Chapter 7

" Albert , can we play hide and seek please "

" Anything for my princess " he gently ruffles my hair while I jump in ecstasy .

" Elda why did you skip your breakfast ?"

" I couldn't eat without you , don't leave without me again Albert "

" It's okay hun , I'm here now "

" Albert where are you going ? You promised you wouldn't leave me alone "

" I'm so sorry Elda, there's nothing I can do "

" Promise me you'll come back to me " a broken sob leaves my mouth

" Don't cry princess , I'll come back to you, I'll always come back to you ".

~~~~~

I wake up in a cold sweat , swallowing the lump in my throat , I wince in pain when I move my hands and that's when I realize that once again I managed to hurt myself while training . I look at the unfamiliar room I'm in tensing when I hear the sound of running water from the bathroom . I'm not alone . I slowly get up , the door to the bathroom opens , I shake my head aggresively trying to clear my vision and get rid of the dizzines , but apparently that was a stupid move as I find myself face to face with the hard ground again .

" Shit , you okay Elda ?" The person asks in a concerned voice , my heart breaks a little when I realize that he's not Adam , a part of me had hoped for it to be him .

The person helps me to my feet and takes me back to the bed .

I squint my eyes trying to see in the darkness of the room " Who are you ? Where am I ? Why did you bring me here ? What happened to me ? "

He chuckles " Slow down princess , one question at a time please "

He switches the light on and I gasp when I see him , the boy from the cafeteria .

" I want to leave " I try getting up , but he stops me

" Sit down Elda , you're not okay "

I scoff " Why does it matter to you ! You want me dead anyway "

He grits his teeth in anger and suddenly all the courage I had dissappears , might as well get on my knees and beg him to let me go .

" I do care Elda , I shouldn't , but I do care "

I keep my mouth shut afraid that I might say something that could anger him .

"Sit down , you need to rest "

" I don't need to rest I need you to answer my questions " my voice comes out louder than I intended . He gets up and walks towards me making me regret all my life decisions he raises his hand and I flinch expecting the worst , but he only pulls me towards the bed forcing me to sit down again .

" Take a deep breath , what I'm about to say is going to be shocking "

I nod waiting for him to speak , but what he says makes me forget how to even breathe

" You're my sister Elda "

And with that all the memories come rushing into my mind .

" Albert bring me ice cream on your way back "

" Al can we go to the park ? "

" Albert don't leave me alone , I hate the dark "

I close my eyes tightly trying to grasp the fact that I've got a brother , one that I've totally forgotten about .

One that I have so many memories with , yet I can't remember them clearly , like there's a barrier between me and them preventing me from remembering him , my only brother , the only family I have left .

A moment of silence passes as I try to take it all in .

" Elda say something , you're worrying me."

I clear my throat " Should I start calling you Al from now on ? "

He chuckles " Out of all the things you could've said this is what you come up with ! "

I take a deep breath " I actually have a lot to ask , I just don't know where to start "

" You can ask me anything bun "

" How can we be siblings , I don't really remember much "

" Well that's a long story , so our mother was married to my dad for five years , he convinced her that he was madly in love with her , he always had that sick plan . He could control fire while mother had water powers , he hoped I'd inherit both powers and then I'll be the fireball , he wanted to control the world using me , so when I was born and he found out that I only inherited water powers , he showed his true colors , he started abusing us literally everyday , we lived in hell . Till mom met your father , he fell for her and helped us escape from my dad . She got my dad to divorce her one night when he was drunk . She married your dad and was pregnant with you obviously . Everything was way too good to be true , dad found us , he didn't know she was pregnant he attacked her and that's how you got cursed . My dad thought that mom was dead , but four years later he found out that she was still alive , and she was married to someone else and that her daughter was the fireball he'd always wanted , then one day mom told me to go back to him and tell him that I'd be the one to get gim the fireball to surrender to him and that's how I made it out alive , till this day , I felt like a walking corpse , living with guilt . I'm sorry Elda maybe if I hadn't left , I could've helped them out of that fire and even now I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life and kidnap my own sister "

Albert gives me a few minutes to understand everything and think it through

" Wait ... my parents died because of me ! I lost control over myself. "

Albert shakes his head " He killed them Elda , he was the one that started the fire , I was there that day I saw you running out of the house , I saw it all "

His voice cracks at the end

" Hey ... you were only a kid , you couldn't have done anything back there " I pat his back awkwardly still not used to the fact the he's my brother

" Okay so you're not actually trying to kill me or hurt me anymore ?"

He chuckles " Of course not , it was all an act to get rid of my father , I think he stalks me every now and then to see if I'm still working on his plan , he's worried that I may get a change of heart , but that's already happened "

" So can you stop acting like a freak now ? Like can we make it public that we're siblings and all "

Albert opens his mouth about to answer when the door opens with a loud bang showing Emma , Emdund and Adam with broom sticks ready to attack as if they had forgotten that they can control elements.

Edmund barges in and pulls me behind his back clenching his fist ready to punch Albert and of course being me , I had to interfere , getting hit in the process .

" Elda for God's sake you can't just step in like this " Albert yells steadying me

Edmund looks at Emma with a confused gaze and she slaps the back of his head

his eyes widen " Oh my God Elda I'm so sorry I didn't mean to "

" Stop rambling , my head's killing me " I wince a little trying to not make him feel even more guilty

" What were you even doing here ?" Adam asks with a cold tone breaking my heart break even more

I glare at him "None of your buisness , it's not like you care anyway"

My eyes widen as Albert leaves my side and charges towards Adam " You're that prick who made my sister cry ?" He growls

" Oh . My . God " Edmund says

" I think I'm about to pass out " Emma slaps her face lightly

I realize that neither Edmund nor Emma is going to break their fight so I make the decesion of interfering again hoping to not get punched again this time .

" C'mon Albert leave him please , you need to calm down "

Albert reluctantly lets go of Adam's collar with a huff

" You definitely have to tell us what's going on here , I mean Ed has just found out that he's the one behind that incident in the hall you know the bloody words and all " Emma says

" Take a seat " Albert says and they comply

" No you keep standing " he points at Adam

and I bite my lips trying not to laugh

Albert explains everything to them about a thousand times as they keep saying that they don't understand a single thing .

Albert finishes explaining again and facepalms himself when he sees the confused look on their faces

" Oh Lord , please save me " he mutters under his breath

" Guys I'm seriously not going to explain this again "

" No I think I get it now " Emma flips her hair as if she's the smartest one of them for understanding after two hours of explanation

Adam looks at Albert sceptically " And you just believed him ? "

" Of course I did , he's my brother I remember him and I actually got visions of me and Al playing together and stuff "

" Wait wasn't he called Albert? " Edmund says without an ounce of humor in his voice

" FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU CAN'T BE THIS DUMB " I laugh to myself when Albert pulls at his hair

He takes a deep breath " Look guys , Elda and I are siblings , I have photos of us bathing together for proof , seriously Elda now I wish I wasn't your brother , why would you even surround yourself with those idiots " He says it all in one go

Emma leans and whispers to Adam " I think we might've asked the same question way too much "

" Look , we're not normally this stupid , it's just that we got up really early today , so I think I should go get my beauty sleep and then you can explain this to us all over again " She yawns

Albert throws himself on the bed " No this can't be happening "

I chuckle ushering them out of the room " That's a good idea you guys should go to sleep "

" Elda please don't bring those morons back ever "

" I don't think you'd be able to handle anymore questions today anyway , you should sleep too "

He nods , lazily waving to me , I close the door and make my way to my room , finally getting a nice relaxing sleep after a hectic day