𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧

Chapter 5: Violet

I was out of breath. I could still hardly believe that there was a Virus and I was curious as to how Alan would break the news to me. He had no idea that I knew about it, and I cackled in devil's delight. After all, you couldn't have fun without being a little bit naughty.

My head still hurt a bit from the buzz. On the way to the construction site, I was bombarded with Alan's thoughts and I wanted to get away from them for a while. That was when I discovered the Switch - at least that's what I was going to call it. When I pressed a special place on my temple, I could 'turn on' or 'turn off' my mind-reading skills. I'd pressed my temple and suddenly all of Alan's thoughts went on mute. I was so shocked and pleased at the same time. It was very handy because there were some situations in which I wanted to know what my brother was thinking. However, I didn't want to hear his thoughts all the time.

Thinking about this made me realise why the buzz had stopped at night. It was because Alan didn't think while he was sleeping. It made so much more sense. I decided not to tell Alan about my new discovery. It was my little secret for now.

So I had made it back home before Alan did, huffing and puffing. The only problem was that I was out of breath from the run home. I had crashed through trees, and I'd earned a small scratch on my knee for my naughtiness. Alan would immediately pick up on it and I would be suspicious. After all, I was only meant to be guarding the hideout from any thieves. Alan was quite paranoid, after all. He could pick up on things very quickly, almost as fast as I could.

Then I had a lightbulb moment. You know that feeling you'd get when you have this great idea, then you'd realise how wrong it would be? Well, I was feeling it. It was so wrong to lie to Alan, but I didn't really have any choice but to go along with it. Alan could be back any moment and I couldn't be seen in my current state. I exited the hideout and started jogging laps of the hideout. It wasn't very big, so I had to circle our home about five times before I saw Alan turning around the corner. I braced myself for his surprise. I never really did any cardio of any sort. I just never had any interest in it. I was fit, but not very fit. I was getting very tired now, and now was the time to ask.

I ran up to my brother. "Hey, Alan," I gasped. "How was it?"

His face looked grave. "Come inside," he gestured. "I have something important to tell you." Then he abruptly stopped like he'd just realised that I was puffing. "Why are you running around the hideout?"

I was prepared for my answer. I had thought through what I was going to say while I was waiting for him. "I noticed that you were taking longer than usual, so I decided to do something useful for a change. It's nice to get some fresh air, and I needed the exercise anyway." I wanted to jab him slightly in the way that I told him that he had taken longer than usual. He didn't seem to catch the jab, because something was clearly on his mind. Having witnessed it, I already knew what it was. But I pretended to go along with it. "So yeah, I was just exercising. I want to be fit."

Alan looked mildly impressed, still not fully concentrating on me. "That's a good idea," he replied. "You never know when it will come in handy." Yes, Alan, I thought. You would never know.

Inwardly, I smiled. I would definitely be doing some running the next time he went out to meet Freddy. This was working well.

Alan and I went inside, and I was bursting with curiosity to find out if he would tell me the truth. "What's up?" I asked. I realised that I was tapping my foot impatiently and I immediately stopped it, hoping that Alan hadn't noticed.

Alan sighed. "You know the war that the City is fighting against the Countries? I know the West Quarter isn't really involved in it but it still affects us. Our Scientists decided to make a Virus that could kill their Soldiers."

I tried my absolute best to look surprised. I knew that I nailed it because Alan took it seriously and totally believed my surprise. Thanks to my amazing acting skills, I knew that I could get away with tricking Alan. But although I had a mild satisfaction, I couldn't help but feel guilty. I was never this naughty, at least not before I started being able to read his mind. I pressed my temple, and Alan's thoughts came back into my mind.

--should be very careful. Things are very dangerous, so I should keep an eye on Violet.

"Just be very careful when you're going on your runs, okay? I don't want you getting hurt." He eyed the scratch on my knee.

I wonder if there's something that Violet's not telling me. She didn't have that scratch before. When did she get that?

Oh, shoot. In my haste, I'd forgotten to cover up my scratch. I looked up quickly. "I tripped over when I was running."

It was a very sneaky lie. I was telling the truth, yet I wasn't. Oh, well. I decided then that I would try to be honest with Alan from then on. It made me feel bad to be taking advantage of his trust. I shouldn't, at least not to my own brother. But he nodded - he believed me.

Argh, I just want to check out the construction site again. I wonder when they're putting the Virus tanks in. But I can't afford to be sick. I might become sick if I keep going out.

Alan sighed, oblivious to the fact that I was listening to his thoughts. It was very interesting to gain insight into his mind. I had never known what he was thinking. He seemed naughtier and more curious than I thought. He had always set up a persona as a well-behaved, brave and caring brother. Alan was thinking dangerous thoughts that he would have never told his sister.

What was almost as bad was that he kept his coughing from me. Well, he wasn't really keeping it from me because I already knew about it. However, that meant that he didn't think I was old enough to know something like that. I was fourteen already, for goodness sake. It made me offended as hell.

For now, I decided to keep quiet about it. I wanted to find out as much information as possible and the only way I could do that was to keep his guard down.

I smiled at my brother sweetly, twirling my hair in the way that he loved. That earned a smile from him. "Come," I said. "Let's go for a walk."

I had gotten more confirmation that my manipulation skills were improving.