being mugged, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was terrified!

Was I going to die? Was this the end!? Was I going to be raped?!

My Mum had always warned me about walking on my own, and I regretted it deeply now. Why hadn’t I listened to her!?

I tried to break free from the persons grip, trying to bring my knee up and make it connect with their stomach, but it was no use. Panicking, I tried to shriek, but the hand covering my mouth prevented me and all I got was a raw throat.

Finally, I calmed down slightly and directed my frantic eyes to the stranger in front of me. Their face was covered by a hood and the darkness didn’t let me get a proper look, no matter how hard I squinted. The only thing I could tell, was that they were clearly male.

“If I take my hand away, will you scream?” The man’s voice whispered in my ear, husky and strained, his breath tickling my neck.

I shook my head, wanting this horrific moment to end. Of course I wasn’t going to scream, if I did he wouldn’t hesitate to cut my throat. I know what people like him did in the city on a daily basis, and I knew that if I didn’t do as he asked then I was going to face the consequences.

Hesitantly, the man took his hand away, probably eyeing me cautiously, hoping I wouldn’t let a noise escape my lips.

Eventually, the man pulled down his hood, revealing his identity. His face seemed familiar. Young, chubby cheeks, strong jaw line and high cheek bones. His eyes glittered a hazel brown, as he eyed me like a piece of meat, awaiting my reaction.

My breath caught in my throat, stopping the gasp I wanted to let out, my eyes widening as a sudden realisation dawned on me.

I was stood face to face with my brother, Ty, in the middle of a dark, creepy alley way about to be attacked by him after he practically yanked me off the streets and threw me about like a rag doll.

“What the hell, Ty!?” I shouted, anger boiling through my veins, a rage rushing through me as I stopped myself from punching him in the nose and pushing him off me. I was seriously debating it…

“Look, Rose, I know that you hate me because I used to do drugs, which I stopped by the way, but you need to listen to me!” He demanded, putting his hand up to stop my protests. “You’re in danger. We all are.”

Now I was more confused than I was angry. What the hell was Ty on about? Was he high or something? Why would I ever be in danger? No one in my school even knew my name, never mind anyone else.

“What do you mean I’m in danger?” I questioned, as he backed up slightly, scratching the back of his neck. His face screwed up into a look of concentration, as if he was thinking of the best way to tell me what was going on.

A loud squeak rang in my ears, forcing my eyes to snap towards the direction of the sound. At the mouth of the alley, a black car had pulled up and parked right at the side, its windows blacked out and the engine rumbling.

My eyebrows knitted together, and I turned to Ty, about to ask if he’d asked for a lift home from some friends, when I stopped myself. The look on his face was of sheer terror. His face had drained, his eyes widened with fear and glued to the car.

“What’s wr-“ I was cut off, as Ty gripped onto my hand and launched himself down the alley, away from the black car.

I felt as if my arm had been yanked from its socket, but had no time to complain since I was already being pulled after him as he raced down the alleyway, dragging me along with him.

“What are we running from!?” I yelled, trying to keep up with him and focusing on not letting my feet get tangled together.

No answer. Just more running.

I pulled with all my might, pushing my heels into the ground and trying to stop him from running away. He stumbled back, turning round to look at me, tugging at my arm.

“Tyler, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!” I demanded, glad that I’d managed to stop him in his tracks.

“There’s no time to talk or explain!” He shouted, trying to pull my hand and make me fall forward, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t going anywhere until he started to explain what was going on.

“Rose! We have to run!” He shouted, pulling me round a corner and trying to get me to start running again. Instead, I gripped onto the corner of the wall and strained to stop myself from moving. “I’ll pick you up and carry you if I have to!”

He gripped my wrist with a painful amount of force, and pried me from the wall, quickly. We took off again, me running with him, knowing that if I didn’t he would carry me and I didn’t want that to happen. Last time he’d given me a piggy back, he’d dropped me on the ground and I’d almost cracked my head open.

Footsteps sounded behind us, pounding against the path a short distance away. I gasped, shocked and stunned, my mouth dropping open and my heart rate speeding up dramatically. People were actually chasing us!

I began to pick up my pace, smashing each foot over the other, taking lunges and leaps, desperately trying to lose them.

Why were they after us!? What had we done to them?

It seemed like we’d been running for hours, even if it had only been around ten minutes, and a sweat was breaking out across my forehead, my breathing growing erratic, as I struggled forward. I was beginning to think that we’d never lose them. I was out of breath, and if we didn’t lose them soon I’d be on the floor, gasping for air.

