Armadillos

I’d lost track of the days, and months that we allowed ourselves to isolate inside that building. It was long enough that I had given up on sneaking out and had accepted the mild insanity we shared. My teenage bodily urges were getting stronger and I had no outlet, until there was a knock at our door. A polite, soft knock. I barked in the deepest register I could manage “Who is it?” and a saccharine, velvet, feminine voice responded, “it’s Still.”  

My heart stopped for a moment. “Still?” I replied as I slid the door open an inch. And sure enough, standing there was the beautiful adult figure of my sisters lover. I shook the awful, invasive thoughts from my head and invited her in. She refused. “I just came to give you this.“ I took a breath “Where is my sister?” I asked, at too loud of a tone. She stepped back. “I’m sorry.” I grabbed her shirt by the collar and twisted my wrist to pull her close. “Not yet, but you will be if you don’t tell me where she is.”  

I must have startled mom because she was behind me in a flash demanding I put Still down. Still ran off after that and left behind a small box. I kicked the box into the parking lot and cursed the girl. Inside the box was a shiny metal thing. I stepped out to collect it, hesitantly. It was beeping, a light was winking at me. I winked back and threw it with all of my strength away from the home.  

 

Author's Note

This is meant to be inserted between chapters Returning and Eighteen. I'm not sure why I skipped over it in my original drafts.