Brenda carried Alissa across the overgrown front yard, her heavy boots crushing the dry weeds.
She stepped onto the Knox family's wooden porch. The old floorboards groaned loudly under her weight.
Without breaking stride, Brenda lifted her boot and kicked the peeling screen door open. It slammed against the siding with a sharp crack.
Inside the living room, Ainsley jumped.
She was sitting on a faded floral sofa, holding a tall glass of iced lemonade. The sudden noise made her flinch, spilling a splash of cold, sticky liquid onto the wooden coffee table.
Ainsley looked up. When she saw her filthy sister in Brenda's arms, her upper lip curled in a flash of pure, unfiltered disgust.
But it only lasted a fraction of a second.
Ainsley blinked, and her face instantly transformed. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open in a perfect O of shock, and fake tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.
She set the glass down and rushed forward, her hands fluttering near her chest.
"Oh my god! Alissa!" Ainsley gasped, her voice trembling with exaggerated sorrow. "What happened to my poor sister?"
Behind her closed eyelids, Alissa listened to the high-pitched, theatrical tone. Her stomach tightened in disgust. The memories were right. The sister was a parasite wrapped in pretty packaging.
Brenda glared at Ainsley, her jaw set in a hard line.
"She passed out in the dirt, Ainsley," Brenda snapped, not stopping as she moved toward the hallway. "She's working in that sun with no food in her belly. She needs water and sugar, right now."
Ainsley sniffled, wiping a non-existent tear from her cheek.
"I know, I know," Ainsley whimpered defensively. "But things are so tight. We barely have enough for dinner. I haven't eaten either."
Brenda let out a loud, derisive snort. She ignored Ainsley and marched down the narrow, dimly lit hallway.
She pushed open the door to Alissa's bedroom and gently lowered her onto the single bed. The old mattress springs shrieked in protest, sagging deeply under the minimal weight.
Brenda grabbed a thin, pilled blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it up to Alissa's chin.
"You better go to that kitchen and boil some sugar water," Brenda warned, pointing a thick finger at Ainsley who was hovering in the doorway. "Or I'm calling social services."
Brenda turned on her heel and stomped out of the house.
The screen door banged shut. The rumble of the pickup truck's engine faded down the road.
Ainsley didn't drop her act immediately. She walked over to the bedroom window, pulling the thin curtain back just an inch, and watched like a hawk until Brenda's rusted truck completely disappeared around the bend. Only when she was absolutely certain there were no witnesses did the air in the bedroom shift.
The fake concern vanished from Ainsley's face, melting away to reveal a cold, hard mask of absolute irritation.
She walked over to the bed and stood over Alissa, crossing her arms.
"You stupid bitch," Ainsley muttered under her breath. "Now I have to wash these dirty sheets because you couldn't stay on your feet."
Ainsley reached down. Her fingers pinched the soft flesh of Alissa's inner thigh, right through the thin fabric of her worn jeans.
She twisted the skin hard, her manicured nails digging in deep.
A blinding flash of pain shot up Alissa's leg.
Every instinct in her fighter's brain screamed to strike. To grab Ainsley's wrist, pull her off balance, and crush her windpipe.
But Alissa didn't move a single muscle. She didn't let her breathing hitch. She didn't let her eyelashes flutter.
She absorbed the pain, letting it burn into her nervous system, using it to anchor herself to this new, pathetic reality.
Ainsley held the pinch for three agonizing seconds before letting go with a disgusted sigh.
Convinced her sister was truly out cold, Ainsley turned around and walked out of the bedroom. Her heels clicked sharply against the floorboards as she headed back to the living room, completely ignoring the order to make sugar water.
Alissa waited until the clicking stopped.
She slowly opened her eyes. The room was cast in shadows.
She pushed the thin blanket aside and looked down at her leg. A dark purple bruise was already blooming on her inner thigh.
She pressed her thumb directly into the center of the bruise. The sharp spike of pain cleared the remaining fog from her brain.
She needed to assess her assets.
She closed her eyes and sifted through the memories. Ainsley was the public martyr, the saint who took care of her sick sister, while privately draining her dry.
Then there was Kristopher. The brother-in-law. The respected high school teacher.
The memories of him made Alissa's skin crawl. The lingering touches in the hallway. The heavy, wet breathing near her neck when Ainsley wasn't looking.
Alissa slowly curled her hands into fists. She focused on the tension in her forearms, her biceps, her shoulders.
The feedback was dismal. She couldn't even hold a proper guard for more than a minute right now. Attempting an armbar would likely result in her own shoulder dislocating.
She had to play the long game. She had to remain the victim until she had the physical capital to become the executioner.
Suddenly, the heavy thud of men's dress shoes echoed on the front porch.
The front door opened. Kristopher was home from work.
Alissa immediately laid her head back on the flat pillow. She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing to a shallow, rhythmic pace, and pulled the blanket back up.
