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“Take your sister!” comes the response from the kitchen.
Callahan grumbles something under his breath before walking over to me, taking my hand, and dragging me out the door. Mom always makes Callahan take me with him. Sometimes, I want to stay home and watch cartoons, but she always says no.
There’s a big truck in the driveway of Mrs. Lawson’s house. Dad says she moved to a new home and doesn’t need this house anymore. I watch as different people move around, lifting bigthings and bringing them into the house. I don’t see anyone my size yet, but Callahan keeps walking, so I follow.
“There!” he shouts, pointing at something near a tree. I follow where he’s looking and see two boys sitting under the tree. Callahan runs in their direction, and I do my best to keep up, but my legs are smaller, and I fall.
“Cal!” I cry, the stinging pain in my knees causing tears to form in my eyes.
“Don’t cry, Belle! Mom’s going to be so mad at me. I’m not supposed to let you get hurt,” Callahan pleads. I can’t stop crying. My knees hurt, and it makes me sad.
“Are you ok?”
I blink through my tears to see a boy standing in front of me, holding out his hand. His eyes are the color of the sky, and his hair is brown like mine. I take his hand and let him pull me up.
“I’m ok,” I sniffle, embarrassed that I cried in front of new friends.
“I’m Malikai, but everyone calls me Kai,” the new boy says after helping me up.
“I’m Bellamy, but everyone calls me Belle.”
“I’m Callahan, but everyone calls me Cal.”
“No, they don’t,” I argue. I’ve never heard anyone call him that.
“Shut up. Yes, they do,” he mutters under his breath.
“Belle, like the girl in Beauty and the Beast?” I hear someone yell. I look around Kai and see… Kai? I look back at him, confused.
Kai laughs. “That’s my twin brother, Ezra.”
“Why is he over there?” Cal asks.
Kai points to my knees. “Blood makes him throw up.”
“I’m going to be in so much trouble,” my brother complains.
Kai takes my hand and starts leading me towards his house. “My mom is a nurse. She can help.”
I smile up at him. “Thank you.”
“I get hurt all the time,” he tells me.
“How old are you?” Callahan asks.
“We’re seven.”
“Me too! Belle is only five,” Cal says excitedly. He seems to completely forget that he’s supposed to be watching me and runs over to where Ezra is still standing by the tree.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I promise,” Kai tells me and smiles. His smile makes me happy, so I believe him.
I groan and the light from the morning sun shines on my closed eyes. My bed is cozy and warm. I swear I can smell Kai like he’s still holding my hand and taking me to get my knees bandaged by his mom. I’ve had that dream a lot since Ezra’s been gone. That first day meeting them. I always wake up before I actually meet Ezra, though. Maybe my brain just finds the memory too painful.
My eyes fly open and my entire body freezes. There’s warm breath on my neck and a strong arm gripping my waist. I immediately start to panic. Brad’s here and he found me.
“Belle,” a groggy voice murmurs into my hair.
I fly out of the bed, tripping when the sheets tangle around my feet and go crashing to the floor.
