Crossing the Line

Chapter Sixteen

A little later that morning, Elena awoke to a delicious smell wafting through the house and up to her room.

And a shout, too.

That wasn't normal activity. Slightly worried, Elena hopped out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown as she rushed out of the room. It sounded like her father who had shouted, so Elena glided silently downstairs and to the kitchen, not wanting to alarm him further. That could lead to further disaster. Best case scenario, he had just dropped something while cooking. Worst case scenario... well, Elena was glad she wouldn't be paying the hospital bill.

All seemed fine, however, she saw as she entered the kitchen. Ilya was now humming, his back to her as he was cooking something on the stove. The delicious smell had now turned to that of eggs. Her nose upturned in disgust, she tried to approach her father in a way that wouldn't frighten him.

"You alright?" Elena asked, after clearing her throat to announce her presence.

Despite her best efforts, Ilya still jumped out of his skin at her apparent sudden appearance disturbing the quiet. He whirled around to face her wide-eyed, stumbling over his own feet.

"Oh," he breathed, heart pumping. "Elena. Good morning, dear."

"Sorry to scare you Dad. I heard you shout – again, are you okay?"

"Oh, oh no, no I'm fine. Just nicked myself while chopping tomatoes."

"Good job, expert chef."

Ilya laughed, turning back to the omelette he was cooking. "Sorry dear, have to keep cooking – you know your brother loves his eggs."

"Wh- Dad..." Elena sighed. When her father and the others had returned from looking for her brother, he had been adamant that Nikolai was trapped in the house across from the park, invisible and unable to get to him. And before that, he was sure Nikolai would return and made a big breakfast. So it looked like he was doing the same thing again today. Why would Nikolai even return at 6AM? He barely even woke up on time for school. Hang on a second... "Dad, Nikolai hates eggs."

"What?" Ilya was caught off guard. He turned to face her, confused. "No, no – Sergei is coming over this morning, before work."

It was then that Elena realised that the table in the centre of the room was set for five. She raised a questioning eyebrow to her father.

"Jacob is coming over too... and we tried to get Sho to come, but he hasn't answered my text messages. We're still hoping he'll show up."

That still left one empty place. Her mother wouldn't be awake at this time, or at least she wouldn't get out of bed. She was still distraught. And with the people Ilya had mentioned, and the context of the situation, Elena had a sinking feeling she knew who that other person was.

"And..." Ilya hesitated. He could sense her distaste. "Sergei is bringing Emily."

Elena groaned. "Please tell me you're joking."

Emily was the girlfriend of Elena and Nikolai's oldest brother, Sergei. Elena hadn't liked her from day one; she was weird, she had bad taste (as evidenced by her dating Sergei). Although she wasn't a total idiot, she definitely wasn't the brightest either, and she could be overly emotional. Having her around rubbed Elena the wrong way; it was probably mostly to do with the fact however that she was one of two girls Sergei was dating. And Elena couldn't stand that.

"Elena, she can help us," Ilya said, an almost pleading tone to his voice. He removed the pan from the stove, keeping his back to Elena for as long as possible, so he could talk without getting emotional. "You know she... she has a gift, with these things..."