I met my brother face to face for the first time 16 years ago. It was in the year 2006. I was 13 years old, babysitting my sisters.

It was one of those slow afternoons where time seemed to stand still. The house was quiet except for the occasional laughter I heard from my sisters in their room which was actually next to mine. I was sprawled out on my bed, flipping through an old Superman comic called Secret identity #1. I was being pulled into another world with the familiar artwork. My CD player stood on my nightstand, playing a shuffle of songs from well known bands like Jimmy Eat World, Panic! At The Disco, Three Days Grace, and Green Day. My walls were covered with posters of those bands and every corner was almost covered.

I reached my finger over to press the button on the radio to switch to the next song. Green Day's "American Idiot" started to play and my head began to nod to the rhythm. I climbed out of bed and slowly walked to the window that was located on the side of the room–it was a diagonal beeline from my bedroom door.

I opened the window and inhaled the crisp afternoon air which smelled like freshly cut grass and sprinkler water. It was a sunny day and the birds were chirping. It was just like any other day–quiet and boring. Just a small, ordinary neighborhood. Looking at the white and blue house across the street, I exhaled. It was a house that belonged to my best friend.

As soon as I started walking away from the window, I heard glass shattering and a scream erupting from my sisters' room. My breath caught in my throat and I immediately ran to their room. When I got there, they were standing in the corner of their room with terrified looks on their faces. My eyes trailed the glass on the floor and I saw a medium sized rock. I quickly walked over to my sisters, panic rising in my chest.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked as I frantically checked them for any bruises from the glass. Thankfully, there wasn't any. They nodded slowly with their eyes fixated on the glass and the rock.

Then another rock came flying through the window, smashing more glass and earning more screams from my sisters. My protective mode began to kick in and I grabbed their arms, putting them into their closet. I told them to stay put and ran to my room. I jumped over my bed and closed my window quickly. I was about to reach for my bat by the tv stand until another rock flew through my window, shattering the glass as well. I hid under my bed and squeezed my eyes shut, putting a hand over my mouth. I waited and waited until it felt like several minutes had passed.

I suddenly felt something grab my ankle–on impact, I screamed. Whatever it was started to drag me out from under the bed. I kicked–or at least tried to but it kept its grip on my ankle. I felt a hand forcefully roll me over onto my back and a face was directly in front of mine. My hand acted on reflex and punched the figure square in the face. The figure stumbled and backed away in pain, buying me more time to get up and grab my bat.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked sternly, clutching my bat tightly and looking at the figure. The figure finally looked at me and my eyes went wide. It–it had my face. Like specifically my face–and was clearly a boy.

'Oh my god. Please tell me I'm having a nightmare.'

I furrowed my brows and ran at him with the bat. "I said..who the hell are you?!"

He caught me by surprise when he caught the bat in his grip, holding it in place, trying to keep me from hitting him. He was glaring at me but then a smirk creeped onto his face.

"Hmm you seem very angry."

"Yeah no shit sherlock."

"Woah language."

I rolled my eyes and he yanked the bat out of my hands. He threw it on the floor and it landed with a thud.

"You still didn't answer my question," I grumbled.

He chuckled. "Take a guess."

I examined him from head to toe. His hair, it was more blonder and a little curly. His eyes, small like mine and same shade of blue as mine which is ocean blue. Face structure was different. I had a chiseled face whereas he had a build-slim face, but we both had small noses. His clothing was similar to my style. Black ripped jeans, black combat boots, and a black band t-shirt that was hidden by his black leather jacket.

'Could he be my brother? No no no, that's ridiculous.'

I didn't want to say the words but it came flowing out. "Are you my brother?"

He nodded his head saying, "Twin brother."

I was definitely not believing him even though the resemblance was uncanny. I raised my eyebrow, eyeing him suspiciously. "What is your name?"

"Jacobe."

"Why the dramatic entrance? Like why did you have to break the windows?"

"Because it's fun."

"...Jake? Who is that?" I saw one of my sisters standing in the doorway.

"It's nobody Riley. Go back to the room," I told her.

"Oh who's this?" Jacobe asked with a smile as he began walking towards her.

I grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He glanced at me and seeing the glare on my face–he shrugged my hand away from his arm and backed away, throwing his hands up. I closed the door after I told Riley to leave.

"Was that–-your sister?" Jacobe asked, smirking.

"Yes."

'You idiot. Why didn't you lie?'

"Oh, so mom did have more kids."

"Don't say that. She's my mom, not yours."

Jacobe sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out something. It was a photo. He told me to "come here" and I slowly strolled over to him.

"Before I show you this photo, you have to promise one thing," he said as he held it to his chest, the front part hidden. "Do not show it to anyone. Not even your precious best friend."

My brows furrowed after he said the last part. "How did you-"

"Doesn't matter."

He handed the photo to me. I walked to my bed and sat down. Upon examining the photo, I saw my mom. I also saw a man who I assumed was my dad. He had dark skin and short curly black hair. They were both holding a baby.

I was beyond speechless. 'Where did this photo come from?'

I looked up at him and said, "H-how? Why didn't I know 'bout this?"

"That's somethin' I can't tell."

"Why not? I need to kno' what happened and why it happened."

Jacobe became distracted. He started walking around the room, looking at all the posters on the wall. "So, you an emo kid?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and tossed the photo aside. "Yeah you could say that."

"Hm, same here," he glanced at me before continuing. "You know Jake, you're different. It's the reason why we were separated."

"What you mean different?" I was now more invested.

"That's something you have to figure out on your own."

'Hm. So he won't tell me why it took 13 years.'

"Question."

"Ask away."

"Why do you sound formal?"

Jacobe cleared his throat. "Well, that's how dad raised me."

"Interesting."

He walked over to the window and turned to look at me with a blank expression. "Our dad sent me here to take you to him. I can't tell you why, but you need to jus' trust me."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not going anywhere–I'm not even sure I can trust you."

I heard my mom suddenly yell from downstairs, saying that she was home. I heard my sisters yelling and running down the stairs, sounding like a herd of animals. I immediately hopped off of the bed and sprinted towards the door but before I could reach the doorknob, Jacobe grabbed me forcefully and pushed me onto the bed.

"You're not going anywhere down there."

"What are you doin'?!" I shouted as he pinned me down. "Get off of me!"

He was surprisingly stronger than me. I couldn't push him off nor escape his grasp. Jacobe suddenly took out an object that resembled a syringe. The last thing I heard before he stabbed me in the neck with the syringe was "lights out."