Apple Cider

“This is lame,” Emily grumbled, trailing slightly behind Olivia as they walked. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her yellow sweatshirt.

Olivia rolled her eyes. She was trying to be patient with her new step-sister, but she was pushing her buttons today.

“Seriously lame.”

“Okay, I get it. But homemade apple cider is part of our Halloween tradition.”

“But why can’t you just get it at the store?”

“Because, one, homemade tastes better, and two, it’s the experience of making it together. All of us.”

“You guys have so many freaking traditions.”

Olivia stopped and turned on her. “And obviously, you guys had none. Maybe if-” She caught herself, but Emily noticed. She scowled at her.

“Go on, finish!”

Olivia rubbed her forehead. “No, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. Look, I know it seems like a bit much. But our family’s gone through some hard times, and traditions like these give us something to hang on to.”

Emily’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, fine, let’s go pick some stupid apples. But I demand we stop for Mountain Dew on the way home.”

“I don’t know how you drink that stuff, it’s disgusting.”

They continued their more-lighthearted debate about soda as they walked into the orchard. To her surprise, Emily actually found herself to be having a good time. She munched on an apple as she picked, and her and Olivia’s conversation jumped around. She realized that her step-sister wasn’t quite as stiff and humorless as she originally thought. She was just introverted and a little more serious. But she was showing she could also have a good, sarcastic sense of humor.

By 5:00, they decided they had enough. “That ought to do it,” Olivia said. “I don’t think we’ll be able to carry this home.”

“I’ll call Dad and have him pick us up.”

“Good idea. We shouldn't walk home in the dark.”

But to Emily’s frustration, he didn’t pick up. “Come on, Dad. I want to go home.”

“And my mom won’t be able to come, either. She’ll be in a meeting until later tonight.”

Emily shivered as a brisk wind blew her hair back. She pulled her jacket tighter around her. “Well, it’s freezing. Can we go to that gas station and get coffee?”

Olivia followed her gaze to the gas station down the street. It wasn’t too far, and it was getting cold. “Alright, fine. But I’m not buying you coffee.”

“Oh, come on. Why not?”

“It’s getting too late, you’d be up all night. Besides, we’re not really allowed to drink it at all. I will buy you a hot chocolate, though.”

“Add a king-sized Snickers and I’ll stop complaining.”

Olivia didn’t have to think too much about that one. “Deal. Let’s go. I want out of this wind.”

“Should we bring the apples?”

She pursed her lips. “I’d rather not. I think if we hide them in the bush right here, they’ll be fine. We’ll come back.”

After hiding them, they headed towards the gas station.

They didn’t see the three dark figures watching them cross the street behind them.

*

They were greeted by a burst of warm air when they walked in. They both sighed in relief. “That feels good.”

“It does,” Olivia said. “You go get your stuff, I’ll try and call Dad again.”

“You want one?”

“Yes, please.” As she held the phone to her ear, she noticed three men walk in. They were rough-looking, and kept looking at her. Her stomach twisted and she swallowed nervously. “Come on, Papa, pick up,” she said through her teeth.

They were still glancing at her, even as they pretended to browse the shelves.

Olivia went over to Emily.

“You want creamer in yours? It's good,” Emily asked.

“No,” she said distractedly. She grabbed her arm and leaned closer. “Listen, I have a bad feeling about these guys behind us.” When she went to look, she pulled her back down. “Don’t look! Just act natural.”

Emily gulped. “What do we do?”

“Well, he didn’t answer...”

“Should we leave? Stay here?”

“Let’s just-oh, no.”

The area behind the cash register was empty, as the cashier had gone out back. And the men were moving closer.

“Olivia...”

Olivia looked around frantically; going back outside was an option, but it was risky. The closest safe place was the store down the street. They might be able to make it, but was it worth the risk?

Then she noticed the single bathroom towards the back. She leaned closer again. “Bathroom, down the aisle. Go. Don’t run, but move quickly. And don’t look back. I’ll be right behind you.”

Emily breathed out shakily. “Promise?”

“Yes.” She nudged her forward. “Now go. Nice and easy.” True to her word, she stayed right behind her. She didn’t have to look back to know they were following them. Once she knew they were out of sight from the store windows, she pushed her faster. Nobody would be able to save them now.

