The house we left behind was once beautiful to me. Pale green exterior and a soft cream interior. It was cozy and perfect for our family. I thought it was my dream house. That image was ruined when my dad and baby brother were shot and killed.
"I'm glad we decided to move," I say from the comfort of the passenger seat.
Mom reaches her hand across the console and squeezes my arm lightly. "Me too."
The car suddenly putters to a stop. "Hey, what the hell?" Mom says, interrupting the silence. I take my attention off the game on my phone and look at her.
She tries turning the key, but the car doesn't start. With a sigh, she gets out. I scramble to get out of my seat and follow her.
She pokes her head back in. "Its alright, sweetie. I'm just going to be out here."
It calms my breathing but I can't help the worried looks I give her.
Mom lifts up the hood and then slams it back down. "I need to learn how to work on cars." She says as she sits down in the driver seat.
I chew on my lip and watch as she grabs her phone. I lift my eyes and see a building not too far up ahead.
"Mom, why don't we see if anybody is up there?" I point up at the building, which has its lights on.
"Well, I don't wanna leave the car here." Mom ponders it for a second. "Okay, put your coat on."
I slip the coat on and get out of the car.
The streets are silent except for the occasional scuffle in the distance. Trees sway in the light wind and street lights guide our way down the road.
There are already a few cars parked outside of the building.
We walk up to the door and Mom opens it. I cautiously lead her into the building.
"Uh, hello?" My mom calls out to the sheriff's station. There's a soft murmur of words in the back, signs of people. I stick my hands in my pockets and then take them out and then put them back in. I repeat this many times while waiting for someone to come help us.
Mom sighs and walks around the corner of the desk.
"Uh, M-mom, what are you doing?" I ask with wide eyes.
She doesn't respond, but instead sharply gasps.
"What's wrong?" I walk around to the back of the desk cautiously. I freeze. "Oh-oh," I stutter and my hand moves up to my mouth.
The woman's eyes seem to stare at me from where she lies on the floor. The blood on her uniform looks fake, but I can smell it wafting up from her body. My eyes drag down her body and see the gun missing from her holster. A strangled gasp makes its way out of my throat.
There are footsteps coming from the back. My eyes snap up and see a boy walking toward us. "Hello?" He asks. My breath catches in my throat.
He's kinda gorgeous. A buzz cut of brown hair and moles dotting his neck. Green shirt under a blue flannel with jeans. He looks like the 'boy next door' type.
My type.
Heat rushes to my face and prickles under the skin of my neck. I glance down and see the dead body again. The warmth seeps from my face.
The boy follows my gaze and his breathing becomes faster once he sees the woman.
"It wasn't us-" My mom is interrupted by the click of a gun being cocked. We all turn to look at the new boy that now has a gun wavering between us three.
My hands freeze at my sides.
Tears glisten in his eyes as he gives us a small quirk of his head.
###
He keeps the gun pressing back and forth between our three backs, but it hovers over Gorgeous Boy's for longer. He leads us into an office that has voices coming from it, both distinctly male.
My feet keep tripping on nothing and my hands stay clenched by my side. Mom walks steadily beside me.
One by one, we squeeze into the office. A man notices us first and there's another boy, also pretty.
Priorities, Iris.
Blue Flannel walks over to the pretty boy. Mom and I move closer to the windows.
The man speaks first, "Matt?" His hands are up. "It's Matt, right? Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun." His voice sounds calming, but it does nothing to the knot of panic in my chest.
"You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are." Matt's voice breaks as he speaks.
"I know you don't wanna hurt people." The man tries to reason with him.
"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people. You three weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded. Now, you two were a surprise, but that doesn't have to happen." Matt waves the gun toward Mom and me. She shifts her body to cover me, and I let her.
"One way, is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing."
Pretty Boy, with a green shirt, quickly takes his hand out of his pocket.
"That-that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone." Matt waves the gun around again, gesturing. I flinch as it passes me. "Now!" I jump at his raise of voice.
I fumble to get my phone out of my pocket, fingers trembling too hard. I bend down and set it on the ground, almost dropping it. There's a huff of exasperation from Flannel. I look up and see him staring at Matt with hatred.