Suddenly, Ty made a sharp turn. I followed, spinning behind the corner and getting out of sight of the people that ran behind us.

Ty jumped, leaping over some bins and crates, getting himself into a crouching position, and disappearing behind them. Quickly, I did the same, hiding behind the large bins, dumpster and old crates that lay about in the derelict street corner.

They appeared a second later, a man and a woman, dressed entirely in black from their trousers, to their tight black tops that clung to their bulging muscles tightly only covered by a leather jacket. They even wore gloves, and combat boots, their feet pounding by. To my surprise, they ran right passed us.

I let out a sigh of relief, crumpling backwards and relaxing myself. I felt like I was going to keel over and pass out, or my heart would jump out of my chest.

Together, we waited a few minutes, making sure that they had long gone. Gazing at Ty expectantly, waiting for his indication that it was alright to stand up, sure that he knew more about this than me, he finally announced we could come out of hiding.

Luckily, the people were clearly long gone, but that didn’t stop Ty from looking about frantically and jumping at the slightest noise. He was paranoid. Very paranoid. How long had he been hiding from these people?

“I think you owe me an explanation.” I announced, shooting him a glare.

“I know, I do. You must be really confused, but I can’t tell you… Not right now anyway. The people who chased us could still be nearby. They always have eyes and ears on me, almost all the time!” He explained.

“When will you tell me then? You’ll need to start talking soon, you can’t keep me in the dark forever, Ty.” I shot back, confusion, anger and a wild curiosity ripping through me with a small dash of fear.

“I don’t know what to do, Rose. I don’t even know everything myself yet, how do you expect me to tell you?” He threw his hands in the air, frustrated and still glancing about. I noticed the bags under his eyes, dark and droopy, and a horrible sensation shot into my heart, noticing that he hadn’t been sleeping well. I knew how that felt, and it made me feel terrible to know he was experiencing something similar.

“Please?” I pleaded, clasping my hands together. “If you don’t I’ll have to tell Mum everything. Including the part where you almost attacked me. If we’re in danger and you won’t explain, then I’ll have to take this to the police. You shouldn’t be getting stalked!”

“It might not just be me. I’m worried that it’s all of our family. Our brothers and sisters. Have you talked to them lately?” He grilled me.

“Nope. Come on, just spill it.”

“Fine! I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He finally agreed, leaning in closer, inching his mouth towards my ear and dropping his voice to a low whisper. “Meet me at the cove, tomorrow at 2. I might be late, trying to get them off my tail.”

I nodded, relief washing over me, glad that he was opening up and trusting me with valued information. Sure, I’d threatened to approach Mum and the authorities about it if he didn’t, but he wouldn’t have told me otherwise.

“I could walk you home.” He piped up, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets.

I could already see my Mum having a fit, if she caught me with him. As soon as she spotted him, she would lose it and might even threaten to call the police if he doesn’t back up and stay away from us. And then, she would ground me for weeks and I would never be able to venture into the city by myself ever again.

“No!” I yelled out, biting my lip after realising my outburst. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t want you too. I just…”

I was lost for words. How do you put “Mum would kill me if she saw me with you”, nicely?

“Mum would have a fit if she saw me. I understand. I could still walk you to the street, though?” He offered, biting his lip. His nails were already bitten to the beds, and he’d paled since I’d last seen him. He might have been off drugs, but this issue with the “stalkers in black” had really drained him and he looked physically ill.

I nodded again, feeling sorry for him. He couldn’t even come within metres of his old home without his own Mother freaking out. It was strange that she was trying to mend our family, and keep us together yet she was pushing him away and creating a divide between us, driving a wedge into our relationship.

We walked almost half of the way home, through dark alleyways and crossing main roads, before Ty finally spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

“So, I heard about Kara.”

How could I not see the Kara thing popping up? Of course he knew that had happened, gossip spreads around this place like wildfire, especially if it was about us, the Banes.

“Yeah, she’s being held in a mental institution for now. I think she’s meant to be getting out soon.” I replied, avoiding his gaze, trying to stop my voice from cracking or tears from leaving my eyes.

The thought of Kara getting out gave me the shivers. I still loved her, I always had, but I knew that once she was back to living under the same roof as me I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep again. I’d constantly be on guard, and flinch away from her every time she came a little too near, wither I wanted to or not.

“Are you okay?” His tone softened. I was shaking under his eyes, as they burned into the side of my head. “From what I heard, she tried to kill you.”

I nodded in response, not wanting to talk to anyone about the subject.

