Overtaken: Chapter Three

The house was empty when I got home. Just how I liked it. I my way upstairs to my room, then took my phone out and plugged it into the wall. I sat on my bed and tried to wrap my mind around the crazy weekend I had endured. I sat there for about twenty minutes, then heard the front door swing open and slam shut. Quick footsteps came up the stairs, then another door opened and closed. Darius was home, and I was glad. I had to tell someone about everything.
I opened my door silently and tip-toed out into the hallway. Darius' room was right across from mine. I tapped on the door and cracked it. Darius looked up from his perch on his bed, controller in hand. He was playing some sort of war game as usual, this time he was putting holez through zombies with a massive machine gun. He pressed a button and the pause screen popped up on the screen.
"What's up sis?" He questioned. I walked over and jumped up onto his bed, sitting with my legs crossed. He turned to face me and sat in the same way.
"Well, I guess you could say I've had a long weekend." He looked and me with an eyebrow raised. I considered telling him all about Carson, but I decided it would be best to keep my brother from being on trial for murder, so instead I told him about what Collin had told me. Once I was finished a smirk came across his pale face. He brought his hand to his mouth to stifle a giggle that caused his bright red curls to bounce. I glared at him.
"What? I just think that is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard. It's like he pulled it right out of a video game!" He fell over in laughter. I stood up and stomped out of his room as he resumed his game, being sure to slam my door when I went to my room.
After cooling off for about an hour in my room, my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten since my late breakfast with Ethan, and I was starving. I jumped up and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Searching through the cabinets, I found nothing that sparked my intrest. I went for the fridge. Nothing. A bit irritated, I had to use my stash. I ran back up the stairs and into my room. Shoving my desk chair out of the way, I got underneath my desk and felt for the panel, then pushed in the corner so that the opposite side popped out. I removed the piece of wood to reveal the shortened drawer and the cavity behind it, my hiding place. I was so proud of it. It was the only thing carpentry class had ever prepared me for. Well, that, and what to do if someone lost a thumb using a table saw.
It was filled with many things. There were two twenty dollar bills, a bag of chips, a chocolate bar, my diary from when I was in junior high, and a locket. I picked up the locket and opened it to reveal two pictures framed in the silver heart shapes, one of a hansome young man with piercing green eyes and the other of a beautiful young woman with flowing chocolate brown hair. I admired them for a moment, then snapped the locket shut and gently placed it back from where it had come. Grabbing the candy bar, I pressed the wood back in place and crawled out from underneath my desk, adjusting the chair and then flopping onto my bed. Time to relax.
Suddenly I was standing in a dingy room. Oddly, I knew where I was. just another of the many rooms I had passed through in my childhood. The dirty red curtains prevented most light from getting though, but I could still make out the depressing off-white walls and simple blue bedding. I could also see my short stature in the broken mirror from across the room I was clothed in a yellow dress that came to about my knees. Capped sleeves covered my shoulders and three white buttons dotted the front down the center of a rectangle of yellow ruffles. It was my leaving dress. I stepped closer to the mirror. I seemed to get a bit younger with every step I took. Once I was directly in front of it the mirror reflected my seven year old self. I gasped and touched my face, then ran my fingertips over the cold mirror. As I stood in awe admiring my reflection, I heard a tapping noise come from behind the red curtains. I turned. The tapping got louder. I slowly moved to the window, then paused for a moment before ripping the curtain to the side. A raven sat on the window sill, pecking the glass with it's beak. It's red eyes glared up at me and gave an eerie squawk. It spread it's inky wings. The glass seemed to disolve as it came towards me. I backed away as the beast grew larger and screeched at me. It kept forcing me to back away, all the while keeping eye contact with its blood red eyes. I glanced behind me to see that I was on the edge of a gaping black hole. Without warning the floor crumpled from underneath me and I fell backwards into the abiss. Darkness surrounded me, and upon closer inspection I realized that the darkness was feathers. I was surrounded by flying ravens, squawking and flashing their red eyes at me.
"Skye. Skye! Wake up!" Darius' voice seeped through the darkness. I gasped and sat up with a jolt. my breath was heavy and ragged. Darius gave his signature raised eyebrow look.
