It Occurred To Me In A Dream...Tournament Of The Elements

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After learning who this guy was, Ace and I were making our way down the freeway in his red truck. Except it wasn’t just Ace and I…

“So…Acey, who is this lovely girl?” James was sitting in the passenger seat while Ace was driving. From the back seat, I could see Ace grip the wheel slightly harder. James had positioned himself to a point where his whole body faced me. His eyes were the same hue as Aces, except James had a head of light brown hair. He seemed to be younger and more outgoing than Ace also. “Ooh! I know!” He turned to Ace, whose eye seemed to twitch in annoyance. “Is she your new girlfriend?”

 Ace stomped on the brakes. I braced myself before hitting against the seat in front of me. James was rubbing his back after it made impact with the dashboard from sitting in his seat in an awkward position . “Ow…why’d you do that?”

“Maybe now you’ll shut up and sit in your seat correctly…” Ace glanced at James with anger in his eyes. He seemed irritated by James last remark before he had slammed on the brakes so abruptly. He then turned in my direction and spoke softly, “You okay?”

I nodded after rubbing my forehead in pain. I just can’t get a break today.

“Good, sorry for the scare…my brother here just can’t learn when to shut his mouth.” Ace sat back in his seat massaging his temples.

“Well he is-.” ‘Wait…’ “He’s your brother?!” I ask, leaning forward in my seat. “James is your brother?” My mouth hung open from the words that had just come from Ace.

James spoke up. “Yup! Couldn’t you tell? He has the same eyes as me!” He smiled brightly as if he were a young boy, batting his eyes at me in a flurry.

“Idiot, you have the same eyes as me. I’m older than you by two years.” Ace sighed, moving the truck forward once again.

“Just because you’re nineteen doesn’t mean you can be such a jerk!” James crossed his arms with a pout. “What happened to the nice side of Ace?”

“…They’re brothers…” I whispered softly as I sat in disbelief. My head began to throb from all the information I have learned in the past hour. I could feel James’ eyes hover over me as I thought to myself.

“So…what’s your name cutie?” I could hear James’ teasing voice pass through my ears. I was jolted back to reality when I met his eyes with my own. He winked at me suddenly, and that’s when I realized…they really are brothers.

“U-um…it’s Shayla…” I stuttered.

“Aw…aren’t you cute.” He made his way to the back seat, all the while, hearing Ace yell at him to get back to his proper seat. During the whole transition, James had kicked Ace in the arm.

“Damn it James! Get back to the front!” He yelled back at his sibling in irritation.

 “Oh shush. Why can’t I be back here with Shay?” He looked down at me as he buckled himself in the seat beside me. I slowly scooted away from him, only to have him scoot closer. “So, another question…” He moved his face only inches away from mine when he asked me. “How old are you Shay?” His mouth stretched across his face in the form of a teasing grin.

“U-um…I-”

“Seventeen.” I turned towards the driver’s seat, staring at the back of Ace’s head. My eyes shifted towards the rearview mirror to see a pair of jaded eyes resting on me. “She’s seventeen…now can you leave her alone James?” He sighed loudly as he gestured for his brother to the front seat.

“Seventeen? Looks like I’ve got a new toy…what do you say?” James had rested his head on the palm of his hand and smiled softly.

“…” I tried to make eye contact with Ace for help, but he had his eyes on the road. James managed to bring his face closer to mine. I scrambled around, my hands grabbing hold of anything they could. His face inched closer and closer. I shut my eyes quickly while my hands still searched for something.

‘click’

I opened my eyes slowly when I heard a faint noise. Suddenly, my body jolted forward, along with James’, except he flew towards the front of the cab. I looked down and saw my hand had gripped onto the fastener for his seatbelt. ‘Oh…’

“Mmm… ouch.” His body was sprawled across the center consol. He rubbed his head, his eyes still shut.

I look over at Ace through the rearview mirror and find him grinning rather mischievously. He had slammed on the brakes earlier, which explained why James flew. I lightly chuckled to myself at the scene before me.

            We made our way to what looked like an old apartment. I didn’t recognize any part of this area, then again I couldn’t even remember how old I am. The apartment looked to be at least six stories high and appeared moderately run down. The architecture was simple and the walls made of old stone. I stared up at the old oaken door Ace had made his way towards. ‘This place looks way too old to take residence in…’

            Ace had pulled a small silver key from his pocket and unlocked the door, jiggling the knob in order to loosen the door. “Sorry, it’s a bit old…”

            ‘Yah, I could tell…’ I smile meekly, “It’s alright, better than nothing right?” I let out a small chuckle and cause his lips to jerk into a grin.

            James pushes his way in between the both of us, intentionally dragging me along with him by the hand. I reach out to Ace unconsciously and mouth the words ‘help’. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him in a blur. My hand had been pulled free from James’ grasp and was now gripped by the hand of the man with his arm around me. I looked up at his tall figure and stared, my eyes wide at his sudden action. He looked over me at who I suspect was a frustrated James. Ace’s mouth moved fluently, the words unable to reach my ears from the view that had befallen before me. His eyes finally fell upon me.

            “Hey, you alright?” His voice had turned soft. Loose strands of black hair hanging in front of his face. “Shay?”

            “!...Oh! Yah, I’m fine, thanks.” I place my hands on his chest and untangle myself from his arms. “Thanks.” I look down sheepishly, my face hot. ‘I was so focused on his face I couldn’t make sense of anything…’

            “You sure? You look like you have a fever…” He bent down to look at my face and brought his hand to my forehead. As his fingers brushed across my face, my body jumped and I back away in a fumble.

            “Y-yah! I’m fine really! Feeling as well as a newborn baby!” I laugh, bringing my arm across my face to cover the embarrassment.

            “O-okay, if you say so.” Ace looked at me, eyes full of concern. “Well, let me show you around.” He walked passed me and towards James, who was standing a ways away, his arms crossed in a pout. James threw his arms in the air as Ace passed by, yelling at him about the previous incident. Seeing them quarrel like that…I felt more and more comfortable to be around them.

            Almost as if they were my brothers, and I their sister. ‘I wonder if I even have a sister…or a brother…?’ That thought crossed my mind for a brief moment before I shook it away and made my way towards the brothers, still arguing. I run towards them, a large smile on my face as they both look over at me at the same time. ‘Yup…definitely brothers…’