Chapter 28 Focus

Chapter 28 Focus
William's POV

The countdown had begun but nothing was happening yet. I could hear a faint whirring coming from underneath the table. Like gears grinding against each other, but so far, no movement and no balls,red or otherwise.
Beside me, Conner squirmed impatiently.

After another full minute, the bulb on one of the metal rods flickered to life. It glowed red.

“Is this some sort of trick? Red bulb means red ball?" Conner asked irritably.
“I don't think so." I leaned forward. The whirring of gears had stopped.

The red bulb flickered off and the closed tunnel opened suddenly. A red ball shot out, rolling down the concourse with speed. I almost cheered from the buildup of excitement. I watched in fascination as it rolled down the course, following all the twists and curves and finally dropping down a hole at the other end. Out of sight.

“Incredible. I've got to meet this Castillo kid.” I chuckled.
" Easily impressed are ya.” Conner groaned and rolled his eyes. " So that's one ball. And then we wait for the next and count that and…"
“Yep. That's probably the gist of it." I leaned back into my chair.

It did seem easy. Too easy. It was only the first test but surely Dad wouldn't make it so ridiculously simple would he?
The bulb flickered off and back on two seconds later. This time, it was green. A second later, the tunnel opened again and a green ball shot through, taking the same path as the red one.

“Oh wow. There's more than one color. Did not see that coming at all." Conner drawled sarcastically and rolled his eyes once more.
There was no point in replying. He was just going to get more sour.

The green ball rolled down and dropped into the hole at the end. I turned my attention back to the beginning of the course, waiting for the next ball. Conner, for all his apparent disinterest and annoyance, did the same. It was boring and ridiculous, sure, but it was still a test. Or dare I say, a competition.

The next ball took two full minutes. And then the same pattern as the last. First a red light followed by a red ball, ten second pause, green light and then a green ball.
Maybe we were supposed to study the pattern. Maybe there was a way to get the number of red balls without sitting here for an hour.

" Have you got a watch?” I asked Conner.
" No. What for?”
I started to discuss my theory but stopped myself. It was a competition after all.

I held my breath while the next wait time counted down. I needed the pattern to repeat one more time.

Two minutes up, the bulb flickered to life. Red.
I cracked a smile but it died immediately I saw the ball roll down the course.
Yellow.

Conner gave a mocking snort, “Thought you cracked a code huh? You've gotta know it wouldn't be that easy. If Dad says he wants us to sit here and count fricking balls, then that's exactly what he's going to make sure we do.”

I rubbed a hand on my forehead as the yellow ball dipped into the hole. “You know him well." I mumbled in admiration.
“I lived with him stupid."
“Aren’t you ever going to let up with the insults, Conner?”

If he gave a reply to that, I didn't hear him. Another ball had just rolled down the course, startling us both. No coloured bulb to alert us to its arrival.
It was a red ball.

So we were not to lose focus at all.

The next three balls had no lights to accompany them. Only one more was red, making a total of four. So far so good.
Just when I felt relaxed again, a high pitched mechanical whine went through the room making Conner and I clamp our hands to our ears and shut our eyes trying to block it out.

“What the hell is that?" He groaned.
I cracked my eyes open just in time to see two balls shoot down the course at the same time. They were both red.
" A distraction.” I replied.
He managed to see the balls just before they rolled out of sight.

“Knew this wasn't going to be some simple ball counting bullshit." He snarled.
“You sounded pretty angry at the beginning which tells me you definitely thought it was."
“What a clever retort. Want a cookie?” He sneered.

I held myself back from a snide answer. The objective here was to not lose focus.
Another electrical whine, louder than the first. I shut my ears but kept my eyes open and so did Conner.
Three balls, none red.

This was getting infuriating.

Several light flashes and high pitched whines later, We were both starting to get sick of it all. No one had spoken in minutes because the time between balls had grown shorter and the process, very unpredictable. My nerves were frayed, my teeth on edge. Each loud noise felt like torture, each light flash itched my brain. But we still had to count. I was at a total of twenty balls. I couldn't wait for it to be over. It felt like we'd been there for days.

" He's enjoying this, you know? This torture.” Conner said. His voice had lost its edge from just a couple of minutes ago
I gave no reply. I couldn't, because both lights on the rod had flickered to life and four balls were now running down the course.
I'd figured out the balls were the main focus. The lights and sound were simply distractions to throw us off balance. If I could tune them out and focus on the balls alone, this'll be an easy win.

" We used to play this when I was a kid. Not this exactly but…. Something similar. He cheated a lot. Called it being smart.” Conner chuckled sadly, “Mind games. He's a pro."
“I don't think this was meant to be torture, Conner. It's supposed to be about….”
" Focus and paying attention to detail? Right. Heard it all before."

“You don't seem to have much faith in our father." I replied, not taking my eyes off the course.
“Again, I lived with him. Did you ever ask yourself why I moved out?"
“You turned eighteen?"
He snorted again, “It's a mansion, William. I could've had an entire wing to myself if I wanted.”
" So you just wanted to be away from him?” I asked incredulously.
" If you lived the life I did, you'd do the same.” He replied wearily.
" I doubt that, Conner.”
" How can you be certain?”

I sighed, " I've not exactly had an easy life you know.”
"Yeah right. You got to live with her. You never truly felt the pain Dad and I did.”

I snapped my head around to gape at him in shock, “What?"
He shook his head and chuckled without humor, “Oh come on, think about it. We lose mum and a week later you're shipped off to live with her identical twin sister. A substitute mum in more ways than one. You grew up with her,.."
" I grew up with a constant reminder of her memory.” I growled, " Do you know how that feels?”

" Lucky.” He stared back at me, " Goddam lucky. Which if we're being honest, you don't deserve. Not after what you did.”

" Conner, not this again.”
" What? You wouldn't like to be reminded how you killed our mother?”

I could feel my hackles rising , feel my head start to pound. " I didn't kill her.” I gripped the armrest of my chair.
" You stood there and watched it happen.” He shrugged.
" I was frozen in shock. And I was a child for fucks sake. We both were.”
“I wouldn't have stood there like an idiot while my mother choked on her own blood.”

I gripped the chair harder as I tried to push away the memory that had refused to leave my head. “Conner…" I growled in warning.
“You watched her die and you got to replace her. The coward got the better reward. Joke writes itself."
“Conner….."

“Tell me, twin brother, how did it feel being tucked into bed by the exact replica of the woman you killed?"