Birthmarks and Bruises

Discussing.... More.

A pudgy looking face poked out from behind the door, with his brow furrowed and tired looking eyes, analysing each person in front of him. Andrea gave him a brief, meek smile, her palms already starting to sweat after meeting yet another stranger.
Felix' lips slowly curled up into a smile as he recognised the figure in front of him.
"Hey, Marcus! Glad to see you're here." He grinned. Marcus nodded back, emerging from the bathroom and wiping his hands across his grubby designer shirt.
"Hey, Felix. Little brother." He looked at the two faces he recognised, a glaze of relief forming behind his hazel eyes. With his (surprisingly straight compared to Daniels curly birds nest of a hairstyle)  mass of deep brown hair and dark skin, there was a clear resemblance between him and his brother.
"See you picked up some ladies along the way." Marcus smirked, raising his hand for a high five, which Daniel pushed away dismissively.
"Cmon, man. They're just, like, companions."
"Mm, ok. Whatever you say little guy."
Maxine cleared her throat, taking a step forward to address both Daniel and Marcus.
"Excuse me if I'm wrong, but weren't there three other siblings?" She questioned, eyes scanning over the figure in front of her.

Marcus, though resembling Daniel quite a bit, also had quite a different trait the younger sibling was lacking. Dressed from top to bottom in, probably fake, designer clothes, Marcus was obviously the kind of person who prided himself in labels and name brands. He was much chubbier than Daniel, his eyes set deeper into his face and his lips a lot fuller. Despite their differences in style, Marcus wore the same lazy, carefree look behind his eyes.

The boy, maybe two or three years older than Daniel, grunted.
"Dunno. There's supposed to be, yeah, but when I woke up this morning Sammy had just disappeared. Lewis was there but Sam's bed was like... all made up and shit." He shrugged. "That lazy fuck never does his bed clean."
Daniel cursed under his breath.
"So where's Lewis then?"
"Ah, he'll be somewhere around here. Just follow the sound of awful mumble rap and you'll find yourself there before you can say 'Drake'" Felix joked, with a smug look plastering his face.
Andrea pulled a face at his remark.
"...mumble rap..? Geez-" she groaned. "We're with those kinds of people, huh?"
"Hey, don't be so rude."
Felix snickered, nodding at the doorway where a tall, slim figure stood, shirtless and wearing some kind of sports trousers.
"Oh, brilliant." Andrea mumbled, shielding her eyes. "Half naked strangers. Loving it."
The teen in question whistled through his teeth, straightening his back and walking towards the group that had formed in the middle of his house.
"Damn, Daniel. Never expected you to bring back so many girls." He mocked.
"Dude! That is the second time I've heard that in the last five minutes."
"Yeah can I just make it completely clear that I don't have any kind of relationship with any of these people? Thank you." Andrea grumbled, crossing her arms.
"You know what?" Felix interrupted. "Can we just update each other on what the fuck's going on? And can Lewis put on a shirt? And can Marcus wash his hands?"
"Fine." Lewis yawned. "But only because we have-" he glanced in the direction of the two girls in the group. "Company." He winked, disappearing back into the mess of his room.

Downstairs, on the sofa each with a glass of whatever, the group which had once been just two scared teenagers began to discuss their situations. Thankfully, both Lewis and Marcus were aware of the situation- or, at least, as aware as they could be. Maxine's eyes were constantly darting between the two of them, as if she were studying them and seeing if each were fit to join their party.
Lewis, apart from having a completely different body type, was an almost spitting image of Marcus. He had one blonde strip of hair running through his slicked back locks, and wore the same type of sportswear as the other sibling did. In fact, Maxine guessed that they were twins. Lewis' arms were muscular, much like her own, but she figured that he was the type to work out in order to look good, rather than be healthier.

Felix took a sip of his hot chocolate. "So... yeah. We're probably in a lot of danger but it's better that we have as many people travelling with us as possible. That way if we get in danger then we can-"
"Can attack in groups, killing off the Snatcher more efficiently, as well as swiftly." Maxine interrupted.
Beside her, Andrea traced her fingers around the rim of her mug.
"I was.." she cleared her throat. "I was unfortunate enough to, um-"
Andrea's voice was reduced to barely a whisper, as Felix put an arm around her comfortingly. Andrea shied away.
"It's ok. You don't have to talk about her if you don't want to."
Maxine's head snapped towards them.
"Talk about who?"
Her eyes pierced into Andrea's, before trailing down to the menacing looking wound at the base of her palm.
"Look, it... it doesn't matter, I just- I saw some things that... I went through- I-" Andrea stuttered, struggling to force out the right words as she choked up.

Daniel sighed. "Look, Andrea." Her eyes, glazed with tears threatening to spill, met his for a moment. "I don't say this shit often, I have way too much pride." He signalled to his brothers. "Especially not in front of these assholes. I can't exactly relate to you." He took a deep breath.
"But... I respect you. I knew if that were me I'd have lost it. The fact that you're still pulling through is pretty hardcore, yknow?"
Andrea blinked, attempting to steady her breath.
"So... I guess if you can see that shit and come out smiling, then so can we." He said, smiling a little as if to prove his point. Andrea brought up a sleeve to wipe away her tears, sniffling. She murmured something that could've been a shy 'thank you' beneath the wavering of her tone.
Felix grinned, patting Daniel on the back. "Hey, proud of you. Both of you."
"Me too, yaknow..." Lewis added, leaning back into the sofa. "Dunno what happened or whatever but shit seems hard at the moment. So you're pretty like... hardcore or whatever to go through that."
Daniel rolled his eyes, smirking at his brother. "A for effort." He mouthed.