If only for a moment

Jace always had an affinity for horror movies

Jace always had an affinity for horror movies. You know, the ones where the killer sneaks into the unsuspecting household, or the ghost possesses the pea-spitting girl. Even the cheesy zombie gore that everyone went on and on about. He had watched every single one.

It started when his older sister, Venessa, had her thirteenth birthday party. He was about ten at the time, and he had already started spiraling into this phase when all of her guests decided to watch The Shining. Being a kid, he naturally wasn't allowed to watch this "mind melting nonsense" as his parents liked to call it. Venessa though, she didn't mind if Jace came into the basement to watch the movie with her and her friends. Her only rule was, 'don't tell mom' and they were both okay with that.

They were pretty sure Mom and Dad figured out what was going on when they were on their fourth week of 'scary movie Friday' as the duo liked to call it. They didn't really have the we're-siblings-so-we-will-try-to-kill-each-other-constantly attitude that you'd normally expect from an older sister and younger brother. They were more of a we're-siblings-so-we-will-bond-together-and-kill-everyone-else kind of thing. Their parents knew they couldn't stop them from scaring the shit out of themselves every Friday night, so they just decided to let them continue their binge.

Something they definitely didn't allow however, was the inclusion of their six year old sister, Madeline. She was the spunky, rambunctious, lovable bundle of energy that you would expect from the youngest of the Hilt family. She was the physical embodiment of childhood innocence. She did get annoying sometimes. What with her constant chatter, and her insistence to argue with anyone who denied that their favorite color was purple, but the siblings still loved her and enjoyed babying her to their fullest capabilities. She had the two wrapped around her finger from day one.

It was no surprise that she immediately protested her exclusion from the horror movie marathons every Friday. They made it up to her though, and played dress-up (something both Ven and Jace despised with a passion) with her until they physically couldn't pretend to sip another cup of tea. Their Mom would always rescue them from this feather boa torture and they would make a beeline for the stairs as they raced for THE comfiest beanbag chair in existence.

Jace's thoughts were cut off when he felt Venessa tug him away from the dust covered rack of movies he had been scanning through. The dark brown ringlets of her severely overgrown pageboy haircut hung down and flopped into her tan face that was stiff with a constant expression of exhaustion. Her nose had a smudge of dirt on it, and her hazel eyes darted around the room. Scanning for any threat. Over, and over, and over until she was absolutely sure that nothing could harm her little siblings. Her once smiling mouth was downturned in an almost constant frown. Her black shirt and jeans were too big for her skinny frame, and although she was strong, she was weary from the lack of food. She's sixteen now, and she took it upon herself to protect what was left of her family. So far, they've been alright.

They were in an abandoned library. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in forever. Dust covered almost everything in sight. Jace had cleared the area and Ven was looking for anything useful. If anything, she going to grab some books and tutor Madeline a bit. She was eight now, and should've been in third grade.

The schools shut down first. All of the kids were ushered out one day and all of the parents took them home. People were advised to stay inside and wait for god knows how long. It wasn't long before everything really went to hell. It's been about ten months since then. It's early spring, May they had assumed. They've been on the road since the fall. Sometimes they would find camps or shelters back when they were still a thing, but Venessa would get a bad feeling and they would leave. She's always been like that, and Jace trusts her so he's never complained. The three would walk for miles, only stopping during the night so they could rest and then pack up in the morning. Madeline would get so tired. Ven wouldn't stop, so Jace carried her. She has this attitude of tough love, and refuses to baby her like she used to. She's changed a lot. More then any of them. Mom and Dad being gone probably messed with her a lot.

They walked Madeline over to the children's section and told her to pick something out. She did, reluctantly letting go of Jace's hand to wander around the aisles of Splat the Cat and Bad Kitty. She still loved cats. Jace didn't think that would ever change. Venessa likes cats too, but for a different reason.

"You can kick a dog, and it will come right back to you," she explained, "but if you kick a cat, it'll never come back again. Cats learn."

It made sense to him, and it sounded like something Ven would say. Even before everything.

"We're almost out of food." Jace said to his sister. She was browsing the science-fiction section.

"I know," She said quietly. They always hated going on runs. One of them would stay behind to look after Madeline as the other risked their life alone. It was too dangerous for the eight year old and they weren't about to take any chances by leaving her alone, "How long do we have?"

"We've got about four days left of food. A week of water. Our med's are running low too." He gave her an inventory of what they had left and how much of it. He could tell she was already seeing how far we could stretch out supplies, but she quickly realized He had already done that. Her face didn't give anything away, but she was worried. Jace could tell.

"Hey," He put his hand on her shoulder, "stop worrying. It's my turn to go anyway. I can do it. You need to stay back with Madelin-"

"No." her statement was harsh and firm. "Not after last time. You're not going alone again." She wasn't going to sway on her notion. If one thing hadn't changed in the time since the turn, it was Venessa's stubbornness. Mom had always said she could go against a bull and win. Ven wasn't one to be pushed around, and that was both a blessing and a curse in their current situation.

"Ven, please. Last time was a fluke. And besides, I'm alive aren't I?" Jace said, gesturing to his fully capable self.

"Oh please, you made it out of there by the skin of your teeth. And that's only because I told you to bring that extra knife." She argued, arms crossed.

"Well there's not much anyone else can do! You can't go! You've been limping for three days, Venessa. Three days! I told you it would get infected, and you didn't listen to me. You never do! I'm just your kid brother who can barely hold a gun, right? Who can't defend himself? Who can't defend his sisters?" Jace's voice had risen and he could see Ven stiffen in anger. A low brewing of rage beginning to show behind her scrutinizing eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Look. We don't really have much of a choice here. You can't run, and we're almost out of your antibiotics. You need to keep off the leg so the stitches we did don't come out." She was still mad, no doubt about it, but at least her eyebrows had softened and her eyes had dulled enough for Jace to not be afraid of getting his head chopped off.

He glanced down to the left leg of her pants and saw the old stain of crimson slick with fresh blood from the wound in her thigh. She definitely needed to stay put for longer than what their supplies could last the three of them, so there really was only one option.

"Jace," his head snapped back up to look at his sister. She didn't look angry anymore. She looked... almost defeated in a way, "just. Don't do anything stupid, okay? Be careful,"

"Ok. I promise," Venessa sighed at his statement.

"We can't promise things anymore. The world just doesn't work like that now. All we can do is try." She continued.

"Yeah? Well I still promise. I don't care if the world hates me for it. I'm coming back to you guys,"

Jace stepped over a pile of books that Venessa had acquired for herself and hugged his big sister, who still had about half a foot on him.

"Whatever, dork. Just don't die, ok?"

"Ok." Jace flashed a toothy grin and sheathed an extra knife into his belt.

And with that he turned and walked through the front door of the abandoned library, leaving the smell of old paper and ink. The thing is, this story has only just begun.

An: ok so I think I've finished the first chapter for real this time. No more going back and editing until later on. This will be the last time for now, I promise.