"Are you okay sis?" I released the tension in my body once I was able to grasp my surroundings. What a horrible dream. I nodded to Darius, then rubbed my eyes.
"Well, it's time for dinner, and I need my food." Darius joked. I smiled and turned to put my feet on the chilly hardwood, then made my way downstairs as I attempted to brush out my hair with my fingers. Our father sat at the head of the rectangular table. His bright red hair frazzled from a long day at work. His wife stood in the kitchen finishing up our meal. Her blue eyes were shielded by her deep red hair as she worked. I sat down in my usual seat beside Darius as she served us.
We ate our dinner in silence, as usual. No one ever had anything to say, especially me. Instead I usually allowed my thoughts to take over, and today I pondered my dream and the meanings behind it. I had to restrain a shiver as I pictured those black wings swarming around me. I finally gave up and shut the image out of my mind. I looked down at my dinner, finding the grilled chicken on my plate to have barely been touched. I poked at the peas with my fork. That dream had caused me to lose my appitite. I gave up on the food and asked to be excused. With a trio of red-headed nods, I stood up from the table and took my plate to the kitchen, then emptied my plate into the trash. I managed to balance my plate on the mountain of porcelain in the sink.
My phone was finally charged and I unplugged it from the wall. One new message. Skye, I'm so sorry for what happened Friday night. I don't know what happened. Please just let me make it up to you. My eyes narrowed. How on Earth could I forgive him? My mind drifted into old memories of the warm inviting smile and that cute blond hair of Carson's. I let out a sigh. Fine. Meet me at the diner at 12 tomorrow. I clicked send. This was going to be interesting.
I woke up early the next morning. I could still hear Darius' snores from next door. Time to prepare for a long lunch. I stayed in bed for a little while, trying to build the courage to get out of my warm and comfy bed. I finally sat up and swung my legs over to touch the cold floor. I walked to the bathroom. The mirror revealed a slightly smaller bruise. It was handy to be such a fast healer. I ran a comb through my wild bed head, then sleeked it back in a low ponytail. I decided to keep my makeup simple. After applying the heavy concealer and foundation required to cover my injury, I used a tan shade of eye shadow, then elongated my black lashes with some mascara. After a quick sweep of light pink tinted lipgloss, I wandered to my closet to find a simple black tank, and topped it with a shiny cropped leather jacket. I put on my outfit and went to take a quick glance in the mirror. I looked very stern. Perfect.
The walk to the diner was a short one. Fortionatly I was early, so I sat at an empty booth on the side facing the door. The waitress came to me and I ordered a glass of water. About ten minutes after recieving my water Carson arrived. I was already staring at him before he saw me. My eyes felt as if I could burn a hole straight through him. He scanned the area finally locking eyes with me, and made his way to the booth without breaking the stare. I sat erect in my seat as he slid into the booth. I could tell he was tense.
"Hello Carson." He nodded his head a bit, the normal greeting of a man.
"I believe we should just skip the small talk. What happened Friday night-" Carson cut me off.
"Skye, wait. I know you're pissed. We both know what happened, and I can't make that go away. I want to make it up to you in any way possible. Skye, I really do care about you. I just don't know what came over me." He burried his face in his hands. He looked so broken. I could tell he really meant every word. My face and my posture softened. I reached out and pulled his hand away from his face and across to the middle of the table, keeping mine on top of his.
"Carson, you hurt me. In more than just one way. Maybe I'll be able to forgive you at some point, but I need time. How about we just be friends for now, Is that okay?" He picked up his head a bit, revealing his reddened eyes. He nodded. I gave him a big smile.
"Good. Now are you hungry? I mean we are here for lunch after all." He nodded again. I flagged the waitress down and ordered a salad, and Carson ordered a burger. He didn't let go of my hand until our food arrived. We ate mostly in silence, with the occasional comment about the food or the weather or something. As we finished the waitress brought the bill and Carson paid for both of us.
"May I walk you home?" He asked me. I nodded. We started down the sidewalk next to the busy street. He finally built up the nerve to strike up a conversation.
"I'm glad things worked out. Maybe we can be together again some day. Who knows you could have ended up with that redneck Ethan Thompson." I stopped walking.
