Tradition Comes Third

Cops and Paramedics

Author's note: Two updates in one day?!? Yeah, I didn't do that studying I was supposed to do today. I have no regrets though.

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 I lightly knocked on the bathroom door. Mom was standing beside Dad's body. She had the key clutched to her chest. The chain was dangling down in front of her.

"You can come out," I told the girls. "It's over."

I heard the lock click, and the door opened a crack. Leah peered out. I gave her a smile, and she opened the door wider. Blair was standing behind her with her hands up over her nose.

"Jared and Dad are dead," I said. "Mom has the key. We can get out of here now."

"What about the car keys?" Leah asked.

Mom got down on one knee next to Dad. She pulled back his jacket and dug through the inside pocket. She put the car keys in her hand with the other key. She stood up, and looked over her shoulder.

"We need to go," Mom said.

She walked out of the room with the blood soaked walls, and into the hallway. I followed behind her. I glanced down at Dad before leaving. The two knives were still in him. The blades were buried deep, and all you could see was the handles.

Leah and Blair followed behind us. No one said anything.

I looked around as we walked down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I have been trapped by these walls for months, and I was never going to see it again.

There was a pain in my chest as I thought about Ava. If we hadn't tried to run that night she would be walking out of here with us.

Mom's hands were shaking as she tried to put the key into the lock. She dropped the key onto the floor. I swooped down and picked up the key.

"Give me the car keys," I said.

I held my hand out, and she handed me the key. I unlocked the door, and held it open as they walked onto the creaky porch. The sun was setting, and there was very little light being provided. I hit the unlock button on the key fob, and the lights lit up on one of the cars. It was the car Ava and I tried to escape in.

Blair let go of her face with one hand, and let herself into the backseat. I opened the other backdoor, and Leah slid into the car. She had her baby cradled in her arms. Mom sat down in the passenger seat.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror. Jared's blood was splattered across my face. Mom was covered in even more blood. She was drenched in Jared, Dad, and her own blood. Her hands went back to being clutched at her chest. Her eyes were fixated in front of her. I held out the house key, and she snatched it out of my hands. She squeezed it in her hand.

"Where are we going to go?" Leah asked.

She was leaning forward between the two front seats. I put the key in the ignition. The dashboard lit up, and I saw that there was a half a tank of gas.

"We'll look for a hospital," I said.

I pulled out of the driveway. It was odd not driving through the narrow roads as fast as I could because there is a truck chasing me. The sun had set, and there was only the headlights to light the way.

"Where are we anyways, Mom?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Georgia, I think."

Her voice seemed so distant. She was staring straight ahead, like she was seeing something none of us could see. I reached out and started fiddling with the radio, hoping it would give me a clue.