As the sun rose and relinquished the land of its horrors yet again, the aftermath of the turbulent emotions of last night persisted within the two brown haired kids walking side by side with drooping heads filled to the brim with bouts of worry and nervousness.
Dylan, even with his unsteady eyes and slipping backpack clinging to his shoulder, still managed to glance frequently at his sister. She’s usually calm and quiet, but this silence was maddening— there was no spot of emotion on her already unreadable face. His concerns grew heavy for both Demi and Lin. He wasn’t sure how he should break the news to him and certainly didn’t want Demi to do it herself. He was well versed in the ins and outs of the people he’s close to and he was adamantly sure that both won’t make it out unscathed— if one breaks the other would immediately shatter as well.
“Hey..? Demi?” He muttered not trying to make eye contact. “How about you leave this to me?” It felt like he was walking on eggshells with every word he uttered. Last night was rough, she couldn’t sleep a wink and continued to stay awake past midnight.
“We go straight to his house, you don’t have to say anything, we ask for Lin and I’ll tell him on the way to school. Is that fine?”
“Fine… but there’s something you should know… but I don’t know if I can tell you that unless Lin says it himself…”
She finally raised her head to look at Dylan. With determined eyes she says, “But I can tell you this: Never bring up Gabbie in front of his parents.”
Dylan was a little taken aback by her expression. He felt a little stupid that he assumed she would have perhaps cried about it when in reality he had completely forgotten that it takes a lot for her to cry about something. He answered her accordingly, “Ok, you already told me his parents don’t get along with Gabbie. It’s a sensitive issue and I’ll keep that in mind.”
As the two stood in front of the teak front door, they could feel each of their heart rates rising.
“Man… I’m so nervous…” Dylan whispered.
“My palms are getting sweaty just thinking about it. Also is this our first time here?”
“I think so…?”
Demi loosened up her nerves and flexed her arms and reached for the doorbell. Ding Dong~!
It was answered shortly after as the door moved to form a tiny crack. “Yes?” A sweet and calm voice belonging to a middle aged women was heard.
“Um! This is Dylan and Demi. We are Lin’s friends from school!”
“…Lin?” The door finally flung open revealing Mrs Bellrose, who seemed to have come straight from the kitchen.
“Ah! I mean, Kaelin..!” Dylan replied nervously. “Why am I so nervous, God?!”
Demi nodded with a smile on her face.
Mrs Bellrose finally showed an appealing reaction on her face and greeted them immediately. She seemed to know who they were already.
“Oh! Dylan and Demi! So I finally got to see you two in person, how nice! Please, come on in! Have you had breakfast already? If not, please join us for some. It’s almost ready!”
Those two were certainly not expecting the overwhelming hospitality from this family. But they couldn’t possibly say no and made their way in. Right when they walked in, they noticed the shoe stand with those familiar school shoes. And as they glanced ahead they witnessed the living room which had a very cozy vibe to it, with a fireplace and everything. Demi was walking in astonishment and noticed pictures on the walls and pointed at them to Dylan with a little giggle. They were certainly enjoying themselves looking at those baby photos.
“Make yourselves at home kids! I’ll be with you in a minute. I’m sorry but you guys managed to arrive at the busiest time of the day, so it’s a little bit of a mess.”
“Oh! That’s no problem at all! It’s a school day, of course everyone’s busy getting ready. We just came to get Kaelin and walk to school together.” Dylan answered promptly.
Demi without a second to doubt asked Mrs Bellrose a question, “I take it, he still hasn’t woken up?”
She chuckled and replied, “That is certainly true. The kids in this house can manage to sleep through earthquakes even.” She wasn’t particularly proud of it, waking them up is quite the hassle.
“How about I go wake up the house?” Demi suggested in a joking manner. But Mrs Bellrose immediately accepted and pointed to his room. Demi hesitated but eventually wound up going up the stairs instead, leaving Dylan to help set up the table.