"What did you say?" I could feel the anger boiling inside if me.
"You know, Ethan Thompson. That guy with the dumbo ears?" He chuckled. I felt as if he had just pressed the button to cause an explosion inside of me.
"Ethan Thompson is a good guy! He's been there for me before I even knew you existed! I can't believe you would say something like that!" I stormed off. He followed behind me shouting "I'm sorry" and "I didn't mean it" to me. He would have done better talking to a brick wall. I marched across the street focused on not tearing up.
"Skye!" Carson's voice was filled with despair and even a bit of fear. I turned to tell him to stop, but was frozen mid turn. An eighteen wheeler was speeding towards me, paying no attention to the red light. My eyes widened and I couldn't force my body to move. Suddenly I was laying on my back on the sidewalk. I looked around to realize that I was still alive, and unhurt. Carson was on top of me. After the reality set in, I understood that the boy that had once hurt me had just saved my life. Carson rolled to lay beside me the sat up.
"Are you okay?" He asked. His breath was a bit ragged. I noticed we had drawn a crowd around us. I began to stand, but Carson jumped up to help me. I nodded to him and the crowd and they began to disperse. I had almost died. I wasn't exactly sure what to think. Carson put a hand around my waist to support me so I could walk, even though I wasn't injured at all aside from the bruises that will probably appear on my back the next day. He walked me home in silence.
I made it inside to discover that Darius was home. I felt like I should tell him everything, considering he's my brother. We were more like close friends than brother and sister. Darius sat at the kitchen table, devouring a cheesebuger. I sat across from him and looked at him for a little while. He finally looked up at me, and his face turned into a frown.
"Oh, no. That's the look. What happened?" I didn't notice, but apparently I always gave him the same look when something was wrong.
"Well, I almost died today." His mouth fell agape.
"You did what?" I proceeded to tell him the story about how Carson had saved me from being killed. He listened intently, but I could tell he had something to say. After I had finished he started questioning me.
"So you took Carson to the diner?" I nodded. "That's not exactly somewhere people go on dates." He raised an eyebrow, knowing I wasn't telling him something. I sighed. ime to spill the beans.
"I was there to discuss what had happened Friday night." I confessed. I was determined that I wouldn't tell him any more.
"Well what happened Friday? I know you didn't come home. Did you..." He gave a slight smirk. I furiously shook my head.
"No no no, it's nothing like that. I stood up from the table and started to walk towards my room. I heard Darius jump up and quickly follow me.
"Oh come on sis, you can tell me." I shook my head and kept walking. Darius put his hand on my shoulder and spun me around. I shook my head again and tried to go upstairs, but he kept his hand on me.
"Skye." He whined. "Please?" I sighed and shook my head. There was no way that I was going to tell him. All of a sudden I was scooped up and on my way towards the living room. I started kicking and wiggling with no hope. I was thrown onto the chocolate brown leather couch. I tried to escape, but Darius jumped on top of me and pinned my hands down near my head. I couldn't help but laugh. I brought my knee up to kick him in the stomach and he loosened his grip just enough for me to wiggle my way out from under him. I sprinted up the stairs with him not far behind. I made it into my room just in time to see him fly throught the air and tackle me on my bed, holding me down again. We were both laughing histerically.
"Now tell me!" He whined again. I rolled my eyes and finally submitted, because I couldn't find a way to escape. He finally released me and I sat up on my bed just as he did. The laughter fell to a more serious face, which I could tell worried Darius. I took a deep breath and finally told him.
"Carson hit me." Anger washed over Darius' face. I feared for Carson.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He jumped up and started pacing my room. I was so worried.
"Darius he didn't mean it. He really does like me. I didn't tell you because I knew you would go beat him up or something. He didn't mean it. Remember, he saved me today." I rambled excuses to try to get him to calm down. Darius had anger issues when it came to people hurting his family. I stood up and got in the way of his pacing.
"Darius just stop. You will hurt me if you hurt him." His face lightened a bit.
"Fine, but if I hear of anything else involving him harming a single hair on your body, he will be dead meat." He spoke gravely. I nodded. Darius hugged me then stomped off to his room, slamming the door. Soon I heard his game system starting up and then rock music blaring from across the hallway. I was so glad we had a similar taste in music.
