THUD. THUD. THUD.
"Ellie? Ellie, open the goddamn door!" Kyle yelled. He begins rattling the door knob and knocks the door harshly again.
"WHAT THE HELL! WHO DID THIS TO MY CAR?!" Cole's voice boomed from somewhere outside the house.
"Ellie!"
BANG. BANG. THUD. THUD.
"I swear to God-"
BANG. THUD. BANG. THUD.
"-if you don't open the door this instant, I'll break it down!" Kyle growled. I hear footsteps running up the stairs and smile.
I take my time to get out of bed and slowly walk towards the door. I open the door after a few seconds and give my brothers a cheerful grin.
"What's got you two up here earl-"
"What made you think, dying my hair with hot pink highlights was a good idea?!" Kyle shouts with an incredulous expression on his face.
"You toilet papered my freaking car!" Cole screeches at the top of his voice.
They glare at me and I blink.
"I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Oh, the hell you don't!" Kyle growls and takes a step forward.
I quickly take two steps back and glance at his cotton candy hair sticking up in all the directions. A strange noise exits my throat and I fight hard against letting it all out.
"Wait, she pranked you too?" Kyle suddenly asks Cole with a funny expression on his face.
"She toilet-papered my whole car and made it look like a mummy from Egypt!" Cole hissed.
"You toilet-papered his car?" Kyle asks me suddenly looking interested. I shrug my shoulders at him and grin. He glances at Cole and walks to my window, pushing the curtain aside.
A few seconds pass by. Cole looks hopefully at his younger brother to shout at me, but nothing happens. Kyle stands still, looking at the mummified car.
"If you are done star-" Cole starts but stops immediately when Kyle giggles.
He actually giggled.
He opens the window and pokes his head out to get a better look. Another second passes by and then before we know what's happening, he clutches the window pane and laughs.
I stare at him for a few moments and then unable to control my own laughter, I join him. Soon we are both clutching our stomachs and laughing our hearts out.
"You actually-" he snorts, "- toilet papered his car!"
Cole's face turns red. He smacks Kyle upside the head and shakes his head at him in disbelief.
"You two are unbelievable!" Cole yells. He bangs the door shut and angrily stomps down the stairs.
I finally wipe the tears from my eyes. I rub my stomach trying to ease the pain.
"I better go clean up and get ready." I say and walk to the bathroom. "Oh! You might want to do something about the cotton candy hair. You look like one of those trees from Lorax."
"Okay- wait what?"
We spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess and watching movies later. Kyle's hair turns out not so bad after a few couple of washes. The pink dye faded a little and now his hair is a mixture of dirty blonde, pink and brown hair.
I knew I should have gotten a more expensive dye.
Nana leaves after lunch to visit one of her friends in the next street. When it's almost eight in the night, we get hungry.
"What do you two want for dinner?" Cole asks picking up his phone.
"We can get Chinese." Kyle suggests and I nod in agreement. We tell him what we want, and he leaves to place our order.
"I'll get my phone. I left it charging upstairs in my room." I tell Kyle as I run upstairs.
I check for any messages or calls when I feel a cold breeze brush past my skin. I look at window to see it open. The curtains flap about in the wind.
"Must have forgotten to close it after Kyle opened it this morning." I mutter to myself.
I place my hands on the sill and smile as the wind rushes my hair behind my shoulder. I turn to my left where the balcony connected to my room stood.
I almost scream and fall back when the same hooded figure from the mall yesterday stands there watching me. But something or rather someone in this case, slaps a hand over my mouth and roughly pushes me into the wall.
"Ellie? Everything alright up there?" Cole shouts from downstairs.
I glance at the door before fixing my eyes on the hooded figure pinning me to the wall again. My chest heaves up and down. My heart beats so hard against my chest that I was sure the hooded figure holding me in place could hear it.
"Ellie?"
This time I hear footsteps coming upstairs. The hooded figure in front of me seems to realise that too. He quickly loosens his grip on me and lets me go. I gasp out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
The door opens and Kyle enters. He looks around and finally settles his eyes on me.
"Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I...uh I stubbed my toe on the wall when I went to shut the window. It was draughty."
I manage to form a small smile.
"You sure?" He quirks an eyebrow at me. I nod a little too soon. His eyes give the room one last sweep almost suspiciously.
Like he could see the hooded figure examining his candy highlighted hair with interest.
"Dinner will be here in ten. Nana just got home. Come down when you are done."
With that he leaves the room. I shut the door and turn around. I wipe my hands on my pyjama shorts and suck in a mouth full of air.
"Okay, okay. This is me being paranoid. There's nobody else in the room except me. It was all just my imagination." I close my eyes and breathe out.
When I open them however, I see the hooded mystery man standing in front of me, observing my features.
"You're not dead." He says softly in a not too deep voice. His hand brushes my cheek. I feel my neck getting hot and snap out of my dazed state.
I take a huge step back and narrow my eyes.
"Look I don't know who the hell you are or how you managed to get inside. But I want you out of here now."
"You're not dead." He repeats again.
This time he almost sounded happy.
"Of course, I'm not dead. I'm standing in front of you now, aren't I?" I snap. He merely chuckles in response and gives me a once over.
"You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you too."
His lips, the only part of his face that was visible to me, forms a smile. My neck grows hotter, and both our gazes lowers to the chain pressed against my shirt.
"The Amulet of-"
"It's glowing."