Within Rose Heart

Chapter IX - Brotherly Rivals

Damien and I sat in silence, watching the shadow walk back and forth in front of the door. Any words would set something off. Henry was outside of our door, hoping we'll walk right into him. The door wood was thick enough to block out sound, but we still feared to say anything just in case they were to listen.

Damien walked back towards his computer, closing out the file and pulling out the flash drive from his computer. He gave me a head nod to let me know he had a plan. He grabbed his emergency bag from under his desk and stuck the flash drive in the small pocket inside the bag. He packed little necessities he'll need like his emergency laptop and mouse, along with money and Steve letters.

Damien walked lightly on the wood to make sure it didn't squeak and stopped in the corner of the room for me. He pushed a blue button that blended in with the wallpaper, opening a small crawl in door. Damien got on his knees and began to crawl inside. I followed along with him, but it was slow. My long legs made it impossible to move any faster. The wood of the wall cut up my legs and hands. My spine pushed against the roof of the wood.

"What about your Granny?" I asked.

"Keep your voice down. I'm heading that way to check," he whispered.

We crawled for what felt like forever before reaching a small window installed on the wall. It was the mirror in her room. Granny lied on the bed. Damien pulled a small switch by the window, which formed a trap door underneath her bed. The trapdoor pulled her slowly under the floorboard and closed.

Damien watched to make sure she was safely down before we began to crawl again. The crawl space stretched forever before we reached another small door. Damien twisted the knob slowly before swinging it open. Damien jumped down a few stacked boxes and waited at the bottom. I was afraid of heights, but I had to push through if I wanted to get out of here alive. I hopped down the boxes slowly so I wouldn't trip over my long, stretched legs.

Damien and I let the room and ran down to the garage. His grandmother rested on her bed. Damien wrapped his hand around the handle of the bed and began to push her towards the car. Damien picked Granny up and laid her in the back of the car, closing it behind him.

"Where you think you are going?" a man asked. Damien and I gasped and looked up at him, seeing that it was Henry.

"Henry, you need to stop this," Damien said backing away from him.

"I need to stop? I haven't started anything yet."

"This is not called for, what has she ever done to you?"I asked walking slowly towards the car.

Henry pulled a gun from his pants and pointed it at us. I gulped and looked at Damien to see if he would nod to let me know he had a plan, but no nod.

"Rose is a disgusting person and deserved what she got. I care about both of you, but if you guys don't let this go, I'll have to kill you both."

Damien looked over at me and gave a slight nod with a wink. I began to stall, "What did she do to you that was so horrible?"

"I know you don't care about my sad story," Henry answered. Damien started slowly sticking his hand in his bag, pulling out a smoke bomb.

"Well, we will find out the truth sooner or later. We will find out what happened to Rose one day." I said keeping eye contact with him. Damien threw the smoke bomb near his feet before running to the car. I followed him. The adrenaline was filling my lungs with excitement. I felt like I was doing something illegal and this was the best thing that ever happened in my entire life. This moment was the most fun and bad thing I have ever done.

Damien shoved the key into the ignition of the car and twisted it with power. The car powered up quick, which gave Damien the okay to step on the gas.

Damien backed into the garage door, tearing it from the house. He continued to speed down the steep hill of the house to make sure there was enough distance between us before slowing down.

"Where did you get a smoke bomb?" I asked.

"I made it in my free time. I was saving it for Rose, but this is better."

"I can't believe your brother is part of this."

"He's not my brother," he stated in a monotone voice. When he said that, the adrenaline melted away.

"He's not?"

"Nope, we adopted him when I was 5."

I didn't know what else to say so I sat in silence. The silence was the best thing for Damien anyway, I could tell he was upset, even though he wouldn't show it.