Chapter 10 Siblings

A feeling of relief filtered through me the minute the car came to a stop. The final stop, for now. We had made it to the next town in one piece. It was a small town with rows of houses and beautiful lawns on either side of the streets. The street lamps illuminated a peaceful looking neighborhood. It was quiet here but the silence did not carry with it danger, the way it did back in Darkwood. The trees swayed gently with the brisk touch of wind. I watched a small creature crawl up to its branch. A squirrel. I didn't think I'd ever live to see one. Darkwood was such a cramped up town with buildings everywhere you looked. Squirrels were the last thing anyone would find there.

Ricky opened the car door and got out. Cheryl and I followed. From the corner of my eye I could see her shiver as the outside wind caught up with us. I could hear the crickets chirp; a noise I had once forgotten existed. The air here was fresh, and not at all filled with the smell of sweat and rust.

Ricky smiled contently, taking in a deep breath. He looked at us and then gestured with a head tilt towards the house beside us. I noticed the slanting rooftop, wooden walls, and a lit up porch. It was something new to me, something I didn't see every day. I walked up to the porch with everyone. Ricky waved his fingers over the doorbell as if performing some sort of magic trick. To my surprise, the door opened by itself a second later. Of course, he of all people would know how to do that.

As I stepped onto the porch I caught her walking past from the corner of my eye. Cheryl was tracing her fingers along the walls. I waited for her but she seemed lost, in a trance. For a second, I thought I saw a smile. She stopped, suddenly, hand on the wall near the doorbell, staring off into space. At that moment, she looked sad. Was it a memory?

I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder; I almost jumped in surprise. Ricky stood there waiting.

"Let her be," he said, "She'll come around."

I took one last look at Cheryl before following him into the house. It was warm and cozy inside with carpeted floors and the electrical fireplace which displayed a looping fire on the screen. We were in what seemed like a lounge with a flat screen TV on the wall just above the fireplace. The couches were aligned in a square shape, with a coffee table in the middle. Ricky asked us to sit down while he inspected the rooms, taking his grandfather with him.

Very soon, Cheryl followed inside. She was quiet, still. She made her way across the room and sat down on the carpet in a small corner, just beside a couch. There was a hint of agitation in her eyes as she looked around the room. I noticed there were paintings hung up on the walls but no family pictures. It was like they were removed. A few nails were stuck to the wall, as if something used to hang there.

Ricky tiptoed back into the room.

"Okay, so they're all sleeping right now. I've taken grandpa to his room. Cheryl…" he walked over to where she sat, stuffed in a corner. He held out a hand with a comforting smile. "Come, I'll show you to your room."

This time when she looked at him, something watery glinted in her eyes in the dim light. She seemed tense and almost unwilling. Regardless, she took his hand. I watched the two siblings tiptoe out of the room. Something bothered me but I looked away.

My mind wandered off, trying to visualise what might have happened in the past.

'How did they separate in the first place? Did they abandon her, like my parents did with me?'

Thoughts bombarded my mind one after another. Feelings of the past rushed back. A cold sensation overtook me despite the heat from the fireplace.

'Did my family ever fight so hard for me?'

I shivered alone on the couch, trying to remember their faces. It was all too blurry. I remembered my mom's voice, complaining to me about how many times I'd already gotten out to pee and then failed to do so each time.

"But I really have to go this time," I insisted as we drove through the woods.

"Alright but if you come back again telling me that you couldn't pee because the shadows were watching you, no more stops. Got that?"

That was the last time I'd heard her voice. Dad had been silent the whole time. Now more than ever I wondered if they had ever tried to look for me. I remembered jumping out of the car before it even came to a stop but I couldn't remember why.

I felt a lump in my throat. I gulped, crossing my arms in an attempt to push back whatever feelings were trying to escalate. I shook my head. It had been over six years. They weren't going to come back now…

I breathed in deeply, and then breathed out, as to exhale my worries into the air.

Just at that moment, Ricky walked into the room. He saw me looking troubled. Instead of showing me the guest room, he just sat down beside me on the couch. Just with him being there, I could already feel at ease. It was like his brotherly vibes had reached out to me as well. I realized I saw him as a brother, as my own family. I hadn't had anyone to watch my back in a long time.

"You alright?"

"If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?" I said without looking at him.

