Every Now and then -Solaris-

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

They were renting this place now, which was a joke, she didn't even know how her father had managed it and how no one found it suspicious that they never saw him around. He 'worked night shifts' they'd always say. He slept during the day and worked all night which was why he was never at school functions, or seen around town. As she sat on the stairs of the small bungalow's front stairs she glance around the neighbourhood wondering what this life would have been like, to really truly embrace it.

She wondered if she would be normal or still have this chip on her shoulder. She and Sole had each other but it really wasn't the same. A Dad raising two girls was just... a train wreck waiting to happen especially when he was barely around half the time. She didn't have a mother to turn to, to ask about boys, or her emotions. She and her sister were pretty close in age, even if Sole sometimes seemed so much older than her.

They were close but there were just some things she couldn't show her sister. She had to be tough because her sister always felt the need to take care of her and she couldn't give her anything to worry about. If she pretended things didn't bother her than there was nothing to worry about right? As she leaned her head sideways on the rail she found herself staring at the boy across the street washing his car. Her blue eyes sort of glazed over and her expression became vacant as she fell into deep thought.

She'd never even been kissed.... not that she cared or anything. It was just sort of weird or something. Not that she'd want to be kissed by any of these idiots. She bit her lip now thinking about it. Before she realise some strange form of liquid was forming in her eyes and she sat up straight blinking the tears away. No, this was stupid she wasn't going to cry about this of all things. Taking a breath she stood up brushing her hair out of her eyes. Maybe she could start over here or something...not be such an antisocial jerk. It was possible...probably.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

She sat in the backyard, in the middle actually, on the ground. Her gaze was staring into the other backyard now where there was a house, but all what she imagined was a forest. Maybe she wasn't even a girl today but a deer, or a fox, something that could run away as fast as it could. But then she'd get shot. A sigh escaped her as she glanced away now, running a hand through her copper roots. Solaris didn't know where her father was, she never knew where he was, but she knew that they were staying here now, for a while. Another new life before another one would start again. It was getting old, but she was uncertain if she could leave. Growing up knowing nothing but this, how does one adapt to survive a world outside of the hunter's?

Tossing the question aside now, Solaris pushed herself up to her feet now and headed inside, walking through the tiny bungalow. It was bare, safe for the furniture that was provided to them from the land lady. Honestly, she hoped nobody ever came to their house, she would love to try and explain the plainness of their lives. Stifling a yawn, she glanced over to the table where her blue candle from the previous night sat. Walking over, Solaris did nothing more than scoop it up and dismantle it, placing the candle back in a drawer and the candlestick somewhere else. Blue is for nighmares. The thought lingered in her mind, a frown settling on her lips before glancing over her shoulder now.

"Rory?" she called out, but there was no answer. Automatically, she started to move through the house, looking through every room in search for her younger sister, but she was nowhere to be found. Thoughts were starting to crowd her mind, along of lines of failing. Solaris knew that wasn't the case, but whenever she didn't automatically know where her sister was, the conclusion sorta just came to her, almost as if it were second nature now. But she couldn't have left, she would have told her, unless something grabbed her. No, that wasn't true, her sister was better than that. Sometimes, she thought Aurora was the stronger one out of the two of them, at least when it came to hunting.

Grabbing a knife for a just in case measures though, she headed to the front door and pulled it open. Her eyes honed in on the back of fiery red hair and automatically, Solaris felt herself relax. Taking a few steps down, she sat down next to her sister now, "Want to talk?" she asked softly, staring off across the way, taking in everything that was going on right now on their street. She wasn't sure if Aurora was actually going to talk to her or not, but she figured that she might as well try. Her younger sister was sixteen now, there were probably a lot of things going through her mind, there were when Solaris had been that age.

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

"It just really makes me sick how stupidly oblivious these idiots are" she muttered. That wasn't really what was bothering her at all but that was maybe part of it, on some level. " I mean imagine the biggest thing you had to worry about being coming up with new and clever ways to pick on people, or having to wash the dishes after supper" she grumbled. "I just pity their stupid little lives"

She wasn't jealous...that totally wasn't it at all. Maybe she would be jealous if she wasn't like completely awesome and way smarter than everyone in her highschool combined. Okay, she was exaggerating but honestly not jealous, not even a little. Okay, maybe a little. Sometimes she watched the girls at school in the hall chattering about boys and makeup and arguing over which movie they wanted to see that weekend as if the wrong decision was going to mean the difference between life or death.

