“I’m part of the family, you know? I wasn’t aware I was forbidden from coming home now.”
“Why are you here?” I repeated.
Dagon rarely came to our father’s house. When I say rarely, I mean only on birthdays and holidays. Even then, it was not guaranteed. Seeing him again after such a long time made me uncomfortable. It was not like him to talk with me unless we were trapped in a room or he wanted to fight. Otherwise, he preferred to ignore my existence, and I preferred to stay away from him and the feelings he ignited in me.
“Father sent me.” Something changed in his demeanor. “He is calling a family meeting tomorrow.”
My insides churned when I heard his words. Somehow, I found my voice and asked, “Why a family meeting?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dagon.” My voice was like a warning. A warning that wasn’t going to register for him. I knew better than this.
“I said I don’t know! He said everyone must stay home tonight, and we will talk tomorrow. So, I guess we will have quality time together as brothers.”
Yeah, right. Like you ever want to spend time with the rest of us. That was excluding Andras, of course. A voice in my head screamed he wasn’t like that before, and the same fucking ache settled deep in my gut.
Before I could say anything else, he stormed out of the room, and I was left feeling both relieved and furious.
Why would Dad call a family meeting? He only did it when something serious happened. Did someone get hurt? What if one of my brothers was in an accident? No, he wouldn’t wait to call a meeting to tell us. Right? Did he go bankrupt? No, it couldn’t be that either. Oh my God, was he sick?
All kinds of scenarios played in my head. Each one was worse than the last. What ifs kept playing in my mind. My thoughts kept racing, and I couldn’t stop them, so I started playing with my ring, turning it once, twice, three… seven times.
It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t right. It had to be right.
I needed to do itright, or the worst would happen. The intrusive thought popped into my mind unwelcome.Fuck.I twisted my rings repeatedly until I lost the numbers and the small hold of my sanity.
Defeated and overwhelmed by fear and dread, I settled back in my seat by the window with a heavy thud. The view of the plants gently rustling in the wind was comforting. If only comfort could reach the depths of my mind’s storm. My hands started to shake, and my breaths became shallow.
I told myself to calm down, breathe in, then out.
I did this for a couple of minutes, and things only worsened.
Breathing techniques, my ass, more like -"how to exacerbate your nervous breakdown in a few seconds."Whoever said these breathing techniques worked was clearly a damn liar. Okay, that wasn’t exactly true; sometimes, they helped, but now they were useless.
Try again. Inhale, exhale.
I focused on breathing in for four seconds, holding for a bit, then breathing out for six seconds. After a few minutes, I calmed down. My hands no longer shook, and I was back in the present, not in the storm’s center.
It was enough for now. It had to be, since it was all I had. When I looked at my phone to check the time, I cursed. Shit. I was going to be late for class. Entering an already packed room while the professor was speaking was the last thing I wanted or needed.
I grabbed my backpack and ran toward the door. As I pivoted around the corner between the living room and the hall, I came face to face with Bren and Wilder.
“Can you give us a ride today, Di?” Bren asked before I could greet them.
“Bren, why won’t you use your car? I’m already late.”
There was no way I was giving them a ride. If I did, I may as well skip my classes. Skipping didn’t sound so bad when I thought about it.
Bren looked at me like my words had taken a physical form and slapped him across the face. I refrained from rolling my eyes. He could be a drama queen sometimes. If I had to describe him, I would say he was sassy, over-the-top, and dramatic. A troublemaker and an adventure seeker, who always made everyone laugh. He was also one of my best friends and my brother.
Thoughts about my class were forgotten as I observed my brothers. Wilder looked… well, wild. His name was verydescriptive regarding his looks but not so much his character. He had long auburn hair that reached his shoulders. It was messy today, and his piercing eyes, one blue, one brown, added a touch of wildness and beauty. He was the most muscular and well-built of all of us.
If Wilder was autumn and winter, Brenton was summer. Bren had light blond hair, and his eyes were a warm blue. He had the physique of a swimmer with broad shoulders and a lean body.
“Bren, stop torturing our little brother and just go with me. We have stuff to do.” Wilder just shook his head and gave me a quick apologetic look.
“Little!?” The astonishment in Bren’s voice made me laugh out loud. “Little!? He is the same age as me!”
