Mind Fires

Chapter 9

"Oh I see," I heard Kyle mumble, "Jesus Christ," he sighed.

The giggles of the boys followed. They sounded so innocent and almost cute. The opposite of what I had just witnessed. "Let's get you down, Micah. How the heck did you get up there?" Kyle had a cheerful tone. It almost made me angry, the fact that my nephews got on with him fine, but had a fiery resentment against me. "Nathaniel, you take Micah into the living room whilst I clean up, okay?"

Certain they had left the kitchen, I marched into the kitchen and slammed the door. "It's fine, Tess, I'll tidy up, don't worry-"

"Do you honestly think I am this upset over an untidy kitchen?" I asked, almost sarcastically.

"...what's wrong then?"

"Have you not noticed the goddamn knife stuck in the wall?" I snapped, pointing to the weapon with quivering hands.

He stood up, furrowing his brows. He struggled as he tried to release the knife from the wall. "Who did this?" he demanded.

I stayed silent. "Them," I hissed.

"Look Tessa, I honestly don't see what you have against these boys. They're your nephews. They're children. Those poor kids have had a horrible start to life and it's obviously going to take time for them to adjust-"

"You don't get it, do you?" I waited for his reply, but he stayed quiet, "They're not normal. Don't tell me it's because 'they've had a horrible start to life'. No. They... They,"

"They what?"

"They are creepy. Either they have some sort of supernatural power or they're demons-" I stopped talking as I realised Kyle was laughing.

"Have you heard yourself? Oh, you crack me up. I think you're just stressed. Maybe go to the doctor and get some stress relief,"

And that's what I did. The following day, I drove to the doctor's and was prescribed medication. Even though I knew my assumptions were not insane, I thought perhaps my strain isn't making matters any better. Maybe my imagination was exaggerating things slightly. Maybe.