The locker snapped shut hard against the metal framing as Gretel closed it, her brother's concerned face coming to view right in front of her.
"Are you sure about this?" Hansel took her hand with a tilt of his head. He felt her squeeze him before she pulled away.
"Quite." she tucked a strand of loose dark brown hair behind her ear and began walking. Hansel fell in step beside her and adjusted the strap of his backpack uneasily.
"You know I don't like her either. Ever since we came here," he shook his head with a frown "Everything just went wrong. And what she does to you--" Gretel pulled the sleeve of her shirt down to cover the bruise on her shoulder better. They exited the school building and made their way up on a sloping sidewalk, in the direction of their house.
"I don't want to do this for myself. I want to do this for father." Gretel's voice sounded cold and stoic to anyone else, but Hansel could hear it wavering ever so slightly, and it made his heart squeeze painfully. "He's working hard to keep us above the water while she cheats on him every chance she gets. Remember last week?"
Hansel frowned hard. How could he forget? It was the reason they were making plans right now in the first place. They arrived home early from school because of a fire drill and found their stepmother with another man in the livingroom. Hansel and Gretel just stood there frozen as their stepmother, Gladis, and the strange man scrambled to pull on their clothes. The man left without a word, and Gladis didn't look the least bit ashamed. She screamed their heads off for interrupting her and sent both of them to their bedrooms, locking their doors for good measure.
The sound of Gretel's muffled cries, the sound of Gladis throwing her against the bookshelf, the crash of a ceramic decoration shattering on the floor echoed in his ears still. He wanted nothing more than to hold his little sister as he listened to her through their joined bedroom door. Her voice sounded pained and heavy, as it always did after their stepmother had her way with Gretel.
He hadn't noticed how he was balling his fist, knuckles almost white, until Gretel pried his fingers gently apart and intertwined them with hers instead.
"You are doing it again Hansel. But I'm fine, really."
Hansel held back the urge to scrowl and remind Gretel how many bruises she had on her body already. How she tried to cover them. How he had to tend to her injuries every day. It made him furious how Gladis only seemed to want to hurt Gretel physically, always pick on the person she knew wouldn't fight back.
Only now Gretel was actually suggesting they fight back. In a very radical way, no less. And no matter how much Hansel despised their stepmother, the suggestion still made him hesitate.
"I don't know," Hansel pressed closer and lowered his voice "I mean, we are talking about ending a life."
"That's the point of killing someone, yes, brother." Gretel replied cooly. Hansel sighed and let the corners of his mouth twitch up. It was always amusing to hear the sarcastic undertone in her voice, reminded him how much he loved his sister.
"I won't deny you my help. But that doesn't mean I'm not conflicted."
Gretel stopped in their tracks and turned to face her brother, warm brown eyes locked with his matching ones. The light breeze was making her hair flutter around her shoulders.
"I've thought about this long and hard. I've thought of the ways we could get rid of her, but I see no other way. I don't find pleasure in the idea of ending a life, I'm conflicted too. But have you forgotten how many times we've tried to expose her unsuccessfully?"
It was true. The first thing they tried was to tell their father. Only to have him shut them down completely. He didn't even want to hear about it, each time they brought it up. He would always say how great, how kind and caring Gladis was, how much she loved them. He would look at Gretel's injuries as if they weren't even there. He would look at his children with glassy unfocused eyes and frown, annoyed that they bother him with the subject again.
The next idea was to tell a teacher. The first and last time they tried this the teacher they confided with sent them to the principal and called their parents. Gladis punished them cruelly after that. Their father was called in from work and had to sit down with Gladis, his children and the principal. Hansel could feel the disappointment radiating from the adults, detailing how concerning it was for Hansel and Gretel to lie about such thing. Always with that glazed over look, like they couldn't even see the kids clearly.
They came to the sad conclusion that nobody could see Gretel's bruises but them and their stepmother. Contacting the police or child protective services was out of the question by that point. They would probably have gotten into more trouble, and Gladis would have walked away free still.
Hansel set his lips in a grim line "I get what you mean," he began walking again, Gretel by his side "But if you really want to do this, we have to be smart about it."
Gretel knocked an eyebrow at him "You do know who you are talking to, don't you?"
Hansel huffed a laugh. He knew his sister was clever and resourceful of course. She was one of the smartest kids he knew by far. Still, they had to be careful.
