Castles

Prologue

The September air is brisk as it hits midnight in my small town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I look out the window at the full moon wishing I was there. Maybe I’d be happier there than here. I look over to my empty bed. It's covered with a duffle bag and a diaper bag. I finally decide to finish packing my things.

When I finish packing I head to the kitchen and open the freezer. That is where my mom hid money for my sister and I to use for college. Sorry mom, I kind of need the money for something else. The money is hidden in an ice tray, my father is too lazy to get his own ice. He’s also too drunk. The amount of money that I shove into my pocket is around a good hundred thousand.

I head for my sister Ava’s bedroom where she lies in her crib sleeping. I need to get her out. He won’t touch her now, but when she’s around six or seven he’ll take advantage of her innocence, like he did me. My mother died trying to stop him but he never cared about any of us. Especially her.

My mother was the sweetest person you’ve ever met. She had beautiful blonde hair, blueish grey eyes. She wore a lot of floral dresses to contrast the scrubs she wore most of the day. She enjoyed helping people no matter their situation. Ava looks so much like her while I look more like my father than anything.

I have his brown hair and eyes. I dye my hair dark red so I look less like him. I have pale skin while he is pretty tan. I never wanted to look like him, but there’s nothing I can do.

I grab the small little child and pull her out of the crib. I quickly finish packing her things and head for the front door.

I pull my pepper spray out of my bag just in case. As I get to the front door I open the foyer table and grab the locked box inside. He never touches anything in this house that isn’t easy to open. My mother had the key to the box and as I watched her die a year or so ago she gave me the key. I open the front door slowly and without making any noise.

As we are finally safe outside I see a figure standing outside the house. I quickly walk to my car and put Ava in her car seat. I close the doors to my beat up old jeep and head straight for the driver’s seat when the figure steps in front of my door.

I realize who the figure is and know that we’re in trouble. The figure just so happens to be my father.

“Where da ya think youuuuuuu goin… Blake?” He drunkenly slurs as he stumbles towards me. I clutch the pepper spray in my coat pocket.

“Ava couldn’t sleep and we were out of milk.” I lie to the drunk. He reeks of whiskey, like usual.

“Well… have fun you two.” He heads for the door. He looks back at the car as I’m about to get in and sees Ava sleeping in the back. Then it hits him. He runs at the car just as I close my door. I lock the door as he pounds his fists on the window.

“You little bitch!” He screams at me as I floor it. I can hear him screaming as we turn out of our dangerous neighborhood. And we drive off into the night.

Chapter One

After driving for a couple of hours or so I stop the car to check on Ava. She looks unhappy which could only mean one thing. She had to use the bathroom. We’re on the state line between Idaho and Washington. We used to come out here to Spokane with our mom all the time. She’d take me there to get my school clothes and baby clothes for Ava. This rest stop isn’t new to me but Ava will never remember or see this place again. After Ava is all cleaned up I load us back in the car. I don’t have time to enjoy the view like I used to. My father may go looking for us when he is no longer reliant on the toilet.

As we get back on the road I hear a ring under my seat. My phone is going off. The ringtone is the Jaws theme song which means it’s my dad.

“Shit.” I curse trying to fight the urge to speed.

“Shit.” I hear Ava repeat as she waves her binky around.

I laugh at the six-month old. “Sorry mom, I guess her first word will never be mommy.”

But it’ll never be daddy either, so that’s a relief.

After driving for some good couple hours, I check my phone again. My father has called me over a hundred times. More than half of those are most likely angry, drunken threats to come and find me. I pull into a motel where I had already booked us a room for the night. I paid online.

This whole runaway thing has been my mother’s plan since before Ava was born, but she’s dead so I guess it’s going to be little Ava and me. I can take care of a baby. I’ve been playing mom for three months now. I can do it until she’s old enough to take care of herself.

After Ava is sound asleep in her little cocoon on the other bed I try to do the same. I lie awake as I stare at the ceiling fan going in circles over and over. I try everything, counting sheep, counting the rounds that the fan goes around in. After an hour or so trying to fall asleep I decide against it. I pull out my computer and try to plan the rest of our escape to another place.

My mother asked a friend of hers to make us some fake identities. I received them in the mail a few weeks ago. The package looked like it was a college acceptance letter so my father wouldn’t suspect anything. I open the envelope to find all three identities. The first one I notice is Ava’s fake birth certificate.

Certificate of BirthCalliope Michelle MyersBirth Weight: 6 pounds 3 ouncesBirth Date: March 25, 2017Birth City/State: Spokane, WashingtonHospital: Sacred Heart Memorial HospitalMother: Maria Elaine MyersFather: Unknown

That’s all they had for Ava considering her age.

I continue looking through the manila folder and find my folder of information. It’s big compared to Ava’s. My folder includes a birth certificate, kindergarten graduation diploma, elementary school awards, middle school awards, high school awards and a diploma. I also have a resume in there because I may need to find a job when I finally find our destination.

Certificate of BirthKasey Reilly MyersBirth Weight: 6 pounds 4 ouncesBirth Date: April 18, 1998Birth City/State: Spokane, WashingtonHospital: Sacred Heart Memorial HospitalMother: Maria Elaine MyersFather: Unknown

The certificate looks good nothing wrong with it in my opinion.

Kasey Reilly MyersFernan Kindergarten GraduateClass of 2003(Teacher Signature)

The diploma looks the same as it used to. My name is just altered. No longer Blake Amelia

I look through the rest of my things. I see a picture of fake baby footprints and a couple photoshopped school photos. I see a couple track and field ribbons. None are for first place, but none are for participation either.

When I finally get to middle school, I see photos of me and friends that we have taken at one point in my life. I see a few honors awards that I never thought I’d get the honor of achieving. I was bad at school due to the lack of help at home. Mom was working while dad was always drunk.

High school is a bit smaller because I didn’t have much to begin with. I flip through fake awards and a ton of report cards with A’s and B’s. I suddenly see something that I never thought I’d ever see.

My high school diplomas:

Lake City High SchoolCertificate of DiplomaKasey Reilly MyersClass of 2017

As I stare at the parchment I start to cry. I never thought that I’d see this ever in my life. All I can hear is my mother congratulating me and planning a small party with movies and my favorite foods. She loved things like this. She loved getting report cards in the mail and posting them on the fridge. Despite the shitty life she had she was generally a happy person. She saw no point in sadness.

I glance at the small resume they made me. Pretty good for someone who has only worked in retail or cleaned up the pig sty they lived in.

I finish with my paperwork and see a folder with my mother’s fake name on it.

Maria Elaine Myers

I will never open it up. She’ll never get to see her new future. She’s gone forever. One day Ava will ask if we have a mom and I’ll have to tell her the truth.

The sad truth that I am the sole reason she no longer has a mother.

It’s all my fault.