Obscured (Book 1 of Psychics and Psychopaths)

Chapter 2: Debutante

If I had any words to describe my second oldest brother's appearance I'd say he's handsome. With shoulder-length dirty blond hair, striking light blue eyes, a Greek nose, a chiseled jaw, and his usual 5 o'clock shadow any girl would be fawning over him if he walked by.

Like they were doing right now. As soon as I hear the whisper yells and fangirl shrieks erupting from my surroundings I knew without even looking up from my phone that my brother was there.

Well, he was already there, waiting for me probably, it was me who had walked over after parking my car in front of the terminal gate.

He smiled revealing his deep dimples as he spotted me and got up from where he was sitting to envelop me in a bear hug.

As innocent and happy as the smile looked I already knew that he was anything but happy to see me. “You're late.”

I hugged him back, placing the usually practiced smile on my face as the people around us took pictures.

“Be glad I'm even here,” I said, my tone even.

“Right, of course, I had forgotten the kind of convenient memory you had.” He replied his tone in no way spiteful.

We slowly pulled back from each other and a girl, probably a high schooler considering her uniform, cleared her throat and spoke in a cheery voice, “Hi, I'm really sorry but can I take a picture with you?” she said, directing her question at Lorcan who smiled at her and replied with a ‘sure.’

After she was done, he finally picked up his bag and dragged it towards me as I turned around and started walking towards the BMW. Along the way, two more people stopped him to take pictures before he could finally shove his suitcase inside the trunk and plop down on the passenger seat beside me, breathing out a tired sigh.

Lorcan Sinclaire, 21 years old, works as a fashion model. He was only two years older than me and just like me, he also finished school and college early before setting out to make our ‘dreams come true’. That was just a cover though.

Being the sole survivors of the ‘accident’ and adopted kids of the well-known and respected former head of Cypher, Hadrian Sinclair, we each needed respectable and well-paying careers to pry off suspicious eyes from our little side project.

Of course, no one would ever suspect such a perfect and well-reputable family to be made up of killers, right? Though most people would refer to people like us as Vigilante’s and my father referred to our side career as ‘taking out the trash’, to me it didn't matter either way.

“Get me a coffee.” He demanded in a whiny voice.

“I need to go home and get ready for work. I got no sleep thanks to Dad's last-minute mission.” I lamented.

“You're the boss, no one’s gonna fire you for being late and you owe me this for being late.” He responded, to which I rolled my eyes.

Right, I was the boss. CEO of one of the largest technology companies, Cypher. It’s annoying how people tend to believe that the job isn’t hard or I don’t really need to work just because the company was handed down to me by dad. When I was the one behind expanding the company from a million-dollar company to a billion-dollar one.

We used to only manufacture electronics such as mobile phones, tablets & iPods. I expanded the business to computers, laptops, electronic watches, digital cameras, TVs, speakers, and let's not forget about security cameras. Which was how it was so easy for us to access and watch our targets as well as remove any unwanted footage.

Legally I only inherited the company last year, but I was already in control, three years prior. The thing that really stung was that my brothers brother was already aware of that fact, unlike other people and he still taunted me as if saying my hard work would never be recognized by people.

I knew I was reading too much into it. I guess I was just feeling slightly tenser than usual. I inhaled and released a deep breath as though doing that would ease all the tension.

It didn’t. I felt the familiar buzz in my head slightly louder than before and inwardly cursed. It had only been a couple of hours since the kill and they were already coming back. Annoying pests.

“It’s just coffee. Is work really that important? Especially today?” He sighed.

“What’s different about today?” I asked keeping my tone neutral as I turned left on the signal.

“Don’t give me that s**t. You can act all tough in front of the others, not me.”

I couldn’t help the way my lips quirked up, “You think I’m acting?”

“I know you are.”

I honestly couldn’t tell if he was out of it or if he was actually telling the truth. Was I really acting? If It was someone else then I would have just rolled my eyes at the statement but this was Lorcan. He was different. I mean technically we all were, but he was different different. He was the only person who was capable of feelings in our messed-up sibling trio. He knew us because he was just like us and at the same time the complete opposite of us.