Dinner went as usual. Plain food, plain conversation, if any. I did notice Darius stabbing at his meatloaf a bit more furiously than usual though. Afterwards I went upstairs by myself to get everything ready for school the next day. Ugh, I absolutely hated Mondays.
The next morning I woke up and got ready, then met Alexis at the end of my driveway, which was typical.
"So how was your date?" Alexis asked me excitedly as we walked to school. I put on a fake smile.
"It was okay. We went to the drive-in." She wrinkled her nose.
"That's not a great place to go, but oh well. Darius took me to this amazing resteraunt." I drowned out her story of the personal life of my brother, that's not something I needed to know about. I nodded at the correct times and let her go into every single detail until we made it to school. We parted ways and I dove into a typical, horrid Monday.
By the time the lunch bell had rang I was completely worn out. I sat at my usual place drinking a bottle of water and poking at a pile of fries with my fork. I had no appitite what-so-ever. One by one everyone made it to their seats, and the last was Ethan. He smiled at me as he sat down, and I forced one back. Memories of the weekend qith him fluttered through my head, instantly picking up my mood. I sat up straight and joined the conversation. At this point we were talking about th upcoming history test and how impossible it would be. I finished my fries and put my hands in my lap. The conversation shifted over to our usual topic: zombies. We always joked around about how we would survive an apocalypse. I couldn't help but notice Carson across the lunchroom. He was looking at me. Once I had finally made eye contact he smiled, which instantly caused me to look away.
Suddenly I felt something warm on my hand. I gasped and looked down. Ethan had his hand on mine. I looked up at him to find that he was waiting for my reaction. I gave him slight smile. The fire suddenly raged inside of me at his slightest touch. I turned my hand over and wrapped my fingers around his hand, his warmth spreading though my body. Both of us fell silent. I could no longer focus on a conversation. It seemed it was over as soon as it began. The bell rang. I released him and hurried into the crowd of people, unsure what to think.
I made it home before Darius, as usual. There was a note left on the refridgerator door. Impromtu business meeting in Vegas. Couldn't get out of it. We'll be gone for a week. Call us when you get this, we love you Sweetheart! Love, Mom and Dad. I rolled my eyes. Business meeting. Yeah, right, more like a drunken vacation without the kids. I shrugged and grabbed a soda out of the fridge. Then walked into the living room, falling onto the couch. I grabbed the remote and flipped on the T.V. The annoying monotone of the news man went on about some disease or something. I finally found a random show I liked and changed the channel. After about an hour Darius showed up, and plopped on the couch with me.
"Glad you made it home alive." He laughed. I smiled at him a bit. After watching television for about an hour I decided to go make some dinner. I searched through the cabinets and the fridge and decided on making a a pizza. I pulled one out of the freezer and turned on the oven. After the oven was heated, I popped it in, then set the timer. Soon our house was filled with he aroma of pizza. Darius came in and sat at the table, waiting.
"I'm starving." He complained. The timer finally beeped and I used an oven mit to carry it from the oven to the table, then turned off the heat and cut the pizza into slices. Darius attempted to dig in, but jerked his hand back from the pipping hot pie. I laughed at him and then got two plates out of the cabinet. After it had cooled i ate two slices, and he had four. I knew he would end up finishing it before the next day. Darius really knew how to eat someone out of house and home.
The next two days were quiet. There was a silent agreement between Ethan and I to not mention the incident from Monday. Of course there were exchanged glances occasionally, always ending in me smiling and blushing. Carson stayed out of may way mostly, except for when he held my door as I went into the lunchroom on Tuesday. I didn't want to talk to him at all.
Wednesday everything changed. Police were swarming as we walked to school, and we weren't allowed to go into the school building without being examined by a tall thin man in a white coat. I felt like I was going through airplane security. As the day went on the teachers were mostly silent, leaving us to do busy work as they messed with their computers. I noticed Mrs. Lewis, our history teacher, was reading a news webpage with a giant picture that reminded me of the man that growled at me. Pandemic: Scientists Have Yet to Find a Cure. The title was written in bold letters. This caused me to start to worry.
