A/N: here's chapter 3. Enjoy, people.
Iris thought she was prepared to see her old home.
She really wasn't.
Her arms were locked by her sides, and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the oppressive place before her- a place she'd once called home.
She could see her and her brothers playing out front in the summer, ghostly shrieks of joy filled her ears. She saw herself, six years old, hiding behind Elijah as her other brothers tried to spray her with the water guns.
"HELP ELI!" Iris squealed, gripping her brother's shirt tightly as a wide smile bloomed across her expression.
Elijah puffed up with pride and shouldered his own water gun, "Don't worry, Riss! I'll protect you!"
But he wasn't able to protect her when it really mattered.
Iris clearly remembered the day David kicked her mother out. She and her brothers had been in the living room, watching a movie, when they heard shouting coming from the hall.
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" David roared, grabbing his wife by the arm harshly.
"Please, David," Elise sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "Let me explain-" It was the first time Iris had seen her mother on her knees.
"Ma, what's going on?" Iris asked and clutched David's free hand, "Dad, please, let go! You're hurting her!"
David turned on his daughter and she flinched from the rage burning in his eyes. Elise immediately jumped between them, arms outstretched, shielding Iris from her father's anger.
"Leave." David said quietly. His hands curled into fists and his chest rose and fell with each laboured breath.
Iris was terrified. She gripped her mother's hand. "No! Don't send Mum away!"
Something inside David snapped. He grabbed both of them and threw them out of the door. "Don't ever come back here again!"
Iris heard her brothers shouting in protest, but it was too late. The heavy brown doors slammed shut on them and the guards dragged them off the property.
"Iris?" Elijah laid a hand on the young girl's shoulder.
She recoiled and shoved his hand away, stepping out of the car and slamming the door shut with more force than needed. The sound echoed through the empty courtyard, disturbing a flurry of birds nearby.
Keep up the act. Iris exhaled and shook her hands out. Fake it until Harry gets here.
"Ready, brother dear?" Iris spat out, sarcasm dripping off each syllable, "I can't wait to meet the family!"
Being inside was worse than outside. Iris stepped over the spot where her mother had begged for a chance to explain. For a while, Iris had asked Elise what she meant, but her mother would get such a sad look in her eye that she stopped asking.
"Where are we going?" Iris's voice remained surprisingly steady as she stood in the foyer. 'I want to burn this place to the ground.'
"The living room." Elijah shut the door and gestured down the hall. "Dad and Lisa- that's our stepmother- are waiting for you."
Iris gave a small nod and followed Elijah, even though she remembered the way as though she had come here yesterday. Taking a deep breath, Iris wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and, at Elijah's encouraging nod, pushed open the white wooden door.
Immediately, she locked eyes with crystal blue eyes- a carbon copy of her own. Revulsion and malice swirled inside of Iris. She wished she'd gotten her mother's warm brown eyes instead. She didn't want anything to do with the monster that was smiling so kindly at her now.
"Hello David," She smiled and flicked her ponytail off her shoulder, "how depressing it is that we see each other again."
The smile disappeared, replaced with a small frown.
Good. Iris thought, taking a seat on the couch and crossing her right leg over her left. She glanced at the woman next to David. "I assume you're Lisa?"
"Yes," The dark-skinned woman grinned, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. Her micro braided hair was swept into a bun and she inclined her head towards Iris, "I've heard a lot. Your brothers wouldn't shut up about you."
"They're not my brothers."
Iris intended the remark to be scathing, but Lisa didn't even bat an eye. "That's fair enough."
"They are your brothers," David said at the same time.
"David," Lisa remarked sharply, turning her amber gaze onto him, "she has just lost her mother. Do not pressurise her into anything she doesn't want to-"
"IS SHE HERE YET?" A boy burst into the room and Iris leapt to her feet, fists raised for an attack.
"Oscar!" Lisa cried out, "Calm down!"
He jumped about like a water buffalo on steroids, beaming brightly when he saw Iris. "Hi! I'm Oscar." He extended his hand out.
Iris didn't accept the handshake, slowly lowering to her seat. Her heart slowed to its normal rhythm, but she still kept silent.
Oscar arched an eyebrow. "Usually when someone offers you their hand, they're expecting you to shake it."
"I know." Iris did not enjoy being patronised. "But I don't want to shake your hand."
Oscar shrugged and dropped his hand. "Fair enough. Your name is Iris, right?"
"Yeah."
"Nice to meet you. I'm your step brother."
"Okay," Iris tapped her foot against the ground, glancing at her smashed watch. What was taking Harry so long? At this point, she was gonna have to take matters into her own hands. She stood and offered everyone an insincere smile. "This was great, but I'm gonna-"
"IS SHE HERE YET?" Another boy barrelled into the room.
Again Iris jumped back. She scowled, "Did you guys plan this or something?"
The newcomer looked at her and Iris felt her heart do a nosedive to her stomach.
"Brandon." She sighed and crossed her arms. "Great."
"Hey Riss." He grinned.
"It's Iris."
More boys came into the room, accompanied with a cloud of eye-watering cologne. Iris gagged and covered her nose, blinking the tears away rapidly. Dear Satan, do they shower in it or something?
Iris spotted her third brother amongst them. As always, Damien looked like a stick had found permanent residence up his behind, and glared at Iris like she had insulted that ridiculously gelled up spiky hair of his.
"Hey." He nodded. At least he acknowledged the time that had passed- "What's wrong with your face?"
Never mind.
"What's wrong with your hair? Is there a hedgehog living in it or something?" Iris snorted, stuffing her hands in her pockets.
"I'm Julian," A voice called out, and a boy with black hair shoved through. It also seemed he was following Damien's footsteps in the Hedgehog Hairstyle™.
"And I'm Will." Iris liked him the best out of all of them- mainly due to the fact he was the only one who didn't adopt the boy band look, but also because he was clutching a copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
A boy of culture, I see. Iris acknowledged, sweeping her gaze across the room before settling on David.
"So," Iris said, "as I was saying, as lovely as it was to see you all, I think I should get going now."
David frowned. "Go? Where? You're staying here with us."
Iris laughed like he'd said the funniest joke ever. "Oh hell no. I cannot stay here. According to my mother's will, on time of her death, guardianship would be transferred over to Harry DeLano."
David's jaw clenched. "I know of DeLano. This might be distressing to hear Riss- I mean, Iris, but there is a chance your mother might have been threatened to transfer your guardianship over to that man."
A snort pushed past Iris's lips. "No one could threaten my mother to do anything."
"DeLano is a very dangerous man," David explained slowly, as though Iris was a child. Her hand twitched towards the knife in her satchel, but she fought to keep her cool.
A loud shout outside and the rev of an engine drew everyone's attention to the window. David and Lisa leapt to their feet.
"Who's there?" David barked.
Iris smirked and said in a condescending tone, "That, David West-Brown, is the very dangerous man."
The front door burst open and Harry strolled in, sporting a pair of black sunglasses. "Sorry I'm late for the family reunion. Traffic was a nightmare."
***********
David: You're staying with us even if I have to force you to.
Lisa: That's kidnapping and I hear in some places it's illegal.
I hope you guys liked it!
Stay safe and thanks for reading :)