The Perfect Witness

Brother Trouble

It had been almost a month since the attack in the corn maze, and my mystery attackers still hadn't been found.

No one in the maze was supposed to be dressed as birds with long bone beaks or wielding real weapons.

When the police found the spot where I was attacked, the only thing left behind was a trail of my blood, almost as if I was attacked by ghosts.

The wound on my leg wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, despite how much I bled.

While it was somewhat deep, the doctors stitched me up and sent me on my way five or six hours later.

The worst part was I was immobilized for the first two weeks after getting the stitches and not allowed to go anywhere but the bathroom; thankfully, though, I'm now back on my feet and doing much better.

With all the mindless sitting around, I think I finally know who did this to me, but I don't have any hard proof.

If I had to choose from the small list of people who hated me, I would put my money on Colton and Noah.

Who else would send someone into a corn maze to stab me?

I was still so stuck on whether or not to tell people what my brother was doing to me.

He was clearly bipolar like our father and needed help, but I'm terrified that things won't end well for me if I told anyone.

Colton was undoubtedly not his only friend who could come after me if I spoke up.

* * *

Rousing from a deep sleep, I'm awakened by an immense feeling of pain in my stomach as it loudly begged for food.

Slightly nauseated, I quickly ran downstairs to the kitchen in search of something to subdue my growling belly.

The first thing I noticed was how startlingly quiet the house was, leaving me to assume my brother was out with his bad batch of friends.

"Nice underwear there, princess."

Alarmed by the sudden voice behind me, I jumped and scurried around to see Colton and Noah lazily lounging at the kitchen island.

Embarrassed, I swiftly pulled my t-shirt further down to cover more of my exposed underwear. I scolded Colton and demanded the two to get out of the kitchen, unsure what else to do in my panicked state.

"We were here first, pretty girl...I think you're the one who needs to leave."

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but he continued with, "Hey nice scar, by the way. Where'd ya get that?" His tone left a heavy tension hanging in the kitchen.

"Screw you, asshole!" I pouted, scrunching my face up and storming out of the kitchen, back up to the comforts of my room.

"What was his problem...he's so gross." I quietly whispered to myself as I angrily strolled into my closet.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"What the fu-?!" I hurriedly turned around to see Colton standing only a couple of feet away from the edge of my closet door.

"What did you just call me?"

I watched as his face hardened into a deep grimace, his dark, unforgiving eyes boring into mine.

"Noth--Nothing...What the hell were you doing in my room Colton!?"

At the sound of his name, he casually took a step closer to me without answering. His presence made my whole body freeze in raw terror.