Misplaced

Chapter 1: New Places

  The sun shines with gold as it begins to set in the west.

   A small teenage girl walks down the steps of the plane and looks toward the horizon.

   She holds tight onto a notebook as her long black hair sways slightly with the breeze. Her red eyes sparkle for a moment before a shadow falls over her face.

   After a moment she takes each step down. Carefully watching in front of her as to not trip.

   "Kyoki, come on!" The girl's brother calls to her.

  "Coming!"

   Kyoki quickly rushes towards her older brother, careful not to drop her notebook.

   "Your stuff is already at my place, do you want to go anywhere before you unpack?" Kyoki's brother asks, running his hand through his white hair.

   "No thanks, Gin, I just want to sit down and think." Kyoki says looking down

   "Alright." Gin looks at his sister. "Why did you dye your hair?".

   Kyoki shifts her feet. "Um, Mom made me."

   "oh..."

   A shadow crosses over both their faces as they walk towards a black sedan. They hop in and Gin drives them through the city.

   Kyoki looks out the window as lights pass the car. She looks at the sky where the sun appears to be setting behind some mountains.

   The two siblings get to their destination and walk into the house.

   Gin had been living in New York for quite some time and it was evident by the few pizza boxes in the corner of the room. Gin blushes when Kyoki spots them.

   "I've been meaning to clean around here, but as you can see, I never got to it."

   "That's okay, big brother, Mom was worse..." Kyoki pauses.

   "Look, Kyoki, I know we haven't seen each for awhile and I know what mom did to you... you still have the scars."

   Kyoki, looks down to the dark carpet as Gin speaks.

   "You know, she did that to me too, so I know what it's like and that means you can't hide anything from me. Got it?" Gin looks at Kyoki.

   Kyoki nods and begins to speak. "I understand, but it hasn't been so long, only 4 years, besides you used to visit every holiday."

   Gin scratches his neck lightly. "Last I saw you, you were 12 and I was 21. Now you're 16, and I'm 25."

   Awkward silence fills the room and Kyoki nods slowly. She fears he'll ask her about the voice.

   A minute passes, then two and Gin begins. "Do you still hear-." He's cut off by Kyoki saying 'Yep.'

   "Okay... your room is down the hall, second door, right. Your stuff is in there, start unpacking. We need to get you taken care of for school Tomorrow, make sure you wake up before nine." Gin says and walks towards the kitchen.

    Kyoki nods and quickly walks towards the bedroom that was hers. When she walks in she sits at the oddly angled desk, setting down her notebook.

   She stares at the notebook in silence and slowly begins to fidget with her fingers, glancing to the sides of the room. After a moment she puts her hands on her head, trying to cover her ears.

   Suddenly she stands up and glares, at no one in particular, but glares nonetheless.

   "Could you please shut up." She asks getting more annoyed by the second. "I can hear you." She speaks to herself, her eyebrows twitch.