Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 5~

~Colby~

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring like a siren, dragging me out of a restless sleep. My room was a mess, clothes scattered everywhere, and my backpack lying in the middle of it all. I groaned, running a hand through my hair, and decided to just get on with it. I threw on my black tank top, those black and white half-and-half jeans that always got me weird looks, and my trusty black combat boots.
I haven't been getting the best of sleep lately, one from stress and secondly from family. I've been missing my older brother Gage as of lately, recently was the "anniversary" of his disappearance.

~June 21st 2000~

The world was a blur of shadows and murmurs, too large and incomprehensible for my young mind. I was just two at the time. I remember the warmth of Kalani's arms, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat against my ear as she rocked me back and forth to soothe me from the rumbles of the thunder that lurked outside by. Her voice was soft, a whisper in the encroaching darkness of our small Kansas living room. "It's okay, baby, I've got you," she soothed, but her voice trembled, betraying her calm facade.

The night was still, almost suffocating, until a sharp knock shattered the silence. Gage's footsteps were heavy against the wooden floor as he approached the door, a silent sentinel in the face of the unknown. "Stay back," he commanded, his voice low, protective.

The door creaked open, and chaos erupted. Sounds I couldn't understand—shouts, scuffles, and those terrifying bangs that made me flinch in Kalani's arms. "What's happening?!" Kalani cried out, her voice laced with fear.

There was a struggle, a dance of shadows at the door, and then a piercing scream that I would later understand was our mother's. "Gage!" she wailed, a sound of pure agony.

The fight ended as abruptly as it had begun, leaving behind a silence that was louder than the commotion itself. Kalani's grip on me tightened, her body shaking. "He's gone, Colby. Gage is gone," she whispered, her tears falling hot and fast onto my cheeks.

I couldn't comprehend the loss, the permanent absence of my brother, but the pain in my family's cries was a language even a child could understand. The fragment of Gage's shirt, stained with his blood, lay on the floor—a stark reminder of the brother I would never see again.

"Why did they take him?" Kalani sobbed, her question hanging unanswered in the heavy air.

Mom's arms enveloped us both, her sobs mingling with ours. "We'll find him," she promised, a whisper of hope in a sea of despair. But deep down, we all knew the truth. Gage was gone, and with him, a piece of our family's soul.

The memory of that night haunts me, a ghostly echo that lingers in the quiet moments, a reminder of the fragility of our world. It was the night that defined my childhood, the night that the monsters became real, and the night I learned that they could be right at your front door waiting to pounce on the innocent.

~

I shook my head to clear of the thought from my brain. Just as I finished pulling on my boots, Sam popped his head in.

"Yo, you good?" he asked, his eyes scanning the mess that was my room.

"Yeah, just not feeling it today," I replied, shrugging. There was a reason; I just felt off. Maybe it was the scuff marks on my knuckles from the fight with my dad at the pack meeting last night. That always put me in a mood.

"Well, hurry up, man. Breakfast is ready, and you know how Katrina gets if we're late," Sam said, rolling his eyes. I chuckled, grabbing my backpack off the floor and heading downstairs with him.