Triangles

3 days later and I’m free. My arms and shoulders ache and I can barely move them. I haven’t slept or ate well because of my uncomfortable position. My hair became tangled and greasy, I wanted to rip it right off my head. Whenever a man came into the room I felt the urge to pounce and tear them to shreds but my body was too immobilized to do so. I haven't seen Sean or heard his playful, sing song voice play in my mind. I hear the voices of other children though - screaming in agony as the struggled against their bonds.

I’m so excited for today - not to see the family, to be free of the jacket. I’m so happy I can finally take a shower and eat properly and relax and move about even if it does hurt. I relaxed and changed clothes and jumped around the room for a while, trying to loosen my muscles. I’m not looking forward to meeting the Butler family. They’ve plagued my mind since Andrew first mentioned them.

We leave at ten o clock, and get into Andrew's prized Mustang. It was a deep red colour with black leather seats. He loves it more than anything in the entire world. He seems rather odd and edgy towards me. It was a 10 minutes drive in an awkward silence. He pulled up outside a large red house in a suburban area. The garden’s quite nice: neat and very green. It looks very posh and modern.

"I hate to break this to you now, Echo, but you're moving in with them today" Andrew sighs. I glare at him. Usually I get two to three weeks to settle down and get to know the family and sort things out. I have never moved straight into a home. "I'm sorry. It's not my decision"

We got out the car and he knocked the door. A tall, thin woman opens the door. She has short white hair and wrinkled skin on her face but she looks quite pleasant. She’s dressed in loose black trousers and a white shirt. She smiles warmly and welcomed us in.

"Hello! I'm Janette, pleased to meet you!" She greets cheerfully. She isn’t looking down on me like I can't hear or understand her, it’s like she cared. I smile and examine the hallway. It’s wide with a staircase to the right and a room to the left, a kitchen straight ahead. There are many family photos on the wall. Everyone looks so happy. There’s a dresser with beautiful flowers on and some keys against the wall, a really homely feel oozing away from it.

"Erm, hi..." I mumble nervously, feeling incredibly awkward. I don't belong in a place like this. Janette makes me feel a little more welcome, though I haven't met Gavin yet. "I'm Echo"

"Pleasure to meet you, I'll just call Gavin now..." she tottered over to the stairs and shouted for the boy. The here was the slam of a door shook the house and thumps of someone walking across the landing made the ceiling shake. I bite my lip as a black figure appeared at the top. He has short brown hair and baby blue eyes. He’s the boy who was with Sean the day we first met. He smiles warmly and stood on the bottom step.

"Y'alright, Echo?" He acted as though we’d close friends for awhile. Sean hasn't been talking about me, has he? Oh gosh no! I smile awkwardly and rub the back of my neck.

"Alright, I'll be back later with your things, see you soon little one!" Andrew said quickly and left. The atmosphere instantly turned unnerving. Janette smiles and ushered me into the room on the left. It’s a large room, creamy white walls and lots of light. There are two leather white couches and a white rug on the oak floorboards. The TV is huge. She forced me to sit on one of the nice couches. I feel very out of place.

"Cup of tea, love?" she asks. I nod and watch her hurry to the kitchen to make my tea. Gavin came in and sat down next to me. He smiled and wrung his hands.

"Sean talks about you" he laughed with a smug grin. Dammit! What the fuck is the point? I hate people talking about me. I look at Gavin more closely. He’s quite attractive, bulky muscles and a sexy grin that must make girls swoon over him. I smile back. I feel very relaxed around him, like I do with Sean. His Mam came back in with my tea. "We'll get along just fine, don't you worry" he said with a wink.

"You aren't allergic to cats, are you?" she asked, sitting on the other couch. I laugh and shake my head. I like cats. Gavin beams at me.

"We've got 4!" He laughs. I laugh along with him, like we've known each other for so long. One of the spoken cats tottered into the room. She’s an old, tabby thing, quite a lot of fat on her. She purred and went straight to Gav who picks her up and stroked her affectionately. "This is Franz. She's really old now" he let me stroke her soft fur, hearing her purr.

We spent the whole afternoon just talking, me and Gav. I feel like I've known him for longer than this one day. The fact I have a disturbed mind did nothing to him, he’s fine. He asked about my issues and didn't judge me because of them. It made me feel safer and like someone cares. I never speak to Sean about my issues, something tells me he's too immature to understand. Gavin does, however. He listens and he shows that he cares and takes pity and understands he might get hurt because of me.

Maybe this home won't be too bad after all.