I know it makes no sense. But that's just how it was.

“Whatever, you want coffee or not?” I say as I pull the car into the parking lot.

“I do.”

“Then stop rambling and pull up your hood I’m leaving you here if you get hogged again.”

“Yeah, yeah. No need to be jealous.”

He was really getting on my nerves. I was about to pull my keys out before my phone started ringing for the third time this morning. “It’s dad,” I say to Lorcan as I pick up the phone and answer. “Hey?” I say awkwardly. He was usually the one to speak first. “You forgot your brother was coming today?”

That b***h tattled on me. I knew Vi had already realized that I forgot. but as much as I appreciated the girl, I really wish sometimes I could reach into the phone and strangle her. Can she please mind her own f*****g business?

“Vi didn’t tell me anything if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then did you suddenly receive a premonition or something?”

“No, I don’t need to get a premonition to know about your memory problems. Lorcan called me a while ago, is he with you?”

I shot a dirty look at Lorcans back, which was facing me as he stood at the counter babbling away with the blushing cashier. “Yeah, he’s ordering coffee,” I say as I narrow my eyes at him when he turns back.

“I see. Okay, come straight home, no office today. We’re having lunch together.”

“Seriously? What’s with people and not letting me go to work?”

“No arguments. Kenji’s on his way as well.” He said before the line went silent.

I sighed as the buzzing in my head got louder. A family reunion. Just what I needed on a Sunday.

Maybe Lorcan was right because I was feeling unnaturally grumpy. I mean yeah, we had been apart for quite a while, with me being busy with the launch of the new voice-controlled security cameras, Kenji with his usually overworking brain busy with all his egghead stuff and Lorcan being out of town for three months apparently off for a vacation to clear his brain. Which was obviously complete bullshit to feed the media. He was off to some unknown island aiding the Sinclair family’s century-old business partners. The Greys.

I had asked why they suddenly needed an army's worth of supplies but dad didn’t answer me which pissed me off and I hadn’t asked him about it again. Not that we had communicated much after I signed the documents for ownership of Cypher. After the last of his adopted kids turned into full-grown adults we just scattered.

So today would be our first proper family meeting in the past four months. It's safe to say that I was not looking forward to it.

The passenger side door opened and Lorcan hopped inside with his sugar-doused milk concoction. That’s not coffee. “Aren’t models supposed to watch their diet?”

“I haven’t had a frappe for the past three months give me a break. What’d dad say?”

“Family lunch.”

“Wonderful.” I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or if he was actually happy. There were many moments like this with him. With two completely opposite personalities there were a lot of things he said that clashed and didn’t make sense.

I only hummed in response while reversing the car and increasing the radio volume to silence the slowly increasing buzz at the back of my mind. They were creeping back out of the shadows. How much longer would the peace last?

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“I’m home,” Lorcan said in a sing-song voice as the security guard pushed the door open and we entered.

I scoffed inwardly as I felt the guard's eyes lingering on me before the door closed behind us.

“Good morning,” Dad spoke in a loud voice as he ascended the stairs fixing his white shirt cuffs. Prim and proper as always, his white shirt without a crease in sight, his dress pants paired with black dress shoes and his black hair slicked sideways covering his face just enough to not completely hide the scar below his right eye. Even with a scar like that, he could easily pass as one of the most handsome bachelors in Evrouver city.

“Good Morning.” Lorcan responded as he moved closer to envelope dad into a hug. “Morning.” I followed giving him a side hug.

“Where’s Ken doll?” He inquired and I snorted. “He’ll go feral if he heard you call him that.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for, been so long since I saw him angry and annoyed.” I shook my head smiling. Yeah, we were alike.

The sound of loafers clicking on the floor broke the silence once again, “Too bad for you I’m in a good mood today. So you can call me whatever you want.” I turned around facing the familiar half East Asian, half Mexican features of my oldest brother. His turquoise colored eyes curved into half-moons as he smiled. A very unnatural and creepy smile.

“Don’t do that, you’re gonna scare off our maids.” Lorcan piped up motioning to his lips.