As she walked up the carpeted stairs and slide her hands over the smooth wooden handrail, she noticed three rooms in the hallway. She stopped to figure out which room it was. She peeped over to the farthest corner of the hallway to witness the balcony behind the French window and by the time she finished looking around, a minute clack of metal was heard behind her. As she curiously turned her head to see who it was. She hoped it would be Lin.
A little figure in a penguin hoodie pyjama walked out holding onto a baby blue cushion in one hand. They walked quite the distance before they realised there was an unfamiliar person standing near the stair case.
“Sup, Kyra? It’s been a while.” Demi casually started as if it would come to no ones surprise if she showed up unannounced like this.
Kyra looked understandably confused with only one eye open and not even fully awake. “Huh..? Who are you?”
“Brat. You don’t see me for a month and you completely forget about me..?” Demi slouched her back in disappointment.
The little girl finally rubs her eyes and opens them wide and finally realised who it was. “Oh! Big sis Demi! What are you doing here??”
“Well you already know what I’m here for.”
“I do? …Oh yeah, I do. You’re standing right in front of it – his room that is.”
“Thanks, bud.”
Demi stands there for a solid three seconds without budging.
“What is it? I’m not lying, that is definitely his room. Trust me!”
“That’s not the issue, I’m afraid…” Demi looked at her with stressful eyes and her mouth glued shut.
“Sigh… Both of you are hopeless…” She walked closer and held onto Demi’s legs and started pushing her forward. And without a doubt it was met with objection. “What if he’s changing or something?!” Demi screamed in protest.
“Gosh! I bet my entire piggybank, that sleepyhead brother of mine is most definitely sound asleep. Snoring even. Not even a tsunami will wake him up in the morning! Besides, so what if he’s changing? Is that such a bad thing for you?”
“U-Uhh… I guess not…?” She immediately refrained from commenting further and thought to herself, “Man, what am I saying to a literal child?? Why do I out myself like this?” She face palmed at her stupidity while simultaneously turning red.
“Then get in!” Kyra gave one last push forward and Demi went face to face with the door. Before she opened the door, she turned one last time to Kyra and uttered calmly, “You are the reason this ship is even afloat.”
“Thank me more later!” Kyra zoomed past Demi and reached the bathroom to brush her teeth. Near the bathroom door, Kyra pulled out a salute which was immediately reciprocated by Demi as well.
She swiftly twisted the handle with her sudden newly gained confidence and swung the door open quietly. The room was dark with a slight tinge of yellow probably from the coloured curtains hanging over every window. And right below the window directly opposite to the door was a study table. The adjustable lampshade was still on but was on a lower brightness setting. It seems to be a makeshift nightlamp as well. The desk was filled with books stacked up in heaps and stationary spread across the surface. Right next to the table was a huge red bean bag and a little coffee table with a little oddly placed snow globe in the middle. Across all of that was a shelf with all kinds of miscellaneous items like Taekwondo medals and certificates, comic books and music albums and random figurines, all of which were haphazardly displayed on the wooden planks.
Just as she finished and turned to the door, she noticed the most familiar thing out of everything, his school bag and his taekwondo uniform hanging from behind the door.
“Pfft- That’s exactly how I hang up mine as well..!” She chuckled to herself as she messed with the uniform.
As she continued to enjoy herself as quietly as possible, she was startled by the sudden creaking of the bed. A soft sound emerged from behind her.
“Mhm… Kyra, stop snooping around in my room…”
“Huh?!” Demi jumped upon hearing him talk and as she turned to see if he was awake, she realised she didn’t have to worry too much. “Oh..? He’s talking in his sleep? Here I thought he couldn’t get any cuter.”
She continued to snoop around a little more purely to mess with him now. She went ahead and opened up the curtains and let the sunlight in.
“Kyra..! For the last time you can’t borrow my taekwondo belt..!” He started to toss around now to avoid the sunlight with a wrinkled expression on his face.
“Wow. I think I got sister-zoned. Well, this is where my patience runs out, it’s time you wake up.”
