Chapter 3 - Blood on the carpet

I arrived home just before dinner time because Patrick and I went for a swim at the beach. I was expecting the house to be quiet because Dad was working late since it was a Friday. I expected Blake to be working with his as he usualy does. Also, Taylor was working and the twins were at a friend's house so it'd just be Mum, Manda and me at home. I was wrong, boy was i wrong. I arrived home and the house was dead quiet. I slowly walked up the stairs and peered into the living room. The first thing i noticed was that the grandfather clock had been turned over. The next thing was that Blake was home...and standing over Manda's comering body. Mum was trying to hold him back but he was twice her size so she wasn't helping much. Blake's hands were raised and boodied. And they all just stood there. Like a painting. A horrible violent painting. None of them even noticed my entry untill i let a horrified gasp escape my lips. Then, everything happened at once. Blake thundered accross the room and grabbed me by my shirt, Mum ran to the phone and frantically punching in numbers and Manda rolled over and crawled toward Blake and me. "Blake, You're drunk!" I was in no position to be accusing him of being drunk but i was always the stupid one. Next thing I know hes got my blood on his hands. My lip was bleeding onto my shirt. "Blake stop!!!" Amanda screamed before he kicked her. She gave out a noise like a wounded animal and curled up into a ball. Her head was bleeding and she was shaking badly. "Your peace making skills aren't working so well now, are they little sister?" He spat at me.
"Stop it Blake, you know you'll go to jail for this." My so called 'peace making' skills got me punched again, knocking the air from my lungs. "Nosey cow." He dropped me and his shoe hitting my face was the last thing I remember.

Minutes passed, or was it hours? I woke up to find myself in my bed. A doctor was telling me to lie down but i didn't listen. i ran into the kitchen to find several police men drinking coffee. I walked over to the first one, "Where is Mum and Manda?!" I demanded.
"Don't worry, they're ok."
"Where are they?!"
"Your little sister is sleeping and your mother is giving her statement."
"And Blake?"
"Jail."
"Good!" I spat, "Hes' not my brother anymore." The police man placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a reasuring smile.
"Everything will be ok."
"I hope so." I truly hope so.

Amanda had a sprained wrist and six stitches in her head and I had a broken nose and bruised ribs. Mum's hair grew more grey and she looked as if she'd aged twenty years in a week. Dad spent most of his time talking to police. As for Taylor and the twins, they really don't know what to think and settle with not getting involved with any of it. And Blake was now safely behind bars. They way I wanted it to be, although I'd dearly like to give him a piece of my mind. After a lot of piecing together what different police men and woman said, we decided that Blake was just wasted. He wasn't getting revenge or anything, just so drunk off his head that he decided we would make good punching bags. Although he might have been taking revenge on me for all my so called 'peace making.' Sometimes I just wish I kept my nose out of other's business.

I went back to school on Monday only to be pumelled with questions about my and my sister's injuries. I told most people that we were lifting a bookcase full of romance and science fiction novels out of a friend's house because she was moving but i tripped over her collection of snow globes and my sister and I both got crushed under the bookcase. Patrick didn't believe my story though. It was after school and we were sitting on the beach when I told him about the evil romance novels on the shelf but he wouldn't have a word of it. "Ricky, You've got bruises up your arm like someone grabbed you and your face has a mark that oddly looks a shoeprint. Please tell me what happening." He said it so gently and sweetly he could have asked me anything and I would have done it in a heartbeat. So I told him what happened all the while watching his face to see what his reaction would be. He was horrified. So horrified, in fact, that I burst into tears. I was crying so hard i thought my eyes were going to fall out. I pressed my hands over my face but that didn't stop the flow of tears. My body was shaking and my head was pounding. I was falling to pieces and I couldn't pull myself together. I wanted to die, the pain was so bad. And then Patrick reached out his arms and pressed me gently onto his chest. If I was in any other situation I probably would have thumped him but his t-shirt was oddly comforting. And he smelt nice. His steady heartbeat soon calmed me down. I was so calm infact that I stopped crying and fell asleep right there and then, in is arms. I didn't even notice him kiss the top of my head and whisper something in my ear.

The next week went tediously slow for all of us. Dad was having a hard time at work bcause Blake was no longer there. Mum was still off in another world and seemed to be aging twice as fast as everything else and Amanda jumped a mile in the air whenever someone made a sudden move or a loud noise. It was Thursday evening and I was borred out of my brain. I was flicking through the channels on the t.v. at break-neck speed. Something Manda would usualy snap at me for doing but instead, like Mum, she seamed to be off in another world. I continued to flick through the channels while staring at Amanda to see if I could get a reaction. She was hardly blinking. I frowned, how long was she going to stay like that? Channel one, channel five, channel four, channel eight, channel three, channel two. Nothing, not even a blink. "You know, it's not like it's the end of the world!" I surprised myself with my sudden anger. When Amanda didn't reply I screamed, "HE DOESN'T MATTER!!! THEY SHOULD THROW AWAY THE KEY! HE GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM!!!"
"He didn't mean it, we're his family." She whispered.
"NOT ANYMORE! HE CAN ROT!!!" The venom in my voice was un-matchable. I was going out of my way for a fight, not like usual.
"Hes' our brother."
"NO!!!" I screamed and ran accross the room. "HE IS NOTHING! HES'....." Amanda's shirt was in my hands. My fists were raised, casting a shadow on her face. The look in her eyes were the same the night Blake came home drunk. A look of pure fear...fear of me. I let her go, my rage dissipating into nothing. I was just like Blake. I was a monster. I had to get away, I had to run. So thats what I did. I ran.

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