BLUE BLOOD

40 | she knows

x

"Alexander," I whispered, shaking his shoulder. "Alex, wake up."

Thunder rattled the tall windows of his room. I screamed and held my teddy close to me. Alexander groggily awoke as my piercing scream filled his ear drums. His reaction was calm and steady, as always.

If I had been a serial killer, he would have been just as calm. And he would have made it out alive and talked the killer into a friend. I have never met a single person nor stranger who didn't love my brother upon meeting him.

"Oh. It's just you," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. Alexander sunk back down in the covers, but also raised his blankets so that I could crawl in beside him. He let me burrow under him before saying, "You know there's nothing to be scared of. Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Lightning suddenly increases in temperature and pressure which-"

"Alexander?"

"Yeah?" he sighed, already predicting my response.

"Shut up or I'm telling Mum that you're trying to teach me again," I said, matter of fact. He did this every time I wake him up in the middle of the night. My brother used to always tell me that I was smarter than more adults, even though we both knew he had an intelligence that were multiple thresholds above me. "And by the way pressure increases because of the increase in temperature."

I could feel his smile as he ruffled my hair. "So you do listen to me."

"Shut up!"

Alexander laughed before shifting the covers so that they would cover my toes. "Alright, alright. But you can only sleep here if you promise you won't snore and admit that you're scared-"

"I do not-"

Lightning blinked and thunder followed, causing me to scream again and to dive under the blankets. He started to chuckle when I poked my head out and mumbled, "Fine. I'm scared."

"You didn't let me finish," Alex said gently. "You have to admit that you're scared of something that has no intention to kill you. Mother nature will always be innocent."

"But nature isn't a person," I argued and noticed the change in his mood. He was always so sad, but I could never figure out why.

"That's exactly why she's innocent."

x

"Oh no you're not," said Clara Jane purred, shutting the door behind her carefully. "The both of you are going nowhere."

Avery stilled at her sudden arrival. I sensed his unease. Come to think of it, he was always tense around her. I could not understand why, but from the glint in Clara Jane's eyes, I could tell I was about to find out very soon.

Her heels tapped the floor as she made her way to me, her expression a mixture of a sneer, admiration, and disgust. It was a strange expression, one I never thought could exist.

"I should have known," she began, pushing her fiery hair behind her shoulders. "I should have known all along."

My eyes caught Avery's and the same thought passed through our minds.