Asylum

Prologue

Prologue

August 2012

Gabriel hummed to himself as he walked home from the library in the late-August heat. He had been psyched when Uncle Barry had given him permission to go without supervision. His mom was at her new job, and as much as he was glad to be staying with Barry, it was boring with a capital B. You could only watch so many game shows on TV before you wanted to hang yourself. He’d tried to drag Justin along, but he wasn’t much of a reader. He hadn’t even looked up from his sketchbook as he said “hard pass” before Gabriel had left.

Now Gabriel walked home with a shiny new library card in his pocket and five books in his backpack. Three were fiction of various genres, and the other two were subjects that piqued his interest, one on Native American history, and the other was a new book about brain science. He couldn’t wait to sink into them.

“Honey, I’m home!” he called with a snicker as he entered the apartment.

Moments later, Barry walked into the living room. He looked like he was in a good mood as well, his cheeks rosy and a smile on his face.

“Sweetheart! Did you bring home the bacon?” he teased back.

Gabriel laughed and dropped down onto the sofa. He loved that Barry was as big a dork as he was.

“No bacon, but I got hours and hours of high-quality entertainment.” He pulled out the brain book and tossed it to his uncle.

“Woah, my brain’s gonna explode just reading the dust jacket.”

“Looks wicked cool, right?”

“Totally. It’s bangin’.”

Gabriel c****d an eyebrow at his uncle. Okay, maybe they weren’t quite the same brand of dork.

“Isn’t that the new lingo that the kids say?”

“Uh, a world of no,” Gabriel said, shaking his head and grinning as he pulled the remaining books from his backpack. Barry laughed good-naturedly.

“Can’t see this being on the seventh-grade reading list,” he teased.

Gabriel shrugged. He couldn’t wait until school started. Not only would it be far more interesting than bouncing around this tiny apartment, but they’d get access to the internet again, which was filled with all sorts of interesting stuff.

“Jazzy!” Gabriel called to his twin. When he didn’t get an answer, he got up and went to their temporary bedroom. Justin was sitting on his bedding, his sketchbook abandoned, just staring at the wall. “Yo, dorkus!” Gabriel called from the doorway. Justin looked up in surprise, as if he hadn’t realized his brother was home.

“Hey,” he said, his tone lackluster.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothin’,” he said a little too quickly to be believable. Gabriel peered at his brother. Something was definitely off with him. He looked pale and shaky and his eyes were glassy. If he didn’t know his brother any better, he’d say he was on something, like the pills their mother took sometimes. But, no, Justin wouldn’t do something like that. They’d been through too much with her ups and downs.

“You sick or something?”

“Yeah, I guess…”

“Did you change?” Gabriel could have sworn Justin had been wearing a T-shirt and shorts before he’d left for the library. Now he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans and was shivering, despite the August heat.

“Uh, yeah. I, uh—”

“Everything okay in here?” Barry asked, joining Gabriel in the doorway.

“Justin’s not feeling well,” Gabriel said with a furrowed brow. He couldn’t remember the last time he or his brother were sick. They were generally healthy as horses.

“Oh, buddy, sorry to hear that. Can I get you anything?”

“Just tired,” Justin mumbled.

“Well, we should probably leave you be so you can rest,” Barry said to Justin. Then he slung an arm around Gabriel. “And so your brother doesn’t get sick too.” Gabriel snickered and squirmed as Barry poked him in the ribs playfully. “We gotta look out for each other. Family is number one.”