The Rarest One

Little Brother Part 20

(Crystal)

I pulled in, parked, and swung my door open, as Scott slid his seat back to let the boys out.  Kira and Victoria stayed seated to watch over the unconscious Puck.  "We need to make this quick, got it?" I entered with them right behind me, nodding their agreement.  I hurried down the medicine aisle, grabbed the biggest bottle, and headed to the checkout lane.

"Do we need a bottle that big?" Hugh asked, his brown eyes on the bottle.

"Do you not remember that incident where I flew through a wind shield?" I exclaimed, a bit too loudly, as the other costumers turned to stare.

"She's kidding," Scott laughed, "We are just joking around."  He put the costumers at ease while harshly whispering, "Keep it down, we don't need the cops to show right now."

I waved him off as I paid for the bottle in cash, and we turned to leave.  But static played in the TV that had been playing music videos, and a voice filtered over the intercom.

"Crystal?" Ethan's voice stopped me in my tracks.  His voice shaking with fear.  "Are you there?"

My face blanched, and the guys looked at me with caution and fear.  I wavered on my feet as I turned, I stumbled forward towards the TV screen and Scott grasped my elbow.

"Ethan?" I breathed, looking up at the TV where his face appeared on the screen.  "Ethan!  Baby, I'm right here!"  I yelled it loudly and stepped forward, my shaky hands covering my mouth.

"Crystal, I can see you!" his voice grew happy.  "I've missed you so much!  Why did you leave?" 

"Oh Ethan, baby, I know, I've missed you so much.  I love you, but I had to leave to protect you," speaking loudly so he could hear me.  I started to step forward but Scott pulled me back.  The costumers stared at us with fear.

"Crystal, Mr. Rowan says you'll die if you don't get your next treatment," Ethan's face was yanked from the screen.

"Ethan!" I shouted, moving forward, as a bigger body took his place.  The costumers backed away.  Some left through the back doors. 

"Crystal, Crystal, Crystal," Rowan Gates dragged out my name, and I shivered.  Scott drew me to his chest.

"Your brother misses you dearly," his smooth voice ran over me, igniting my fury.

"I swear, if you touch him," I lunged forward, breaking free of Scott's grasp,  "I will kill you.  Do you hear me, Gates?!  Do you hear me?!  If you touch him-"  Scott grasped my waist, and carried me outside to the car.  I twisted, turned and kicked at him, cursing Gates out, and spewing threats.  I was so furious that it didn't even register that we were driving away until Scott's deep voice soothed my fury.  The tears began to fall and I couldn't stop them.  I clutched his leather jacket in my hands, crying into his chest.   He smoothed my hair, and spoke soothingly in my ear until I was calm.  "Ethan, oh Ethan," I sniffled softly, raising my head.

(Scott)

I wiped her tears away from her cheeks after she raised her head.  "Crystal, I need you to focus."

She shifted off of my lap, wiping her eyes, but didn't answer. 

"What the ell happened in there?" Kira grabbed the pills, and handed them to a now awake Puck, who took them dry.  I waved her off, and she dug around and handed him an water bottle, saying, "Stay hydrated."

"Crystal, focus.  Pull yourself together and clue us in."

"You giving orders now, McCall?" she asked with a small smile.

"Maybe," I told her mysteriously.

"The boy on the screen," she cut right to the chase.  "He's my brother, Ethan.  He's only six.   I have to get him out, that's why I was in Eagle.  I was doing research."

"What did Ethan mean by treatment?"  Adrian asked, while getting and the highway.

"Treatment?"  she snorted, as she fiddled with a pen.  "More like experiment, and I'm the guinea pig."

"What did he inject you with?" Victoria leaned forward, head in the palms of her hands.

"Some kind of silver liquid, and as far as I know, I'm the only one who survived," Crystal looked out the window.

"Silver?" Adrian haltingly stuttered, "As in werewolves, deathly-allergic-silver?"

"Yea, but it was almost a year before he blackmailed me into doing it," she growled.

"Using Ethan against you," Hugh filled in.

"Yes, and I couldn't let anything happen to him, he's the only family I have," she glanced at me, but quickly looked away. 

"I thought you had an older brother?" my brow furrowed.

"I did, but I was only one when he disappeared," Crystal looked down at her hands. 

"How old was he?" Hugh asked, eyes on my back.

"He was two," she answered, eyes looking in the mirror.

"But what about your aunt?" Kira ran her hands through her bobbed dark hair.

"Never met her," she spoke bluntly.  "Never knew she even existed until four days ago."

"Oh," Kira said quietly.

"Will you really die if you don't get the rest of the treatments?" I asked, while thinking, "I don't think I could handle this without you, and I think I am falling for you."

"I don't know," Crystal deadpanned.

"Do you have side effects?" Victoria actually didn't sound sassy.

"I don't know."

"Will you live if that one treatment is still in your system?" Adrian questioned.

"I don't know!" Crystal shouted, running her hands through her light brown shoulder length hair.  She took a deep breath, and rubbed her yellow eyes with her long fingers. "I just don't know."  We were silent, as she told Adrian where to turn to reach her aunt's house.

(Crystal)

I really didn't know what would happen if I didn't get the next treatment. Plus I kinda left out the part about the liquid changing my physical features.  It really wasn't even a big deal, but for some reason my gut was telling me to leave that part out.  I always listen to my gut because the one time I didn't, Gates took Ethan and I was forced to turn myself in because Gates is a cold-blooded killer.  He wouldn't hasten to kill him, and I couldn't take that chance.