27 February 2013
I look down at my plate. Meatloaf. Actually, I'm not sure what it is. A brown chunk of something gooey and rock hard at the same time is what it is. I stab my fork into the meat, having to pierce it 5 times before I can pick it up. Redish fluids ooze out of the holes I just made. I shudder.
"Yum!" Gabby hits her meat against her plate, breaking the meat in half. Ew. Gabby's arm healed really quickly, quicker than I thought it would. She keeps insisting that it healed that quickly because of my 'Impulse thinking', but seriously? She's just lucky Tawn didn't whip her harder.
"Gross!" Maicy picks up the meat slab with her fingers. "Do you see this?"
"And I thought Quinn's meals were bad!" I shake my head at Maicy's meat. It's dripping some blood-red liquid all over the stained plate, yet manages to still look like a rock at the same.
"Yeah, they're nothing compared to this. Whatever this is."
"Uh-huh." I eye my meat and shove it away. We're eating alone in the kitchen, with Tawn and Vynn upstairs. I don't get why they trust us down here alone, I mean, look at what Gabby did to the glass bowl she dropped!
"So, is this a normal day for you?" I ask.
"Pretty much." Maicy replies sadly. I sigh.
"Tough."
"Why? It was fun!" Gabby exclaims through a mouthfull of food. I spin my head slowly to face her.
"How...? Just- How?" I ask, amazed and confused.
"I told you; it was fun!"
"You got whipped. You're eating this gross meatloaf chunk thingy. You had to act like a slave. You were taken away from you're home to live in a shack with people who hate you. Did I make that clear enough? NO ONE LIKES YOU!" I scream.
"Shush!" Maicy slaps me in the arm softly. "Tawn or Vynn will hear you! And that's mean!"
"But true."
"But mean!"
Gabby shrugs and continues to dissect her meat until it is eatable.
"MACIN! KIELA! GABBY! SLEEP! NOW!" Vynn yells from upstairs. I look at the digital clock above the stove. 7:21. Geez, late enough?
"This early?" I whisper to Maicy. Don't ask why I'm whispering- it's just like an instinct.
"Yeah... 7:30 every day. At least we have about 10 minutes to get ready."
"At least..."
Gabby hops up eagerly and sticks all of her remaining meat in her mouth. I gag as I hear her teeth struggling to break the meat. Trust me, you don't ever want to hear teeth trying to bite something. It just grosses me out.
I get up and toss my mystery meat and paper plate into the trash can. Maicy does the same.
Maicy leads me and Gabby into a small stuffy room, since we never got a tour of the house. There's a couch and carpet. Litterally. That's it. Just one, sagging, stained couch and unraveled, scratchy, choppy carpet.
"You sleep in here?" I ask in disbelief.
"Uh huh." Maicy goes and pulls out a travel bag from under the couch. She rummages around a bit, then pulls out some raggity looking pajamas. She must've caught me eyeing them warily, because she says, "Hey, when these are one of the only pajamas you've had for over 2 years, then it's going to look like this."
Wow, I never really realized how bad Maicy has had it. Living in Seemin Town Orphans, then getting adopted by the Pillets? That's gotta be pretty tough.
When Gabby pulls out her bag, I mentally slap myself. "My bag's still in the car."
Maicy's eyes widen. "Tawn and Vynn don't let you go outside. Ever."
"Ever? So, I can't get it tomorrow?"
"No. One time, I went outside because I saw a stray cat, and Tawn didn't give me food for three days."
"Ooh..."
"Yeah. They hate outdoors."
I start pacing. "Great. So when do I get my bag?"
Maicy glances out the crooked window. "How about... Now?"
I stare at her. "Now?"
"Yes! Now! Tawn and Vynn are almost never upstairs together, so, now! Go! Run!" If Tawn and Vynn are 'almost never upstairs together', then I guess it's worth a shot. I don't eat that much, anyway, so 3 days without food is okay. I run straight out if our 'room' and towards the creaky door. Ack, it's creaky. I push it open as slowly as I can so it doesn't make any sound and sprint to the Lexus. I tug on the door, but I almost fall down with dissappointment when I figure out it's locked. Maicy is watching me from the window facing the driveway, so I mouth, "It's locked!" to her. She gets the message and runs somewhere. I'm just standing there in the late summer heat when my mind focuses on what I'm doing. I'm breaking one of the Pillet's rules. Their punishments are horrible. And I'm standing right in plain sight.
I look through one of the car windows and spot my bag laying on the floor. At least I know where it is. I look around the car to see if there's any other thing I forgot, and something catches my eye. A slip of paper. What is that doing there? I would expect the car to be spotless, like the house.
Creak! I jump at the sound of the front door opening. Maicy holds the keys out to me. "Hurry!" She whispers. I grab them and press the unlock button, once, not twice, so it doesn't beep. I fling open the red door and clutch my bag.
"They're coming!" Maicy cries from the doorway. I look back at the car. The paper is sitting on the seat closest to me. What's on it?
My arm darts out and squeezes the paper. I dash back into the shack, flinging the car door shut behind me.
Maicy and I scamper into the house, the creak of the front door assuring us we shut it. We practically dive into our room, panting, just as Vynn walks into the short hallway leading to the front door and our room.
"What's going on here?" He glares at us.
"Uh, nothing! We were, uh, just seeing how fast we could, um, run around, uh... This room?" I tighten my hands, the slip of paper crumpling as I do. Why do I have to be such a bad liar?
Gabby watches wide-eyed from the corner of the room. She looks around, as if she's saying, "Run around? This room? Have you seen how miniscule it is?" I can tell Gabby wants to say miniscule, not small, because she actually mouths it. Seriously? Are you kidding me?
Vynn narrows his eyes at me, trying to decide what to think. He scowls, then walks away. "I shouldn't hear anything in 4 minutes!" He calls over his shoulder.
Maicy and I sigh in relief. We made it. That was too close. "What's in your hand?" Maicy asks, nudging my arm. Great. It was that obvious? "I saw you take it from the car." Okay, good, I wasn't obvious.
"I don't know." I answer honestly, unfolding the scrap.
"Cool! A mystery!" Gabby bounds over to us. Of course.
I read the tiny script on the sheet gasp. I look at Maicy, who also gasped.
"No. Way." We breathe at the same time.
Grandfather's Clock Chapter 7 • Opuss № I