"You want to know what happened to Cheryl in the past…" he guessed. He was right. I nodded.

"I just can't imagine how she could just go missing with someone like you around."

Ricky's face went grim, filled with regret.

"That's the thing… I wasn't around when they took her away." he spoke in a low, hard voice.

"They?"

"A tall lady in red. That's how my parents described her. Cheryl was only six." He spoke through his teeth.

"Where were you at that time?"

"I was recruited by the nightforce, stationed at Darkwood. Had to move out of the house when she was just five. My grandparents took me with them, raised me to be the person I am today."

"And your parents knew? About the nightforce? About your powers?" I asked.

Ricky shook his head. He stared blankly into the fireplace. "They had no idea. They were told I was a special child and I'd be given the best education, a house to live in Darkwood, and that I'd be making a lot of money.

"What I was, no one knew. Cheryl was growing up without me. She was six when she shocked the fish in the bowl. My parents found out about her powers eventually and started contacting people. Apparently, all this happened out of my knowledge."

He placed a hand on his temple, massaging it as if calming a headache.

"A lady came to them and offered help. She described the consequences of letting a child like that run wild. She offered about a double amount of the money the night force had offered for me. She even talked my parents into signing a contract which clearly stated that for the safety of the town and its people, the child would, from that day onwards, belong to her."

I watched as the events of that day played themselves in Ricky's head over and over again. His eyes filled with agony. He fumbled with the words as he tried to make out the sentence.

"If only I'd been there for her, she wouldn't have had to leave. My parents kept this from me and my grandparents for a while. It wasn't until I began asking too many questions, not being able to talk to my baby sister. They finally visited after that. They told me that the lady had promised to let them see Cheryl whenever they wished but they hadn't heard from her since."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was far worse than I'd imagined Cheryl's past to be like. Ricky was still going on.

"My grandma couldn't bear the news and died of a heart attack soon after. Grandpa lost his reason to live and he's been like this ever since. I had to quit the night force because I needed to take care of him but I did everything I could from that day, to try to locate my sister."

"Some coincidence, one day she and I just walked into your bookshop." I recalled.

Ricky glanced at me, like he wanted to object to that. And then suddenly burst out laughing. I just stared at him with a question mark on my face. Brows raised, demanding answers. He then finally stopped laughing and spoke.

"You and Cheryl becoming suspects, runaways, was the day I finally found her. Since the news reached me before anything else." He tapped the side of his temple as if pointing at his powers. "I instantly recognized her picture. After that, it was just a game of manipulating the night guards to draw you guys towards my shop. I saw how you cared for her, so I took you in as well. And here we are."

Ricky slumped back into the couch with a heavy sigh. I tried not to feel offended by the fact that every step I had taken ever since I ran away had been calculated by someone else.

"And here I thought your sister's powers were terrifying…" I mumbled to myself.

We sat like that in silence, dwelling on our own thoughts from within. After a while Ricky got up.

"I'm going to head to bed now. Just walk straight towards the end of the hallway, the last room is reserved for you."

"Thanks." I told him.

He nodded and walked out.

I left the lounge into the hallway, lit by bulbs that were fixed inside the ceiling. They were fixed at maximum intervals so the hallway was faintly lit.

As I tiptoed through, I felt the movement of a shadow from the corner of my eye. I kept at a normal pace with my head turned to one side just enough so that I could watch my back. Something moved in closer. I felt my shoulders stiffen instinctively. There was no doubt about it, something was following me.

I fastened my pace. The hallway seemed to darken as I proceeded further in until the only source of light was from the windows aligned with the walls on my left.

As I marched into the darkness, I felt goosebumps rise up my arms. A slight tiptoe caught my ears. It was closer than I thought. My heartbeat raised only slightly. I pretended not to notice as I slowed my pace while keeping my ears on alert for further sound. There it was, a very faint tap, so low that I might have never heard if I hadn't slowed down.

At that moment, instincts took over. I felt the person's shadowy arm reach out.

Without a warning, I spun around, grabbed it and pulled it around, pinning the person to the wall. She gasped as her back hit the wall. My eyes widened slightly as they met her dark ones. I didn't let go of her shoulders just yet. Something was wrong.

"Cheryl… What are you doing?" My voice came out in a soft whisper.