Standstill

Chapter 4- Aftermath

" I can't believe this ! How could you hide this from me , FOR SO MANY DAYS!!!", he says, stomping around the living room.

" I am so sorry ,but I thought that you wouldn't believe ", I say while sulking, "you would have surely laughed it off".

"Also , I am confused too, as to why did I get this power"

"After mom and dad passed away , we had promised that we wouldn't hide anything serious from each other ...didn't we?? How can you be so stupid ??" ,he says , with a concerned look .

I understand that he doesn't want to lose me , but it's not like I caused any problem or did something dangerous to get these powers ...in reality I don't even know why I got this power..it's probably just a matter of time and everything will go back to normal.

After he mentioned mom ,dad and the accident  , I couldn't take it anymore , and I lashed out .. .

"Don't bring that incident into the conversation Alex. I know you are hurt ...but so am I. Just because I dont show it, doesn't mean I don't feel anything !". 

A mixture of sadness and shock appears on his face . He kneels down and sits in front me , and holds my hand . "You are the only family that I have now . And I don't want you to fall in some danger.I wouldn't be able to bear losing you too."

Now i feel like an idiot for screaming ..."I am so sorry Alex , i promise, I wouldn't get myself into danger " I say , "I don't want to lose you too ! '' and hug him .

"And you are not doing anything with that superpower of yours without telling me ....deal?", he says , while giving me a small smile .

"Deal!" , I say while pulling his cheeks .

"Aah , stop it ! Those are my cheeks not rubber bands ,you dumbass", he screams , while I laugh .

Later after watching a movie , I walk to my room and lie down on the bed . 

Now that I had told Alex everything , it felt as if a huge burden  had been taken off my shoulders . Also , I am really happy that all this is bringing back my irritating , protective brother back . Seeing passive (doesn't give a damn side) Alex had brought down all my hope of seeing this side of him again .

Well , everything happens for a good reason , I suppose.

Now the only person who doesn't know about this is Anne. But I am pretty sure that I shouldn't tell her about it ...at least as of now .

What I know about Anne after being friends with her for so many years is that she can't keep secrets. Not even for a minute , which might be a little dangerous for the secret that I am trying to hide.

After a lot of thinking I slowly start falling asleep . I switch on the AC , play my favorite playlist , wrap myself in the blanket and enjoy the peace. 

But how can peace ever stay in the great Lexi's life !!

I cuss and get up to the sound of my phone ringing . The incoming call is from an unknown number . 

I usually don't pick up calls from  unknown numbers , so I just left it to ring until it stopped on its own . Once it stopped , i played the song again and tried to sleep , but there it was ,again , a call from the same unknown number .

"Who is this ???", I say , while frowning at the screen . When I'm about to pick up the call , when I hear a crash from the living room .

I just throw the phone on my bed and run towards the source of the sound .

"That was loud! , did Alex fall down or something???" , I murmur to myself while rushing towards the living room .

BUT...

I see Alex , coming out of his room , as confused as I am .

"I thought you fell or something. That was loud ." , he says .

"I thought that you fell" ,I say. 

"WAIT !" we exclaim at the same time .

Our eyes widen as we stare at each other's faces.

"If it's not one of us , who made the sound ????" We say, still speaking with perfect sink .

"Ssshhh!" He says , while placing his finger on his lips . "One sec, I will be back .Dont move from here ." And while saying so , he slowly tip toes into his room and gets to baseball bats .

"Let's go see. You stay beside me ...ok?" He says while taking the lead .

I follow him like an obedient kid .

We tiptoe through the hallway to the living room , while holding hands tightly .

At first,there's nobody ...all clear 

What made that sound ???

That's when I noticed the vase , that mom loved and always took care of, on the floor , smashed into small pieces. 

When Alex sees it , his face turns red .He looks at me and asks , " who tf did this ?!?!?!?!?", while whispering .

Suddenly ...I notice something,  

"ALEX!" I kinda whisper scream , " the door has been cracked open!!, the person can still be hiding somewhere, calm down and focus ." 

That's when we hear a deep voice ordering from the kitchen .

" hey kids " ( In a mocking tone) 

It's a tall guy , around 6 '4 , black jacket , he is wearing a fancy ball mask (which is covering only the upper part of his face) , seems to be in his mid to late 20s , leaning against the kitchen counter .

"Don't be scared ", he says while smirking. 

"Who are you ? Why are you here ?", I ask while gripping the bat firmly .

"There's no need for you to know that kid.",he says nonchalantly.

" I think you people are sensible enough to know what to do. Just follow my Instruction and let me do my work orelse-" 

"ORELSE WHAT ??" Alex says , while cutting the guy mid sentence .

" Brave kid huh ??" , the man says while pulling a knife  from the knief stand and checking its sharpness .

"Let me show you , what do I mean by or else ", while still having a spine chilling smirk. "Hey dude , come out and show them " .

There are more of them hiding ?? I am literally screaming in my mind , but a single word doesn't come out of my mouth due to shock .

Next second I feel something being pointed at the back of my head, and exactly what I thought it is . 

A guy with a gun pointed in my direction.

There is one pointed at Alex too . 

The partner takes the baseball bats from our (while keeping one of us at gun point )

"See kid ? I dont think any other explanation is needed. Right ??" , the man asks while walking towards us .

"I don't have anything towards you guys. Just let me do my work and don't  open your mouth to anybody . It's that simple !" (Shrugging his shoulders)

I can feel Alex's grip on my hand growing stronger .

I can feel him trying to control himself .

After a second looks at me and gives me a look , as if assuring me that we will be safe .

I can let anything happen to the both of us . 

Finally, after so long, I have started getting my brother back . This can't go wrong. 

I need to do something, so that we both  are safe ...

This man doesn't know what he has gotten into ...

Time to show him ....

To be continued.....