By lunch the whole school was buzzing with worry and curiosity. As my group sat down at our table, a boy that I had math class with was abruptly tackled by some sort of officer. The boy was thrown across a table, and all hell broke loose around him. The girls that were sitting there jumped up and started shrieking. Their food was slung everywhere. I finally realized that the boy's name was Blake. The man on top of him was dressed in a black uniform, similar to a police officer's blue one. Blake snarled at the man. I sat at my table, mouth agape. The man quickly flipped black onto his stomach and handcuffed him, then gagged him. I thought that was a little unneccesary until I noticed Blake trying to bite the officer. He pulled him up to stand and started pushing him towards the exit, which was behind us. As Black was ushered along he kept up a low growl and occasionaly jerked towards a group of people. When he made it past our table I took a good look at him. His eyes were bloodshot and his usually styled hair was knotted and wild from the encounter. His skin was peeled and looked as if it was rotting off of him. He snarled in my direction and I froze when we made eye contact. I could see none of the boy from math class left in him. All I could sense from him was dark hunger.
The rest of the day was filled with simiilar events, the closest one to me being the girl slammed against the locker that was only four away from mine. She growled and attempted to bite the man in black just as Blake had done. Every classroom had an officer in it, and the halls were filled with them. Right before seventh period the whole hallway came screeching to a dead halt. One of the officers had another one pinned down as he snarled and fought against the handcuffs and gag. There was chaos everywhere.
I finally made it home and for once Darius had made it home before me. I locked the door.
"Uh, how was your day?" Darius asked. I gave a nervous chuckle as I walked in.
"Well, it was interesting." We both laughed. We both decided we wern't hungry and stayed in he living room watching old reruns all afternoon. When it was finally dark outside I decided to get a shower and go to bed early. Darius did the same after I was finished. I finally got myself to sleep, but it didn't last long.
"Skye, wake up." Darius was shaking me. "Get up Skye!" I sat up.
"What's going on?" I mumbled rubbing my eyes.
"The disease is spreading fast. We have to get out." Suddenly I was wide awake. I jumped out of bed.
"Where is everyone?"
"They're already at Collin's. He found us a place to go. Come on, we have to hurry." He explained. I walked over to my closet and grabbed a fistful of clothing, shoving it in a bag in the floor. I got a few more handfuls and then threw the bag to Darius. He started going out the door.
"Wait. One more thing." I went over to my desk and ripped the board out from underneath it. I grabbed the locket and then followed after Darius.
The streets were filled with disease ridden people. Rotting skin covered them all and we were met with a low snarl at every turn. I didn't notice the guns Darius was carrying until we were almost to Collin's.
"Wait." I stopped. "I'm not leaving without Carson." Darius grumbled. "Darius, he saved me remember?"
"Ugh, fine." He replied. We turned up the the next driveway, which was Carson's. Darius kicked down the door and went straight upstairs. I waited in the doorway as Carson came down the stairs, dragged by Darius, and clutching a backpack full of clothes. Darius glared at him.
"Got any weapons?" He said gruffly. Carson nodded and opened a hallway closet, revealing two rifles and a shotgun. Darius snatched them up and then slid the shelf full of ammunition into his bag. We left his house and made our way down the street. When we arrived at Collin's house Darius didn't bother knocking, but instead opened the door and led us straight through the elegant house and through the back door. I admired the massive back yard. There was an inground pool to my right, lighted enough so that I could see the baseball field in the distance. To the right there was a large metal building. Darius led us all towards it. When we got inside there were lights brightening up the tall roof along with the shiny white airplane in the center of the room. Our group was standing around it, anxiously waiting for us. Ethan ran to me and tackled me with a huge hug.
"I'm glad you made it ma'am." He smiled, but it disappeared as he looked at Carson.
"It's a long story." Darius explained. Ethan glared at Carson and led us over to the plane. Darius greeted Alexis with a passionate kiss and we were in a sea of hugs. Carson awkwardly stood to the side.
"Looks like everyone is here. All aboard!" Collin called as he hopped into the aircraft. We all followed him and cramped into the small space.
"Ahh I'm squished! Eli commented.
"Can't breath!" Everly squeaked. We were all uncomfortable except for Collin. He messed with a few buttons and