An Open Heart: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 4

Key 6

Marcus glanced uneasily down the stairs. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, sounded like a dude. You think Miss Chester brought over a boyfriend?" Malik wondered.

"Maybe...but it sounded like more than one," Marcus murmured, still feeling uneasy.

"Maybe she's adventurous?" Malik shrugged. But even he felt uncertain about that. After another second, he glanced at his brother. "Think we should go check it out?"

Marcus nodded firmly. "Definitely. Something about this isn't sitting right with me," he confessed.

"Yeah, no kidding," Malik agreed around a low, nervous chuckle.
As one, they slowly began to creep down the stairs. No one told them to be sneaky about it, but some instinct in the back of their minds insisted upon it. So trying to be as quiet as possible, they made their way further down. A few minutes later, they made it to the second floor landing and now they could completely make out voices. Male voices, about two or three, maybe. This made the twins' guard go up even more. Their hearts began to pound loudly in their chests and ears, their palms breaking out in a nervous sweat.

Glancing at one another, they carefully began to creep even lower. Trying to stay down close to the ground so they'd be harder to spot, they peered around the corner of the first floor landing, further down the stairs. The lights were on down there, making them blink in the brightness. The lights on the second floor had been off, since no one had been there. Blinking rapidly to adjust to the lights, it took them half a second to realize a man was standing in the doorway to the living room.

He was tall, though not as tall as the giant they'd seen earlier in the day. Even so, the man's dark skin and large, broad build was very intimating to the boys in that moment. Especially when the man's head turned just slightly and the twins could make out the malicious, fierce smile on his face.

"Really?" A different voice, someone they couldn't see from this angle, was talking. "Fuck yes! It's been what, three years since the last Hunt?"

"H-hunt?" Another new man's voice, though this guy sounded nervous and confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Ugh. I forgot you don't understand, cuz'," the first voice muttered.

"Both of you be silent," Scary growled. "Our prey is here...Now all we have to do is find them, corner them, and have our fun."

The second voice began to rise in nervous pitch even more. "Wait! Are you saying...Do you plan to hurt Willow? I never agreed to anything like this!"

"Shut up!" Scary snarled. "The woman most likely isn't what you think she is. This is her place, right? She's most likely a monster then. And monsters need to be killed if we can't use them. Don't you remember, Andrew?"

"I...I..." The second voice faded off into a whisper.

"Whoa, the fuck?!" The first voice cried out in panic and surprise.

Willow stepped out of the darkness, slicing at Darvey's arm with a precision she was amazed she had in that moment. She'd seen the twins, their dark heads just barely peeking out from what she could see of the top of the stairs from behind the kitchen counter. And she'd seen Nick's head beginning to turn towards them. Before she could stop to think about her actions, she was rushing to the other side of the counter and towards the dinning table. Darvey had wondered over while inspecting the place. She came out with a wild swing, which he ducked. She instantly told herself to calm down and focus. Her second swipe actually did damage. While Darvey cried out in surprise and pain, she dropped to the ground and swept out her legs.

It worked and he tripped over her, falling backwards until his side slammed into the table. He lurched to the left slightly, his gut hitting the back of one of the chairs. While he was still recovering from that, Willow lashed out with the knife again, creating a deep gash all down the arm he raised up to block in instinct, from his elbow to his wrist.