“No, I think it’s gotten better than before, keep practicing maybe you’ll get to the point where just smiling would be enough to kill our targets.” I snickered.

At that statement, Kenji dropped his obviously fake smile as he rolled his eyes. A deep cough behind us reminded me of the fact that dad was still here. “You’re meeting after a long time so I’ll let it slide this time.”

Yep, like I said he is uptight, always over the top careful and he expected that of us as well. At least outside in front of the world, which included our lounge since our Maids and Guards were privy to our conversations. But they were paid enough to keep their mouths shut tight, so we never really mulled over things before speaking.

“So?” Lorcan asked breaking the sudden awkward silence, while Kenji took off his overcoat and draped it over his arms.

“Right, we’re going shopping.” Dad smiled. We all froze simultaneously.

“I thought you wanted to have lunch?” I asked suddenly dreading the fact that I ever picked up Lorcan. I should have just forgotten about him and gone to the office.

“We are. But it’s a little too early for that right? Or have you not had breakfast? We can eat first if you’d prefer.” Dad asked.

“So your not gonna tell us why you suddenly decided to go out shopping with us? How long has it been since we had gone out together for anything?” Kenji said with a bemused expression.

“If you don’t count the time we left our house when it caught on fire, to stay at a hotel for the night, then five years?” Lorcan said as he stared at dad like he had lost his mind.

“Guys, it’s just shopping nothing serious. And that’s exactly my point we need to spend more time together. We are a family you know?” Dad says pushing past us towards the entrance.

“Who here thinks he’s having a mid-life crisis?” I stare at his back as he moves to open the door and from the corner of my eyes, I can see Kenji and Lorcan both raise their hands.

“I can hear you.” Dad’s voice echoes as he walks down the porch steps.

Lorcan sighs and looks at me, “Whatever, let’s go. It might actually be fun.” and Kenji just shrugs as he moves to follow.

‘Hehehe.’ I hear the familiar screechy voice prickling the back of my ear and I groan. ‘They’ were back. Now I was really doubting this day would be anything but a complete pain in the ass.

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“What are we here to shop for anyways?” I ask as we walk through the automatic doors of the mall.

“Anything to replace that thing. Why are you even wearing that? I thought we burned them.” Kenji asks, staring down at my too-tight T-shirt. Not that it was even that noticeable considering the fact that I wasn’t truly blessed in the chest department. But that was fine with me since I’d rather not have them jiggling about as I chase my targets.

“I saved them. Why would you even think of throwing them away? You used to love Winx club.” Dad said and Lorcan snorted. Yeah, we had been obsessed with that show for over four years, which was why dad decided it was a good idea to get us all three matching Winx club T-shirts that said, ‘Together we’re strong.’

As much as I appreciated his willingness to support us, he really shouldn’t have fanned the flames because we had actually worn those shirts outside. In public. And the shots of us had ended up on local news.

“That! Was three years ago! How does it even fit you anymore?” Kenji huffed.

Safe to say those weren’t our proudest moments.

“To be fair she didn’t really grow much…” Lorcan looked me up and down, “anywhere.” I flipped him the bird.

As annoying as my brothers were, they were right. I hadn’t really grown past five foot three inches and even though that sounded taller than most East Asians, I felt small standing beside my brother’s near six feet.

“We are going shopping for your sister's birthday gown.” Dad said as we entered the lift.

“My—what?!”

“Your birthday gown. You haven’t forgotten it’s your birthday tomorrow, have you?”

“Of course not but why a gown?”

“I don’t mind buying you a suit, but are you sure you’d rather wear that at your debutante?”

“I’m having a debutante? Shouldn’t that have happened last year?” I acted being sick in bed the whole week just to avoid those god-awful social events. A birthday party, where I was gonna be in the spotlight? No thank you, I’d rather stay in the shadows and talk to my ghost friends.

“You were ‘sick’ last year so we’re gonna hold it this year. Tomorrow night.” He said ‘sick’ in a way that hinted that he knew I was acting.

“Don’t be so dramatic, we’ve had it too. It’s not as bad as you think.” Lorcan smiled.

“Speak for yourself,” Kenji muttered, “all those scrawny old men and women can’t take no for an answer.”

