“RELLA AND I AREN’T GOING.”
The clinking of silverware against porcelain halts at my sudden outburst. Both Mom and Dad look at me like I’ve grown another head. It only takes Dad a minute before the look is gone and is replaced with one that makes my eleven-year-old body quake in my chair. Even so, I straighten my spine, determined to protect my sister from another horrifying Hell Night, or what the adults of the town call The Gathering.
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t make us go,” I say stubbornly. “You can’t make us do those nasty things.”
Dad wipes his mouth with his napkin and places it down on his mostly finished plate. His face appears relaxed, but the grinding of his jaw says he’s not.
I look over at Rella. Her pretty green eyes are wide and glistening with tears. She looks scared and sad all at once. I hate that look on her face.
“I don’t know where you get the notion that you’ve got a choice in the matter,” Dad says, his voice deceptively calm. “You know this is tradition. You know this is how we do things here. You either go willingly or go forcefully and feel the consequences.”
The consequences. I know all about the consequences. I’ve felt them plenty of times.
“Fine. Take me but leave Rella here.”
Mom’s shaking her head before I get the words out.
“That’s not how it works, Elijah. All of the kids attend The Gathering. You know this.”
I jump up from my chair, ready to scream at my parents, when the doorbell rings. Dread, like lead weights, fill my stomach. That’ll be Mr. Leland, my parent’s best friend.
Dad stands. “Elijah, take your sister and go get cleaned up. Be ready in fifteen minutes.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. He and Mom leave the room to let Mr. Leland in. From there, the three will go to the
living room, have a drink, and take the pill I’ve seen them swallow several times before for Hell Night.
Walking quickly around the table, I grab Rella’s hand and haul her from her seat.
“Trouble.” Her voice trembles, so I turn to face her.
“We don’t have much time. I’m going to hide you somewhere so they can’t find you, okay?”
“But I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
I can’t help but give her a small smile, even though there’s nothing to smile about. “How do you think I got my name? You know I always like to get into trouble.”
“Nah uh.” She shakes her head rapidly. “They’ll hurt you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Listen to me, Rella. I’ll be fine. I want you to stay where I put you until the morning.”
Her bottom lip wobbles and tears spill down her chubby cheeks. I wipe them away and kiss her forehead. Grabbing her hand again, I rush us out of the dining room. We’ve got to make this quick before our parents come looking for us.
Unfortunately, we don’t even make it to the stairs before a voice comes from behind us.
“How are you tonight, Elijah and Daisy?” Mr. Leland asks as he leans against the doorway that leads to the living room.
The dirty smirk on his face and the way his eyes crawl up and down my body makes me sick to my stomach. Mr. Leland always owes my parents a favor just so he can have me on Hell Night. Rella starts to shake beside me. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and bring her closer to my side.
His question is a stupid one. He knows how we both are. He knows we hate what we’re forced to do. I keep my mouth shut, not wanting to encourage conversation, because I need to get Rella upstairs.
“Why aren’t you upstairs getting ready?” Mom scolds, appearing in the doorway. Mr. Leland stands tall and moves out of the way to let her pass by. “No matter. I’ll take her.”
I ball my hands into fists and take a step back, pulling Rella with me.
“No,” I growl. “I’ll take her and get her ready.”
I can’t hide her if Mom is the one to get her ready.