A L T A I R

The Beginning: Part Two

The evening melded into night as the teenager laid unconscious and by time he woke up the room was pitch black and empty. His brother was not in the room with him anymore as the door was wide open and he couldn't see him anywhere.

One of the bedsheets had been pulled up onto his body, safely tucking him in. Altair bit his lip and pulled the sheet off of his body feeling a small spark of guilt before snuffing it out. He would only forgive his brother once he actually apologized not when he did something nice for him before running off.

His body felt sore as he sat up and he scratched at his arms. It didn't look like it was to late but he needed to get ready for dinner with the smell of roasted beef slowly hitting his nose. His mouth watered a tiny bit while he got off of the bed and took off his socks and slipped on some slippers.

The walk down into the kitchen helped take away the sleepy fog that sat in his body allowing his eyes to see the full vicinity of the house. A few lights where on and his siblings bedrooms where closed, while his parents room was locked again by the looks of it. Curling his toes into the ragged carpet beneath his feet he reached the top of stairway.

Below him the dining room was mostly empty with only his younger sister sitting in a recliner with a textbook in her lap and a glass of what looked like tea next to her feet. She had her hair down which wasn't odd to him however she was still in her school uniform and her backpack was still strapped onto her back.

"Aggie? What are you doing down here?" Altair asked careful not to knock over her drink as he came near her. "Where's mum?"

Moving her hair out of her face, Aggie set her book down and reached down to grab her glass. Taking a dainty little sip she swallowed the large gulp she took and wiped the remaining residue from under her lip. She looked exhausted with large bags under her eyes which where bright red.

"Mum's taking a nap with the little ones and I'm doing my history project. It's going to be on the Korean War." She answered her voice empty and face blank.

"Oh well have you seen Gabe anywhere? I need to talk to him about something." He asked ignoring the part about her project.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"He left." Aggie muttered giving him a quick glance before crossing her arms over her chest and laying back into the chair. "He was really ticked off though, he even pushed me when I was coming in. What happened."

Could he tell her? He knew if he told her about their brother's conspiracy theory she'd either laugh it off or go straight to there mother with what he told her. However if he lied she'd most likely know and would be made at him the entire time they ate dinner.

He shook his head and swallowed the lump that had grown in his throat.

 "I wrecked our bikes." Aggie looked at him before repeating what he said back to him.

 "You wrecked your bike and Gabe's but he only got mad at you hours later when i got home from school? Really."

He could tell from the way her voice went from low monotone to mocking that she didn't believe him not one bit. And she wouldn't believe anything else he told her maybe not even the truth but he feared her more then Gabe. He watched her observe him with her normally blank eyes but this time they where almost gazing at his soul.

A lot more then Gabe.

 "Okay I lied to you we got in a argument over mom." He said feeling relieved to see her calm down and wait quietly for him to go on. "And I shut down Gabe before it could escalate enough to get her attention."

 "Well whatever your argument was about has him prowling the streets like a rabid animal drunk off his ass."  She growled.

 "Oh no we have to get him home." Altair said feeling his heart begin to pick up. They couldn't let him fall apart like this. "Get up let's go!"

"He's probably at his friend's house but there's no guarantee." She yelled as he threw his jacket on not even bothering to get on any shoes. The front door was wretched open by him and he started to run out. "Slow down Altair we still have some time to get to him!"

He kept going looking around outside for there bikes. His was still there but Gabe's was missing along with his backpack. Cursing under his breath he picked up his bike, wiped it off and hopped on. Biking there would be faster then just simply running the entire way.

 "I don't care we still need to find him before mum comes down and sees he's gone. Now hop on my back so we can start riding." He muttered just as she ran out the door with her coat pulled halfway onto her body and hat plopped onto her head.

She frowned but followed his instructions albeit reluctantly. Her arms wrapped around his waist with his hands locked together and her hair dipping down next to his chin. It was now freezing cold and the two shivered against one another. 

 "Come on let's go. I want to be able to find that bastard before it becomes pitch black outside." Aggie said growing inpatient as she pushed against him urging him to move.

He wanted to pinch her but he withheld the urge feeling the need to find Gabe suddenly return and make his gut twist. Resting his feet against the bike's pedals and tightening his hands on the handles, he moved Aggie's hair out of the way earning a hiss, had one quick panicked glance at his mother's window, before he finally took off.