The Brother
983 Words
“Who is he?”
My voice comes out quieter than I expect.
Leon doesn't answer immediately.
He's staring at the boy near the stairs.
The boy is tall.
Older.
Calm.
Way too calm for someone who has just appeared in the middle of my personal nightmare.
“Leon.”
He finally speaks.
“That's Elias.”
I look at him.
“Elias who?”
“Lena's brother.”
Oh.
Fantastic.
Of course.
Because apparently one mysterious person wasn't enough.
There had to be a sequel.
I look at Elias again.
He doesn't look like Lena.
At least not from this distance.
But there's something about his expression.
The same kind of stillness Leon has.
The kind that makes you wonder what someone is thinking.
“Does he know about me?”
Leon looks at me.
“Yes.”
My stomach drops.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“You're doing that thing again.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you give me terrible information in three words.”
He almost smiles.
Almost.
Then his face becomes serious.
“Elias and I used to be friends.”
I turn toward him.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You had friends?”
He looks at me.
“I had one.”
“Wow.”
“Amara.”
“Sorry.”
Not sorry.
He continues.
“We were close.”
“Until Lena?”
“Until the incident.”
I wait.
He doesn't say anything else.
“So you two had a falling out.”
“Yes.”
“Bad one?”
“Yes.”
“Violent?”
“No.”
“Threatening?”
“No.”
“Lots of dramatic yelling?”
He gives me a look.
“Probably.”
“Okay. At least you're admitting it.”
He looks back at Elias.
“He blamed me.”
“For what?”
Leon doesn't answer.
I already know that means stop asking.
Naturally, I don't.
“Did he think you hurt Lena?”
“He thought I could have stopped it.”
My stomach twists.
That sounds worse.
“Could you?”
Leon looks down.
“I don't know.”
I don't like that answer.
Before I can ask anything else, Leon says,
“Don't talk to him.”
I stare at him.
“Why?”
“Not yet.”
“So we're just going to stand here pretending we didn't see him?”
“Yes.”
“That seems very mature.”
He looks at me.
“It's safer.”
Fine.
Annoyingly reasonable.
We start walking toward the exit.
I keep my eyes forward.
I am absolutely not looking at Elias.
Definitely not.
I look once.
He's gone.
“Where did he go?”
Leon stops.
I look around.
Nothing.
“Great,” I whisper.
“This is fine.”
Leon looks at me.
“You're nervous.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I just don't like mysterious older boys appearing behind me.”
“He wasn't behind you.”
“That's not the point.”
We keep walking.
Then someone speaks behind us.
“You shouldn't have searched Hamburg, Fischer.”
We stop.
Slowly.
I turn around.
Elias is standing there.
Closer now.
Much closer.
He looks older than us.
Year 13, probably.
One of the final years at König before graduation.
His eyes move from Leon to me.
Then back to Leon.
Leon goes completely still.
“Elias.”
“Leon.”
The way they say each other's names tells me everything.
They are not friends.
Not anymore.
Elias looks at me.
“You're Amara.”
I freeze.
“How do you know my name?”
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he looks at Leon.
“You should have left it alone.”
Leon steps slightly in front of me.
Not enough to make a scene.
Just enough that I notice.
“Leave her out of this.”
Elias gives a small smile.
“She's already in it.”
My stomach drops.
Leon looks angry.
“Don't.”
Elias looks at me again.
“Stop searching.”
Then he walks away.
Just like that.
I stare after him.
“What was that?”
Leon doesn't answer.
“Leon.”
“He's trying to scare you.”
“It worked.”
He looks at me.
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I know.”
I groan.
“Please find another sentence.”
He almost smiles.
But he doesn't.
We leave school separately.
Leon insists on walking me toward the station.
I tell him I can manage.
He doesn't listen.
Neither of us talks much.
For once, I don't mind.
By the time I get home, my brain is exhausted.
I throw my bag onto my bed.
Then I remember Sofia.
I grab my phone.
One new message.
Sofia.
I open it.
Sofia: Lena replied.
I sit up.
What?
I type.
Me: Seriously?
Sofia: Yes.
Me: What did she say?
Three dots appear.
Then disappear.
Then appear again.
Finally, Sofia sends a screenshot.
Lena's account.
A message.
My hands go cold.
I read it.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Elias doesn't know I'm talking to you.
I stop breathing.
Another message appears.
Don't trust him.
I stare at the screen.
Elias.
Lena's brother.
The boy who just warned Leon.
The boy who knows my name.
The boy who told us to stop searching.
And now Lena is telling me not to trust him.
I look at the clock.
It's getting late.
My phone buzzes again.
Another screenshot from sofia.
Lena's account.
A message.
Please believe me.
I stare at those three words.
Then I look toward my bedroom window.
For the first time all day, I don't wonder whether Leon is hiding something.
I wonder what Elias is hiding.
And why Lena is so afraid of her own brother..
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