What Was Burned

Chapter 11

The sun was peeking out from behind dark, looming clouds as I sat mindlessly besides my brother in his hospital room. It had been 6 weeks since I last saw Lykus and I couldn't lie to myself that his missing presence wasn't affecting me immensely.

"Lili, you okay ?" I was startled out from my thought by Kiel's soft voice. I felt ashamed of making my little brother worry when he had enough to worry about already. I smoothed his brown locks, so different from mines, and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He didn't seem convinced but didn't push me for more. I was grateful as even I wouldn't be able to really voice out what was wrong with me.

He turned to the TV on the wall, his attention back on the news when he suddenly grabbed my arm. "Look ! It's that guy, the one you caught last month !"

I looked at the screen and indeed, it was about Luke Smith's trail today. The footage showed him walking to court, his hands cuffed before him and wearing an orange jumpsuit. He appeared more worn-out than the last time I saw him, which was a week ago, when he had to make his final testament about his crimes. He had asked to see Nathan Belvoy but the police refused him as Belvoy was under victim support protection. The only time Smith got to see his former roommate was at court, when Belvoy had to give evidence. At my surprise, Smith didn't go rampaging when Belvoy came. He was actually even more silent and immobile than before.

Belvoy has been placed under victim protection by my agency and the MET police. He has moved out from his flat to the university's dormitory as he didn't want to have any roommate anymore until he end of his studies. The university's dormitories were only single person rooms after all. I was surprised he seemed fine after such a stressing matter but I still made sure he was completely recovered before finally concluding this case to put my attention elsewhere.

Unbeknownst to me, Kiel had been looking at me for a long time now, his dark eyes covered by a fleeting shadow before they cleared to the familiar gaze I was used to see. "Lili, what about that thief ? I heard he was at the arrest as well."

"Thief ? Oh, him." I had tried to shut out any news about him those few days but Kiel still seemed very interested in him. He was Kiel's idol after all. I sighed, rebuking all my feelings into the depth of my heart, under heavy locks.

I snuggled closer to my brother, my skin slowly warming up under the covers. I had been here since this morning but I wanted to stay a bit longer with my brother. Especially after I found such a disheartening revelation in the Archives about my identity.

I smoothed away Kiel's hair from his eyes and softly kissed his forehead. "His real name is Ievan McClain and he was an orphan who grew up in Zeus Orphanage, on the North side of the city. He left at 16 and went to live in downtown. His actual whereabouts are unknown." My voice trailed off and Kiel seemed to know I didn't really want to talk about him so he turned back to the news.

I was feeling a bit drowsy when he broke the silence. "Lili, what would you think if I happened to have a twin brother ?" His tone was as usual but there was a hint of fear hidden underneath. I didn't think much of it and just carefully thought about his question.

"Twin brothers ? I guess it could be interesting, you both could be each other's playmates, right ?" I patted his head with affection, imagining two little Sarakiels running around me in laughter.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Would you have liked it ?" He asked again as I wondered why he was so keen about having a twin brother.

A guess suddenly bloomed in my head and I swiftly grabbed his cheeks to look at me. "Don't tell me you have a missing twin brother somewhere in the world ?" He looked shocked for a moment before he shook his head no. I sighed in relief.