TRAPPED WITH MY STEP BROTHERS

Chapter 9

Ladina

The living room now felt incredibly dangerous. I stood perfectly still, staring at the tablet on the kitchen island. I couldn't stop reading the red words on the screen: I have hours of this video. Do exactly what I say, or I will send it to James.

Gabriel lost his temper first. He slammed his iron poker onto the counter, right next to the tablet. "I'll kill them," he yelled. "I will hunt down whoever is doing this."

"Gabe, stop," Oliver said calmly. He didn't grab a weapon. Instead, he stepped forward to look closely at the black-and-white video playing on the screen.

I forced myself to look, too. The video showed the couch, the fireplace, and the blankets. It was from our first night without power, when the three of us had huddled together to stay warm and let our guard down.

"You can't hunt them, Gabriel," Oliver explained. "The video signal is very strong. That means the person has a power source hidden somewhere on the property. They didn't walk back out into the freezing storm. They are somewhere around. They want us to panic and fight each other."

Gabriel gripped the poker tightly and stared at his brother. Normally, they fought each other for control. But now, facing a real threat, they stopped arguing. They became a team, and for the first time, I felt like I was part of it.

"What do we do?" Gabriel asked quietly.

"We wait," Oliver said, pausing the video. "They didn't trap us just to watch us starve. They want something from us."

"We need to eat," Oliver added. "We need our strength."

He went to the small camping stove and started cooking. It felt strange to do something so normal while we were so terrified.

Gabriel carried the tablet to the coffee table and sat on the couch to wait. I sat on the other side of the couch, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping a blanket around my shoulders.

Soon, Oliver brought us bowls of warm canned stew and pasta. He sat on the floor near us, and we ate in complete silence, listening to the wind outside.

Then my hands started shaking; I looked at my shaking hands and started to cry. "I'm sorry," I said. "This is my fault. If my mother hadn't married your father..."

"Stop," Gabriel said, looking right at me. "Do not apologize. You didn't cause this."

"He's right, Dina," Oliver added gently. "We are in this together, and we'll get out of it together."

Their words made me feel a little bit safer. Even though we were trapped, I wasn't alone anymore.

Suddenly, the tablet beeped loudly. We all jumped.

The screen lit up again. Gabriel and Oliver quickly looked at it, and I leaned in.

The video was gone. Instead, there was a new message on the screen:

Dinner looked lovely. Now it is time to earn your stay.

Tomorrow at 8:00 AM, you will find a list of instructions in the basement. If you do not follow them, or if you break the cameras, I will send the video to James's company and the news. Sleep well, children.

The message disappeared, and the screen went blank. I stared at our reflections on the tablet screen. The game had started, and the person watching us was in complete control.