The Forgotten Sibling

Chapter 7

Carlos stopped walking and frowned. Far away, there was a noise that was slowly getting louder. "Does anyone hear that?"

Austin tilted his head. "I do."

"I do too," Amelia said.

The hairs on the back of his neck tingled. Sam looked at him with wide eyes; she was thinking the same thing he was.

"GET DOWN!"

His friends hurtled themselves at the ground before it hit. A noise like an amplified tornado siren slowly got louder until it turned into a sonic boom. Overhead, the trees shook, their leaves falling to the ground and covering Carlos in a green blanket. He heard the water shoot up into the air and splash back down, soaking him and his friends. The rocks in the camp broke apart, dust wafting into Carlos's nose and making him sneeze.

He waited for a bit, making sure that the sonic boom was gone. Then he slowly got up, almost falling over.

"Legs work for twenty years and they choose today to fall asleep," he grumbled.

After waiting for the circulation to come back-while experiencing excruciating pains because the pins and needles decided to mess with him-he walked over to Amelia and Austin, who were still crumpled up in a ball, covering their ears.

Carlos tapped Amelia's shoulder. She looked up at him. "It's gone now."

She slowly moved her hands away from her ears. "What even was that?"

"That, my friend, was a sonic boom," Carlos said.

"Sonic boom? What-"

"No time to explain." He helped Amelia and Austin to their feet just before Klickhaze ran in.

Carlos gasped when he saw her. Her pelt was blistered, trails of blood trickling from the blisters that popped. She had a black eye, and her fur was tangled and messy.

"What...what happened?" Sam walked up to her and tried to clean up the blood.

"The siblings," Klickhaze gasped. "They... they wanted revenge."

"Revenge? Against who?"

"I-" Klickhaze stumbled backwards and collapsed.

"KLICKHAZE!"

The ground started to rumble again. INTERESTING, a voice said from the sky.

"Jhaufyther?" Sam looked up at the sky. "Why did you do this?"

The voice chuckled. Oh, this isn't Jhaufyther, although I can see why you mistake me for him.

"Who are you then?" Sam yelled defiantly.

A bit temperamental, no? I can see why you're the hot headed one. The voice snorted. My father was like that. He took his anger out on me, but I was already used to him beating me with his star whip.

I never liked him. Even during my youthful days, he used to torment me, saying "You'll never amount to anything" and "You will be crying when I'm done with you."

Then the Triplets came. When they first met me, they treated me with kindness; something I've never experienced when I lived in the cosmos.

I liked Jhaufyther more out of the three of them. He understood my pain better than his siblings because he was bullied as a khit. He was sympathetic and always wanted to help me. I still remember the time him and his siblings saved me as I was dangling over a cliff into the abyss, where I would be trapped forever.

Now, millions of years later, the thought of declaring vengeance against my overachieving parents thrilled me. That is why I am here, to see what the world turned into ever since my parents fell into their deep sleep.