She accidentally shoved Emily to the ground to get her inside. She slammed the door shut and locked it. Even then, she left her hand on the handle. She held her breath when it jiggled. It held, and she let out a soft sigh of relief. But when she heard them cuss and hit the door, Emily screamed and Olivia tripped over her as she rushed backwards. They both scrambled back against the wall under the sink, Emily almost crawling onto her lap as they clung onto each other. For another five minutes, they tried to get in. They jiggled and yanked on the handle, hit the door, even attempted to speak to them and try to draw them out.

Emily briefly overcame her terror to curse right back. Olivia clamped a hand over her mouth, not as a rebuke, but to prevent her from encouraging them. That kept them going for another two minutes, but then it stopped.

Emily released her suffocating hold and relaxed and Olivia dropped her hand. “D-do you think they’re gone?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered back. Only when Emily turned to face her did she notice she was crying.

“Should we go look?”

Olivia unconsciously tightened her hold. “No. They could be waiting right outside the door.”

“Okay,” she said. After a moment of silence, she said, “What now?”

“We...we wait.” And with that, she broke. The pressure that had been building in her chest, suffocating her, overcame her. She pulled away and scooted back against the corner, curling in on herself as she began to cry. No, this was worse than crying. She was coughing, struggling to breathe.

Olivia was too trapped in her head to see Emily’s face. She watched her with wide eyes, mouth open. Her father had mentioned that Olivia had panic attacks sometimes, but to actually see one...it was a bit scary and hard to watch. She had always seemed untouchable, solid. She knew she had gone through some hard things, but now she looked small and broken.

When she let out a sharp gasp and gagged, she lurched to her feet and scrambled to the toilet in time to throw up. Emily began to worry she would pass out, from the way she was shaking. And she was so pale, more than usual. Once she was done and she collapsed back onto the floor, Emily crawled to her slowly, uncertain of what she was doing but knowing she had to try.

They were family now.

She kneeled in front of her, but still gave her space. “Olivia? Are you okay?” She wanted to hit herself; what a stupid question.

But she looked at her dazedly. She struggled out of her jacket and pulled at the collar of her shirt. She shook her head no.

“Do you need something?”

At first she shook her head again, then after she tugged on her hair a moment, she mumbled under her breath.

“Er, sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Medicine,” she croaked. She pulled her jacket to her with shaking hands and dug in one of the inside pockets and pulled out a prescription pill container. She struggled to get the lid open, but finally did and got a little white pill out.

“Don’t you need water?”

Olivia nodded towards the sink and got up, nearly falling back. But Emily caught her and helped her over. It was a bit messy and she got the front of her shirt wet, but she got the pill down. She got a paper towel and ran it under the water before she sat back against the wall. She wiped at her face and the back of her neck, then leaned her head forward against her knees and took deep breaths.

Thankfully, the chaos by the door was still silent as they waited the panic attack out. Emily thought she was asleep until Olivia raised her head and looked at her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” She rubbed her face. “They just hit so hard and fast sometimes.”

“It’s okay. Are you sure you’re alright?”

She gave her a small smile. She looked exhausted. “I’ll be fine. I might pass out soon and have to sleep for 12 hours, but I’ll get through it. I always do. So far, anyway.”

“Dad mentioned that you have these sometimes, but I didn’t know they were so intense.”

“I’m really sorry, Emily. I would’ve left if I could.”

“No, don’t feel bad. It just, it looked like it hurt. Is it always like that?”

Olivia picked at a loose string on her jacket. “Sometimes. I can usually isolate myself and deal with it on my own, but these were, uh, special circumstances.”

“Claustrophobia?”

“Well, yeah. That and the psycho potential rapists chasing and trapping us in here.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I could see that contributing.”

She got a hint of a smile for that. Not much, but it was something.

They both looked down when Olivia’s phone began to vibrate on the floor. It was their father. “Can you get that?” Olivia asked softly; she was completely drained.

“Yeah. I have a thing or two to say to him.”

“Be nice,” she mumbled, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. The medicine was starting to kick in, and between the adrenaline crash from the chase and panic attack, and her medicine, sleep was creeping up on her. As her mind grew fuzzy, she vaguely recalled what waited outside. But their dad was coming. He’d be there soon. And judging by the way Emily almost yelled at him, he was in for a fight once everything calmed down.

But they would be safe.

“He’ll be here soon,” Emily said and scooted next to her so she was propping her up. “I can’t believe him-"

The hum of her voice was enough to put Olivia to sleep, her head against her shoulder. She felt safe with her, which said a lot.

Emily smiled in relief when her breathing evened out. She was okay, they were okay. They were both going to be okay.

And that apple cider had better be worth all this trouble.