Antimony

I had to find her. I'd almost called her a freak- something I promised never to say- and she knew it. I ran into the forest just after she did. Somehow, she was faster than me. Even after I lost her, I continued to press onwards.
"Annika!" I knew I'd hurt her, and I wanted to undo it before she did something irrational. I wouldn't say she's done irrational things before, but I wouldn't put it against her to do it now.
"Annika!"
I paused. The forest was huge, at least, it was too big for me to search for my blind sister in. I covered my mouth with my left hand, attempting to keep the sobs in my throat. I only could manage one last exclamation.
"Annika!"
It was mere second later when the scaly, slimy hand wrapped around my mouth. I attempted to scream into the hand, but I felt completely unable. I reached up to pull the arm away from my mouth, but it was strong and would not budge. Slowly, I was being pulled backwards.
"I'm here, Antimony." She sounded relieved. I'd been so focused on getting away from whoever had a hold on me, that I didn't notice that my sister was standing only a few hundred yards from me. If I could make some sort of sound, she'd be able to help me.
"Antimony?" I attempted to pull at the thing's (I decided it wasn't human) arm, but to no avail. I tied trashing, but I barely moved at all. So I stuck to screaming into the thing's hand.
"Timony?"
I'd always imagined that if I'd ever been held hostage or gotten kidnapped, I would cry like no ones business, but a wave of calmness flooded over me as I watched my blind sister stagger forward.
Annika, Annika please.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
When I heard a sharp snap, I opened my eyes to see Annika sprinted towards me, a face if determination and fear licked on her face. I knew this would startle my captor, so I struggled with all the force I could muster. I managed to clamp my teeth on to the thing's hand and it made a strangled cry. I ran forward.
"Annika!" I needed her to know she was going to right way. She ran harder than she was previously, but the creature wrapped it's arm around my stomach and pulled me backwards. Annika was getting closer. Moments later, Annika, fist raised, approached the creature and I and planted a really good sucker punch on the creature's check. I stumbled forward and fell to the ground on my hands and knees. I crawled away slowly, then remembered that I'd left my blind sister with, potentially, a kidnapper. I turned around to see Annika kicking the scaly, green beast in the stomach. I could hardly grasp what the thing was, but I was paying far more attention to Annika raising her fist into the air and slamming it into the creature's face. There was a crack and it's neck flung to the side, broken. I held back a scream, but let it loose when the green thing erupted in small pieces of what seemed like yellow glitter.
Annika swayed slightly and then crumbled to the ground like someone had pulled out her spin. I crawled back over to her, knowing her ashen face matched mine.
"Come on." I whispered. I helped her stand up. I slipped my hand into hers. I sniffled.
"Mother said we need to go to Long Island," she said. I nodded.
"Then let's go to Long Island."

Getting from Portland, Maine to Long Island, New York doesn't take as long as you think it would...by car. It only takes 5 and a half hours (give or take, depending on traffic). Mother, Father, Annika, and I had often traveled to different parts of New York, but Long Island was our favourite. That's why I assumed we were going there because Annika and I knew how to get there like we knew the backs of our hands.
But, when you have no money, no car, no cellphone, no idea where you're going exactly, no idea why, and a blind sister, 5 and a half hours takes more than 72 hours. Not to mention the fact that I'm 12 and completely not in the shape to be running 340 miles.
We were doing alright, even with all our horrible variables that weighed us down. We'd gotten past the New Hampshire boarder before the sun came up the next day.
I had been leading Annika (for obvious reasons), but every time I tried to stop to take a break, to eat, or to sleep, she'd pull me onward, usually running herself into a tree or a pole. It wasn't until we passed the New Hampshire boarder did Annika actually let us rest. We hid in a small alleyway in a small city right on the boarder called Portsmouth. We had enough light to scrounge around for some money. I found a nickle, Annika found a dollar (somehow). We thought we might try to hit up a chain restaurant, see how much we could get for a dollar, see if anyone would take pity on us. I mean, we smelled enough like homeless people, but the new jeans I wore might throw some people off.