###
The zip of the handcuffs echoes in my ears. The metal is cold on my wrists, a stark contrast to my warm hands. They are not too tight, but tight enough to scare me more.
"Tighter," Matt says and I shrink back from Flannel Boy as he tightens my handcuffs, after doing Mom's and the man's.
I sit on the floor, chained to a metal table leg. Mom sits above me, her leg bouncing up and down. My eyes catch on Flannel Boy's. He gives me a somewhat encouraging smile. I can't give him one back, but it does something to my heart that causes it to jump. Probably from fright about what will happen to him and Pretty Boy.
I tap my fingers on the metal leg as I watch the three boys leave.
"So, I guess we're gonna have to wait to get help with our car?" Mom's voice fills the ticking silence.
I let out a nervous burst of laughter, but it quickly turns into a gasp of cold air.
I'm quickly reminded of the day when they died.
I bite down on my lip and try to push the thoughts away.
Their voices sound from down the hall.
"I am so sorry that you are in this situation." The man says from the other side of my mother. "I am Sheri- I'm Noah Stilinski." He gives me a sad look.
I say nothing, but Mom does. "I'm Alisha Sallow. This is my daughter, Iris."
We sit in silence for a few minutes before the sound of a vehicle breaks it.
My eyes go wide as I realize that it sounds like it was close. There's a sound of a door opening and then a loud thud. Murmured voices make their way down to us, but I can't understand them.
I squeeze my eyes shut, the sound of my breathing and my nail tapping on metal grounding me.
My eyes flash opens as the sound of another car echoes through the building. Not soon after, a gunshot sounds.
I flinch and scramble to my knees, not able to get any higher. Mom stands up straight, and so does Mr. Stilinski.
"Scott! Stiles!" He bellows out. "What happened?"
There's no response beside muffled yelling.
"Matt! Matt, listen to me!" Mr. Stilinski yells out again.
"Everybody shut the hell up!" Matt's voice carries through the Sheriff's station.
Tears form in my eyes but I squeeze my eyes shut, refusing to cry. Mom crouches down next to me, hand rubbing my back.
There's a baby wailing, my brother, Leo. His cries echo throughout the house but are quickly silenced with a gunshot. I shiver and cry from under my bed.
The wood frame presses into my back, but the pain is nothing compared to hearing a baby's cries being silenced so horribly. I used to fit under the bed so easily, back when I was a child.
I'm shaking and tears are streaming down my face. But I don't make any noise, not even when the second and third gunshot ring out.
###
The boy in green stumbles into the room. He falls against the wall next to me. A red spot that was not there before has taken over his side.
I'm quickly distracted from the dark memory. "Oh, my God! Are you okay?" I yelp up at him. He nods through closed eyes.
"Please, he needs to see a doctor." Matt put a woman in a cell. She begs him, make-up messed up from crying.
Matt says something back, but I can't hear him.
"Hey, hey! You listen to me!" Mr. Stilinski yells and points a finger at Matt.
"It's all right. I'm okay." Gunshot Wound says from beside me. His voice is soft.
"No, honey, you're not okay." She looks horrified. It dawns on me. The woman is his mom.
"It doesn't hurt, mom."
"'Cause that the adrenaline." She pleads with him. I watch with tears in my eyes. "Okay? Please, let me-- let me just take a look at him, okay?" She's talking to Matt, now. "I mean, I can help stop the bleeding."
"You have no idea, do you?" Matt asks her.
"Please. Let me just take a quick look." Gunshot Wound's mom begs Matt.
"Shut up- shut up- shut up!" Matt practically spits on the woman as he yells. "If you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head."
I look over at Green Shirt with wide eyes. I'm horrified but also mad. I want to scream at Matt that he's a coward, but I have no proof. Also, no confidence in myself.
"Back to the front, McCall." Matt walks over to Green Shirt. "After you." He hisses out.
Gunshot Wound holds a hand to his side and his gaze sweeps over us for one last time before leaving with Matt.
A tear escapes down my cheek. "Wh-Why is he d-doing this?" My voice trembles and my knees feel numb.
"He wants revenge." Mr. Stilinski says form behind my mom.
I look at him and click my jaw. A nervous habit. The sound echoes around the room, otherwise there's silence.