Heirs Unapparant | A Miraculous Origin Story

Chapter 5: Sentry Mounting (تصاعد الحراسة)

"Nich...olas? Nickie? You hear? You awake?"

Something poked his cheek and he groaned, swiping weakly at the offending finger and hearing the giggle of laughter as small feet scrambled away from him and disappeared around a bend. A dog barked and Nicholas grunted something he didn't even understand as his senses began to return and he felt the firm mattress underneath him.

"Owww," he grunted, heaving himself up onto his elbows and slowly glancing around, recognizing his own room and the anxious eyes watching him from the doorway. "I...am now. What is it, Nino?"

Said boy peeked back around the corner at him. "Yous been asleep!" came the hasty response. "Yous missed dinner and Dover is hungy!"

"Oh," Nicholas said, trying to sit up all the way. His head spun and his arms felt like jelly. As Nino cautiously crept back into the room, Nicholas fell back against a mountain of pillows with a deep grunt. "Dover is hungry? Are you sure about that?" There was no reply from the child and Nicholas knew what that meant. Besides, something was far too quiet to be normal. "Where are mom and dad?" he inquired, heaving himself up once again and forcing back nausea as Nino stood hopefully by his bedside, holding a bag of snacks in his hands.

"Downstair," Nino sang, scrambling up onto the bed, holding out the bag of cheese puffs happily. "Yous still sleepy?" he chirped. "Chip?" He shoved the snack into Nicholas's face.

"No, that's okay. I'm good," Nicholas said quickly, pushing the Cheeto away and running a hand through his hair, wincing as his muscles felt like lead and he leaned back against the bed frame with a long sigh. "What time is it?"

"Dinner time!" Nino repeated urgently, tugging at the quilt impatiently.

Well, that was no help. With a moan, Nicholas heaved himself over to peer irritably at his flashing alarm clock which read 7:48 p.m. Ugh. It's so late. But why is it so quiet? Shouldn't the house be full of noise and dad's screaming over his football game or something? He didn't like the silence. Silence often meant trouble. Or danger. His family was not silent. Something was wrong.

"Where are ab and al'umu?" he repeated shortly, sitting up and ignoring Nino's wince of hurt as he was forcibly knocked from the bed. "Why am I not at school? Why aren't you?"

"School done! I draw big truck! " Nino answered proudly, picking up his spilled bag of chips, scowling as the shepard came diving into the room to lick up the crumbs. "Ew, Dozer!" he complained, receiving a sloppy kiss in reply. "No! Yuckie!" He pushed the dog away, wiping his face of slobber. "Nickie! Dozer licked me again!"

"I saw," Nicholas muttered, head still pounding as he swung himself from the mattress and started to stand. "Mom and Dad?"

"Downstair," Nino repeated, trying to shove Dozer's face away from his. "Tree. Playing with presents. Wanna play too!"

"Maybe later, Akhi." Nicholas knew his parent's codes. "Wrapping presents" was actually a misnomer for "having a serious discussion that does not involve two children who should not be worrying about anything besides getting a good education and making a name for themselves". They almost always held them after the brothers had gone to bed and they were always related to Nicholas; either about his studies or his music, neither of which impressed them. "Why don't you go play with your blocks?" he suggested, gesturing abstractly to the pile of scattered legos covering the far half of the room.

"Don't want to," Nino sniffed, scooting closer. "Mommy said...stay with...with you. Said...said you was sick." He sat up straight and slapped a hand to Nicholas's forehead like his parents had done to him the last time he'd been feverish. "Don't feel hot," he commented.