It was a Sunday and that meant that I had the day off. It felt weird to not be doing anything because in the city I worked every day, even Sundays. Chris was home and I figured that it would be a good time for us to be able to discuss everything that had gone wrong with us.
His room was directly next to mine and I gently knocked on his door. He didn’t respond immediately but I could hear him shuffling on the other side. I waited a full minute and when he didn’t answer, I pushed open the door.
His room was the only thing I had seen so far in the town that had changed. Gone were his bright blue walls and they were replaced with a color that was somewhere between a dark blue and black. His figurines and books were gone from the shelves and replaced with anatomy, history and books on weapons and warfare. It was a startling reminder that my brother had grown up and I wasn’t there to witness it.
“Is it okay if I come in?” I asked as I noticed him lying on his bed with a book open in his hands.
“You’re already here, so does it matter?”
I sighed deeply knowing it was the best response I was probably going to get from him so I shut the door behind me and walked further into the room. I sat at the foot of the bed but he didn’t look up at me. His eyes weren’t moving so I knew he wasn’t reading but he refused to speak to me.
“I’m sorry I left,” I began and he groaned and placed the book on his bedside table.
“Leindra, I don’t want to talk about this.”
“We have to,” I said and he rolled his eyes. “You are upset and rightfully so but Chris, you need to understand.”
“I don’t need to understand anything,” he cut me off with a shout. “I would have never left you after what happened. I defended you and I stayed by your side and you left me alone. You didn’t even care to drop a note or to call in. I waited for weeks thinking and hoping you would call.”
“I’m sorry,” tears gathered in my eyes. “I wanted to call so many times but I didn’t know if you wanted to see me. I thought about you every day.”
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
“I couldn’t bear the thought of being here. I wanted more; I want more from my life, Chris. This town can’t give me that and you know it better than anyone.”
He let out a sigh and crossed his arm over his chest. “It doesn’t matter anymore because it is in the past. I can’t change what you’ve done.”
“But you can let me fix it.”
“How are you going to do that?” he asked and although his tone was sarcastic, I could tell that he genuinely meant the question.
“Let me worry about that.”
He looked at me for a second and then he nodded. I thought that was it and I was happy that he had chosen to forgive me but before I could stand to my feet, he threw his hands around my neck and pulled me in for a hug. I felt a wave of relief crash through me as I held him close.
“I missed you,” he whispered and my throat was so thick with emotions that I couldn’t do anything but not in agreement.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that but there was a knock on his door and it creaked open to reveal grandma. She smiled when she saw us and she shot me a knowing look before turning back to face Chris.
“Since the both of you are getting along now, I don’t think it would be bad if I asked you both to get groceries for us,” she said and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll be waiting in the kitchen with the list.”
We left the house immediately after and I didn’t need directions to the grocery store because it was the same one we had been going to since we were kids. It was the same workers and the same aisles and I felt like I was going to suffocate but the knowledge that my brother was no longer pissed off at me was enough to have me brave the familiar.
When we parked, I noticed a familiar bike at the corner of the store and I couldn’t help the feeling of anticipation that crawled up my spine. I quickly squashed it and tried to control myself. I didn’t even know his name so there was no reason why I should have been excited at the prospect of seeing him.
“Do you want to split up?” I asked Chris. “Or should we just do everything together?”
“I think we should do it together,” he said as he grabbed a cart and started to push it.
Grandma’s list was very straightforward. It was eggs, milk, cheese and a few other snacks. Of course, Chris threw in some extra cereal and sweets and I couldn’t help but shake my head. He always used to do that when we were younger and for the first time, I wasn’t annoyed that something had stayed the same. It just showed that even though he had changed, the traces of my little brother were still in him.
Once we were done, we made our way to the checkout line and I was surprised to see another of my classmates there. She recognized me and she stared at me with wide eyes for a full second before she quickly blinked out of it and started bagging our things.
I couldn’t remember her name but I remembered that she used to sit behind me in English class. Then, she had glasses and light brown hair and she used to use braces. Now, her braces were gone and her hair had been dyed a dark brown color.
When she was done, I took the bags but I couldn’t remember her name to thank her. Chris must have realized that because while I paid, he spoke.
“Thank you, Hannah,” he said and she beamed at him. “Have a nice day.”
“Thank you,” I whispered to him as we walked away and he waved me off as if to say it wasn’t a big deal.
As we loaded our things into the car, I caught sight of the bike again and this time, the rider was standing right next to him. He wasn’t facing us but I still felt my skin prickle up and my breath hitched in my throat. He was wearing an all-black ensemble and I was determined to know who he was.
“Do you know him?” I asked and Chris was confused for a moment but then he followed my gaze to the stranger. “I don’t remember seeing him before I left.”
“That’s because he came after you had left,” Chris explained. “His name is Darius Lunar.”
“Lunar as in, the wiped-out Lunar family that founded Lunarius?” I asked and Chris nodded. “I thought the last of them died a long time ago.”
“So did we but it turns out that we were wrong. Darius is a direct descendant of the founders of Lunarius.”