"Emme!"
Oh god, everything hurts, it feels like my body is burning.
"Emme, open your eyes!" Elle? Why is Elle shouting? Shoving pass all the pain I follow the sound of Elle's panic, and force my eyes to open.
"Ell- wha... What's wrong?" I choke out, every muscle in my throat constricting as I force out.
"Emme!" Elle and Elliot both burst as they hover over me with tear stained face. The two pounce on me, their short arms tightening on me so tight I cry out.
"Why are you laying here?!"
"How did you end up here?!"
"Are you ok?!"
"Did you break your neck?!"
"What happened?!" Elliot and Elle fire question after question at me that makes my throbbing head harder.
"Ugh," I groan, "inside voices, please." I whimper, sitting up slowly. My body groans in protest like a rusty machine as bones snap and crack with every move. My clothes are torn up, and dried blood stains my skin. For a minute I'm just in pain, but one glance at the grand staircase and it's as if I'm looking into those red eyes again. That... guy! Remembering everything from last night, from his rough hands, to him on top of me, I gasp. He threw me down the stairs, HE THREW DOWN THE STAIRS!
He was really trying to kill me! I really might have died! Tears sting the back of my eyes as I start shaking. Am I going to die here?
"Emme, are you okay?" Elle asks for the thousandth time. My terror fades away at Elliot's and Elle's terrified looks.
"I'm okay." I immediately force out.
"You're shaking."
"You broke your neck!" Elle and Elliot immediately burst into another set of panic.
"First," I cut them off, "I didn't break my neck, I wouldn't be alive, or if I did, I wouldn't be able to move." I explain hoarsely. "Second, I'm... okay." I add, my throat tightening up.
"We thought you were dead..." Elliot grumbles, tears whelping up in his brown eyes.
"... Like mom and dad..." Elle finishes for her brother. Jesus, I hate making them feel like this. I'm the only thing Elle and Elliot have left, I can't scare them like this.
"I'm okay." I repeat for the third time.
"No, you're not!" Elle cries.
"Guys. I'm okay. Look, I can walk." Forcing myself up on shaky legs, I choke down a whimper.
"Look, I'm okay!" I fake. Blue and brown eyes narrow at me, looking for any excuse for me not to be alright. Just as I'm about to break into a pathetic skip to prove my point, my two siblings thankfully put out their worries like cigarettes. I wasn't a hundred percent sure my aching legs could handle skipping.
"We're going to be late for school," I push the two up the stairs. "Go! Go! Go!" I urge them into a hurried sprint. The moment they're out of sight I let out a choked gasp of pain, and sink onto the floor.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow..." I whimper into my hands, fighting back tears. Monsters are very real, and they want to kill me. This house is a living hell.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Head snapping up from my hands I glare in the direction of the smug, deep voice. The red eye monster smirks down at me, looming over me. Sniffling I push myself onto buckling knees, and glare up at him.
"You're lucky, that fall broke lots of other people's necks." His red eyes run over me from head to toe like I'm some lucky charm. Shuddering under his red eyes I try to hold my ground, I can't let him know that he actually terrified of him.
"Stop trying to scare me, because I'm not going anywhere." I push past him, and wobble into the kitchen.
"Are you stupid, or did you land on your head when you fell?" He growls, blocking my path. My hands fly up to clutch my throbbing head, my trembling fingers searching for a crack in my cranium.
"Get out of our house." He hisses, his hands coiling around my wrists, and digging in.
"My name is on the deed, this is our house. Go back to hell." I bite, pulling at his iron clad grip. His red eyes brighten like a roaring fire, making me desperate to run in the other way. Conjuring up all my courage I throw all my weight into a tackle, and send us tumbling into a wall before he has a chance to throw the first blow. His fingers loosens up enough from shock for me to rip away from his grip, but I don't make it five feet before he pops up to block my escape route.
"You got spunk, I'll give you that." He growls, crossing his arms over his chest. "But you have no idea what hell is, and if I'm going down, I'm dragging you down with me." He growls, his deep voice striking terror through me. My heart ceases beating for a painfully long minute, my blood running cold in my veins. He's going to kill me.
"Emme!" Elliot's voice kick starts my heart.
"We're ready!" Elle calls down from the second floor high over our heads, bring me back.
"You hear that?" I straighten up. "That's the reason I'm not scared of you." I lie through my teeth, blood pounding in my ears from all the horror. "Now get out of my way, I have school lunches to make!"