We exited the alley and took a few frigidly steps on to the street. We'd gotten maybe a few hours of sleep; it was about 9:00 a.m.
I held tightly to Annika's hand as she took her timid steps. She was trembling. She was exhausted.
I looked back at her for one second and the next thing I knew I was running into two other people. I stumbled backwards, bumped into Annika, who let out a quiet yelp.
"I'm so sorry!" I could tell, before I even looked at the women, that they were polar oppisites. I looked up and saw that my prediction was right. The first woman (should I say girl? I couldn't tell) was tall, thin, with fire red hair. She had a look of curiosity and worry. She had her hands out to steady me. I assumed she was the one I ran into. She wore her hair up in a high ponytail, and it still came down past her shoulders.
The other woman was short, lumpy, with a scowl that seemed to be permanently etched on to her face. Her pudgy arms were crossed over her large chest. Her pixie-cut blonde hair sculpted her face to look somewhat like a fat surfer with a sun burn. 
"I'm so sorry!" The red-head said again. I smiled at her.
"No problem. I wasn't watching where I was going." I found Annika's hand again. I heard her let out a breath. I'd noticed she'd been doing it recently. Ever since we started running, she'd hold her breath when I wasn't holding her hand. I looked back at her and have her a smile. I know she couldn't see it, but when I squeezed her hand, she managed a smile or her own.
I looked back to see the red- head scowling as well.
"Are you two alright? Do you need help?" She asked. I bit my lower lip. I tightened my grip on Annika's hand and squeezed the few cents and dollar in my other hand. The red-head must have noticed.
"Why don't we take you two out for breakfast?" She said. I sucked on my lip, knowing it would probably turn purple soon. Red smiled and turned to walk down the sidewalk. I felt my gut turn to the side, as off pulling me to follow her, so I did. The grouchy woman followed as well.
"What would young girls like yourself be doing wondering around the streets this early and alone?" Red asked. I was about to make up some lie, when the grouchy woman answered for me.
"Probably up to no good. Ain't no one doing good this early in the mornin'." I was about to mention that she was out this early, but Red beat me to it.
"Mama, don't you realize we're out this early too?" The grouchy woman shrugged.
"I ain't sayin' we be do in' good neither." Red rolled her eyes.
Annika was walked so close behind me, she kept stepping on my shoes. Id gotten used to it over the years, but Red seemed to notice that too, and the fact that, because my sister had lost her glasses somewhere, she seemed to be staring at something without looking.
"Are you blind?" She asked. I was so surprised by her question being directed at my sister and not me, that I froze. When people asked that question, they asked me as if Annika couldn't hear them or answer.
Annika stood right behind me. I knew she was nervous to answer.
"Yes," she said in a quiet voice. The grouchy woman scoffed. All heads turned to her.
"Excuse me?"
"That girl isn't blind. She's faking, to get attention, to get us to pay for their food!"
My eyes widened. That really wasn't the wisest thing to say. My sister didn't get angry about much, but one thing that had always set her off was when people said she faked her blindness.
"Mama!" Red gasped. I turned quickly to stop Annika from doing something dumb, but I was too late.
She pushed in front of me, her unseeing green eyes aflame. She stared down at the woman.
"Faking?" The anger in the single word was enough to make me shiver. "Nay, madam, I do not fake. My life has been nothing more than blackness, mere nothingness. I see not a single thing, I wake up every morning unable to tell if the sun has arose. I cannot tell you my favourite colour, but if you asked enough, I'd say black for that is the only colour I see. I cannot read, though I love stories. I cannot look into the face of a friend and describe them. I know not what my mother's smile looks like, and I couldn't tell you your eyes colour.
"I cannot see. I have never been able to see, and you accuse me of faking? Ma'am, I would appreciate you checking your words before you make yourself sound more like an imbecile." Annika would have continoued, but I placed my hand on her shoulder, telling her the woman got the point.
Red was standing next to her mother with a wide smile. She was bouncing in her heels. I took that as a sign of the fact that people didn't often talk down in her mother.
