Revealing Eyes

IV

{ Asa }

———

The tone of voice that the caller had stuck to me. It's lace of intimidation caused goosebumps to line across my arms.

Though I'd never admit that to anyone.

I whipped my head to look at my mother, completely oblivious to Cade's confusion. My eyes met with the back of her short, wavy blonde hair, arms moving at her sides.

She was mid conversation. Shit.

It wasn't going to work out anyways. How could I explain everything to her in seconds?

She'd completely blow our cover. It was a still a complete surprise how mom was in charge of the whole operation. She, more than a few times, had put her heart in front of her head in important operations. Luckily, it went her way because of pure luck.

She cared about us three boys as if we were all her children.

Mom would flip.

I gulped hard. Whoever this was had Abdiel.

"Yeah sorry, wrong number." I blurted out quickly, my usual cool aura dismantled completely.

I could hear a sharp whisper on the other end, but couldn't make out the words.

Then I heard a loud, piercing slap.

Glass shattering for a split second.

The call went silent.

I then took notice of a warm breath lingering near my neck. He couldn't of possibly heard what the girl said.

I slipped Cade's phone in my pocket.

"Hey— hey. That's mine." Cade spoke up, his brows narrowed. He stepped away from me as he regained his height, daggers in his eyes trying to cut me.

"Also, explain. What was that?"

I pressed my lips together, as if my teeth were nonexistent. My hand was still clutching his phone in my back pocket.

How was I going to explain it to him?

Abdiel is being kept captive by just some girl.

"You seriously told Abdiel that he had the wrong number? He knows it's—."

I hushed him as I looked up, now looking at his eyes as if I could shoot lasers out of mine.

It surely was a humorous site to see from afar.

"Shut up." I hissed.

Captive by some girl.

It didn't register in my brain until now.

Oh, the girl.

{ Rowena }

—————

I was growing frustrated by the lack of a response.

Then what I least expected came from the other line— a male's voice.

He lied.

I looked at the boy from the corner of my eye as I sent my open palm flying to slap him.

The sound echo'd off the walls, my hand stinging. It was surely red. With his blood and the impact.

Then I let the phone fall to the ground, hearing as the glass shattered.

I realized right then that I had to put my guard up.

Try-hard family mission? No.

More like brooding brothers? Perhaps.

Lying scoundrels? Definitely.

The phone could have a tracker in it so there was no way I could call my father on it.

I didn't want to call my father anyways.

The muffled groans from the boy were surprisingly loud, yet coming into one ear and out of the other.

I didn't give a care in the world for him.

He lied.

I clenched my jaw. People sure were damn amazing at disappointing me.

But what should I expect from a stranger who drugged me? Honesty?

I was stupid.

I gave myself a minute to get out of the house, quickly yanking a pair of pants and a jacket out of the room's closet.

Then I ran.

Slamming the back door shut behind me, I took a different route than before. I had to get as far away from the main city as I possibly could.

Sweat began to trail down my cheeks as a light red blossomed on them. My body wanted to react faster to the situation than my brain.

What was I going to do?

Run.

After that?

Run more.

Blinking away the sweat, I knotted the pants and jacket around my waist. In the distance I could see the houses beginning to get farther and farther apart, more trees appearing instead.

This was a completely different setting than I was used to while running. Back home I'd be ordered to do laps around the seventh floor's gym every three hours for thirty minutes. The schedule was strict and always the exact same.

I had to be fast, they told me.

Fast thinking and on my feet.

Then came my self defense class and tutoring. Literature was my favorite.

At one point in time I could recite small bits of poetry and write a short story in days.

Unfortunately, literature classes slowly became hinder-some. They transitioned from something that I enjoyed to a dead dream.

The recent years have been the worst since all my reading has been focused on emotions and targeting how to make people feel certain strong ones.

Literature class then became practice. No more reading or writing.

"Test your skills, Rowena!"

Finally I had to test out what I learned on those around me since I could hardly leave home.

What was in front of me could of been straight out of an old book I read. A clearing to a forest was beckoning me, small flowers sprouting at it's sides.

I turned my head back to look for the farthest house, only able to see a blur of it ways away.

My legs were beginning to tire as I came to a stop, my arms weighing three times as much as they did in the morning.

I began to lose my balance as I stepped on a rock, my body yearning to tip forward.

I used the last bit of strength in me to stay planted for a few seconds before my legs gave out and my knees skid onto the grass.

I forced myself to move into the bushes of flowers, letting my arms become a battlefield for the thorns and sharp stems.

My body finally gave out as I curled into a ball and let my eyes close.