She finally talked aloud in her normal voice, “Lin, keep this up, I’m going to grandpa-zone you!”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
With a two second delay, Lin finally managed to open his eyes wide enough to see who it was standing near the door. He jumped from bed, throwing his sheets up only to realise the person standing there was the last person he would expect to be here at this hour of the day.
“DEMI-” Before he could even finish his sentence, he slipped out from his bed and fell onto the floor. Demi flinched just as hard as him when he fell.
“Ouch! Lin, why are you so clumsy in the morning?” She quickly ran to him and assisted him up.
Lin patted his face to bring back his sense but was still too dumbfounded by what was going on. “What..? What are you doing here?!”
“My? Are you angry that I’m here?” Demi felt the need to add a little sass to that comment.
“I’m not angry! But, really, what are you doing here?” He gripped her shoulders and swayed her back and forth. “What did you tell my parents??”
“I came unannounced to tell you something important on the way to school. And as for your mom, she didn’t really mind, she was the one who sent me up here.”
“Is that right..? My mum sent you up here? Wait, did you come with someone?”
“I came with Dylan. And I didn’t say anything about us.”
“Good. It’s also fortunate that my dad’s not home. You picked a great time to randomly show up.”
Demi wavered from telling him the truth. “I… wouldn’t call it a great time…”
“Hm?” He titled his head to the side to get a better view of Demi’s slouched head. “What’s wrong?”
“I… Uh…” Demi was surely taking her time to spill her thoughts. But that hesitation allowed worry to fester within Lin’s mind.
“Is this about last night..?” His guess was somehow on point or was it that he knew more than he decided to show.
Demi nodded silently still looking away. “I have something to tell you, Lin…”
He couldn’t stand to look at the distress in her face and instinctively reached for her cheeks trying to lift it up. But just as he slid his fingers through her hair, a loud bang behind her alerted him and caused him to impulsively pull her closer towards him and turning away rapidly in a horrible attempt of hiding her away.
“Bro, wake up! This is your last warning from mum!” Kyra barged into his room busting down the door and witnessed those two stuck together. “Welp! Never mind. I saw and heard nothing.” She immediately turned away with a distasteful expression.
“W-Wait! It’s not what you think!!” Lin screamed his defence as he protested Kyra from leaving with the wrong impression.
Demi, currently being squished under Lin’s arms, strangely spoke calmly, “Sup, Kyra! Breakfast ready?”
“Yup! Mum made waffles and you’ve got to eat with us or Mum won’t let you leave!!” Kyra pretends to leave once again but stops and turns to deliver one last insult to Lin. “And brother, stop being lovey-dovey with the guests first thing in the morning.” She slams the door shut and sprints away down stairs.
“Hup-” Lin was left speechless and red as a tomato. Demi simply looked up at his flustered face with a little chuckle and noticed his hair.
“Stop laughing, I’m embarrassed enough as it is…” He said with a pout.
She simply reached for his hair and flattened it out and tried to restore it’s usual volume of fluff. It was certainly a bad case of bed head but she found it quite adorable, with two ends sticking up from behind like a pair of ears. “That’s better! And besides, why can’t I laugh? I can’t help it when you look so cute.” She casually turned away with a cheeky smile leaving Lin in a state of mental breakdown.
“H-Huh?!” All red, he pattens the back of his hair and finally looks down to assess his appearance from head to toe. “I’m a mess..! Where’s my other sock??!” He looked around rapidly only to realise his room is a complete mess as well. He clasped his face in complete horror.
“I’m going down now, wash up and join us quick, we only have an hour until school starts!” Before she left the room she quickly peeped her head from the door and remarked, “It was also cute that you talk in your sleep..!” She fled quickly after making that comment.
Lin sank to the floor with his knees holding his upper body up. “ARGH!”
After he finally calmed down he recalled the expressions Demi made as they talked. “Demi, why are you such a smooth talker..? Well, whatever, I’ve got to hurry up, she wanted to tell me something that badly she came over this early. Does this have to do with the call last night..?” His expressions quickly turned stoic as he rose from the floor and exited to the bathroom.