She would kill to see their faces when they were faced with the things she and her sister had to deal with on a daily basis. Though she thought the things highschoolers argued or talked about were trivial and yes, most often dumb, she envied the fact that they were generally carefree worries. As the guy washing his car looking up and offered her a smile she felt her fair cheeks blush and she glanced down quickly.

"Lets go inside I can't stand this place" she said quickly and hopped up and ran quickly inside the house before anyone could see her indiscretion . Eugh why wouldn't it stop he faced felt like it was burning. She ran quickly to the kitchen and stuck her head in the freezer.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

Solaris could not help but to frown lightly at the words that left her sister's mouth. She didn't know what to say though, how could she? Everything that went on in the world, was it really that obvious? If they hadn't had their parents to guide them, Solaris often wondered if they would just be another civilian, another average human. Her eyes glanced around, watching their new neighbors move around and carry about their daily lives: cleaning their cars, mowing the grass, shuffling children down the street. It seemed so trivial, but how could it be when it was their life? She remained silent for a moment before finally saying, "I don't pity them."

She glanced back over to her sister now, whose gaze was locked on the boy across the street. Sometimes, Solaris often wondered when through Rory's mind, but she was a hard girl to read. Most of the time she had this blank slate across her face, if they weren't family, she might have thought that her sister might have hated her. Not a lot of people liked her sister, and honestly, she couldn't understand why. They never tried to get to know her, but they always tried to get to know the older sister. But she could see why her sister was the way she is, why try and get to know someone when you were just going to move away.

Her gaze moved back to across the street, giving her sister a little space rather than feel like she was being watched like a hawk. Solaris's gazed moved from person to person, watching and studying as if there was a threat. But there wouldn't be, their father knew better than to leave them in a dangerous area. How paranoid she had become of everyone, sometimes, Solaris just felt like everybody was out to get her family. Everyone was a demon or a monster, literally. But even humans could be monsters.

The boy across the street smiled, but not at her. Abruptly, her sister demanded that they go inside. Glancing back over at her sister now, Solaris was certain that she had just caught the faintest blush on her sister's cheeks, "Rory, wait!" she said, quickly getting up now to follow after her sister. What had gotten into her? Was it the boy? Shutting the front door, she hurried into the kitchen to see, well, Rory sticking her head in the freezer. The picture itself brought a smile to Solaris's face, even though it probably shouldn't, "Is everything okay?"

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

"My face is on fire.. I think I have a sudden onset fever, you know like the flu, one of those 24 hour bug things" she said matter of factly as though what she had just said was the only and most logical explanation for what was going on with her in that moment. The funny thing was she made her self believe this rationalization because it was much easier for her to deal with than the truth, as were most things in life. After all, wasn't that the reason the 'little white lie' had been invented.

"You should probably stay back from me I mean I wouldn't want you to catch anything" she warned her sister. Rory still had her head stuck in the freezer because her face felt like it was burning worse now if that was even possible. Her stomach felt weird too, she was definitely sick, it felt like someone had dropped a jar of moths in there. It was flip flopping all over the place.

Is this what it felt like when you knew you were about to die? This sickening fluttering this lack of complete control over your own body. She didn't like it one little bit but the freezer was seriously not helping she took her head out and shut it behind her and before she even knew what she was doing she felt her temper and frustration beginning to bubble to the surface.

She let out a sudden scream and knocked the side table with the phone book over to the ground letting everything crash to the ground. Luckily nothing breakable, or even important for that matter had been on top of the surface.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

She was shocked that she had actually gotten an answer out of her sister, even though it was a complete lie. Or at least, Solaris assumed it was a lie. If she was feeling any kind of sickness, it was from the boy across the street rather than a virus or the flu. Her sister though, she was one of those people who might convince themselves of anything if they just said it out loud in a matter of fact tone. When Rory told her to stay away though, a frown settled in on her face, "I'm not staying away from you," she replied now, taking a step forward, "Why don't you just take your head out of the freezer?"

