Extended Family - A G/t Shorty

Ch. 6 Not a plaything

The sun's rays of the morning didn't jolt me awake, but the biting cold that pierced beneath the thin layers of my quilt forced the sleep to expel me from my body. I rubbed cold arms with frigid hands as I noticed the entire room encased like that of an ice cavern. Instead of fighting with myself to go back to sleep, confusion struck me as I took in my surroundings wondering where the hell we were right now.

Oh right, Casey and I were adopted by a family we knew next to nothing about. Great.

My warm, bare feet met frozen wood as I strolled over to the window to check if it was left open overnight. Maybe my brother opened it because he probably got hot or it wasn't closed to begin with.

But it was neither. The window was locked shut.

I glanced over to Casey who slept in a tight fetal position, unconsciously shivering. There weren't many blankets, to begin with, so I used mine, which barely provided me with ample warmth as I slept and covered him with it. I spotted one of my bags and began my search for a long-sleeved shirt and old hoodie to wear that should keep my temperature up.

After my morning hygiene, I descended the stairs and made my way over to the kitchen that I completely forgot was empty. It won't be long until Casey follows suit, and he gets hungry as well.

Looks like I need to call Sheriff Rusty and see if we can go to the diner I saw not too far when we drove here. Maybe that's the same place that he got our burgers from. It didn't seem too far so I'll ask for permission if I can walk and get us some food. I strolled up to the phone, heard the familiar dial tone pressed against my ear, and got ready to call him when I realized that I didn't have his phone number. I scoffed and frowned at that realization, but I had to think of something.

How was I supposed to call him? I can't place a 911 call for food delivery, can I? Nah, that could get me in get in trouble, even if it was for good intentions.

The dial tone continued to buzz in my ear and my eyes scanned the table to find a piece of paper with numbers on it. My nerves instantly spiked, and it made my spine rigid when I realized who the phone number belonged to.

The ominous voice that rivaled the sound of thunder. I shivered.

I swallowed a sizable lump in my throat, feeling the protest from my stomach that it hadn't received food. It's pretty early out, and I'd rather not bother him just because we wanted to have breakfast. I rubbed the back of my head, unsure if I should call him. What if he isn't the morning type? I got a taste of his temper last night, and I sure as hell did not want to deal with that again. Similarly, our last foster family told us to never wake them up earlier than noon. If we were hungry, we had to go out and get food for ourselves. Which we did a lot of the time.

He could very well tell us that same thing.

I grimaced at myself not really wanting to call him but what choice did I have? I was getting hungrier just by thinking about it. I just have to prepare myself for a verbal scolding afterward. Without wasting another second and ignoring the somersaults in my stomach, I dialed the number and waited for a response.

Which, to my surprise, I got immediately after the first ring.

"Hello Mia, Casey?!" he greeted groggily, sounding like he just woke up and sprang out of bed after I heard a lot of shuffling in the background. "Are you both okay? Is everything alright?"

Whoa, he sounds worried...wasn't really prepared for that. Okay, now just stick to making words...

I took a deep breath and collected myself just before speaking, "Uh, g-good morning, Mr. Taylor, sir. Uh, everything is okay here."