Back in the kitchen, Dylan was busily continuing the small talk with Mrs Bellrose. He could handle his fair share of small talks way better than his twin could and held up quite well without Demi. As he was setting up the table he noticed a little girl trodding down the stairs.
“Oh? Hey, you must be Kyra!” Dylan waved over to her with a friendly grin. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Hm? How is it that this is the first time we’ve met?” Kyra bounced over near the table. “Wow! You look so much like big sis Demi..!” She looked at him with astonishment.
“Well, we are twins..?” He laughed awkwardly. He didn’t really know how to talk to kids, let alone an oddball like Kyra who is certainly too mature for her age.
Suddenly Dylan gasped audibly, “Woah! Is that the limited edition Noodle hoodie from two years ago?!”
“Huh? You know Noodle?!” She quickly grabbed onto a chair and jumped up.
“Of course I do! I was a huge fan of the show, Dead Night Interviews!”
“That’s so cool! Why haven’t we met before??” She jumped from joy as she found herself a person to finally geek out about her favourite show of all time.
The geek-out session was abruptly put to hold by Kyra’s mother who kindly reminded her to help out. “Enough chatter Kyra, did you wake up Kaelin and tell Demi to come back down for breakfast?”
“Yeah, yeah! He’s wide awake, now leave me be, I still have things to talk about.”
“Kyra.” She shot an ominous glare at the little girl who was being neglectful of her manners.
“Gasp! So-Sorry! I’ll go get the plates..!”
“Oh! But I already got the plates.” Dylan yelled at Kyra who fled the scene faster than the speed of light.
Just then Demi came jogging downstairs and joined Dylan.
“Wonderful! Since both of you are here, take a seat and help yourselves!”
“Thank you!” The twins sounded simultaneously.
They took a seat right next to each other and began the whispering session.
“So, did you tell him? You were in there for quite a while..?”
“No… I couldn’t tell him.”
“I guess, that’s up to me then. But say, did he ask about the call? Or anything around that topic?”
“He didn’t ask anything about the call. He did mention last night but I don’t think that was within the context.”
“I see…”
“Dylan.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll tell him. I’ll tell him about the problem myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, then good luck.”
“Thank you for the food, Mrs Bellrose. It looks amazing!” Demi quickly moved onto behaving normally in front of Mrs Bellrose.
“You’re welcome, dear. Anything for my son’s friends. Say, are you guys really close?” She took a seat and enjoyed watching them eat. She placed another plate with waffles on the side for Kyra, who also joined shortly after.
“I guess you could say that. We’ve been friends since the beginning of high school. Around ninth grade I assume.” Dylan said as he paused his eating.
“I see. And how’s Kaelin at school?”
“Well I don’t see him much nowadays because now our classes are separated by an entire floor, but I do remember Demi and Lin were in the same class for two years. I would say, he’s a great friend and always has my back.”
All the heads immediately turned to Demi awaiting her answer. “Ahem! I’ll refrain from answering that because the list would be too long.”
Dylan smiled awkwardly whilst Kyra looked up with dubious eyes. Mrs Bellrose on the other hand looked pleased and the rest of their minds thought the same thing, “Safe~!”
“So, what do your parents do?”
“Our dad’s a pilot. So, he’s usually not around much and it’s always just me and Demi at home. Back then, our neighbour and her family were our temporary guardian.” Dylan started with the explanation.
“Oh, I see… and what about your mother?”
All of a sudden a scream was heard from behind. “Mum!!” It was Lin, who seemed to have just arrived there but heard everything that was going on.
“What is it?”
“Our mom… passed when we were six.” Demi responded calmly.
Lin felt like he panicked for no reason, they didn’t have any problems mentioning this sensitive issue to people but it was still a hard thing to digest for him. He could only imagine the pain of losing someone like that. But they bare it all so well, it’s admirable.
“Oh… I’m so sorry to hear that!” Mrs Bellrose truly felt ashamed for asking the kids such a difficult question.
“It’s quite alright..! Dad was enough to fill up that void. I would never say it to his face but he’s awesome.” Dylan quickly lightened the tension.
