EYES LIKE RAZORS

(1) Sweets

The snow was beginning to set, creating a white blanket over the cobbled streets of Small Heath. It was still dark, her path only being illuminated by the lampposts on either side of the lane.

Her heels crushed the snow as she strode, leaving a trail of footsteps in her wake, the only sign of life in the dead beat town.

She stopped outside the front door to her family house, taking the final drag from her cigarette, before flicking it off to the side, letting it melt the smallest patch of snow as the embers died out.

Glancing down to her pocket watch, it read 01:13, she was meant to be home at midnight, under strict orders from her brothers, but one thing lead to the other, one drink turned into two, and she decided to fuck their rules, she was nineteen, she went to Belgium for two years, she had been in the middle of a war zone yet she wasn't allowed to go out past midnight. What bullshit.

Sighing, she pushed open the door, grimacing as it produced a high pitched creak, stepping inside she removes her shoes as to quieten her footsteps, before closing the door.

"Was wondering when you'd get back." A voice speaks from the kitchen as she tip-toed past.

"Hello Thomas."

"Hello Madison. Didn't we tell you to be home by midnight?"

"You did." She nods.

"And why weren't you?"

"I didn't want to be."

"Madison, it is dangerous for you to be walking the streets alone in the middle of the fucking night." Thomas scolds.

"I wasn't alone. And dangerous? Seriously? I doubt it could be more dangerous than the middle of a war zone?" Madi replies bluntly.

"Who were you with?"

"Edmund and Ashton."

Edmund and Ashton were Madisons bestfriends, they were the two she had gone to Belgium with.

"Why didn't they walk you home?"

"Because I'm not a fucking child." Madison argues.

"You're nineteen!" Thomas exclaims.

"Exactly, I'm nineteen. Thomas, everyone in this town knows who I am, if you think someone would try anything, I think you might need to get your brain checked."

"You're my fucking sister Madison, and as much as I hate to admit it, something could happen to you, alright. Some men-"

"Please do not give me a shitting sex talk right now. I know what men are like, I'm not oblivious to the fucking world outside." She interrupts, shooting a quick glare in his direction.

"Madison, I don't want you walking about alone, it's unsafe and you could get hurt." Thomas states, finishing his drink and placing it roughly onto the table as he stood.

"I'm tired and I want to sleep. You can continue to talk but I'm not going to be listening." Madi replies, starting to walk away.

"Madison."

"I'm going to bed, Thomas- whatever it is can wait until later." Madison groans, starting to ascend the staircase.

"I'm not trying to control your life, I just don't want anything to happen to you." Tommy says, following her up the stairs.