Two voices shouting.

A flash of lightning. 

A clap of thunder. 

More shouting.

Rain pounding against the roof and the windows. 

A crash from outside of the room.

A quiet sob from below him.

Shintaro sat up in his bed, throwing the blankets away from his shoulders. The room was dark, preventing him from being able to tell where the edge of his bed was. He sat there for a moment, trying to tune out the arguing voices and listen for the sob again - while letting his eyes adjust to the dark. 

Another stifled sob, this one accompanied by a sniff. 

The dim light leaking from under the closed door was Shintaro's guide as he lowered himself down onto the rungs of his ladder. He quickly crawled down out of his bed, his feet hardly making a sound as he touched them to the floor. 

The blankets in the bottom bed in front of him shifted slightly, followed by another heartbreaking sob. 

Gently, Shintaro took the corner of the blankets, pulled them up, and slipped under them quickly. He rested them on his shoulders again, scooting forward to find his crying brother. When Shintaro found him, he carefully grabbed Cami by the arm and pulled him against his chest. Cami curled into Shintaro, burying his face in his shoulder and tucking his arms close.

Shintaro carefully wrapped his left arm around Cami's shoulders, circling his hand around Cami's back reassuringly. 

"Hey, it's alright," he said softly in Cami's ear, resting his chin on his brother's head. "What's wrong?"

Cami's body jolted with another sob, and Shintaro forced his other arm under Cami until both arms were wrapped protectively around him. Cami didn't reply, but Shintaro didn't mind. His brother needed a few minutes to calm down, to realize that everything was alright. To realize that Shintaro was there.

Finally, Cami tilted his head away from Shintaro's shoulder to answer. "Dad's hurting Mom again," he said shakily, sniffling sadly. "I can hear him hitting her. I don't like it when he hurts her. He shouldn't- He can't do that." His voice broke off into another sob that shook his shoulders.

Shintaro couldn't stop the anger and sadness that filled his chest. Cami was right - now that Shintaro listened, he could hear Lilac begin to protest against Brethren - and then her voice would cut off with a sharp cry. 

"I want to help her," Cami whispered helplessly, through a whimper. "I don't want Dad to hurt her. He shouldn't- He shouldn't be allowed to hurt her like that!" He buried his face into Shintaro's shoulder again, his body shaking.

"I know," Shintaro said softly, lifting one of his hands to gently hold Cami's head. "I know you want to help her. I do too, Cami. But I don't want him to hurt you. I can't let him hurt you too." Shintaro had always refused to call Brethren anything related to father. Brethren was not his father. He didn't deserve to be.

Cami sniffled and pulled back a little again. "Dad won't hurt me," he said firmly. "He knows if he hurts me, he could do bad damage to me. He knows Mom won't like that, and there is something in him that loves Mom. So he won't hurt me." 

Shintaro bit his tongue to hold back a scoff. Brethren wouldn't care less if he did serious damage to Cami's body or condition, and he certainly didn't have a single care for his wife. 

Annoyingly, Shintaro's brain immediately protested. Images of a faint memory popped into his head, forcing him to let out the held-back scoff as a small sigh. 

Not even a year ago, Brethren had come home in high spirits. None of his family were aware of what he was so happy about, but they didn't want to ruin it. Brethren in a good mood was something that the family honestly enjoyed (Even Shintaro had to admit - good memories with his father were things that he quietly cherished.). 

Brethren had opened the door sharply, startling the playing boys and making them think he was angry. But the door opened widely, and Brethren entered with a genuine smile on his face, which was a rare experience for his children. 

A few minutes later, Shintaro had walked into the kitchen to grab a sandwich for lunch and found a scene that he wasn't expected at all. Brethren had just planted a kiss on Lilac's cheek; and as Shintaro had stood back and watched, Brethren took his wife's hand and spun her around dramatically. Lilac had whirled across the kitchen floor gracefully, the smooth laugh coming from her mouth sending chills down Shintaro's spine. Brethren jumped forward again and caught Lilac by the hand, halting her and pulling her close to him. 

And then Brethren had caught Shintaro gawking at them in wonder. Shintaro had flinched, expecting Brethren to scowl and demand why Shintaro was standing there. 

But Brethren had laughed.

Laughed. 

"Don't look so shocked, Shintaro," he'd said in his heavy accent. "You'll find a woman to do this with eventually." 

And then he'd kissed Lilac. 

Shintaro smiled faintly at the memory of it, then realized that Cami's crying had stopped. His brother was asleep in his arms, his sides rising and falling evenly. 

"Don't worry, Cami," Shintaro said softly, even though he knew his brother couldn't hear him. "As long as I'm around, Brethren won't hurt Mother." 

~

Shintaro opened his eyes, taking a deep breath to force the memory to the back of his head. As he slowly sat up to take a few breaths, something warm slid down his cheek to his chin. 