After all, it's not like there was really anything editable in the freezer. She wasn't even sure if their dad had done any food shopping yet, or perhaps that was her job now. Solaris could never keep up any more with her father, and every day she just resented him a little bit more. She shoved thoughts of their father out of her head right now, she should be concentrating on her sister. Sometimes, she wasn't even sure if Rory fully recognized that she was there for her, even though she tried her hardest to do so. Parenthood was tough and so was the world, she was certain that it had scared her out of ever getting pregnant.

The freezer closed now with a faint sound, but her sister did not look alright. She just watched for a moment, and before she even realized it, anger took hold of Rory. Her scream was loud, but the side table crashing on the floor was what made Solaris flinch like she had been struck. Everything slid or rolled across the ground, an ugly scraping sound came from a candle stick that had toppled out of the draw but thankfully, there was nothing there that could have been broken, valuable, or gone off. The crash and her sister's scream lingered in the air, and the scene just played over in Solaris's mind as she stared at the end table, shocked.

It took her a moment to finally recover, glancing back at her sister, "Rory, what's really wrong?" she asked now, watching her sister as the silence fell. She wanted to go over to her, be an older sibling and hug her or something, but she had a feeling that it was the last thing that Rory wanted from her. Instead, Solaris just crouched down on the floor and slowly started picking things up from the crash. Her eyes though, kept on flickering back to her sister though waiting for an answer and if her sister even tried to bolt some where, Solaris knew she was still springy enough to stop her.

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

"I Hate it here! I hate this house, I hate school, I hate the people and worst of all I hate Dad" She finished disappearing into what counted as her room for now but was never actually going to belong to her. It was just your typical generic room. A bed, a desk a dresser that she didn't even bother putting her clothes into because she knew they weren't going to even be there long enough to get comfortable. The only hint that someone even lived in that room was the messy unmade bed.

She collapsed on he bed. She tried to play it off cool but she was sick of being picked on and of being a socially awkward reject. Yes, she brought it upon herself sometimes with her attitude but who wouldn't have an attitude when they were treated the way she was. That boy she was staring at probably would never even speak to her and if he did they wouldn't be kind words, she was stupid for even thinking he was cute at all.

She wasn't going to cry, she wouldn't let herself crying was a weakness and Aurora Strauss was anything but weak. God she hated hunting, their life was horrible but she new that maybe hunting wasn't really the problem, she was the real problem and that problem that she couldn't even fix if she waned to.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

While it shouldn't have been that shocking to her, the dad comment through Solaris for a loop as her younger sister just yelled and she remained silent. Slowly, she continued picking up things off the floor until Rory was done. Thankfully, she did not run out the door and only to her designated room for the time being. Watching her go now, Solaris bit her lower lip before glancing down, sighing a little, "Why did you have to die, Mom?" she asked out loud, wondering if she was even watching them from Heaven, if there even was a Heaven. Solaris herself was at a loss, as hard as she tried, sometimes she didn't think that she was that great of an older sibling.

She used to think that Rory was the strong one out of the two of them, but that was clearly not the case any more. Solaris had been wrong about that all along, and it made her wonder how bad the kids at school really were to her little sister. People didn't mess with her while Solaris was there personally, but being two years older meant that she wasn't around all the time in the hallways of the school. At eighteen, she could just leave everything behind now, but she didn't dare leave Rory to defend for herself. Hunting wasn't for them, but especially for Rory, she was too smart and too full of promise to lead this life. But she didn't know how to translate that into words.

Heaving a sigh, Solaris slowly rose to her feet and put the table back up on its legs before she placed the things that she had collected on top of it. Glancing over to the table, she grabbed a fresh glass and poured water into it before heading into the hallway. In typical fashion, Rory's door was closed but that was hardly something that kept an older sibling out. With her free hand, she knocked on the door, "Rory, I'm coming in," Solaris informed before opening the door and coming into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her gaze fell on her sister, who had fallen on her bed now and looked like she was trying to not cry. Brave little girl, they were all brave, the children of hunters.

