THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

061; day one

Day one leading up to the island club party,
Myra awoke in her bed to the sound of loud arguing on the other side of the door. It wasn't a nice and peaceful awakening at all, more so a rude one. She flew up from her bed, grabbing ahold of her door knob. She swung the door open as she blinked her tired eyes, peering down the hallway where she saw her father and her older brother fighting. Luke had JJ pushed up against the wall as they yelled nasty things back and forth. Myra rushed out to aid her brother, stomping her feet up towards the two of them.

"Hey, what's going on?" she urged loudly, trying to distract her dad. She wasn't strong like him and JJ, so she barely stood a chance to intervene. Luke tore his gaze away from his son to look at his daughter, clear anger laced upon his aging face. "Now look what you've done you rascal, you've woken your sister up" Luke spat in JJ's face. He didn't respond, but Myra could see how much he wanted to. JJ had a fresh red mark on his right cheek bone, a pooling of blood underneath the skin that would soon turn into a bruise. He had his jaw clenched and a hateful look upon his tanned face. "Dad please" Myra urged, grabbing ahold of Luke's upper arm. He looked at her like he didn't want her there. "Please" she begged again, giving him the puppy eyes. It worked. Luke groaned loudly as he released JJ, making him fall to the floor.

"I've told you a thousand times to let your brother fend for himself" Luke yelled right in Myra's face as he grabbed a hold of her throat. He dunked her against the wall with a thud. Myra could feel the back of her head hitting the wall. It wasn't anything she hadn't experienced before. "He's a liar and a thief that boy and he needs to grow the fuck up" Luke yelled again, burrowing his angry gaze onto Myra before he gazed down at JJ that was still on the floor, "he needs to learn that in the real world bad actions have bad consequences". Myra gulped, feeling the pressure of her father's hand on her throat. His fingertips were rough and it was becoming harder to breathe. She chipped for air as she let a few words slip past her lips as a mere whisper, "I'm sorry dad"

JJ was quick up onto his feet, grabbing ahold of Luke's shoulders to pull him backwards. "Leave her alone, she didn't do anything, you're hurting her" JJ yelled as loudly as he could as he yanked Luke away. Myra was now the one who fell to the floor. She hit her knees on the old wooden floorboards as she kept on chipping off air. Her lungs burned a little. Another loud thud rang through the air. She looked up to see Luke bashing JJ over the head again. It was like a recurring nightmare that kept on replaying before her eyes. JJ hit back, fighting to the best of his abilities. Myra stood up, feeling her head spin as she dragged her wobbly feet over towards the two. Adrenaline was pumping through her small body as she threw herself in front of her older brother. "Stop!" she yelled, "come on dad, stop it!"

Within a matter of seconds Myra had been shoved to the ground again, causing yet another few bruises on her legs. Her dad had grabbed ahold of her upper arms, holding on so tightly before he pushed her down. The situation wasn't deescalating anytime soon so JJ did what he had always done. He grabbed his little sister and took off running, locking the both of them into the small bathroom of the fishing shack they called home. Luke wasn't as quick on his steps as he had once been when the siblings were younger, but he soon made his way over towards them. He banged on the door loudly, his two fists hitting the old wood. Bang, bang, bang. Myra flinched. "It's okay, everything is fine" JJ spoke in a hushed whisper to her. She sat down on the toilet, looking at her brother who was now kneeling down in front of her. He put his hands on her knees, trying to calm her down. "Just breathe" JJ spoke, nodding his head encouraging, "just breathe My, in and out okay? In and out, yeah just like that"

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. The pounding went on as Myra collected herself, coughing a little. JJ lifted his right hand to trail his fingertips along her throat. "What?" Myra asked, already knowing what he was looking for. He was trying to see if their father's previous grip would leave a bruise on her skin. "Nothing" JJ assured her as he gazed up, patting her cheek gently. He then got up and sat down on the edge of the bathtub, resting his hands on his knees. "He's the worst isn't he?" JJ tried to joke. It was bad timing, but he just wanted to the harsh tension to ease up a little. "Mhm" Myra mumbled, still a little shaken, "the absolute worst". JJ nodded his head slowly. "Are you alright?" he then asked, his gaze flickering over his little sister. "I'm fine" she urged, scratching the back of her head.