the THING with @deathisachoice
[normally, mia is good at sneaking in and out of the house. slipping out the window. taking off into the treeline for hours after her aunt has gone to bed. she knows how long to take. how much she can do. it’s her few hours of freedom. no uncomfortable dresses. shoes pinching her toes. her hair isn’t pulled back too tight. she’s free. but tonight....something is wrong.]
[there’s a candle lit in the window and she’s unsure of why. her aunt should be fast asleep. carefully, she tiptoes on bare feet towards the backdoor unwilling to risk the small noise caused by going in the window. hoping that she can slip in and up unaware. though, perhaps, her aunt already knows she isn’t there.]
[she’s barely closed the door when she hears the shrill voice call her name and she knows she’s been caught. knows what comes next. a part of her considers darting out the door but she doesn’t. she’d rather take her punishment in defiance. as she always has. stiff upper lip. no fear.]
[her back straightens as she walks into the living room, a nine year old girl, stubborn and determined not to show any submission to her aunt. though, she must be a sight, mud covered feet, cuts and scrapes on her legs and hands, only in her night clothes with leaves in her hair.]
[she enters the room but stops short when she sees that her aunt is not alone. she recognizes one face. her grandfather. the father of the mother who died when she was born. but the other. she doesn’t know. a frown makes its way onto her face as her head tilts, eyes on the unfamiliar man.]
❝ Who are you?❞