Her mother was fuming and as red as blood from embarrassment or anger. But under my sister's unseeing and fire-angry gaze, she had no choice but to back down. She turned to her daughter and mumbled something about going home. Red smiled as she left. Once her mother turned the corner, Red put her arms around Annika and I and started marching us down the sidewalk, extremely giddy. I couldn't help but smile. Behind Red's back, Annika and I locked hands.

"Annika and Antimony," Red, who's name I discovered was Saryna, sat across from us at the booth and nodded, "They fit both of you perfectly. I don't see how you're sisters, you look so different! Besides skin tone, of course."
Annika had been quiet since we'd ordered our food, so I answered instead.
"My father and her mother got married when I was two, Annika was four. Our parents had been old friends. Annika's mom, Ellah, is Russian, while my father, George," (it was weird saying his real name), "Is Irish." I didn't know why I was giving Saryna all this information, but it seemed important.
She was still smiling.
"That's awesome!" I stared at her awkwardly, which made her blush, "I'm sorry. It's just not very often that people blow up at my mother like that. Most people are scared of her." Saryna looked down almost ashamed. I smiled at her.
We at a filling meal and got to pack a few extra days (if we were lucky) worth of food. Saryna seemed to understand that we needed help, but didn't want to be too pushy about it. She paid for breakfast and walked us to her car.
"I have this backpack which has some extra water, a few band aids an only one pair of clean exercise clothes." She handed the bag to me and I placed the extra food inside. "Suddenly, exercise doesn't seem so important." She dug around in her pocket and managed to pull out a five dollar bill, three ones, and 2 dollars worth of coins. She handed the money to me as well.
"I know it's not much, but-"
"It's the best gift ever." I found myself hugging her seconds later. She hugged back, even though she was a foot taller.
"I was wondering," I said, pulling away and slinging the backpack over my shoulders, "How old are you?" Saryna laughed again. Somehow, it was almost musical.
"16. I don't look it, do I." She flipped her hair. "I can give you a ride, but only as far as...I don't know were you need to go." I looked back at my sister, who had a look of almost hope.
"Long Island."
"Where in Long Island?"
"We don't know. Just get us there...if you can." Saryna laughed.
"It only takes 4 and a half hours to get there. As long as you can sit that long. I've got nothing else to do today."
Our luck had turned.

4 and a half hours later, we were saying goodbye to our new friend. Turns out, her mother was actually her step-mother, and her father as died a few years previously. Her favourite colour is dawn orange. She dropped us off somewhere between Manhattan and Long Island. It didn't occur to me until then that 16-year-olds weren't legal allowed to drive around kids. I guess it didn't matter.
It took a lot of convincing for her to leave, but soon enough we were watching her drive away.
Annika immediately started pulling me towards Long Island.
"Ana, slow down. Where are we going?" I asked as I strained against her iron grip.
"I need to find our mother," was all she said.
"But you don't know where we're going!"
"I had a dream, Timony. She's in danger. She needs our help." I hadn't noticed that Annika fell asleep in the car, but I did notice her ashen appearance when we got out.
"Ana, it was just a dream-" Annika stopped and turned to me.
"No, it wasn't. Our mother is in danger. Please, come on." The desperation in her voice made me cave. I nodded.
"Lead the way." It felt strange saying this to my blind sister, but I didn't know where I was going. Every now and again I had to tell her where a person was or where a pole was, but she navigated the streets as if she'd lived there forever.
When I heard the sounds of struggling, I forced Annika to stop.
"Listen." I knew she didn't need to be told that, but she stopped anyway.
"Mom." It was rare that Annika called her Mom, she tended to call her Mother. Annika was like that, she liked older terms.
She released her grip on me and sprinted towards the sound.
"Annika!" I ran after her. I was exhausted, hungry, had a backpack on my back, and I never was a fast runner, being 12 and all. I'd almost lost Annika once or twice, but I'd managed. I finally found her by running in to her.
"Annika?" I stopped staring at her stand still body, and looked ahead.
I didn't know how Annika knew what had happened, but she was staring down, horrified.
Laying in front of us, was the mauled body of Ellah, my step-mother, the only mother I'd ever known, and a large wolf with bloody teeth pulled back in a snarl, it's beady eyes staring straight at us.