Tradition Comes Third

Hunger

Author's Note: All of these votes I'm getting for The Fiction Awards is crazy! Thank all of you so much! I am currently in the lead by two thousand votes

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 Ava was sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were scanning over everything in the room.

"I wonder if this is your Dad's old house," she said.

"Probably not," I told her. "Mom said the cops tore that place apart."

Ava got up off of the bed, and peered out of the window. I watched her as she walked across the room to the door. She turned the knob, and creeked the door open a bit. She looked over at me with wide eyes. There were a few voices growing louder from down the hall. Ava closed the door quietly, and ran over to the bed so that she was sitting next to me.

We watched as the doorknob turned, and the door opened up wide. Leah walked in carrying two glasses of water. Her lips lifted into a smile.

"How are you two feeling?" she asked. "I brought you some water."

She handed each of us a glass. We both took one and gulped it down. I felt the cold water trace its way down to my stomach. Leah pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Where are we?" I asked her.

"My home," she said. "It was Jared's grandparents, and we inherited it when they died."

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"That's more of a question for Jimmy." She took the empty glasses out of our hands. "Come with me. They're all down in the kitchen."

Leah placed her hand on her stomach, and we followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ava's fingers were laced through mine. Mom and Dad were sitting around the table with Jared. Dad was the first to notice us.

"The kids are awake," he said.

Jared looked over his shoulder. He pulled out the chair next to him.

"Leah, sweetheart," he said. "Sit down and rest."

She nodded her head, and sat down. She pushed her chair in and her glasses up.

The kitchen was covered in cracked white tiles. In the corner, the counter gave away and a plastic curtain covered the hidden section.

Jared picked up his faded baseball cap off of the table and set it on his head. He leaned in and kissed Leah before standing up.

"I have to go outside," Jared said. "Jim, is it okay if Hunter comes out with me?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Dad said. "Ava join us at the table."

I squeezed Ava's hand before letting her walk over to the table.Jared rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. I followed him to the door. He pulled the chain off from around his neck, and unlocked the door. I glanced over at the table to see Leah putting her hand on Ava's shoulder.

I stepped outside, and Jared closed the door and locked the door behind us. The wooden deck appeared to wrap around the house. Weeds were sprouting through the wooden slats. A screen door full of holes and a rusted frame was leaning against the house. We headed toward the barn.

"Ava's really beautiful," Jared told me.

"Um...thanks," I said, not sure how to respond to that. "Leah is really nice."

Jared chuckled and shook his head.

"She's better now," he told me. "When I first got her she was quite a handful."