Shadow

Chapter 25

"Holy shit these are heavenly," I said, chewing on my fourth brownie.

The guys looked at me and laughed, they were on their first. Oh well, a girl's gotta eat.

"Thanks, dear!" Jo yelled from the other room. Was I that loud?

"Brent," I said, taking another bite, "I'll be coming to your house more often if this is what your mother does to you."

"My mother would love that," He smiled, finishing off his brownie.

He reached for the last brownie and I patted my stomach in satisfaction, letting out a sigh, "I'm going to have a brownie baby."

"Call it Josh Junior," Josh said, eyeing my stomach, "He should be named after his father."

I swatted his arm playfully, "I'd rather die."

Josh chuckled and pushed the rest of his brownie into his mouth.

"Brent, son," An unfamiliar voice called, we all turned around to see the source, "Oh. Hey guys."

Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man, and I instantly knew who he was. His tall and lean structure was exactly the same as Brent's. Apart from the age gap, his straight dark blonde and grey hair was the only thing that was different to Brent's, the looked the same otherwise.

"Who's this?" Brent's father said, looking at me.

"This is my friend," Brent said, getting up from his bean bag, "Raven."

"Oh, well, hello Raven," Brent's dad waved, "I'm Isaac, Brent's dad."

"Hello Isaac," I greeted, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," He nodded, "Your mother's calling you, Brent, get out here."

Brent smiled and grabbed the empty tray from in front of us, walking out of the room. Brent's dad grinned at us and walked out of the doorway, following his son into the living room.

"Brent's entire family is so nice," I said, looking down at my hands.

"They are," Josh agreed quietly, "They are more family than mine could ever be."

I looked up to see Zayn put a hand on Josh's shoulder, who looked genuinely upset. Aidan glanced towards me, his look making it clear that now wasn't the time to interrogate Josh on his family matters. I nodded and looked away.

"Do you have any more questions, Raven?" Aidan said, changing the topic.

"Yes," I said, "If you don't mind, that is?"

Brent walked into the room and closed the door behind him, taking a seat on his bean bag again.

"Why did you guys join the Riverwells?" I asked, not because I thought it would help the case, but because of pure curiosity.

"We have our own reasons," Zayn said, "But that's a conversation for another time."

I nodded, "Do your parents know?"

"No," Josh said, "It's better if they don't, honestly."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Everything is dangerous to some extent," Aidan said calmly, "It just happens to be that every time we do something for the Riverwells, our lives are at risk."

I nodded, it was something I could relate to. Even though we were rivals, I could understand what being part of any such organisations was like. Every time I set foot into the headquarters, or anywhere to do with this underground life, there was always an underlying fear of dying, it was inevitable. There was no such thing as not fearing death, for some that feeling just got less prominent, or they got used to it, but it was constant.