The Brightest Lightbulb
Chapter One
The air swept by Arielle Blake's face as she swooshed off of the back of the couch. Her legs on the cushions and her stomach and upper body hanging off the back. She firmly set her hands on the ground and managed to do a handstand for just a moment. Her feet lost their balance and nearly knocked over the Christmas tree as she fell on the floor behind the couch. She stood up and her electric blue eyes could not see due to her red hair in a tangled heap over her face. "Stupid hair" she muttered through the uncooperative strands as she desperately tried to pry her unruly hair into a pony tail. She needed a snack. Salad? no way. Nachos? Yes!!! cruuuunnnch! "ew." Half of a Candy Cane was stuck on her neon zebra striped socks. She pulled them off her feet and threw them in the washer along with all her other ruined clothes from this week. Arielle was not quite like other 13 year old girls. She was one of those kids. One of the kids who owned a skateboard and rode it at midnight. She hated being a girl. Everybody treated her so kindly and she would ususally return the favor in the opposite way. Her mother offered her some salad as she wandered into the kitchen and she said "Salad? How long have you known me?" Arielle sighed and walked into the spare bedroom. She really needed to wrap some presents. Grabbing a tube of wrapping paper, she slid the paper off, leaving the decorative snowmen in the dark closet full of spiders and gripped the cardboard tube on the inside. Walking into the garage, she took off the cover boards and jumped into the crawlspace. This was her getaway. Nobody else knew that she practically lived here. She wasn't even sure that most of the members in her family even knew it was there. That, was a relief. She kept so many secrets in those few feet of concrete floor to ceiling that if one thing got out, all of it would. She got a splinter taking off the last board to the crawlspace. "Forget It!" she said frustratedly. Arielle Blake angrily kicked 3 of the boards at once and, without luck, they crashed into the crawlspace noisily. She was too lazy to climb down and get them, so she just threw some spare wood over them. Nobody would use this wood anyways. She marched back inside. In the Blake family, there was Her Father, who answered international calls and stayed at work so often the kids sometimes set alarms for 3:00 A.M. just to see him, then there was her mother, who enjoyed cooking and did her best to care for her many children. Then, there came her twin brothers Pierce and Blaze, who, Arielle swore were the 2 most annoying people ever created. Both 14, they were constantly acting half their age. Arielle also had 3 older siblings. Piper, who was 21, her college student sister, who was the oldest in the family and obviously most cherished (even though her parents tried not to show it.) due to her witts. Piper went to college in Arizona, and the Blakes lived in Maine. Also, there was Casper, who was the most fun big brother ever and was Arielle's favorite brother, even though he might've been the most irresponsible 17 year old you would ever meet. Also, Ginger, who was 16. Ginger didn't do much but sleep and eat. She hated school and didn't care much that she was destined for failure in her parent's eyes, which made her always available for Arielle to laugh with. Then, of course, there were her 4 younger siblings.Roxy, Holly, and Willow, the 11 year old hyperactive children. Then, the youngest of the total 12 people in the family, Sage, who was 9, a healthy food and good grade guy, which was quite unusual for a kid his age. It was a weekday and her mom was letting Arielle play hookie for her one day every 2 months. Amy Blake let all of her children do that every once in a while because she believed that school work got to be too much on some kids. Arielle glanced at the wall clock. It was only 3 fifteen. Wait... THREE FIFTEEN! She dove onto the couch and pretended to be sick for when her siblings got home so that they wouldn't complain when they found out she got her free days when they didn't. She had just barely finished pulling her blanket over her when Pierce, Willow, Roxy, Blaze, Holly, Ginger, and finally Casper ran in, dumping their bookbags and coats on the floor and flipping off their shoes onto the front mat. No Piper. Every day, she longed to see her oldest sister, sitting at the table with her black glasses, not too big, but really pretty on her. She longed to see Piper's messy, yet perfect hair in a bun, with a book sprawled out on the table, a cream colored mug in her hand filled with butterscotch coffee. Arielle glanced up, picturing Piper walking through the door in a black sweater, black leggings and a shimmering golden shirt with her golden flats on, running towards her first, to embrace her with her perfume scent of sugar and cinnamon. Arielle closed her eyes to avoid shedding a tear over her sister. If Piper came home, she would most likely embrace Casper, the twins, the triplets, Sage, Her parents, Ginger, and maybe even the neighbor's gerbil before Piper picked her up and swung her around and kissed her on the forehead or tucked her in and read to her from "The Hobbit" or "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" like in Arielle's fantasies. She closed her eyes tighter and planned to fantasize. Maybe she would take a nap. She was sort of tired anyways...
Chapter Two
Arielle Blake felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. She opened her eyes blearily. It was Ginger. "WhaddyawantGinger?" she mumbled, barely audible. "Well, I'm hardly Ginger, but if you'd like to say that, we can." Where had she heard that voice before? She opened her eyes all the way. Arielle glanced at the wall clock again. It was 5:00 AM. Arielle glanced at the figure again. Black glasses, hair in a bun, She glared at the table in the kitchen, and there sat the cream colored mug. She reacted quicker than lightning. Nearly falling off the couch, she set her feet on the ground in what felt like under a second and wrapped her arms around Piper. "Piper!!!!!"