“That’s because you were alone and the eldest child. Keir won’t be, you two will be by her side every minute.” Dad said as we walked out of the elevator and on to the second floor where all the high end boutiques were located.

I sighed. At Kenji’s debutante I had actually wanted to go and experience what it felt like to mingle with the rich and famous, but we weren’t allowed to go because it was for people above eighteen only. Lorcan and I had been quite bummed.

Kenji returned late at night with dad holding him steady as he murmured inaudibly looking out of it. He had been drunk. Very drunk. To the point where he fell on the lounge carpet and fell asleep right there.

The next week each time he woke up he was in an extremely unpleasant mood to the point were even just someone looking at him pissed him off. So our daily trainings hadn’t gone well and Kenji and Lorcan ended up in a fist fight. One with a busted lip while the other with a fractured hand.

Safe to say from that point dad had banned us from drinking because the effect of it was rather strong on us rather than normal humans. After the week passed and Kenji returned to his normal grouchy but not violent self, I asked him about the debutante and these were his exact words, “Never in my life have I ever hated human beings more.” after that he just gave me a black expression, picking up his coffee from the dinner table and walking back upstairs.

Lorcan’s debutante on the other hand had gone pretty well according to him. Maybe it was because it was held in the day rather than at night. Or maybe it was because of his personality which always attracted the right kind of people. At least one of his personalities did.

We entered a posh looking store with golden and black interiors and from the looks of it that was the color of all of their clothes as well. Thank goodness. I was not about to wear white and beige frilly dresses like the other girls wore on their debutante. I wasn’t against anything cute and frilly just that none of those stuff ever seemed to suit me

“I figured at least the color of the dress should be to your liking.” Dad whispered as though he had heard my thoughts.

“Thanks…but are you sure this is really necessary?” I asked.

He moved closer to me as Lorcan dragged Kenji over to the sparkling gowns on the left side of the store.

“I know you don’t like social events Keir but trust me you need to get out more, I know what’s best for my children and this is important for all of us. Not just to keep their attention diverted from the concealed side of our lives, but to also prove to them that you deserve this. Cypher is what it is today because of you, don’t you want others to acknowledge that?”

Of course I did. It pissed me off so much when people looked down on me.

“Hey guys, check this out!” Lorcan yelled from the other side of the almost empty store and we turned around. He held in his hand a beige colored evening gown with spaghetti straps and sequins which reflected the light form above giving the dress an ethereal glow.

“I’m not wearing that.” I said as I turned around to find a dress actually practical to wear. Apart from the fact that I had a hideous burn scar running down the back of my neck to my right elbow, the dress just seemed wrong for me.

I heard Kenji’s scoff from somewhere as he spoke, “The day she wears a dress like that would probably be the end of the world. Plus, cream wold look awful on her, aren’t you supposed to be a model? Why is your fashion sense so bad?”

It was like dissing people was engraved into his soul or something. Even after being used to his sharp tongue, it didnt take from the fact that I’d wanna bash his head in the wall each time he spoke so curtly. My lips curved up as I heard dad’s reproaching whispers and Lorcan’s snickering.

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Two hours and sixteen dress try ons later we all sat on the leather sofa completely exhausted, “Why are we even trying so hard?” I asked.

“Maybe because you keep rejecting every dress you see?” Kenji spoke.

Right. This why I disliked shopping. Zoya was usually the one to buy my clothes and care for them. But she was on holiday for the past week. She was the only employee of our house that has lasted for more than three years. As well as the only one who knew about our night duties and still stayed. Maybe it was because she was still young, I mean where would she get the amount of salary we give her at the age of sixteen?

“Is there something we can assist you with?” The female employee asked us for the third time. We had been telling her we could find what we wanted by ourselves but now that it seemed unlikely, “Yeah. Find me a dress that won’t make me look like someone who just walked out of Barbie's dream house and something that covers my arms and shoulders. Without showing cleavage.”

I swear each and every full sleeve dress here either had no back fabric or had an extremely low dip in the front. Why would I wanna wear something so exposing? No offense to people who do though.