Curiously, Shintaro lifted his hand and touched his cheek. When he removed his fingers, he found that they were wet.

Slightly shocked, Shintaro blinked down at his hand, his brain trying to accept the fact that he was crying. 

Shintaro sat in silence, trying to recall the last time he'd cried. 

Slowly, it came to him that he'd cried when Luke had died. 

That seemed like a millennia ago.  

Frowning at himself, he raked the back of his hand across his eyes and laid back down.

~

Four days later, the party arrived where Amy was taking them. The journey hadn't taken as long as she had predicted, but the was mostly because they'd moved at a much quicker pace as soon as Falte had started to feel a little better. They hadn't made stops at all during the day and set up camp later into the night, after using flashlights to move smoothly. Shintaro, as soon as they'd settled, would cast a cloaking spell on the location to keep any Darks from finding them there. 

It was early evening, which made it easy enough to see where Amy had lead them. There was a large, open area enclosed by the thickness of the forest around them, the trees and undergrowth cut away from the open space. In the middle of the circle was a cozy-looking, two story brick house. There was a garage and a driveway, but neither of them looked used. The driveway was cracked and crumbling, and the garage door was dotted with rust and closed. The windows of the house were blocked by drawn curtains, and the front door was sealed. 

Amy, who had stopped in the entrance of the clearing, put her hands on her hips as she gazed at the house. Shintaro saw her take a deep breath, tilt her head back to look up and down the house, then release the breath again. 

"What are we waiting for?" Gabriel said bluntly. "Is this where you wanted us to hide out, Amy?" He was standing beside Shintaro, looking ready to flop onto any comfortable bedding he found. 

"Yes," Amy said, but her tone was distant, like she wasn't really listening to him. She didn't turn her head as she spoke to him, simply threw the word over her shoulder. She kept staring warily at the house. 

"Okay, so let's go in then," Linda said with the same tone of impatience that Gabriel had used. "Standing here isn't going to do us any good." She gripped the arms of her backpack and began walking toward the abandoned-looking house. 

Everyone else followed, including Amy and Shintaro; but Amy looked tense and uncertain. Her shoulders were rigid as she walked toward the house slowly. Her multicolored eyes darted across the appearance of the house again, and her mouth tilted into a small frown. 

"Is something wrong?" Shintaro asked her, falling into her pace and crossing his arms over his chest. "You seem troubled." 

Amy jerked a little at the sound of his voice, but she quickly righted herself and looked up at him. (Something was definitely bothering her - Shintaro had never seen her get startled.) She shrugged her shoulders, releasing the tension from them. "No, I'm fine."

Shintaro raised an eyebrow at her. "Something is bothering you. What is it?" 

Amy looked back up at him with a small frown, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him. She opened her mouth with the expression that told Shintaro she was going to argue - but then she closed her mouth again. 

After a few seconds, she answered. "I'm alright. I just... haven't been here in a long time." She shrugged again and turned her eyes back to the house they were approaching. 

"How do you know this place?" Shintaro asked curiously, hoping the question wasn't too personal. 

Amy pinched her lips together with another frown, not taking her eyes off of the house. "It's my childhood home," she replied shortly. 

"Amy," Linda called suddenly, before Shintaro could ask why her childhood home would bother her. "Is the door supposed to be locked?" Linda was wrenching the door handle roughly, but the door wasn't opening. "Do you have a key, or something?" 

Amy's frown made Shintaro believe that she didn't have a key, and the door was supposed to be open. "My family left this house because of a wildfire years ago. One that was very close to overtaking our area," she added with a grumble. "I don't know why it would be locked, because my whole family was in a hurry." 

Linda's frown matched Amy's as she tried the door again. 

Shintaro walked forward, gently moving past Nanami and Abby. Linda moved aside as Shintaro grabbed the door handle and turned it - but as Linda had said, it was locked. Frowning, Shintaro turned it again and again. 

"I don't know who could have locked it," Amy said thoughtfully, frowning in confusion at the doorknob. 

She was about to say something else, but a clattering noise from inside made everyone freeze.

Shintaro was about to take a step back, to warn his friends to be ready, when a voice from inside made his heart jump into his throat. 

"Who's there?" 

The voice was male, firm and wary, and right on the other side of the door. 

But that wasn't what terrified Shintaro. 

What made Shintaro's heart pound painfully against his ribs was the familiar, thick accent.

~

WHAT? 

OH MY GOSH, WHAT?

WHO-

WHEN-

WHERE-

AH!

I love doing this to y'all XD. 

It's so fun to leave you guys on horrible cliffhangers!!!!

WHO IS THAT? 

IS THAT WHO WE THINK IT IS??!!?!?

HAHHHHAHAHHAHAHAHHA-

Well, thanks for reading!!

P3ac3!!~~~