Glitterdust (Completed)

20. Special delivery

"You almost got me." Greg smiles. "Almost."

I slam the controller on the coffee table, that's standing in front of the couch where we are sitting.

"Hey! Easy with that. I'll show you a new move." He hands me the controller. Firmly I take it into my hands and he places his long fingers over mine.

"Push two times the red button, then the blue and the green, and pull the left trigger, like this." I feel the pressure of his fingers on mine and we work on the sequence until I get it right.

"Now try it against the computer." Greg urges.

Quickly I move through the menu and pick a random opponent. I concentrate on what's happening on the screen and I work on the new move until I hear a raw scream.

"Greg, no, no. No, breathe, baby, breathe." I see Megan, holding Greg in her arms. Tears stream down her face.

Then she looks at me. Her voice is lacerated with panic. "Do something, Eli."

The controller drops to the floor, and something's crack. Greg will be so mad at me.

I stare at the limp body in Megan's arms. My brother's head is all bend back. There is nothing good about this situation.

"I don't think I can do anything, Megan." My voice sounds fragile.

"Why did you make him come? You knew there was something wrong with him," she yells at me. Her eyes are red from all the crying. "He should have stayed home. And you want to be a doctor one day? This is all your fault."

I want to tell her we're still at home, but now I notice we're not in our living room anymore. It's dark and we're somewhere in a forest. Awkwardly I kneel down on the muddy ground, next to my brothers' body. I try to check his pulse, but I'm too nervous and Meg keeps shaking my brother as if she tries to wake him up. Check if he's breathing, goes through my mind.

When I turn my gaze to his chest, to see if it rises now and then, a bright light blinds me instantly.

"We want to know the truth, Elise." A reporter pushes a microphone to my face. "Did you kill your brother?"

"Please," I whisper, "Go away." 

"We all know you're not the perfect girl you pretend to be. We have the pictures to prove it. Why did your brother have to die?" They don't stop, they never will. I curl up into a little ball, covering my head with my arms - I don't want to hear the accusations anymore. 

"Go away, go away, go away." I keep repeating the words over and over. Unfamiliar hands try to grab me. They're reaching for my throat and I'm sure they're going to strangle me.

When I open my eyes, I see it's not the hands of strangers, but my own sheet that's all wrapped around my body and trying to strangle me. Sweat trickles along my spine. It was a dream, just a dream.

It takes some effort to untangle the sheet. Slowly I realize I'm in the safety of my own room. As long as I don't open my curtains I will be safe. No one is going to see me.

I wonder how many photographers are still posted in front of our house. Dan had arranged two bodyguards. They escorted me home where several journalists were waiting for me. The last four days I stayed in our home. I thought I was safe from the cameras, until we found out they made pictures of our contours when we walked through the house. I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own home.

Drowsily I walk to the kitchen, fill up the coffee machine with water, and the right amount of coffee.

"Well, if that isn't the most famous person living in this house!" Megan is making a show of it. "And Eli, how are you doing today?"