Embracing the Beast Within

"Damn it, Parker!" I shouted at my brother after he threw his used towel in my face. "You are so gross," I added, throwing his towel back to him, but he just laughed about it. Parker is three years younger than me. He was the birthday gift that I asked my parents to receive on my second birthday, and I swear, I am regretting it now—well, sometimes. "My friends are coming over," he said instead as he sat on the bean bag in our living room. "Friends? When did you have friends here?" I can't help but ask. I mean, our family had just moved into this town for two freaking days! "They are our neighbors," he answered shortly, shrugging and starting to set up his PS5. My brow creased. "You are already friends with our neighbors?" "Yeah," he replied and nodded. "They live five houses away from ours." "The one at the end of this street?" I asked again, shocked. "There are people living there. "Yes, Liv. There is a family living there," he confirmed. "Their house looks haunted," I said. My brother turned to me and squinted his eyes. "Well, like the saying goes, do not judge a book by its cover. If you see the inside of their house, you'll be amazed. And their backyard, it was fascinating." "It was a forest," I said. "Exactly! And dude, it was beautiful there!" "Is that even safe?" I can't help but ask again. My brother is just sixteen; of course, I would worry. Parker nodded. "As I have observed, yes. I think it is safe there," he answered, then shrugged. I was about to say more when our doorbell rang. "It must be them," Parker said, jogging to our main door. While I immediately texted our mother to inform her that he was having a visitor, Parker's friends are home right now, mom. They lived five houses from ours. I texted, and mom immediately replied. He has friends from there already. ] [Exactly my question when she told me.] But, yeah. [They are here.] I texted back. What are their names? Their looks and age? How many are there? Mom replied. I was about to type my reply when Parker and his friends entered our living room. "This is my sister, Olivia. And Liv, these are my friends, Elias and Sebastian." "Nice meeting you, Olivia. I’m Elias," the first guy said, smiling as he introduced himself. "And this is my twin, Sebastian," he added, pointing at the guy beside him. "What is your full name?" I asked, arching my brow. "Olivia," Parker called out, but I just raised my index finger at him. "Elias and Sebastian Hidalgo," Elias replied. Their names are Elias and Sebastian Hidalgo. [They are twins.] I replied to my mom. [Their age? ] "Your age?" "Olivia! What are you doing?" Parker interrupted, almost freaking out. Again, I arched my brow and turned to him. "It was mom, okay? She was asking about your friends," I told him. Parker’s eyes widened. "You told her?" "Yeah," I answered, turning to his friends again. "So?" "Seventeen," Sebastian answered in a cold tone. I ignored that and replied to mom, [They are seventeen. [A year older than Parker.] How do they look? Do they look like bad influences? Mom asked again. I lifted my eyes from my phone again and ran it through them. Elias smiled awkwardly, while Sebastion just stared back at me. I arched my brows. "Jesus, Olivia!" Parker almost yelled. I rolled my eyes and focused my attention on my phone again. [No. They look good. [It looks like Parker will be the one who’s a bad influence on them.] I texted back. "I’m sorry about that," Parker apologizes, sighing. I just snorted and stood up from the couch. "There’s a pizza in the fridge. Just heat it in the oven," I told him before turning my back and going upstairs to my room. I let them down as I entertained myself with my books. It has just been two days since we moved to this town due to my parents’ work. They are both working for the same company, and their jobs require a lot of traveling and moving in and out. It was tiring, honestly. The consistent moving in and out every six months or a year drains me. It also limits my ability to have friends. It was tiring to meet new people and leave them after a few months. And maybe that is also the reason why I am not good at knowing people. I was not as social as Parker because I was afraid of the pain I always went through every time I had to leave a friend. Two hours later, I decided to go downstairs to get snacks from the kitchen. It was already four in the afternoon, but I could still hear the noise they were making in our living room. I ignored them and went straight to the kitchen, but I was surprised to see Sebastian there. He was on our kitchen’s island while on his phone, brows furrowed and jaws clenching. "Do you need anything?" I asked, but this guy just stared at me and said nothing as he put down his phone. I repeated my question, but still, he said nothing. "Hey... I tried again, stepping closer to him. I know that he can hear me and can absolutely speak! "Just leave me alone," he finally said, but his attitude annoyed me. Wow! This guy has some attitude, huh? I stepped backward. "Uhh, okay, I said and turned my back, rolling my eyes. I took out an ice cream tub from the fridge and went out of our kitchen immediately, without even glancing at him. I can’t believe a stranger can give me that attitude in my own house—in my own kitchen! "Hi!" "Oh, s**t!" I blurted out in surprise when Elias suddenly appeared in front of me, startling me. "Are you okay?" Elias asked. "You almost killed me," I said, holding on to my chest. My heart is beating too fast. Elias laughed at what I said. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to almost kill you," he said, quoting my words. I just shook my head and calmed myself down. I took three deep breaths until my heart rate returned to normal. "Do you need anything?" I asked him. "Where’s Parker?" "Parker’s in the living room, still playing. And I saw you going there, so I followed you," he answered. I squinted my eyes. "Why?" He shrugged and said, "To warn you that Seb is here and he’s kind of a handful?" "Oh, I already know. He just gave me an attitude back there," I replied with a shrug. Elias' eyes widened, and he glanced inside the kitchen and back to mine. "I’m so sorry, Olivia. He’s not always like that. He is just going through something today." I chuckled at his reaction and shook my head. "It’s fine, Elias. You don’t have to worry about it," I told him, reaching for his shoulder to pat it. Although it was an effort to do that, I still did it to calm him. Elias is way taller than me. "No. I’m really sorry, Olivia. I... umm... it’s embarrassing. We’re just visitors here. Wait. I’ll get him and I’ll make him apologize," he said, but I stopped him immediately when he tried to go to our kitchen. "It’s fine, really. No need for that sh*t," I told him. "It’s understandable that not all people would be our cup of tea. And apparently, I wasn't for your brother." "No. Olivia–" I smiled at Elias, who was looking so problematic now. "We all just met today, Elias. And that," I said, pointing inside the kitchen. "It isn’t something we should be making a big deal of. I will probably forget that by tomorrow," I added, tapping his shoulder again. Elias seemed unconvinced by what I said, but I just smiled. "There’s another tub of ice cream in the fridge. You can get it if you want," I added. I also told him that I was going back to my room now and assured him that I didn’t feel bad for what his brother did. I lied. Because the truth is, I will remember what Sebastian did. And I swear, I will never get closer to him again.