𝑊𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑆 (locke and key gabe)

1 rewritten

An; guys it's here, and I actually put some effort in this time even if it is just a filler chapter😪 sorry it took a bit longer, editing ended up taking a while.

Looking back, the lighter had probably been a bad gift.

It had been given to her with the right intention, of course, but Avery realised now that she probably shouldn't have been trusted with something so innocent that could also be so dangerous.

Her intentions weren't dangerous, but then again, they never were.

Her bedroom had blackout curtains, they were dark and thick, and made her feel as though she slept in more of a dungeon then a bedroom. When she was anxious or upset, Avery had made a strange habit of burning small holes in the fabric. It seemed stupid, but it helped.

And she'd never been more upset than she had been that day.

God, she was hysterical. Her siblings were too, all four of them were completely inconsolable. What they had witnessed left them with enough scars to last a lifetime, physical and mental.

They had witnessed their father die, and almost endured the same fate at the hands of Sam Lesser, a deranged boy who had once been like a brother to them, like a third son to Rendell. Their mom had hit him over the head with a hammer, and sped her children home, not looking back. Nina had soon gone and lost herself in the bottom of a bottle, not even attempting to console her terrified children.

Avery had ran to her room, body shaking with sobs. She'd took out the lighter, and started to burn little holes in the curtains. Only this time, she didn't stop.

And it felt good, for a moment. She'd watched the flames spread across the curtains, felt the heat against her skin, and then the dread had finally settled.

Their whole house had been destroyed within a matter of minutes.

No one was harmed, but Avery had carried the guilt with her like a weight she would never shake.

They had soon arranged to move in with their paternal uncle, Duncan, to their father's childhood home, a house far more magnificent than anything Avery could have dreamed of. Only it felt like a very, very bad dream.

Nina had told them it would be a fresh start, but it didn't feel like it. To Avery, it felt like they were moving from one nightmare to another.

They had been in the car for an hour already, and Avery couldn't help but think about the fire, and about her dad. However wallowing in her own self pity tended to be rather difficult, when her younger brother Bode was in a horribly good mood.

"Can we play a game?" Bode asked, squished into the middle seat between Avery and their sister, Kinsey.

Avery shoved on her headphones, ignoring him.

Bode nudged her ribs, and Avery shrugged him off, turning up the volume. He tapped her again and Avery rolled her eyes, slipping her headphones to rest at her neck.

"No, play with Kinsey."

Bode's hopeful expression faltered for a moment. "We could play whack-a-Bode?" He offered with a grin.

"No whack-a-Bode in the car," Nina said with a smile. Avery didn't know how she could keep up her happy façade. They could all smell the alcohol on her breath, they knew she'd not been sleeping, and that she'd been drinking again. They were all hurting, Avery just wished her mom knew it was okay to let it show.

"Okay then, what about serious question?" Bode asked hopefully. Avery didn't respond. "Okay, serious question- if you had to lose one sense, what would it be?"