The Real Villian

Year: 4055; Day: 82

{Author's song of the chapter: Wires - The Neighborhood}
Comment your song for the chapter ;-)

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"Kars, wake up. Please wake up."

I felt someone shaking me and groaned, wondering why a familiar voice was waking me up instead of my normal alarm.

"Kars, you gotta get up. Sis, please, please."

My eyes shot open once I realized the reality of the situation. I could hardly make out my brother's panicked face in the dark. He was still shaking me and whisper-yelling at me.

"What's going on?" I mumbled in a sleepy voice.

He stopped shaking me. "Kara, they're coming for us. We have to leave quickly."

I couldn't quite understand what he meant, but his tone was enough for me to jump out of bed. Cautiously, I glanced out of the window of my room, and wished I hadn't.

Authorities were surrounding our house. Suddenly, I felt like I was going to vomit.

"Why are they...," I trailed off. My brother was desperately trying to pull me somewhere, but I wouldn't move.

"I don't know, they're banging on the door right now. Father is going to talk to them. They don't know we're awake. Sis, I think they're here for you."

My stomach dropped when I thought of my plans. I was so careful, they couldn't possibly know...

"What about Lake?" I blurted out as we started walking quickly down the hallway of our bedrooms. If I were in trouble, he probably was too. And, he didn't have a father to talk him out of it.

My brother stopped for a second to look at me, then continued walking. "Who?" He asked.

I remembered that I was the only one who actually called him Lake. Reason swept through my mind, and suddenly I was grateful he didn't know who Lake was. If for some reason we were in trouble for anything aside from my plans, I didn't need to drag Lake down with me.

Now that I was starting to think clearly, I noticed where we were heading. Or, rather, where we weren't heading.

"Where are we?" I asked. We were walking down a dark staircase with small lanterns every 10 feet or so. The staircase was fairly narrow, it obviously wasn't meant for daily use.

"It's a secret hiding area our great great grandfather created for our family. Mother told me about it two years ago. She figured it was easier to only tell one of us, so the chances of the secret getting out were more slim. Father doesn't even know about it, either, if it makes you feel better."

I frowned when he mentioned that mother only told him. Her reasoning made sense, but it still hurt to know she picked him over me. Reality quickly hit me, though, and I decided now wasn't the time or place to get upset over it.

"Is it safe?" I asked my brother. We were still walking down, I wondered if the stairs ever stopped.

I saw his dark figure nod. "Our great great grandfather saw what a mess the Government was becoming, so he knew he needed a secret place in case things got truly bad. No one will ever be able to find us, Kars. I can promise you that."

My heart was pounding in my chest. We might be safe, but I wasn't scared of being unsafe. I was more scared about the aftermath. Things could never be back to normal after this. What happens after a few days? After 100 days? After a year?

"Then what?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and explained. "I mean, what are we going to do after this? We can't exactly live life like normal after this, can we?"