Walking across the room, Solaris sat on the edge of the bed now as she glanced down at her sister. After a moment's of hesitation, she reached forward and ran a hand through her sister's ginger locks, "You only have two years left you know," she started now, not bothering to finish the rest of her statement, then you can leave. Rory deserved it, Rory needed it, some form of stability. Who knows, maybe she'd love college, maybe she'd actually make friends, get a good education, get a real job.

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

"Yeah two more years of hell and then what, I'm officially allowed to just run a muck and be a full time hunter no being left behind anymore?" she asked a hint of anger still in her voice. Maybe it was everything hitting her at once that was the problem. Their Dad leaving them behind was nothing new, he'd done it their whole lives, as long as she could remember at least but now the threat of being truly alone was lurking there above her as Solaris was eighteen now she could do whatever she wanted she could be gone in the morning and there was nothing Rory could do about it and then she would have no one because she was too stubborn to try to make any real friends or any other sorts of connections.

She cursed herself quietly for letting herself get this emotional but if she couldn't show her sister this side of her then she wouldn't be able to show it anybody. Solaris was the only person she knew that had been around...always, she basically raised her and she knew that, but she also knew that it wasn't fair and she wasn't exactly appreciative about it sometimes...or any of the time.

"Why the hell did they even have kids if they were planning on just dying nad leaving us here" she said holding back her tears still as she thought about all her anger, her unresolved issues. Why the hell would two hunters think kids was a good idea, they couldn't have really thought it through all that well. Sol, she could understand okay, maybe she'd been an accident or something and hey, there wasn't much to do but keep her, that would have been fine, one kid, responsible, kind, smart, she would have been okay with them, but a second? That was just selfish especially considering the high risks of the fact that one or both of them was likely to die.

They father wasn't dead of course but he may as well have been. He signed a few papers, gave them money and then was gone like a light. She'd been around her father he whole life and she wasn't even sure that she knew him, or could properly picure his face. If she were ever asked to describe him she probably wouldjn't have been able to do it at least not wit the same accuracy she could describe her sister, or even their car, or a few other personal belongings she had that she deemed precious.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

Her sister's words were like a smack to the face. She didn't know why Rory seemed to seemed to even think that, the anger in her words were evident. If only their father had been around a little bit more often or their mother hadn't died, this might have been a little easier to deal with. Or maybe not, Solaris couldn't really tell when it came to her sister. They were just two different people, but she supposed that is how all siblings were. Opposites. Just like now, she knew that she was too far gone, bu her sister wasn't, not for an escape, "Or maybe you could leave us behind, and go to college, start a new life," she replied. Solaris had never been certain if her little sister even realized that is an option.

If she hadn't, she would make sure she would now. Whether Rory would take it or not, it made her a little worry. For her negative attitude about people and life in general, she seemed awfully paranoid about people leaving her even if she wouldn't admit to her. Solaris wouldn't leave her though while she was still underage. The only thing that would cause her to be separated from Rory would be a car breakdown or a case, but it was her father who took most of the cases and she herself, didn't find herself brave enough to venture on a hunt by herself just yet. She couldn't be like her father, she couldn't hunt alone, but she refused to do it with her little sister as well.

The conversation seemed to be spiraling out of control though, Rory's anger and emotions were starting to get the best of her, "Mom didn't plan on dying," she replied. It was the only answer that came to her mind right off the bat. She knew that Rory wouldn't understand though, she didn't remember their mother or their family really before their night. She did though, they were broken but they still acted like a family all the same. The same couldn't be said for their father though, Leo Strauss was still obsessing over that night and the shapeshifter that got away. They say revenge is sweet, but she knew that it could kill as well. The night plagued her own mind in reoccurring nightmares, they would never cause her to leave her sister being willingly though.

As for the Strausses having them though, Solaris didn't have an answer. She was certain that she was the accident child. Whether Rory was planned or not, she never knew. Hunting was their life, they met on a hunt and their mother saved their father. No doubt that they had a few nights of careless passion. She would not answer the question that Rory had posed though, Solaris brushed it off as an angry words. Whether her younger sister wanted it or not, she pulled her into a hug before pulling back, staring at her, "Listen, I will always be here for you. No matter what. I'm not like Dad, I'm not going to leave you behind. I promise that." And all what she could do is hope that her sister believed her.

