Iris

28 | answers

I lingered a bit longer by Marcus' room, my hand hovering over the doorknob as my fingers silently drummed over it. My younger brother was asleep as well. His blanket laid on the floor amidst the pile of clothes scattered by his bed. The sticky notes littering the walls seemed to have doubled. Swallowing, I let my gaze drift to his arms. I scanned them for any fresh wounds, only breathing out in relief once I saw nothing new.

I contemplated waking him up and asking him to come along, but I decided against it and closed the door, stepping away.

"It's not easy. Not even one bit. You'll lose the person you once were."

Elliott's room, excluding his desk, was as clean as it had always been. Piles of files were scattered across his desk, all of different colors, indicating manifold contents. My brother was asleep on his couch, and his laptop rested on his lap, telling me that he'd accidentally fallen asleep whilst watching something or completing his research as he often did.

My oldest brother, on the other hand, had fallen asleep on his bed, wearing his work clothes and holding onto a file. I walked over to his side—as quietly as I could—and freed the file from his grip, placing it on the bedside table. Then, I headed toward his wardrobe and took out one of the blankets it held, covering my brother's body with it before I left.

Not talking to Roman for the past few days had been suffocating. Being on the receiving end of my brother's harsh words and blank stares had punctured a deep hole within my heart, allowing it to hold every ounce of happiness and joy captive in its depths.

Whether I admitted it out loud or not, Roman was the person I looked up to the most in my life. He wasn't just my brother. Rather, he was my best friend and the only parent figure I'd had in the past eleven years. Roman was my and my brothers' only source of comfort. He was the person I ran to whenever I'd gotten overwhelmed by the destructive flood of emotions that I couldn't handle. He was the shield that protected me from the cruelty of this universe and its widespread injustice.

It ached to watch the distance occupy the bond I had always shared with my oldest brother. It burned and pierced to not be able to run to him as soon as I'd heard anything that made me laugh or smile. But I was planning to fill in that hole sometime soon. I was going to tell him everything I'd been hiding as soon as I got the answers I'd been seeking.

Stepping out of the house, I made sure to lock the door behind me. I let out a shaky breath as I began to follow the trail I had been instructed to follow. It wasn't too far from home, and I'd left Roman a message with my live location in case anything went wrong. My grip remained firm on the duffel bag, and my mind remained conscious of the knife I'd tied against my skin as a safety measure.

My heart rate escalated with every step I took. My deafening thoughts raced as they echoed in each and every corner of my head. My temples pounded in a throbbing sensation.

It all started with a text. A message that made my heart beat in desperation and my eyes sting with longing. One that I'd only received a couple of hours before Roman had been called and told that Iris was alive.

They'd said it was so simple. Give the money and take Iris. But it hadn't been simple—not even close—for my tongue had been tied and my hands had been paralyzed. One wrong move and they would hurt the kid they held captive. One wrong word and they'd kill her.

I hadn't believed them in the beginning, because in all honesty, who would? My brothers had tried their hardest to find our little sister. Roman had spent the nights wandering through the cold streets, although he'd been exhausted. Elliott had spent months—if not years—researching in an attempt to find any thread that would lead to Iris. Marcus had almost lost his life trying to hunt down the people who had taken our sister. But all their efforts were to no avail. It was as though Iris had vanished and perished, leaving no trace behind.