Trapped

Chapter 5

Justin

There is a loud knocking on the door a couple minutes after Luke ended our call. Erik is sitting next to Lilian, holding her and I'm crouched in front of her staring at her stomach as she breathes steadily. Slowly. I practically jump out of my skin when I hear the banging on the front door. Paramedics are here. I sprint down the stairs, straight to the door and swing it open. A few local police officers immediately walk through the threshold as if it were their home. A couple paramedics enter and have an unspoken question written on their faces. Where? Meaning where is she? I lead them upstairs to Lilian's bedroom. Even though the bustling and loud stomping of shoes on hardwood should be loud, I only feel an unbearable silence.

Two men come up behind me with a stretcher and I move faster, trying to get to her room as quickly as possible. I point to her open door because no words will exit my mouth. They walk through and hoist Lilian onto the stretcher and strap her down. Before I know it they are down the hallway, moving down the stairs. Erik walks out the door and looks at me with tear streaked eyes. It's all I can do not to cry, but Erik has obviously given up trying. I don't blame him. He's the youngest of us. Lilian's twin brother and the closest to her because of it. They are connected in a way none of us can comprehend. He's three minutes older than her and loves to brag about it ever time their birthday rolls around.

When Luke told us someone was after Lil' for the first time, Erik wasn't around and we were going to try to keep it from him. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. I still don't know how he did it. Luke not only wanted to protect him from it because of his younger age, but because of his close relationship with Lilian. He would be the first to go into shock if anything happened to her. Of course Luke would follow shortly after.

I lay a hand on his shoulder because there is an unspoken rule that none of us hug unless it's Lilian or one of us has almost died. Erik also hates it when we treat him like a kid just because he's a couple years younger than us, so it's a surprise when he wraps his arms around me and sobs into my shoulder. It's awkward even though he is my brother. Even so I wrap my arms around him and let him get it out of his system.

He eventually backs away from me and stares at nothing. "She's going to be okay." Erik says it but it doesn't seem like he's saying it to me. He's looking slightly past me and only after I hesitate to respond does he come out of his trance. He gets to me in one stride and pushes me up against a wall. "She's going to be okay!" He says it more forcefully this time but his voice is softer. I allow him to keep me restrained with his upper arm pressing my shoulder blades into the beige wall. His right hand gripping my right shoulder so hard his knuckles turn white. I don't reply, just nod my head and he comes to his senses and lets me go. He gives me a quick sorry and rushes off down the hallway. I lean against the wall with my shoulders slumped and head bowed before following suit.