pull me back | a drag me down spin off

【nine】

The door to my bedroom aggressively swings open, and I don't even need to turn my head. I already know it's Skylar's unwanted presence. Will this girl ever take a hint?

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my-"

"Your boys are at it again. Liberty Bank was robbed this morning." My sister practically shoves her cell phone in my face.

My eyebrows narrow as I sit up in my bed, grabbing the phone from her grasp. A Twitter article was published earlier from the LA Times, reporting the masked phantoms robbed their second bank since their return. They were in and out in a little under ninety seconds.

"Shit." I mumble to myself.

"Do you know what this means?" She clenches her jaw.

"That they must really mean business if they're hitting up more than one bank again." I gulp, my eyes scanning the article.

"That and mom and dad will only get worse." Skylar crosses her arms over her chest.

"Shit, you're right." I curse under my breath. These masked freaks are fucking up my entire life, and for no good reason. I'm so sick of their crap.

"They're already freaking out over the second one."

"Fuck, this can't be happening. How many times do I have to repeat myself that I'm not staying in this house for the rest of my life?"

"You're the rebelling mastermind of the family. What's your plan?"

"My plan doesn't concern you." I toss the covers off me and rise to my feet.

"So, there is a plan?" My sister raises her eyebrows up.

"Not an official one, but I have some research that I've been looking into."

"Been there, tried that. There are no articles on any websites about the masked phantoms."

"Skylar, don't worry about them. Let me handle it." I sigh, glancing back at her.

"The same way uncle Duke told you that he'll handle it?"

"God, why are you so annoying?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.

"I get it from you." She rolls her eyes with a low smirk.

Pushing past her, I make my way downstairs to my very secretive parents and uncle. All three of my parental figures are sitting around the kitchen table, whispering with scared looks in their eyes.

Dad turns my way once I enter the kitchen. He seems to be shaken up, and I've never seen my dad like that. He's always been the strong one of our family.

Mom stops her sentence by turning to make eye contact with me. "Morning, sweetheart."

"Everything okay?" I play dumb.

"Not really. The masked phantoms hit up another bank this morning." Dad shakes his head.

"God, I can't believe that sentence is real." Mom takes a sip from her coffee mug.

"So, what are you going to do about it? Board up the windows? Super lock the doors?" I hit them with my usual sarcasm.

"Grace, that isn't funny." Dad sighs.

"Although, it's not a bad idea." Uncle Duke raises an eyebrow.

"I was joking, it's not that extreme. Are these bank robbers breaking into houses? Do they rob anything but banks?"

"No." Mom lowly mutters.

"So, you guys are paranoid for no reason. Uncle Duke, isn't the entire force on overdrive trying to find these guys?" I look back at him.