Seven Stories

Chapter 4: The Frontier

Agnes Dulain was pulling her auburn hair up in a ponytail. The bathroom mirror in front of her was as flattering as ever, but she only paid enough attention to it to have an acceptable hairdo. She never noticed the coffee stain on her otherwise carefully ironed blouse. This time around, at least, her thighs were not ripped. She did not touch the lipgloss on the shelves, and left the bathroom with a light foot.

It was a December night and she had plans to go outside. She knew the boys were waiting for her downstairs. First family time in months made her elated. The atmosphere in the living room was just as joyful. Timothy and Lucian were sitting on the couch, laughing at some joke. Their mother, Marie, was looking at them with peaceful affection.

Lucian was a tall and broad young man with jet-black hair, and through his shirt the powerful muscles moved lightly as he mistreated the console controller. His eyes, entirely focused on the TV, were an emerald shade of green. The character that was battling a monster on the screen looked very much like him, which was logical considering the amount of time the siblings had spent on it.

Timothy's avatar was quite similar to the original, too. The bright red hair was on point, and so was the slender figure. Timothy, unlike his brother, was not one for athletic disciplines. Though the game wouldn't let them see it, they had made sure the brown eyes we the same as well, but they had had to give up on rendering the amount of freckles that covered the younger brother's face. They brought out just how pale his face was, and winter weather did not help.

"Are you guys ready yet?" Agnes called out.

"Depends" Lucian snickered without so much as looking up. "Have you picked a place?"

"Bowling alley."

"Figures."

"Agnes likes to humiliate us, doesn't she, Lucian."

"Then again you boys make it so easy for her too" Marie intervened. "She doesn't even have to try."

"Thanks, mother."

Agnes laughed brightly. She stood behind her brothers and put a hand on either of their shoulders.

"IRL action will do you good, boys. Up, up, up!"

"Brother, I am afraid that dragon will have to be slain later."

"For shame, Sir Lucian, for shame."

"We shall slay some pins instead. Come on. You ready?"

Lucian and Timothy got up. One by one, the siblings kissed their mother's head, and Agnes, as the older one, promised to keep her posted on where they were, what they were doing, and what 15-year-old Tim had eaten. They took their coats, gloves and hats, then they left through the front door, Lucian poking fun at the stain on his sister's clothes.

Outside, the sky was turning a light shade of blue as a clear sun was setting. The weather was still warm. Agnes let the heat bathe her face for a few seconds, eyes closed. The boys seemed to be enjoying the first breath of outside air, too, and she smiled at the idea of an evening together.

The boys seemed to enjoy, too, until Timothy let out a gasp and then a scream, that is.

"What the... " Lucian mumbled.

Agnes opened her eyes. Timothy was already speeding up towards a shapeless mass of colors gleaming under the sunlight. She narrowed her eyes. She suddenly worked it out as human silhouettes. There were three girls, one of them laying motionless in the arms of a tall, blonde young woman whose hands were frantically hovering over the body.

Agnes realized she had been moving towards them, and she could now hear the blonde girl calling out a name.

"Karen" she was saying "come on, Kay!"