Hidden Fangs

Utter Chaos.

I quickly pull up to the school and the boys pile in. I can see their looks of question, like as to why we were already in the car. Before I can answer James loudly announces that we skipped school because of his bullies. Evan, Asher and Liam look at me as Liam says “Yeah we don’t run away from our problems right?!”. “Your brother needed a break. None of you are being bullied. He is the youngest of us! He needed a day of peace!” I argue back as we hit the main road to home. Before anyone can respond we arrive home and everyone piles out. We all head inside and as soon as the door is open I can tell something is wrong. The inside of our home is a wreck. It looks like a tornado went through it. We all rush upstairs and around the house to access the damage. Every electronic device is gone, all of our tvs, our gaming systems, everything is gone. “My laptop is gone!” shouts Liam from upstairs. “My Xbox and monitor are gone too!” cries Asher. Evan doesn’t say anything but I can hear him destroying his room searching for his things. James lays on the floor and cries. He knows if everyone is missing something his treasured items would be gone too. There’s only one person that could do this. That could cause this much destruction. Our mother. I rush to my room and everything is gone. I go to check my hiding spot, I open the vent on my ceiling and reach around and let out a breath of relief. My savings and bank cards are still there securely hidden. Now it’s time to calm the boys down.

I shout for everyone to meet me downstairs and change into comfortable clothes. I opted for black sweatpants and a white crop top. I go downstairs and the boys are all sitting on the couch with discouraged looks on their faces. “We need to go to town and replace what we can. We also need to change our locks and everyone keeps their key on them at all times. No hiding keys anymore. We also need to get a security system and cameras.” I say as I look at them all. They all nod in agreement and get ready to go to town. We get in the vehicle and head towards the mall. I refuse to let them feel hurt over replaceable items. Once we arrive we go into Best Elec’s first. I spend a small fortune replacing everything. The tvs will be delivered tomorrow so that means I’m skipping school again. I have straight A’s so it won’t hurt me too much. Once we finish replacing everything that was stolen, we head to Blane’s security store. It’s about time we put a stop to our mother. After explaining everything that was happening at our home they were able to get the best systems and cameras that would work for us. We got new locks for each door and sensors for each window. As I was checking out and the boys were grabbing bags, I got the scent of Toasted Marshmallows and Coconut again! I look around and nothing once again I look crazy going in a circle to find this unknown smell. The owner of the store asks if everything is okay and all I can do is nod.

How could I explain that I keep smelling things that weren’t there that no one else could seem to even smell?! Maybe I’m having a stroke or something! I have been under tremendous stress. None of this makes any sense! After feeling defeated once again we make our way to the center of the mall. Everyone is carrying two bags of what they picked out. “Do we need anything else?” I ask as I look at them each. “No, we got everything.”. Okay guys let’s head home and get to work I say as we start to walk back to the vehicle. Out of the corner of my eye I see the man from the arcade. I’m so caught up in looking at him I don’t see the pole in front of me. I smack into the pole and drop my bags. My brothers all burst out laughing while they help me and when I turn to look back the man’s gone. Maybe I imagined him. Just my luck I think, I made a fool of myself over a figment of my imagination. We get back on track and head straight to loading everything in the back hatch. Once everything was in all the boys piled into the suv. Liam and Asher fought over the front seat, while Evan sneakily went ahead and got in. James climbed into his usual seat while Liam and Asher stomped in. I chuckled as I started the vehicle and started driving. “Do we want take out or a home cooked meal?” I ask no one in particular. “Home cooked!” They all agree instantly. We pull into the driveway and I grab the bags out of the back while the boys rush inside. They all take their bags hurriedly and rush upstairs to start setting up their new stuff in their rooms. I head into the kitchen to figure out what to cook. I settle on steaks, medium rare with a butter garlic glaze with homemade mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I prep the steaks and get them ready while I peel my potatoes. Once the potatoes are boiled I grab a pot to steam the broccoli. It takes 40 minutes and everything is freshly done. I shout for the boys and start making plates and setting the table. They rush downstairs like a stampede and crowd the table. Once I got drinks I sat down and we started to eat our dinner. Groans of joy could be heard as they scarfed down their meal. Once we finished dinner I loaded the dishwasher and set out to set the security system and cameras up. Liam helps with the cameras on the back porch while I do the cameras on the front. After a while everything was set up and we could watch the cameras on our phones. It notified our phones immediately at any sudden movement or sound.

The boys start their nightly routine of showers and snacks before bed while I tidy everything up. Yes our home still looked like a tornado had gone through it. Once I get it clean and tidy again, it’s time for me to shower and get ready for bed as well. I head upstairs to my room to grab my pajamas for my shower. I put my phone on charge and headed to the bathroom. I cut the water on, I step inside and let the heat engulf my body and wash away my worries. I wash my hair and body and get out. After drying off and putting my clothes on I open the door to head to my room. As soon as I reach my door Liam comes launching at me yelling “LOOK AT THE CAMERAS!!!!”. Confused, I rushed to my phone and pacing up and down our walkway is a wolf the size of my suv. Okay maybe I’m exaggerating but it is MASSIVE! For some reason I don’t feel scared, I feel intrigued. Curiously I tiptoe down the stairs and look out the window on the front door. The wolf appears to notice me and looks straight at me. A sense of familiarity hits me when I notice his bright blue eyes. I open the door and the scent of toasted marshmallows and coconut hits me harder than ever and I feel like I’m going to faint. I slam the door and run to my room with more questions than answers.