Meanwhile, Casper Blake opened his eyes as widely as he could get them. There was a shriek downstairs. Not loud enough to wake up anyone else in the family, but loud enough for him to grab his metal bat from under his bed. Then, he remembered who was still on the couch. Arielle. He reacted quicker than lightning. Nearly falling off the bed, he set his feet on the ground in what felt like under a second and swung his leg onto the first carpeted stair. He took the white stairs three at a time and was eventually sticking his head around the corner. He dropped his bat in disbelief and it made a soft thud on the carpet. Piper's head swung around with her lips slightly parted. He couldn't believe it. Arielle was lying, half asleep on the couch listening to Piper read from "The Hobbit". Arielle's eyes snapped open just as Piper hugged Casper so tightly, his eyes bulged. He smiled though, and so did she. Arielle noticed how tall Casper was compared to Piper. Casper let go of Piper and walked over to Arielle. "Will you be upset if I steal Piper from you?" Arielle frowned and Casper put his hands up, shrugging. "Fine, fine. You two read from The Biggest Book of Nerdiness that Ever Existed While I go get ready for school." Piper giggled and playfully socked him in the arm. He grabbed her around the stomach and flipped her completely upsidown in the air. She was trapped in her younger brother's grasp. She laughed as her face turned red and her bun fell into a long ponytail, which touched the floor. "Stop it, Casper!" she laughed. He set her gently on the floor and smiled, walking to go get dressed. Piper was lying on the floor, giggling like mad. Her laugh was infectious. Arielle giggled and stepped off of the couch, reaching out her hand to help Piper up. Piper didn't accept though. She turned her head away from Arielle and frowned. Arielle didn't understand. Didn't she want to see her? "Piper? Are you upset with me? Do you miss your friends?" No response. "Piper?! hello? Piper, please! I just want to know what's wrong!" She knew she was reacting quickly, but, man, If Piper got upset, her grudge was like an infinity sign looming in the crisp air between Piper and you. Piper muttered something that sounded like "ijftwanatiklyu" What? what was the matter with her? She was the smartest person Arielle had ever met, and if that was from all the blood going to her head, Arielle wasn't quite sure she wanted to be in the Blake bloodline anymore. Piper whipped her head around and leapt up. "I just wanna tickle you!" Arielle gasped at how fast she reacted. In 5 seconds, Piper had her on the floor, in a fit of giggles. Arielle laughed and flailed. After about 3 minutes, Piper was out of breath and so was she. Piper glanced at the wall clock. It was nearly 6:00! "What time does everyone get up?" she asked. "6:05. Why?" Arielle responded quirkily. Piper's eyes swept around the room until they stopped on the coat closet. She glanced at Arielle and they both bolted towards the closet. Piper's plan was to hide there and surprise her family, while she covered for Arielle so she could stay home like she actually was sick. Arielle kicked aside Roxy and Willow's black and white Onitsuka Tigers and grabbed a blanket so she could conceal herself. She doubted her Mom would let her stay, but, she also didn't know that Piper was home for the first time in 3 years. She heard her mother walk into the kitchen and set up the plates for breakfast. "Arielle! Sweetie? Arielle, come on!" After 40 minutes and so many more kids to take care of, Amy Blake finally opened up her coat closet. She blinked 3 times and rubbed her eyes, then burst into tears along with Piper. Ginger walked into the room and screamed, jumping up and down, acting like a fangirl who had just see her favorite celebrity. After the whole family had gathered in, Mrs. Blake announced the whole family was staying home today. Pierce and Blaze both shouted "YES!" at the same time while Mr. Blake called into the school announcing what had happened and why none of the Blake children would be attending school. The day dragged on. Arielle watched TV. That was it. Eventually, Piper wandered into Arielle's room at Midnight. Arielle was sleeping. Piper shuffled across her room, to her bed. Three photo frames sat on it. One of her and Piper, One of the whole family, and one of Arielle and a redheaded girl, making a peace sign with their fingers. Arielle's room was an absolute mess. Photos, Sneakers, Hats, Scarves, Blankets, papers, bags, and Pizza boxes littered the floor. Piper began to clean. It was an old habit of hers, to clean... all the time. She picked up a pile of ripped jeans. Under them was a key. It was a skeleton key. Definetly not new. It was rusted and had tints of grey here and there. She set the key on Arielle's nightstand. Piper's head felt like it had suddenly exploded. She fell on the floor, head and body aching. Arielle opened her eyes and jumped up. Piper held back a scream of pain as Arielle tried to help her up. Her head ached. Her body screamed. She stood up. She walked down the stairs, nearly falling three times. At the bottom, she ran to the bathroom. She thrust open the medicine cabinet. 3 bottles fell into the sink. Aspirin pills spilled all over the counter. She clutched a bottle that read "Fast Pain Relief, Even for the worst headaches!" Spilling 2 pills into her hand, she put them in her mouth, leaned over, and put her mouth to the sink. She swallowed. Arielle padded into the bathroom, a concerned look on her face. Piper sat down. She felt like she was a regenerating Time Lord from Dr. Who... "What happened?" Arielle asked. "Your key. It hurt my head so bad." There was a silence. Then, from out of nowhere, there was a clang. A clang of a key hitting the floor.
Chapter 3
Two figures loomed in the empty parking lot. One, looking about age 20, and one about 12. Both wearing black, they two young women began their journey across the lot. The younger one stopped in front of the old dog food factory construction site. She wore black Converse All-Stars and a long, black trench coat. The older sister handed the younger sister something. It looked twisted an morphed. It seemed to be powerful, but a mere key wouldn't hurt anyone... would it?
*****
Piper stopped the car. Arielle opened the door and jumped out, her black shoes landing in the slush. Piper wore her hair down and snow caught in the long locks. They walked for a mile and a half. Arielle stopped in front of an old construction site.
