On the Run

.01

I reach into my pocket with trembling hands trying to find my keys.

We need to leave.

The cool metal feels almost soothing against my scorching hot hands as I fumble to put it into the key hole. I miss a few times, but I'm finally able to unlock my door.

We need to leave.

I run into my room and quickly grab my towel and head to the bathroom. I feel myself panting as I turn the hot water all the way on. I rip myself of my clothes quickly, as if just having them on was burning my skin. I jump into the shower and scrub my skin so hard that it starts to redden. I feel sick. I think I'm going to throw up.

We need to leave.

I turn off the water after what feels like the shortest shower I've ever taken, and dry myself before standing in front of the mirror.

Calm down, Veronica. I grip the sides of the sink so hard my knuckles turn white as I try to calm my breathing.

I slowly look up at myself in the dirty mirror. My long brown hair is thrown up into a messy ponytail and my baby hairs are stuck to my face. My skin looks paler than usual and my green eyes look red and irritated. I look like a mess.

I leave the bathroom, not bothering to turn off the lights. I quickly walk to my room which I share with my little sister Hayley and turn the handle of the door.

"Hayley, wake up." I say in a quiet voice. I turn on the lights and walk to my dresser, pulling it open looking for clothing.

After I pulled on my underwear and bra, I turn around to see that Hayley is still fast asleep, clinging onto the stuffed bear Brandon, her crush from school got her for Valentine's Day. I feel terrible doing this to her, she has no idea what's going on.

"Hayley, wake up." I say more sternly and louder, hoping that I didn't sound too mean.

She stirs for a bit before finally rubbing her eyes and sitting up in our bed.

"Veronica?" She says, with a sleepy voice. "What are you doing?"

I pull out a suitcase from our closet and start shoving whatever clothes I could find from both of our dressers into the small thing.

Hayley's eyes bulge open, and she springs up from her spot in bed and races over next to me. "What are you doing?" She asks, placing a hand on my shoulder. I quickly shrug it off with a grunt as tears start to flow down my face.

She scrunches her eyebrows in confusion and her eyes soften. "Veronica, what's wrong?" She asks with a soft voice gently placing her hand back on my shoulder.

I tense up at her touch, but I quickly relax. I look up at her and my body erupts into tears. My body shakes as the never ending stream flows down my face. Hayley holds me with her short arms, and I feel so sorry that I've done this to her.

"We need to leave, now." I tell her, without looking into her eyes and continue to pack our things into the suitcase.

"Why?" She asks, standing up from her kneeling position.

"Because." I tell her, not wanting to go into detail. "Go get our toothbrushes from the bathroom and put on a jacket, we're leaving." I close the suitcase and stand up, walking to the desk and picking up my beat up, black backpack and swing it around my shoulders.

Hayley hesitates but she quickly runs to the bathroom and grabs our necessities before coming back to the bedroom and wrapping herself up in her favorite jacket.

"Where are we going?" She asks as she ties her hair up into a bun.

"We're going to pay our grandma a visit."