anguish ; yttd

𝐩𝐫𝗼𝐥𝗼𝐠𝐮𝐞

"Ah, what a long day..." My friend, Melyssa, sighed as she took off her work jacket. "I seriously hate having to work."

We walked through an alleyway after a long day of working at our work place. It was completely dark other than a few street lights and the moon that lit up the scenery around us. Melyssa and I never had to stay this late for work before, so I found it a bit strange.

The two of us worked together as researching agents at Asunaro, a "medical" research organization. We'd met there and became closer as we had to work more often together. I personally didn't particularly want to work there but felt like I had to work there. In order to figure out the truth behind the mysteries of the organization.

"You seem pretty deep in thought," Melyssa's voice completely interrupted my thoughts. "Something up?"

"No, it's nothing," I lied. It was definitely something. It'd been haunting me ever since I found out.

A few weeks ago, I'd found out that my brother—who was supposed to be dead—was actually alive. Ever since I'd found out about it, certain people at my job began acting weird with me. Something was wrong. I knew that for sure. I simply couldn't put my finger on what.

"Hmm," Melyssa said, "you're a horrible liar. Whatever's on your mind, you shouldn't let it bug you too much. We've got tons of super important things to think about. Like for example, what're we gonna do tomorrow since we don't have to work. Hang out at the ice cream shop, perhaps?"

I looked over to my friend, who gave me a wide beam. Her brown skin gleamed because of the streetlights and her curly hair blew softly to the side as I felt a gust of a small breeze. She always had a way of making anyone feel better. Her personality made her such a likeable person. In a way, I was almost jealous.

"How about you go and hang out with that girlfriend of yours?" I teased.

She nervously chuckled. "I haven't talked to her much recently. Besides, it's been a while since we've hung out, just us two."

It had been a while. It felt like many things had changed since I found out my brother was actually alive.

Melyssa took my hand and pushed her glasses higher on her nose. "Hey, didn't you say you needed to check on your parents? In case you forgot, they were calling you earlier."

I had indeed forgotten. I'd gotten multiple calls from them at work, but didn't exactly feel like answering at the time.

"Ah, you're right," I muttered. "Are you sure you wanna come along with me though?"

"Duh! I've gotta make sure no creepy people try to cross you. It's dangerous here at night, y'know. You can handle yourself and all but I'm also quite nosy, so I've gotta hear what they needed you for!" She tugged harder on my arm. "Now, c'mon! Let's go see what they want!"

"I think you just want my mom to give you food..." I muttered.

Melyssa and I's walking pace quickly picked up to a jog as she dragged me along the alleyway, trying to get to my parent's house. Normally, I'd feel happy going to see my parents, especially with Melyssa but I couldn't shake this bad gut feeling I had. It was a familiar feeling, one that I'd learned to recognize. Yet, the last time this feeling came, chaos completely consumed my life. As we continued down the path, I tried to shake off my anxiety.

Melyssa and I finally made it to my parents house. The house lights were off and I couldn't see a thing inside the house.

"That's weird.." Melyssa glanced at the driveway. "Their cars are still here..."

"Let's just go inside," I reached for the spare house key, which was under the welcome mat, and inserted it into the keyhole, "they might be..."

I felt my voice falter as I turned the key and realized the door was already unlocked. My parents never left their door unlocked, even when they knew I was coming to visit.