Crossing the Line

Chapter Ten

I'm so, so sorry this took so long - but guess what?! I finally know where the whole plot is going! And I've been writing this book for a year now... OTL... [The anniversary of the first chapter being written is on Friday! :D]

Also, I changed the ending of the last chapter. Just a few words. Just to give a sentence here more impact. Oh! And sorry if there's been a lot of typos throughout this story - I've had this crappy laptop for three years now, and the keyboard isn't working properly. I promise I'll go through it all and edit them out! ^-^

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Although there was obviously meant to be humour behind his words, it was quite a grim statement for Mikhail to make - or, perhaps, more of a confusing one, Miki thought, noticing Richard and Bonibell's blank stares. Of course, they had no idea who the boy was.

"It's... it's really you?" Nikolai asked, his hopeful tone annoying Mikhail. He didn't even have time to finish his exasperated answer before Nikolai had darted right in front of him, embracing him as if they were old friends who had been apart for a century. MIkhail's eyes widened in shock for a moment, but once that faded, he returned the action with a warm smile.

Asiyah stared at the two; she couldn't take her eyes away. She'd heard about Mikhail, though only little snippets, as he was a sad topic of conversation. She was happy, of course, that the boys had been reunited, kind of, but even more than that, she was concerned and shocked. How? She was so lost in thought that it took a few moments for her to notice Bonibell beckoning her over to the further end of the kitchen. She joined the small huddle of teens, who were whispering furiously.

"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Richard hissed. "Creeping outside our door last night, and now he's followed us here?!"

"He's Niki's... Niki's brother," Asiyah replied, still awestruck. "But I don't know how he's here. I don't know why he looks... like that, I don't know..." She couldn't continue. It would just be a string of 'I don't know's. There was no point in repeating it over and over.

"Yeah," Miki agreed. "I mean, I know they're twins, but... weren't they nine...?" A lump formed in her throat - she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

"What the hell are you two on about?" Bonibell interrupted, just as Asiyah was about to say something else. "Brother? Twins? What? I've never seen him, or heard of any Mikhail before."

Asiyah sighed. "That's because he's dead." Her expression was a mix of confusion and a grimace. Her feeling of shock had ebbed away, only to be replaced with even more concern, and a hint of fear. A silence fell upon the group as the two who didn't know took in the information. It was in this silence that the brothers began to talk. It was the first time they had done so in almost a decade.

"It's great that you can finally see me," Mikhail said, smiling. Finding her chance to ask some questions, Asiyah turned to face the boys.

"It's really great to see you again," Nikolai replied, fighting the urge to hug him again and cry.

"But why can we see you?" Asiyah asked, and the others sounded their agreement. "We're not in that house anymore-"

"Haven't you put it together yet?" Mikhail interrupted, a frown replacing the smile that had previously lit up his face. "Aren't you guys, like, the top of your classes? Come on. My mother can't see you - look at her, just sitting there, staring off into space. She doesn't have a single clue that we're here - she even walked through Nikolai. And that idiot fell through the counter and onto the floor." He glanced over them all. Many cast their gazes aside, but Asiyah's grey eyes seemed to burn deep into him; seemingly daring him to say what she refused to believe. "Seriously? Nothing?" He was getting more annoyed by the second. "You're practically ghosts!" Still no response, aside from dismayed expressions.