"I love all mythical creatures. Vampires, unicorns, werewolves, kids who listen..."

~Unknown

~~~~~~~~~

I pull into the police station and haul myself heavily inside. Everything is bright white inside and I have to squint in the empty waiting room.

Sitting at a desk behind a glass wall is a police officer. He looks up and waves me over.

I've only been to a police station once when someone thought I'd thrown a bag of kittens into the river. I, obviously, would never do such a thing. I had, however, taken every single No.1 pencil from Chestnut Ridge Middle School and thrown them over a bridge so we couldn't take any standardized tests for a month. That had been better than the cat thing, so I was released without punishment.

This was a lot worse.

And the fact that Eloise is locked up for drinking makes my stomach twist. Alcohol is the one thing I've stayed away from. The one thing that penetrates my heart of stone.

And Eloise, of all people, has cracked it.

"Uh, hi, I'm here for Eloise Stetson?" I rap my knuckles nervously on the table.

"Right." He rolls his chair back to a filing cabinet and shuffles through a few sections. He pulls out a stack of papers and hands them to me.

"So, any details?" I prompt.

"One of the Howard boys was having a Halloween party down the street."

I frown. The Howard boys are infamous for their troublemaking.

"Eloise and three other girls were caught drinking there, so we took them in after we crashed their party."

I bite the inside of my cheek and nod absently. "Thank you."

I make my way over to sit down and fill out the paperwork. The same words repeat in my mind. What am I going to tell Aimee?

I flinch when the side door opens, and I take half a second to finish my signature before looking up. I hesitate before doing so. I'm picturing a heart-stoppingly orange jumpsuit that swallows Eloise's thirteen-year-old figure.

But what I see is just Eloise, dressed in her silly cat costume. The black makeup is smudged across her splotchy red cheeks. Her eyes are bloodshot and unfocused. There are handcuffs on her wrist.

"A-Aunt Beverly..." she murmurs.

I clench my jaw and turn away from her to return the paperwork.

"Can I, um, take her now?" I ask quietly.

"Free to go," the officer replies.

The two policemen behind Eloise unlock her handcuffs.

She hesitantly makes her way over to me, head hung low.

I put a hand on her shoulder to make sure she doesn't fall over.

I can't tell how much she's had to drink, but I can smell the alcohol on her clothes.

It makes my skin crawl.

I remember my Dad coming home after being on a two-day hiatus once, the stench of whiskey hanging on his big grey coat. Mom started screaming at him, demanding to know where he'd been. He shot words back at her and it went on and on and on until Dad threw our lamp across the room. I watched it hit the wall and explode across the living room painting before Aimee pulled me away, her big-sister smile wide and forced. She told me we should play house, which she never wanted to do unless things were really bad.

"I...I'm sorry," Eloise whispers next to me in the passenger's seat.

My fists tighten around the steering wheel and I don't trust myself enough to speak.

I pull out of the parking lot and we drive on in silence for a few minutes.

Image after image of my mom and dad stumbling through the doors of our house roll through my mind. Eighteen years of drunkenness play a slideshow in my brain. Of me, hiding in my room while they screamed at each other. Of Aimee crying over it, but then telling me she was fine. Mom shrugging off Dad's death because he was "a worthless drunk anyway".

I never knew how much it hurt until now.

"It wasn't my fault," she says. Her words slur together.

I shake my head and spit out a harsh laugh. "Just shut up, Eloise."

"Please, please, just listen," she begs.

"No," I say hollowly.

"Please!" she cries. "I didn't know, I swear!" Her chest heaves in hysteria and she begins sobbing. "I--I didn't kno-ow!"

"Don't you dare give me that!" I shout, slamming my palm down on the wheel. "You told me, you told me you were having some stupid nerd party with your geek friends! You lied to me, admit it!"

"Just let me e-explain!" she weeps, cradling her head in her hands.

"Admit it, Eloise!"

She shakes her head.

I swear bitterly under my breath as we pull around the corner to the house.

I pull into the driveway and throw the gear into park.

A few beats of stifling silence pass.

"I should've never taken you three in," I murmur, staring ahead absently. "I should've known I would only ruin you."

"They told me we were going over to Britt's house!" Eloise yells, tears streaming down her red cheeks. "I didn't know!"

"I don't care!" I snap. "Unless someone forced you to drink whatever it was that made you drunk, it was your choice. And it was a stupid choice. How could you be this idiotic, Eloise? How?"

"Because I didn't know what else to do!"

I scoff. "You know what? I can't even deal with you. You won't even remember this in the morning. You want to know why? Because you're drunk, Eloise. Think about that."

She cries harder, her shoulders shaking, but I don't care.

"I know I'm not good at this." My voice quivers and tears fill my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. "I know I'll turn out to be just as horrible as my parents were. But this is on you, Eloise. It's all. On. You."

"Shut up!" Eloise screams. "I hate you!"

She throws the door open and clambers out. She hesitates outside the door and sways before doubling over and vomiting all over the pavement.

Repulsion churns in my stomach, but I step out and wait for her to finish.

"Let's go inside," I say flatly, guiding her into the house.

My hands are shaking.

I leave Eloise in the entryway to go into the kitchen, where I shuffle through the cabinet and find two ibuprofen tablets.

I stare at them in my hand, so many emotions flying through my mind.

I'd stood in front of this cabinet so many times in my life, getting medicine for people who'd never find a cure. I hated my parents for their choices. Was I really going to hate Eloise for hers?

I hadn't felt anything regarding my parents in years, really.

And now all of the emotions caught up to me in one solid blow.

I clench my fist and go back out to where Eloise is standing, still sobbing.

I shove the pills in her hand and it's all I can do to keep my voice calm. "Take those and go to bed. I don't want to hear about your headache in the morning."

I turn and make my way up the creaky old stairs, wrapping my arms around myself.

I finally reach the solace of my room and close the door behind me.

I slide down the rough mahogany and cry for a good long while.