Ephemeral

Chapter 18

I ignored Theo and pulled Aaron with me towards the backyard.

"You cannot ignore me forever Tracy, there are things which even I cannot explain on my own", Theo called out from behind me.

I felt my blood boil hearing those words out of his mouth. I turned and faced him and said," YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN?! You cannot explain why you lied to me? You cannot explain why you said that I am not your sister? You cannot explain why you did not even inform me before going on 10-day trip? You cannot explain why I have to start training again? You cannot explain why I was not informed that my so called dead family is actually alive? You cannot explain why a man who I never met is after my life? You cannot-- ". 

"NO! I CAN'T TRACY!!", Theo screamed at me. I was taken aback by his behaviour. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. I looked at him, his chest heaving up and down with his ragged breaths, dark circles below his red eyes as if he had not slept for a whole week, dishevealed hair and he looked way thinner than when he had left this house a few days back. I felt guilty when I observed how broken he looked. I walked up to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He tensed at my touch but then hugged me back placing his head in the crook of my neck. His body shook with silent sobs as his tears wet my shirt. I caressed his head as he hugged me tighter and cried more violently. 

When he finally calmed down I took his hand and made him sit on the couch. Aaron brought a glass of water which Theo gulped down in seconds. I held his hand in mine and asked,"You know, you can tell me anything and everything you want, I'll always be there for you..."

He nodded and took a deep breath before saying," I f-failed mom and dad, they had asked me to keep you safe and happy but you are not happy here and you are definitely not safe here. I don't even know what has happened to them. It was about time for mom and dad to send me a signal which was why I had gone out for a few days. They haven't sent a signal about their well being for the past few months. Not getting a word about them has broken my confidence that we can be a happy family again. I lied to you because I thought that you will be less worried not knowing anything. I was also shocked when I came to know that you are not my sister. The day you heard me uttering those words was the day I learnt that news. I was going over the documents which you had brought from Granpa's house when I came to know about this truth. After reading about this I did not have the courage to continue reading the document --"

His head hung low as he uttered these words. I took his face in my hands and made him look at me straight in the eyes. I said," No matter what the world says, you are my brother. And who said that I am not happy? I am very happy and safe here, with you and Aaron. You should have confidence in yourself as you have survived this whole year with no one to help you. And don't you dare say that you have failed mom and dad, I am sure that they are proud of you, and don't worry we will find them soon." 

I pulled him into a hug and he too hugged me back. "Hey! you guys always leave me alone...I want a hug too!",Aaron said while pouting like a small kid. I laughed at his childishness and pulled him into the hug too. Theo pulled back and gave me a genuine smile. I looked at his dark blue orbs only to find sadness swimming in them. I said,"Cheer up Theodore I am officially talking to you now but this does not allow you to lie to me again, got it?" He looked at me and nodded. I smiled and got up from the couch and headed to my room. 

Having taken a cold shower and tied my hair in a loose bun I laid in my bed checking my phone which had been lying dead since the moment I stepped in this house. I had finally decided to charge it last night. I am sure that my eyes must have widened to twice their size the moment I unlocked my phone as there were 20 missed calls and 48 messages. I got 19 missed calls from Mike but the last and most recent one was from an unknown number. The messages were all from Mike asking me- where I am and where his car was and why I am not picking up. I decided to ignore Mike because I did not have a good gut feeling about him. I was about to put my phone back on the night stand when it rang. The display showed an unknown number similar to the one which had called me recently. I picked it up.

"Listen Tracy, I will be the one talking here. I think you have forgotten about Jane, haven't you? I knew you never cared about her as much as she cares about you. I give you only three days to give me your parent's file. If you don't then I have no choice except for killing her. I will send you the address and time to meet on the third day. And if you don't know, your dear friend here already has a lot of wounds, I guess she will end up dead even if I don't kill her. Anyways bye Tracy, sweet dreams."

The male voice ended the call and I couldn't even say a word! I immediately went to Theo who was in the huge computer room at the end of the hallway and asked him to trace the number's location. He looked confused but did what I asked him to do. I stood beside him as he traced the location. As the location appeared on the screen I felt Theo tense and when my eyes landed on the location, I too froze...

A/N: Hello my sweet readers, forgive your author to not have updated for such a long time. I was very very busy. I might not update for another week or so due to a lot of work so please forgive this poor author of yours🥺

I don't know if the song fits the chapter but I hope you like it and thank you all so much for 300+ reads💖
How do you like the story so far??? 😏 

~RV