"You know what I mean. She's dangerous...And she has advantages we don't. She's an adult, for one. Makes us look a lot more dishonest in comparison," he paused and knit his brows together. He wasn't sure if he should mention the next bit. It was a speculation at best, and quite crazy if he wanted to be honest with himself.
"She can manipulate people," Gretel finished for him, as if able to read his mind "She has some kind of power over father. Over everyone aroud us. We have to find out what it is exactly."
Hansel nodded and squeezed her hand. If it was to comfort her or himself, he wasn't sure.
"You don't have track practice tomorrow and I'm free of club activities too. We should search the house while Gladis is away." Hansel frowned but agreed. They had to be careful.
Before they could realise they were arriving at their house, a two story building with a small open front yard and an equally small backyard where only a small shed could fit. The shed contained all of their gardening tools and the grass cutting machine. There were handsome little flowers planted on each side of the front porch, ones Hansel and Gretel had planted and took care of together. The walls of the house were painted a light, slightly dull red colour, the wooden frames of the windows and the door a faded white colour, the paint was cracked and patchy everywhere.
The house looked old, and Hansel could remember their plans to make it look new at the beginning when they had moved in, before Gladis charmed her way into their lives. They never got around to painting it in the end. But if Gretel really did want to do this...maybe they could paint the whole house afterall. Maybe even a completely different colour. Like it was a different house from the one they had been living in through this nightmare.
He let go of Gretel as they reached the front steps. Gladis always grimaced and leered whenever she saw them hold hands or be close to each other in general. Hansel hated the way she looked at Gretel.
Their home wasn't anything special inside either. The front door opened to a small hall section in the livingroom, joined with an open kitchen. Big clear windows looked out on the street and the neighbour's house at the side. At the far end there was a bathroom, a door leading to the basement and a set of stairs. The bedrooms and another bathroom upstairs.
Hansel and Gretel had their own bedrooms, though there was a door connecting the two, one they always left unlocked when they could. They weren't allowed in the master bedroom, only when they were doing chores. Gladis always left that door locked for some reason.
Hansel counted it a blessing when they entered the house and found it empty. That meant that they didn't have to put up with Gladis's complaints and insults. They tidied up the house a little bit and did their usual chores. Gretel swept the floor while Hansel did the laundry, then switched places; Gretel folded and put away everything while Hansel mopped. They worked in comfortable silence, trading occasional smiles and looks when they passed each other. They often forgot how much they liked being home, when it was blissfully quiet and peaceful.
After the work was done they sat down in the kitchen and ate leftovers for dinner. Gladis never cooked, but their father did sometimes, though it was a rare occurrance nowadays. Most of the time either Hansel or Gretel cooked and Gladis complained how poor their cooking skills were, even though the food always tasted great and was made with great care.
"I wonder where she could be." Gretel mused as they finished off dinner and began cleaning after themselves.
"Not here, that's for sure. I personally won't complain about that." Hansel shrugged "Could be with another man again."
Gretel grimaced.
"I'm sorry," Hansel set down the cloth he had been scrubbing plates with and wrapped his sister in a hug. Gretel let herself melt into the embrace and sighed.
"It's fine. It might be true afterall. I just...hate that she's doing this to our family." she rested her cheek on Hansel's torso, listening to his heartbeat. It always helped her to calm down.
"Me too."
"Would you look at that. How heartwarming." Hansel tightened his grip on Gretel. Gladis was standing in the doorway, leering at the two of them smugly. He could feel Gretel tense up at the sight of their stepmother, and the boiling anger was back.
"Good evening, Mother." they said in unison. It would do them no good to anger her. They would be rid of her soon enough anyway. Hansel didn't want to risk Gretel getting hurt again, not if he could help it.
"Have you done your work around the house?" Gladis didn't bother to greet them. She went to open the fridge instead, looking through its contents.
"Yes." they echoed, putting some distance between each other, but not quite letting go.
"I hope you did a thorough job, because I'm going to have some friends over later. I don't want either of you in my sight." she said cooly. The kids shared surprised looks.
"Will you excuse us? We have to do our homework before bed."
"Off you go," Gladis waved them away carelessly "But if I hear any noise from upstairs, you will be punished."
Hansel took Gretel by the hand and pulled her with him upstairs to his bedroom. He could feel her hand quiver a little, and squeezed it reassuringly. They spread their textbooks and notebooks over Hansel's bedroom floor and set down to do their homework together.
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