The Supreme Games - Book One

|32| Reaping D8

Cloe's P.O.V.

"Cloe! Cloe, wake up!"

I groan and turn around to check the time. It's 3:30AM!

"Aloe! What is it?" I ask her, annoyed and exhausted.

My sister and I are what you call fraternal twins. The only major difference between the two of us is our hair color. Even though we're twins, she's one of the most popular people in our school. I'm just part of the regular and boring crowd. This is probably a really bad time to mention this. Actually, this is an awful time to mention this.

Aloe stares at me with wide, frightened eyes. "Dad's trying to attack mom."

My heart plummets to my stomach. My dad has always been a drunk. I can't remember a time when he was sober. Usually when he's drunk, we can control him. He's only attacked somebody once.

A few years ago, he attacked my brother Jason. I don't know how it happened, but I heard him scream. Aloe, my mom and I rushed to his room and my dad had him in a headlock. Jason also had a huge knife gash on his cheek. My mom immediately grabbed the knife and stabbed my dad's arm. He released Jason and cursed at my mom. When Jason's breathing regulated, my dad turned to him and ran after him. I saw Jason get up and run out of the house. I haven't seen him since. He was only seven.

Aloe and I immediately rush out of our rooms and sprint down the stairs.

When we get to the kitchen, I see my mom, bloody and bruised on the floor. I gasp, catching my parents' attention. My dad turns around and grins at us. He has a large knife in his hand.

"Heyy—" he slurs "Have you come to watch me torture your mum?" Before anyone can say anything, Aloe jumps on his back. He easily shoves her off and laughs.

"Like mum like daughterr, eh?" He takes the knife angrily and cuts Aloe on her arm. She shrieks and I immediately jump into action.

I jump on his back and hold him in a head lock. "Dad! Stop it! You're drunk!" I yell at him. I try to knock the knife out of his hand but fail miserably.

I fall off of him and he takes advantage to yank my hair. I scream in pain and clutch my head. Aloe gets up and tries to get his hand to release my hair, but his grip is too strong. He yanks it again and I scream louder. Then out of nowhere, my dad roars and releases me. My mom is behind him, trembling and holding up a frying pan.

"Girls! Go and get help!" she says.

"But mom—"

"It's alright, I can handle it." she whimpers.

I grab Aloe's hand and yank her out the front door. The temperature is probably ten degrees or so but it doesn't matter now. Aloe and I are screaming at the top of our lungs for help but it gets no one's attention. Then I remember a trick that mom taught us.

If you're ever in deep deep trouble, yell 'fire!' at the top of your lungs.

So that's what I do.

"Fire!" I scream. Aloe does the same. About twenty seconds of screaming, peoples' lights turn on in their houses and three peacekeepers sprint towards us.

"Where's the fire?" one of them asks in a hurry.

"Um, well you see—there's no fire," Aloe explains. I can feel the cold sweat forming on the back of my neck. "My dad is in our house and he's about to kill our mom! We screamed for help but no one came." Aloe is practically yelling right now. I've never felt so frightened. Aloe is trying to contain it, but is failing miserably.

They all look stunned until one of the peacekeepers asks calmly, "Where's your house?"

We run over to our house and two of them run inside. Aloe and I don't follow. After a few minutes later, we hear a gunshot. I jump back in shock and feel myself on the verge of fainting.