Six

Summer 2020

"Hi, my name is Mel Woods and I'll be helping to deliver your—" I cut myself off, looking up from my clipboard at my patient. "I don't think you need much help, actually." I said, my tone flat, before realisation kicked in. "Wait! The BABY is nearly here already," I began, placing my clipboard on a side table and helping the woman onto the bed, "I haven't done this before, by the way." I said, giving the woman a checky smile.

"What?" She asked, frightened, "You haven't delivered a baby before?" She looked terrified at the idea.

"Oh, no I have," I laughed. "Just not when you're at this stage of the process." I muttered, as I ordered my side crew (as I like to call them) to help the woman get comfortable as possible while I get some breathing equipment to help the poor woman.

Okay, Mel, you can do this.

The baby was born withing minutes, a healthy cry of a new-born baby ringing through the room as the woman made many heavy breaths. "Oh, look!" I exclaimed in awe, "It's a baby boy." I whispered, cleaning the baby gently before wrapping him up in a blue baby blanket.

As soon as I handed the baby to his mother, he immediately stopped crying. The mother of the baby smiled down at her baby before looking up at me. "Thanks a lot for that. You really didn't seem chill at the start of that." She laughed, and I shrugged.

"Ah, I'm not actually very chill when you lot go into labour." I laughed, making the woman chuckle. "Have you thought of a name for him?" I whispered, looking down at the baby who was slowly drifting to sleep.

"I have." The woman said, making me raise an eyebrow. "Mel, this is Peter James Cooper." Peter. That had to be a coincidence. It just had to be.

After we made sure the baby was okay, I left the room, making my way to the staff room. Once I arrived there, I couldn't believe who was sitting there, sipping on a cup of coffee like everything was okay.

"Keith? Why are you here?" I whisper shouted, even though I had no reason to.

He gave me a sly smirk, winking at me. "Felt like little Mellie deserved a surprise." He laughed, as I shook my head at my brother.

He was now twenty-nine, but hell he still looked eighteen. His black locks shone in the light, complimenting his pale skin and his emerald eyes. His navy green shoulderless turtleneck clung to his figure, the shoulderless aspect showing the multitude of freckles that danced across his shoulders. His leather jeans were also clinging to his skin, his black converse fitting perfectly.

"I'm surprised, now go!" I shouted at my brother, not meaning it, whilst trying to push him out of the room.

He didn't budge. He looked back at me, his face holding no expression. "Mellie, I talked to your boss and you have the rest of the week off." He said, making me look up at him, my face expressionless.

"And why, Keith, did you do that?" I questioned calmly.

He gave me a knowing look, shaking his head. ���Mellie, it's the eleven-year anniversary of the incident. Both your boss and I agree that you deserve the week off." I sighed, looking down at the floor.

"I…. I just don't like the fact that I haven't seen them in eleven years…. Why do I still have hope for them Keith?" I asked, staring my brother in the eyes. I lied. I have definitely seen the pair since the incident- I haven't talked to them, but I know that I didn't hallucinate all the times I saw them back in Utah. So, I haven't seen them in around five years now. Seems like they lost my trace when I moved to the other side of the country to try and make sure people didn't know who I was. Hint- they knew.

"Because, Mellie, you're a good person." He said, making me nod slightly in defeat.

We swiftly made our way out of the hospital building, and when doing so, I knew that many of my co-workers knew why we were leaving. They all know me as 'Mel Woods, the girl whose brother killed her family' and I hate it. Can��t they just ignore the fact that one of my brothers is a well-known serial killer and the other is a not-so dead boy, who I'm also sure is a serial killer; so only my legally adopted brother is good.

We walked through the empty streets of Sunny Hills, not saying anything. I knew that Keith was lost in his thoughts. During the walk, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It's only noon. "Keith, would you like to go and get something to eat?" I questioned, stopping in place. Keith stopped too, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

"Mellie dear, I don't want to go and get something to eat. You go and get it." He said, using a tone filled with cheek and mischief.

I groaned, playfully glaring at Keith. "You knew what I meant." I stated, as he nodded in agreement.

So, then we took a detour to McDonalds, where I got a chicken burger and Keith got a beef burger. They were nice.

We had taken a while to get back to our small apartment, because when I looked at the time it read 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Keith lounged himself over the couch, lazily flicking through the channels on the TV. But when he stopped on the news, he gasped, dropping the remote.

I immediately turned to him in confusion, only to freeze in fear when I saw what was on the screen.

"A terrible event has occurred in the Sunny Hills central hospital." The newsagent said, face blank. "The infamous Jeff the killer strikes in Sunny Hills for the first time. He wasn't alone though. People claim that they saw his brother Liu- also known as Homicidal Liu- present at the scene as well." Oh no. This can't be happening. "And who the pair killed is not just anyone. They killed a woman named Margaret Cooper, and her new-born son Peter Cooper. If any of you out there know the Woods' family story in detail, you would know that Jeff and Liu's mother was named Margaret, and their father Peter. What is even more interesting about this case is the woman who delivered the baby. The woman was Melanie Woods, their little sister." At this, I ran over to Keith, grabbed the remote from the floor and shut the TV off.

"Keith," I began, my hands shaking, my breath uneven, "We need to get out of here. Now." I stated, panic evident in my voice.

"Mellie. They're our family. What will we do?" Keith asked, standing up and rushing to his bedroom.

"I have no idea!" I yelled, loud enough so that he could hear it. "I'm going to deal with it if we run into them!"

I ran to my bedroom, changing out of my work uniform into a navy-blue turtleneck and black skinny jeans. On my feet, I wore black converse. I didn't pack anything; I only threw my backpack over my shoulders. I pulled back my wavy chocolate brown hair into a neat high ponytail. I then left my bedroom, making my way through the passage and into the living room, where Keith was sat.

"Okay, I have a plan if we see them." I stated, making Keith stare up at me with widened eyes, a look of shock written upon his face.

"What? You do?" He whispered, the look of shock moulding into confusion. "You just said…" He started, before I cut him off.

"I know what I said, but this is called plan A. Plan A is when we ignore them and flee." I interrupted, making him frown.

"You really think that after eleven years I- let alone you- can ignore them?" Keith sarcastically responded, making me nod.

"Yeah. I bet we could ignore them." I lied to his face, knowing that we certainly couldn't. "Wait- what time is it?" I asked Keith.

"Night-time." Was his response, as he shrugged, not bothered to check for the actual time.

And so we set out into the darkness, hand in hand, knowing that some point tonight we'd face our brothers.