“I’m sure your father would be very happy to hear that from you two! You’ve got some great friends, Kaelin.”
“Uh-huh, yeah, I do…” He glanced over at Dylan and was met by a sorrow ridden smile. “Dylan…” He muttered softly.
“Hey, Lin! Good morning..!” That heavy smile soon vanished.
“…Good morning… Dylan.”
“Are you still half asleep, why are you mumbling with your words?” His mother asked playfully.
“Oh? Yes, maybe.” He answered listlessly.
Demi immediately stood up from her chair and started pacing towards the door as she instructed Lin to follow her. He willingly complied and followed her out of the house.
“…What is going on, Demi? These past few days something has been going on with you guys isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right. For a while it didn’t concern you, but now it does.”
“…Is this…” He hesitated. “Is this about Gabbie?”
“Gabbie is missing, Lin.”
“…” He stood in silence without moving a muscle.
“Lin..?” This was the part that she dreaded to face, the expression he would make that would send her spiralling into the same madness as him. ”But, don’t worry! We will find her soon.”
“Gabbie is not missing.”
“Huh?” She was confused, was he in denial? “Gabbie has been missing for two days. Her roommate claimed that she left home Sunday morning and still hasn’t come back. Her phone’s locked up inside her room and she was no where to be seen near her workplace after a mishap on Saturday. Lin… you have to believe me.”
“That’s not what I meant, Demi. She ran away, again.”
“Ran away?”
“I was expecting it sooner or later. She tried to run away from her problems again. Especially after the call I got from Ray, it basically confirmed my suspicions. I’m ashamed to say this but I’ve been trying to meet her more to keep her from leaving entirely.”
“But, how did you know she would run away again?”
“A letter. A few months ago I got a letter which was dated around the time she went off to college and the contents of that piece of paper wasn’t something I was meant to read. I could tell it was not meant to be mailed to us and it was probably an accident that it even ended up here. That letter was frightening to read and tore me apart from the inside. From then on I became paranoid of the day she would pack up and cut all ties with us and that is why I tried even harder to keep her close. Now, I’m starting to understand what she went through and I cannot justify her actions because only she knows what’s best for her. And whatever she decides to do, I am willing to support her decisions even if I’ll never be able to see her ever again.”
“Why… why do you sound like you’ve given up on her?”
“I… can never give up. I want to believe that she’ll make the right choice and come back but I don’t think the past would let that happen.”
“Then believe! You’re her family and when the day comes when she tries to stitch the broken bonds again then she would need all the help she can get.”
“You’re right.”
“I don’t get in, Lin. How are you so sure she did this on her own accord? She doesn’t even have a phone on her, she could be in danger for all we know.”
“Then we will have to seek outside assistance.”
“How are you this calm..?”
“I still believe she did this by her own choice and I think that she would soon realise her mistakes and then come back before it’s too late. But I’ve got to find her before anything bad actually happens…”
“Huh? Oh, that’s great! Ray is already out looking for her as we speak and if you could help us with informing us of her whereabouts we could start looking for her soon.”
“No, you’ve done enough. Please, I don’t want you to be involved anymore. This is a family matter and couldn’t possibly thank you enough for all that you’ve done already but it’s time you step out.” He said firmly.
“What? Lin, don’t treat me like that outsider!”
“You are not as outsider! I just don’t want you to see anymore of this toxic family…”
“Damn it, Lin! I don’t care, I’ll always be here for you when you need me and right now you need all the help you can get. Stop trying to fix this by yourself!” She felt her frustration levels rising and spilling over.
“Demi! Don’t make me regret telling you of my messed up family…! I cannot justify to fact she keeps trying to run away from her problems but I can reason that life has been unfairly cruel to her.”
Lin turns away and starts stomping away from her.
Demi, who was at her limit screamed, “Are you that ashamed?!”
“I lost Gabbie… I can’t lose you too.” He sprinted away from the scene not looking back once.
Demi felt a strange sensation developing inside her chest. “Lin… it hurts… it hurts so much that I yelled at you…”