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

Her sister was joking right? College was not even an option. Her grades were a joke, not really, they were averages but she was barely at one school long enough to make a real transcript let alone have any sort of academic stability. Not to mention the fact that her average grades, she had no extra curricular activities or skills of any kind that a college would find interesting or useful. She could kill a vampire in 10 seconds or less but real life skills? She had about zero of those.

"Right" she said harshly. "There's no college in their right mind that would even let me in, besides you know I can't get in" she muttered. The next comment, probably Sol's way of trying to be compassionate and comforting but it just mad her even angrier. "Of course she planned on dying!" she said whipping around so she was looking at her sister again. "look what she did... they both did this, for a living for their lives. Name one hunter you know who's old...God Dad's probably hitting ancient territory by now...Hunter hall of fame or something" which was saying something considering how young their parents had been when they'd had them both.

"You don't live this kind of life unless you're planning to die... she knew she would die, maybe she didn't think it would be that soon but she knew it was going to happen and not of natural causes! So she was selfish and had us anyway just to abandon us here with each other. Look at you... you're 18 you're basically my parent. I never see Dad, and he doesn't care about me, about either of us if he did he wouldn't leave us behind" She'd never been so scared in her life of being alone but it was hitting her. The chances of their Dad not returning each time he left seemed to increase and Solaris was hunting now too, on her own there was just a big of a chance that one day neither of them would walk back through the door and she'd be all by herself...forever.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

The look on her sister's face made Solaris believe that she might have said the wrong thing about college. Or at least bringing it up right now in her sister's midquarter life crisis. In fact, it wasn't even a quarter life yet. And it seemed that she had been right judging by her harsh words. Solaris didn't even know why Rory thought that though, plenty of hunter's kids went to college. Or well, a few had. Whether they graduated or not had been another story, because they always seemed to get pulled back into the life but seeing as how much her sister hated it, she couldn't even imagine that happening, "It doesn't hurt to try Rory. College is always an option, especially if you don't like...this life." Although, it was the only life the both of them had ever known.

Then came another backfire, but the backlash was something that Solaris hadn't been expecting under that pent up rage. Something in her bristled up a little though at the mentioning of their mother, something about it just got under her skin. She had never been one to yell at her sister, not for anything because in many ways, Rory had been right. Solaris was the parent, not the sister, after all of these years and it had been something that she had gotten used to. Rory never met their mother, not really, she wasn't even sure if her sister even remembered anything about their mother. Actually, no she didn't, if this is what she had going through her little head.

"Don't," Solaris started now, "Don't talk about Mom like that." Her voice was a calm, but it held that underlying edge that could be seen as a dangerous threat. She was trying to keep it together right now. After all she tried to do today to make her sister feel better, she just ended up blowing up in her face and it was the first time that Solaris didn't quite seem to know how to handle it. The whole issue was a little frustrating, just not knowing how to deal with it. In fact, this should probably be their father's conversation but of course, he isn't there. He was off trying to get revenge, which is funny because hunting shouldn't be about that. It should be about saving people and preventing other deaths; innocent deaths.

She may not be able to defend her father from the wrath of her sister, but she was going to try with her mother, "Mom didn't want to die, and I don't think anybody plans on dying." But maybe that was just Solaris with all of her innocent talk, after all she'd seen and heard, she still liked to believe that there was some sort of good in the world, "When Mom was dying, she saved her last breaths to tell me to look after you and made me promise. She cared for you Rory, and I relive that night every time I go to bed. So, you can insult Dad, our shitty lives, and everything else all you want. But don't say those things about Mom, you may not remember her, but I do."

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

She had known her sister, on a lot of levels was naïve but really, to actually think Rory had a chance of going to college? That was just completely delusional. No, their Dad had ensured, whether he'd intended it or not that the only option either of them had was hunting or shitty jobs for the rest of their life unless they were going to pretend with some really amazing forgeries but even so, she couldn't afford college even if she wanted to, and besides what would she do with her life she wasn't even good at anything. She wasn't even that good at hunting.

