Long Lost Brother

Chapter 14 : The beginning of Riker's down spiral

Chapter 14

Later...

Riker POV

We'd all walked back to the cabin and Jeff made me get changed in the bathroom again. It felt less creepy this time, but I still didn't like the basement!

I was currently sitting on my bed, holding my knees to my chest, watching Jeff. He was looking around at everything down here. There was a water heater, pipes, and all that typical basement stuff.

"Jeff, would you stop touching everything? You're going to make the house explode or something."

"I'm not even touching it! I'm looking..."

"Well quit looking. I want to get out of here and go do something."

"Like what?"

"Like... Go see when dinner's going to be ready."

"Riker, they'll call us."

"Can we please just get out of the basement? I really don't like it."

"Fine."

"Thanks..."

Jeff POV

We walked upstairs to the living room.

"Do you guys want to do something?" Riker asked our other siblings.

"We should play cards," Ross said.

"Yeah. Let's go play in the basement," Rocky said.

"Can't we play up here?" Riker asked.

"Why?" Rocky asked.

"Because he's scared," I said, smirking slightly.

"I am not!"

"You are so! I had to lock you in the bathroom so you'd get changed!"

"He's scared of a lot of stupid stuff," Rocky said.

"I am not!" Riker shouted.

"At home, you have a nightlight near your bed, you hate scary movies, spiders, and a ton of other stupid stuff," Rocky said.

Riker turned incredibly red.

"Come on. Let's go play cards. Riker, you can come too if you're brave enough," Rocky said, smirking at his brother.

Riker frowned, looking kind of upset with his siblings. They all went downstairs, except me.

"Riker, if you don't want to go down, I'll stay up here and do something with you."

"No... Go ahead... Have fun..."

"Is it really that scary to you?"

"I just... don't feel right when I'm down there... I don't know how to explain it. I just get spooked easily..."

"Riker, I know you feel like that, but there's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a basement."

Riker sighed.

"I know it's just a basement, but I can't help how I feel."

"Fine... I'll be down there if you need me."

Riker POV

I watched Jeff go downstairs. Even though we were twins, I guess this was one of our differences. He was brave, and I wasn't. Although, I knew he'd been abused, so maybe after going through a rough childhood like that, you gain some bravery...