A Borrower's Anthology

Running

The sunlight had been soaked up by a curtain of cotton navy blue, leaving thin streaks of light against the pale floor. Everywhere else in the house was a still life. A painting might have even given it more energy than what it possessed. However, beside the window, a bird twittered as though its shrill cry was the last warning left to signify an impending doom which was sure to come shortly.

Thud.

Nicholas held his breath. It came from upstairs--a merciless sound that grew louder and closer with each passing step. He hadn't the faintest clue where Michelle had scampered off to, but it was probably for the best they weren't together then. Two moving targets, while having a doubled advantage for strategizing, would have only minimized their success at them both getting away. He trusted her to know what she was doing on her own. She was fast. Perhaps not as keen when under pressure, but as long as common sense didn't evade her, she would have been fine. Probably.

From underneath the couch, Nicholas carefully edged to the side and peered out across the living room floor. No one had entered into his field of vision yet, but he heard it nonetheless: the footsteps. They were taking so long to get into the room that it wracked a shudder through his frame. Slowly, he sunk back into the comfort of darkness. His legs wanted to move, but he kept a hand clamped onto his thigh, the pain of digging nails into his flesh adding clarity to his thoughts.

Finally, the footsteps marched into the vicinity, followed by the low murmur of words. "Where are you hiding..."

Nick had to commend Darius--he actually sounded horrifying, especially when he was as alone as he was. If Michelle had been with him, perhaps he would have had an easier time putting on a brave face or hiding behind hers. Whereas he was their caution, she was their bravado. Had Nick not kept her in mind when he'd first been found, he might not have been so happy to hear Darius' voice speaking to him like a person at all.

Well, now was a bad example, Nick thought. He would have rather heard Darius' voice not when he was hunting them down.

A lot of time had passed since April Fool's day--weeks, to be exact. So much so that Nicholas had nearly forgotten all about the plan Michelle had enacted as her official initiation into the siblings' rivalry. Apparently she had as well, for when Darius had told them that they could hang out because he was off from school and home alone, neither of them had suspected him of anything afoul. With blinding optimism, they'd waited outside of Darius' shut door. Why he had given them those instructions should have been their first tipping point, but Darius was weird, Michelle had said. He was always making weird requests. Telling them--once he'd opened the door--that they had a few minutes to run was certainly up there.

"It wouldn't be fair if I didn't give you guys a head-start," Darius said. Though there was little kindness in the act--he probably only wanted to make it more entertaining for himself.

The floorboards creaked and Nicholas held a hand against his mouth, stopping a sharp gasp from slipping out. Overtime he'd grown accustomed to being floor-bound with one of the brothers around. He no longer needed to walk fifty feet ahead of them in order to feel safe. He trusted them now, which was all the more reason why hearing that heavy displacement of weight sent his heart catapulting into his head. That was the one thing, no matter how many times he walked beside them, that Nick still couldn't care for. Vibrations were all the more pronounced when he was closer to the earth. No longer was he able to differentiate between the blood in his ears and the pounding of Darius' steps.

He wanted to run. No, he needed to run but he also needed to stay put. A couch might have been the more obvious of choices to hide beneath yet it was because of that obviousness that Nick hoped Darius overlooked it. If he ran to the epicenter, the chances of Darius being able to retrieve him--even if he found him--were slimmer than hiding under his nightstand or bed. That furniture would have been no sweat to move. The couch was at least a couple times heavier. If there was one thing Darius was, it was lazy.