The Fragile the Broken and the Brave

10. Quake

7.25.20

"What? How?" Connor and I both spoke at the same time, and it gave me a little giggle in the rough times. Too bad it will be my last for a while. The butterflies in my stomach were doing little couple dances around and around, and I was suddenly clammy and nervous. How could I be involved in a family so full of special people when I'm just... Well, me?

"Your eyes once belonged to Ash's father. They're a very unique mix of brown that only he had. They may have Linc's background color, which is how we know to bother Jack, but they have that signature of our family." The man was still staring deeply into my face, and I had to pull away or it would become creepy. The black haired one looked like he was about to cry, and I figured that the great grandparents were his. He doesn't seem particularly stable currently. I guess looking into the eye equivalent of his father stirred up memories of the man he lost.

"I'll be back." The original creepy eye staring guy skipped out of the room, and I put my hand on my forehead. It's kind of scary how much has been happening in just a small span of time. When he returned, he had Jack, Papa, and Jacob all trailing behind him, and the older man sat them down next to me and Connor on the bed.

"Do either of you know why you're here?"

"No?" Papa looked more concretely confused, but they were both pretty good at appearing as so. However, based on the grandparents' conversation, Jack was the guilty one here. Could he really be my parent? I won't believe it until I see it– or, well, hear it.

"One of you seems to be missing a child..."

"Oh you're one to talk about missing a child! At least I kept all of mine."

"Fowl blow–"

"You're accusing me of losing one of my children. I call that a low blow as well."

As the two glared at each other, I began to feel seriously uncomfortable; like I'm intruding on something I shouldn't be seeing. Papa's father had a sad look in his eyes, so I assumed that he had used an old grudge against the 52 year old. It's not often that you see a person that young with a 17 year old grandchild, but... Whatever. There's probably a story there.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Stay on task, baby."After speaking, the man briefly pecked his husband's cheek, and they smiled at each other for a second. They both sighed before Alex his head briefly, and he soon got back to his interrogation.

"Why am I here?" Jacob was more confused than any of us, but he got a single finger held up in his face asking him to wait a minute.

"As we all know, Jacob has a human aura–"

"I have what now?"

"Exhibit A: Jack had a lying problem."

"Excuse me!?"

"You know what I mean. When were you planning to tell him?"

"Uhh... Never."

"Percisely. Now, what else are you hiding from us Jack Evans?"

"I don't know what you mean–"

"You know what he's talking about." A new old guy had entered the conversation, and he tilted his head up at the rest of us. He had brown hair, glowing blue eyes, and some kind of elongated stick in his grip.

"Allystar how are you supposed to know that?"

"I can see into your soul, hotshot."

"You can what now?"

"I can tell when all of you are lying with the exception of Oliver because he's already kind of dead. That one... Has more problems than being half dead; I don't wish to drown in his thoughts trying to get in. However you two are about as open as a book. Devon, when you're lying your right eye squinches up ever so slightly, and you–" When he said the word you, it became obvious that he wasn't Jack's number one fan on the planet. "Try to overly act like everyone else in the room to the point it gets awkward."

"Wait what do I do?"

"'Lex, you play with your hands."

"No I don't!" he shouted while fidgeting with his hands.

"Now... Benji you also have something to share." Alex turned to look me dead in the eye again, and my heart rate sped up. Did I do something bad?

"What?"

"You noticed something when you first saw Jacob. What was it?"

"His aura?"

"No, we covered that."

"Oh! He looks kinda like my dad."

"Exhibit 2: His subconscious knows."

"I subconsciously wh–"

"Shhh, the adults are talking now."

"Hey!"

"No offense."

"Offense taken!"

"Anyways... You'd better fess up now child."

"Okay! Okay fine... When I was running Benji's magical signature, it came back to myself. I was naturally freaked out, so I tried to hide it to come to terms with it. That was wrong and unfair to him, and I shouldn't have done it."

"So what do you say to him?"

"Alex you aren't my dad!"

"I didn't get your dad in here because he would have been ashamed of you; want me to fix that or not?"

"Okay fine! I'm sorry Benjamin."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you that you're actually my child and somehow Jacob isn't! I don't understand it myself, okay? I gave birth to two children, and I got two back. How–"

"Jack, the humans probably messed something up. We aren't upset with you that they switched, we're upset because you lied about it once you found out."

If he's struggling to cope, I'm buried under about 500 pounds of rock. How is it that one can go from having parents to not having parents, back to having them in less than a week!? My entire life has shifted its path, and I'm not sure I appriciate it. At least not yet; I'll get back to you on that. Suddenly, the house began to shake, and my eyes widened as I dove underneath a desk. Everything was shaking, and I saw a photograph crack and break. Hope that wasn't important to anyone.

I distantly remember having an earthquake once a long time ago, but it was never this bad. My parents and I were at the cinema one day, and it had just started. I had crawled under a bench to wait out the shaking, and I was glad that nothing large fell or I would have been petrified like I am now as a ceiling tile came slamming down.

It took almost a minute before the shaking stopped, and I heard a muffled voice ask if everyone was okay. I realized that I was buried under the desk by a huge pile of rubble, and I was only able to produce a hoarse reply with the dust coating my throat. When the invisible door slammed open, I jumped quite a height.

"I figured you all would be here... My father is rising."