The Red Plague

Three

Nikolette

Elijah's Mother was extremely kind to me and I felt awful about it.

Her son, Elijah's brother, had the Plague and I could save him, cure him, but wouldn't. And when he died, I would be the one responsible. I was responsible for everyone that died.

This broken family was providing me with food, shelter and a nice shower and I was letting their son die. How nice.

I sat on the bed of the guest bedroom, staring at the dark blue wall. There was nothing on it. Honestly, the entire guest room was quite plain.

A uncomfortable-looking cushioned red chair was pushed up against the wall. Based on the indents in the carpet, it had been recently moved. A wooden dresser was on the far side of the room. It was completely empty, I had already checked.

There was a knock on the doorframe. I glanced over at the open door. Elijah was leaning against the hallway wall. His brown curls were messy and his jean jacket was a bit wrinkled. I noticed dark circles underneath his eyes and drooping eyelids.

"How is everything?" He asked, stifling a yawn.

"It's nice. No one's been in here in a while, I presume?" I said. He shrugged, gazing around the space.

"Nope. We've been pretty focused on taking care of—" He paused to yawn. "Jezz."

I turned away from him before I could see the look in his eyes. Despite my cold personality, I knew I couldn't handle the sadness I would have seen there. All the hurt hidden in their chocolatey depths.

Elijah yawned once more and I faced him with wide eyes. "Little tired, are we?" I said.

He laughed softly. "Huh, I guess so. I feel like that may have been the reason I was falling asleep— while standing, mind you— earlier."

It was impossible for me to suppress the smile that was creeping onto my face.

"Look, she smiles!" He said cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Maybe you should go get some rest." I said, standing up from the bed.

Grabbing his shoulders, I turned him around and tried to force him out of the doorway. He looked back at me and grinned. "Night, Nikolette." He said.

With a grunt, I shoved him back into the hall. "It's Nik!" I called, slamming the door shut.

***

I woke up before the sun had risen. A lighter blue hue was starting to show on the horizon. The once crisp bed sheets had been crumpled from my tossing and turning.

Getting out of bed, I tried to smooth the white blankets down to their former glory, but it was fruitless. With a heavy sigh, I settled for rearranging the pillows and leaving the room.

To my immense surprise, Elijah and his mother were already awake. The smell of bacon and eggs almost stopped me in my tracks. I took a deep breath, savoring the wonderful scent.

Elijah stood in the kitchen, his curls even messier than the night before. His eyes were still tired, which made me feel bad. It was extremely obvious that he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep.

His mother slid a fried egg out of the pan and onto a paper plate. Then, she grabbed two pieces of bacon off the tray Elijah was holding and placed them of the platter as well. She pushed the plate to the edge if the counter and gestured to it.

"Eat." She demanded, blowing a lock of brown hair out of her face. It was piled into a bun on top of her head. The hair was only slightly lighter than her son's. Despite that, their most striking resemblance was their eyes. Other than being the same shade of dark brown, they both had the same warmth, but also the same pain. The raw emotion made them seem a bit vulnerable, but also strong.

"Oh, um, I'm not hungry." I said. Actually, I was quite hungry, but I wasn't just going to eat their food. They had already done so much to help me.

"Look, honey, you're as thin as a twig. Of course, you're hungry, don't try and tell me otherwise. Besides, we didn't make all this food for the ghosts. Eat." She said. Her tone was stern and it told me that it wasn't up for discussion.

After dismissing the thought of arguing, I grabbed the plate and sat down at the small table across from the kitchen.

Elijah gave a tired smirk, causing me to pause in devouring my food. I chewed slowly and swallowed carefully, trying not to choke.

"Good?" He asked washing the bacon grease off his hands in the sink. I smiled weakly and nodded. He laughed and sat down at the table with me after getting his own plate of food.

His Mom started doing the dishes. There was still food left, but she didn't eat anything. I gave Elijah a worried glance and he shrugged.

"Mom, aren't you going to eat?" He asked through a mouthful of food. She turned off the water and dried her hands on a towel.

"No, sweetheart. I'll eat later. I'm going to head to work, okay? Please take care of the boys while I'm gone." She grinned. "Maybe Nik here can help you out. It'll be fun."

With that, she grabbed her car keys and headed for the front door. It made a loud thump when it closed.

Elijah turned to me. "You're definitely helping me watch my brothers." He held up a hand as I tried to object. "Hey, it's the least you could do. We made you breakfast. You should be eternally grateful."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever."

His dark eyes lit up with excitement. That alone made me smile. The pain that had been there before wasn't gone completely, but it had been masked. I was no longer seeing a broken boy from a broken family, wracked with suppressed pain. No, I was seeing an excited kid. Someone who, yeah, was a bit broken, but was putting themselves back together. Piece by piece, inch by inch.

If I had to watch a million brothers to see that happen, then I most certainly would.