Diamonds in the Rough

6.

"You're not staying here Emily, we're both going to Italy, the plane's leaving tonight"

"Tonight? I'm not even going to get to say goodbye to everyone?"

"You can call them on the plane"

"I don't want to go with you" Emily yelled, "I'm happy here and I'm not going to give up everything for your stupid job. You're not even here half the time, it's always 'I'm sorry Emily, I know I promised to be there for your play, but I can't make it' or 'I know I told you I would take you to the concert, but my boss is making me work overtime'. You lie to me all the time and go gallivanting around the world while I stay here waiting for you to show up to my games or my concerts or even a stupid PTA meeting. I'm sick of it. You go if you want to but I'm going to stay here with my friends and the people who are actually there for me."

"Emily" Lana's voice was quiet, "pick up your purse and let's go, the cab's waiting"

The ride to the venue was a silent one. Emily was still seething. How dare her sister make decisions for her without even consulting her? Her high school was organising prom next month and she'd already got a date. She'd waited so long for this. A chance to celebrate her last day of being 16, with her friends and the cutest guy in ninth grade.

The car stopped and Lana got out without a word, holding the door open for Emily. They walked into the hall, the band choosing that moment to begin playing the next song. Lana turned to her sister, "stay in the main hall, okay? I'll be back soon" Emily nodded, and Lana hesitated, "things will be different now, Em, I promise"

She walked away and Emily turned her attention to the room. It was beautifully decorated, with fairy lights adorning all the landings. Emily gathered up her skirt and moved to the buffet table in the corner of the room. It had been hours since lunch and she was hungry. There was another teenage girl picking out starters and she smiled at Emily, "hey"

"Hey" Emily smiled back, "nice party huh?"

"I guess" the girl waved her fork around, "don't really care much for it"

"Why not?"

"Well, my parents forced me to give up my time at the stables to attend this thing and they're not even here"

"My sister is like that" Emily said, stabbing the shrimp with her own fork, "she didn't force me to come here but she's forcing me to move"

"That sucks"

"Yeah"

After a moment of silence, the girl spoke up "so where are you from?"

"Two towns over. You?"

The girl looked around, "here"

"You're kidding"

She laughed, "why? Don't I look like a millionaire's daughter?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean..."

"Relax, I get that a lot"

The girl picked up her plate, "come on, let's go inside"

Emily hesitated; her sister had explicitly told her to stay in the main hall, but she was also getting pretty tired of having to obey her sisters' rules without any explanations. She quickly made up her mind, "lead the way"

She followed her new friend into an even brighter lit hall. "I told my mom that she was going to blind her guests, but I guess she doesn't care about that"

Emily laughed. She was really starting to like this girl. She reminded her a lot of Maddy. They were almost in the centre of the room when there was a bone chilling scream. Emily froze as a man came into view, his suit was dishevelled and torn and soaked in blood. He stumbled into the room and collapsed.

"Dad" the girl screamed.

Emily's heart was pounding. She couldn't stop staring at the man, lying still, his eyes wide open and empty. "Lana" she yelled, before she even realised what she was saying. All her anger towards her sister was gone. She just needed her to be there, to come and fix this. She felt like a little kid all over again.

"Emily" even through her terrified haze, she heard her sister's voice and recognised the dark blue dress she'd been wearing. A second later, Lana was in front of her, her hands on her shoulders and a bit of panic in her voice, "I told you to stay in the main hall"

Without a word, Emily buried her face in her sister's shoulder, feeling the soft velvet material on her face. Lana returned the hug immediately, gently drawing her little sister away from the gruesome scene. Emily turned, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend and in that split second, she saw it. The tiny tree charm glistening in the dark red pool of blood. 

Prompt retrieved from thefakeredhead.com