The tone in her sister's voice as she started talking about their mom was something she'd never heard before, it was calm on the surface but there was a danger lurking beneath it, dare she say she'd finally hit a nerve and caused her calm cool older sister to lose control. Still even with the tone there was a frustrating control over her words. As much as she liked their dynamic of sane and crazy she would like just once to see her perfect sister lose it over something, anything.

She was always the perfect one, the prettier one, the polite one, the responsible one, the calm and sane one. Then there was Rory, the rude, bad tempered one with tangled red hair and no social skills. It seemed like their genetic pools had no been balanced at all she'd gotten all the bad.

“You never told me that” she muttered. Not that it changed her opinions she was far too stubborn for that but it was something she hadn't known. How could she had known Dad refused to talk about it and it was just something that went without discussion, their Mom in general went without being discussed aside from the basics. What the hell did she care about a woman she'd never even met, that was not part of her life nor was ever going to be, what she was worried about was the people that were in her life never coming home one day and her, poor social skills and all being left alone and unloved.

[SOLARIS CLAIRE STRAUSS]

This might have been the most awkward situation that they had found themselves in a long time. Their dynamic always worked as strange as it seemed but not Solaris could not help but to wonder if it was slowly crumbling apart. She didn't know why, nothing seemed any different than it had before. Sometimes, she did admit to going out on hunts by herself, that was all though and she didn't think it would affect her sister that much. The more Solaris thought about it though, she truly didn't know what was under Rory's skin. Any of their conversations only seemed to brush and barely crack the surface of her steel skin.

Unlike her sister though, she refused to have a meltdown. Not one that any one living could witness though. She still had to be strong, regardless of what was going through her sister's mind right now. Her sister still needed her, that was becoming clear but at the same time, she found herself floundering on how to handle it. Even now, trying to keep herself calm about their mother proved to put just enough strain on her. For once, Solaris felt a minor crack in her usual personality and there was no doubt in her mind that Rory could see that she finally struck an almost dangerous nerve. Although, who was Rory to even know what kind of damage her comments about their mother would come about?

If Heaven was truly real though, Solaris could only hope that her mother wasn't watching her daughters fight like this. The very idea made her feel like as if this fight only proved that she was failing at the one promise that she wanted to keep. And she just couldn't have that happen. But Solaris also didn't know what to do about it either, which only added onto the sinking weight that she felt like slow moving quick sand. Her gaze never left Rory and at her mutterings, Solaris only felt herself sigh. It hung in the air for a moment before she dared to speak, "You never bothered to ask about Mom. Clearly, you only assumed."

With that, Solaris got up now, deciding it was time to just give her sister the space that she probably wanted at this very moment. Maybe she was being the villain now though. She really found herself at a loss though so it's not as if somebody could blame her for it, right? Solaris could only hope so, "Yell if you need anything, I'll be in my room." She turned to leave but soon found herself pausing in the door frame for a moment. Her eyes stared ahead of her but after a moment, she glanced back over her shoulder and towards her sister, "Rory...you know nothing's going to change, right? You'll always be my sister, and I'll always be there for you."

[AURORA KIMBERLY STRAUSS]

the words sunk into her slowly as she let them settle their affect. She knew that Sol meant it, of course she meant it but she also couldn't possibly know that it was true which was the real reason she was upset with their lives. No one could guarantee they'd be around when you needed them but the promise was even more difficult to keep when you were in their line of work, when you were in the line of fire every day. "Yeah...until you're not anymore" she stated.

Around that was, she would always be her sister, that was something that no fight or anything could ever change. They shared blood, parents, clothes and a home, or some sort of form of home. They were each other's home truly and that was something no one could take away, not the memories at least but they could take away a future and then she knew that without her sister she would truly have nothing.

Her attitude problem and 'social issues' has insured that she had no friends, no one that cared about her or even bothered to give her a second glance. She had no one that would care that she was alone and she wondered if they were doing this all wrong. Solaris was pretty, nice, well liked...she should have been the one staying put, Rory knew she should be in the field because if she was gone it wouldn't matter one way or another Solaris could find herself a life if she wanted, a boyfriend or whatever. She was the better sister and the better hunter, she was better at everything, even life.

Rory just sat up from bed and moved out of the room past her sister and continued running until she was out of the house and long gone from the neighbourhood. She didn't know where she was going but she knew it was far away from here.