Hiding Behind Makeup

“AAAAAAAAAH!!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU LITTLE DEVIL???” Rayne’s scream echoed through the entire second level of the house. 

“PAYBACK!!!!” Seth yelled back, making no effort to stay quiet. 

“FOR WHAT?!?!?” Rayne shrieked. 

“FOR BEING ANNOYING!!!!! DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!” Artemis’s voice retorted as she joined the shouting match. 

“STAY OUT OF THIS ARTEMIS!!!” Luna and Seth howled. 

“WHY? IT WAS MY IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!” Artemis screamed, falling into a fit of maniacal laughter. 

“IT WAS SOO MY IDEA!” Seth screamed back. 

Luna turned up the volume on her phone, drowning out the sound of her screaming siblings. A furious green-haired monster stormed into the hallway, snarling. It took a moment for Luna to realized it was her sister. Seth and Artemis must’ve put hair dye in Rayne’s shampoo, dying it neon green. Rayne’s beautiful silver blonde hair only accented the green, making it more vibrant.  

Ugh. Siblings r the worst. Luna texted her best friend, Silver.  

Ikr! I feel ya girl. Silver wrote back.  

I’m so excited to get away from them. When is school going to start again!  

Ur excited for school? Summer just started 2 days ago. Rayne still has school for another week! 

Anything to get away from my siblings  

Luna, I have something 2 tell u 

What? 

I checked who was in my classes to see if ur with me, and seth and artemis r in our business management class 

Wait rly??? How do they expect to run a business if they can’t even go a week without pulling a prank on me or Ray. Ugh, is there anywhere on the planet where I can get away from them??? 

  Do u wanna come hang at my place for a week, or maybe a weekend? Just not this week, my little brothers claimed the house. 

Heck ya, I’ll go ask my parents. 

Luna pulled her earbuds, and immediately cringed at the noise. The shouting was still at full blast, and now their mother had joined trying to quiet them. 

“YOU BETTER HAVE A WAY TO GET THIS OUT!!!!!!!!! I HAVE PROM FRIDAY!!!!” 

“QUIET DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE JOHNSONS CAN PROBABLY HEAR YOU! EVEN THE SMITHS, AND THEY LIVE IN ENGLAND!!!!” 

Luna sidestepped the conversation, ignoring her mother’s pleas for her to help, as she headed downstairs, finding her father in the kitchen.  

“Dad, can I go to Silver’s next week? For the whole week?” She asked, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the racket from upstairs.  

“Thank you for bringing that up Luna. I've been meaning to mention this all day, I just needed a good time.  FAMILY MEETING!!!!!!” He bellowed.  

The shouting upstairs stopped immediately, and a stampede of feet came as they were running down the stairs. Artemis and Seth squished together on their usual spot, on the armchair meant for one. Luna sat on the couch, and Rayne joined her soon after, a hood drawn up over her bright hair. Their parents sat on the loveseat, and the awkward silence started, everyone staring at her father.  

“So, your mother and I have noticed the... tension between you kids, and we’ve decided it might be good to have some quality time together. Thankfully there is no school to interrupt with this precious time, and we can do whatever we want, so we have decided to... go on a road trip!” He announced triumphantly.  

“Great. I was going to escape you guys, but now I'll be stuck in a car with you.” Luna mumbled, as Artemis, Seth and Rayne mumbled similar complaints. 

Luna pulled out her phone and texted her friend the horrible news.  

Rly?!? I can’t believe it. I guess I'll c u after. 

Ya 

*** 

 A week later, Luna hauled her suitcase out to the front, where her father was playing Tetris with the suitcases, and everything needed for this precious ‘quality time’. She rolled it up to the line, thankful for the wheels on the bottom. Her father picked up the marble blue suitcase, his small biceps struggling, and he put it right back down. 

“What did you put on here? It weighs twice your weight!” He asked, attempting to pick it up again, and failing. 

“Only the essentials.” She responded.  

“And what is that? Actually, don’t answer, I don’t want to be here for a week listening to what you packed.” 

“Ok, so should I go get my other suitcase?” She asked, causing her father to choke. 

“You have another? What was in this one wasn’t enough?” 

“No...” 

Luna’s suitcases were the last ones, so as soon as they were packed, everything was ready to go, and they hit the road. Her father tried to start awkward conversation, but it never got far. Luna pulled out her phone, Rayne pulled out a thick book, and Artemis and Seth pulled out a suspicious list, and started conversing in hushed voices, crazy glints in their green eyes. Her father had apparently picked the scenic route, but all Luna could see out her window when she looked up from her phone, was sand, sand, and more sand. Sleep soon overtook her, the sweet darkness a forgiving view after all that sand.  

Her father’s cursing woke her from her peaceful slumber, and she looked around to see what was wrong. She wondered how long she was out for, because the scenery had changed to a mountain range. Finally, Luna’s cobalt blue eyes finally spotted the disturbance. A deep red car was driving directly behind them, leaving no space. It appeared to be motioning for them to pull over, put Luna’s father couldn’t see that. The driver got tired of waiting and made his move. He bumped the back of their car, sending it flying uncontrollably into the side of the road. A string of curses escaped from her father’s lips, but they were stopped soon after when the car landed on the side, smoke billowing out of the hood. Those were his last words. Luna ended up on Rayne, who was unconscious, but still breathing. Blood matted her sliver hair, and her left arm was twisted in a weird angle to the side. Artemis and Seth were both still conscious, and Artemis was clinging to Seth desperately. Tears streamed down Artemis’s tanned cheeks, and Seth was stroking her hair, trying to calm her down, his eyes concerned, but the horrified look in his eyes matched the concern. Her mother’s hands shakily pulled out her phone as she dialled 9-1-1, but they were shaking uncontrollably. The door above Luna was ripped free, and for a few hopeful seconds she thought they were saved. That was until a pair of rough hands pulled her out of the car, away from her family, and threw her into the red car that had caused this mess. A raspy voice came from the front seat, saying. 

“Now you listen carefully little girl...”