Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

twelve

"I'm serious," she continued. "You may not be the best, but you try your hardest and you have good intentions. That counts for something."

Does it?

He kept his question to himself. Instead, he hung his head. "I'm a fraud, Victoria."

She lifted his chin and stared sternly at him. "You're not a fraud. Say that again and I'll beat your ass." She shook her head in anger. "We're you're family, Oscar. No matter how many times you mess up, we'll always be with you. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us. Alright?"

He said nothing. Not because he didn't have a reply, but because his throat had tightened up like a vise. He wiped his nose again as he faced away from her.

"I've...I've got to go," he croaked.

She finally let go of him. "Remember what I said. We're you're family."

Nodding, he quietly thanked her and rushed out of the room.

#

"You landed on my hotel! That'll be five hundred!" Isabella said from across the Monopoly board they were sat around.

Groaning, Oscar fished a few fake bills from his small pile of cash and tossed it at her. She chuckled and added it to her collection.

"Great," he said. "Now I'm a failure at Monopoly too."

She frowned at him. "Que pasa?"

"Nada," he answered. After seeing the unimpressed look she was giving him, he expounded upon his answer. "It's just work stuff, you know? I'll be alright."

She beamed at him. "I still can't believe you're a superhero! All the kids at my school love you and your friends."

"You sure they love me?"

"Well..." She see-sawed her hand. "Some of them say you suck, but I know that's not true. You're the best."

He smiled at her and ruffled her hair. "You always know what to say, Isa."

She grinned at him and rolled the dice on the Monopoly board. She threw her hands into the air after it landed on two sixes. Oscar threw his bills to the side and collapsed onto the couch behind him.

"This game is so stupid!" he shouted into a pillow.

"You're just saying that because you lost!"

"Stop being right!"

Once he calmed down from being beaten embarrassingly by a little girl, he took Isabella to her room and got her ready for bed. With Uncle Jose out of the apartment for the night, he was in charge of making sure she was prepared for school the next morning.

He packed her bookbag, laid out her uniform, and even read her a bedtime story once he was done. Even though she was getting a bit too old for them, she still asked him to read one. He didn't mind in the slightest.

After all while, she fell asleep underneath her fluffy comforter. Her snores filled the room, along with the faint sound of raindrops pelting the window outside. He smiled down at her for a few moments before making his way to the doorway.

Before he left, he heard something sliding. A rush of air room entered the room and tickled his skin. All the hairs on his arms and neck stood at attention as he froze beneath the doorframe. He slowly turned around to face the window.

It was open.

His heart stopped as he immediately tensed up.

That was when she appeared out of thin air, sitting on the edge of his sister's bed. She wore a leather jacket and a black baseball cap on top of her straightened, brown hair. A sly smirk was painted across her lips.