“Were you hurt?” He asked, as we neared my street, just a few turns away.

“I was fine.” I lied. “Just a little shaken, I guess.”

When it happened I was totally freaking out, having mental breakdowns, panic attacks at night and the hysterical tears and sobs that escaped my mouth didn’t cease for days. The police had come and took Kara away, and I’d just locked myself in my room and cried. In fact, I didn’t sleep properly for weeks. And then when I started to sleep, I had horrible nightmares.

We eventually got to the entrance of my street. I didn’t want to leave Ty, what if those people came back to get him?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, at the Cove? Half two?”

“See you then.” I muttered, walking away from him.

I approached my house, my thoughts still firmly fixed on what had happened today. When I’d woken up that morning, I’d never expected something so crazy to happen. Was this just the start?

Flinging my creaky door open, I entered my house, soaking in the warm air that hit my face. The mind boggling smell of food being cooked made my mouth water, and drew me forward like a magnet. Following the smell, I ended up in the kitchen, seeing my Mum stooped over a pot, stirring cheesy pasta, my favourite. She’d always been a good cook, she could make anything.

“Hello Rose.” She smiled, stepping back from her boiling pot, which looked like it was almost ready. “You were gone for a while. Were you with Haden?”

“Yep, I was.” I lied through my teeth, again, avoiding her (Mum could always detect when I was lying if she looked me in the eye), and sitting at the table in my seat.

When I was little, my siblings and I would argue about who would sit in what seats every night, so eventually my Mum had enough and came up with a smart plan. She allocated us all seats, and it’s kind of stuck since then, even though I could sit anywhere now. I used to sit next to Kara, Rebecca sat across from me next to Ty, and Mum and Damion sat at the two ends of the table. My Dad never really ate with us, mostly because there wasn’t enough room at the table, but later on he would either be at the pub or eating in the living room so he could watch TV while he chomped down his dinner.

“That’s odd.” My Mum shot me look, and I instantly knew I was dead. “Haden called the house, and asked if you were going out.”

Her face was reddening already, she hated when I lied, especially when I was lying to her.

Great, now my Mum is going to start asking questions.

“Oh! Er… I was on a walk.” I declared, nodding my head vigorously, hoping she’d be convinced. “I needed to clear my head. Y’know, with everything happening lately, I’ve got a lot of stuff on my mind.”

“Like what?” She demanded, her hands on her hips and she was eyeing me up like she didn’t believe any pointless word I was spouting out.

I needed to pull out the big guns, something I would never bring up on my own, unless I had too.

“Kara’s getting out soon.”

I bowed my head, just saying her name was like a stab in the side, my heart burning and my eyes trying to hold back the tears.

It was half true anyway, the whole reason I was outside is because I wanted to walk about aimlessly and clear my head, but then I talked to Ty and things just went downhill rapidly.

“Rose, you know how I feel about you walking around the streets on your own. In this day and age, it’s not safe.  There are bad people lurking out there, for helpless, innocent people like you.” She scolded. “I can’t lose another child, you have to understand, and I’ll do anything to keep you safe even if that means making annoying rules. And I know you’re worried about Kara coming back but when the incident happened Kara wasn’t… Herself. She’s on medication now, and will be in a stable condition when she gets home. Everything will be fine.”

My Mum and I both knew that Kara wouldn’t be back to normal, she never would be normal ever again. She’ll still have schizophrenia, she’ll still hear and see things that aren’t really there. She might even want to kill me more, after all, I was the whole reason she was put in the institution. I’ve tried talking to my Mum about my feelings towards Kara but she just won’t listen. She acts like everything never happened. How can she think that we’re the perfect little family? My own sister tried to kill me, my Dad is in jail, I’m melting down, my Mum is overworked and stressed, my other sister hates us all, my brother used to be on drugs and is now being stalked and my other brother leads a gang. We would never be perfect. We would never be normal.

************

It was 1am, I was lying in my bed, waiting for sleep to come. How could I not be tired after what had happened? I thought I would be knocked out cold as soon as my head hit the pillow. I couldn’t wait much longer, I wanted tomorrow to come, Ty was going to tell me what was going on and I was desperate for some answers.

Yet at the same time, I couldn’t help but think of all the bad things. Did I really want to know?

How could today start out so ordinary and end in fear and mystery?

Hey everyone,  hope you enjoyed this new chapter. It gives more information and background to her family, along with explaining some of the sticky situations she’s already in or will be introduced to in the future. 

Expected Update Day = Tuesday 8th July

Teaser will be posted this Saturday, so hope you enjoy that too.