The employee looked at me stunned for a moment. Like she had expected me to reject like the previous times but just as quickly she masked her expression with a practised smile, nodded and turned around to walk to the shelves.

“I’m famished.” Lorcan groaned dramatically.

“Then go eat something we’ll meet you at the food court once we’re done here.” Dad said.

“No way! It’s my baby sisters birthday gown. I’m not leaving until I see her in it.”

“It’s a birthday gown not a wedding dress.” Kenji deadpanned.

“Exactly, this probably the only time we might see her wearing something even close to a wedding dress since obviously none of us here are getting married” Lorcan rolls his eyes and I notice dad going frigid from the corner of my eyes, “Why would you think that?” He asked while scrolling through his phone trying to act nonchalant.

It was cute the way he tried to hide his anxiousness and worry.

“He didn’t mean you dad.” I said hiding my smirk.

“I didn’t mean myself either. Why would none of you get married?”

“Huh? Well let me think about it. Kenji can’t touch other human beings without being able to see into there heads which is considered creepy for most people. Lorcan well he isn’t even here at night and me? Because having one person keep track of me and tell me what to do is annoying enough why would I want another person to do that?”

“And have you forgotten what we do to just survive? Any normal person would run screaming if they found out.” Kenji added.

We three sighed simultaneously when we saw dads expression morph into a sad frown.

“Oh god don’t go emo on us right now, it’s not as though we want to get married, what is wrong with you, you know better than anyone we love being alone.” Lorcan said his voice lowering when the employee reappeared with a dress in her hand. One which we couldn’t see because it was sealed in a brown fabric bag.

“I know you would like to see it now, but might I suggest you try it on first before seeing it on a hanger?” The employee asked looking at me and I just shrugged getting up and taking the hanger along with me.

As I entered the dressing room once again, I quickly zipped it open to get it over with but when my eyes landed on the color I froze. Burgundy? I thought there were only black and neutral shades here. I really wasn’t in the mood to go out again. Whatever she’s a professional, probably knows better than Lorcan, why not give it a go?

I quickly pulled the dress out of the bag, slid it on and turned around. The same gunmetal blue, almond shaped eyes looked back at me. I pulled my hair out of the scrunchie I had tied them in and let my straight raven black hair loose, which fell down till my shoulders and stopped. I had always kept my hair short enough to not be a bother and long enough to make me seem feminine. I breathed out slowly and pulled up the zipper from behind.

I had to be honest the dress looked amazing. A burgundy body con dress which hugged my figure perfectly, with a sweet heart necklinea and a plunge not too deep. It had beautiful black mesh and sequin flowers sliding down the left side of bodice. The dress wasn’t to revealing or too poofy, even with the slit going down my right thigh since the slit was stitched on matching black mesh with the same few flowers.

It really did look amazing. The problem? The flutter sleeves only covered half of my burn scars which stopped at my elbow.

I couldn’t wear this. Not because it gave me trauma whenever I looked at it or when other people looked at me with pity because of it. But because it was annoying to be reminded of the past. It made me angry not sad. It pissed me off to the point where I was willing to plunge into the darkness all on my own. Back to the ones who had made me burn the place down nine years ago.

Till this day I couldn’t quite understand if I felt relieved that I burned that hellhole down or angry that my own puppets manipulated me.

Well I couldn’t quite call them puppets now. Once upon a time I revelled in the thrill of controlling them, they used to do everything I said. Laughing along with me when we scared off our lunch lady who had given us yesterday’s stale bread or frightening the older bully enough to make him think he was seeing ghosts.

Well, he was. But of course no one believed him, I mean who would? People only believed what they saw and I only made people see them when I wanted to.

Tomorrow it would be nine years since I last talked to them, or acknowledged them. But that didn’t effect them. they were still there.

I felt them each time I woke up and everytime I closed my eyes. I felt them watching me, glaring at me, staring at me, all of them whispering around me. As much as I would like to say that scared me and just once pretend to be normal… it would be a lie. It was what grounded me.

Soothing sometimes even, alluring the way they whispered in melodic cacophonies, enticing me to follow them. Join them. Become just like them.