The Crimson Siblings

‘Again?’

Another one of those dreams—ones where you remember someone you held on to so dearly, but they have departed from you. In this case, it’s family for Thomas.

The kids were playing around, shouting and laughing while their parents relaxed; they were the Crimson family. The parents were watching their kids amusedly. Despite the vacant park, they still had a good time.

It was becoming a rather annoying reminder of what he had lost. Yet he couldn’t do anything about this; it wasn’t in his hands to control what he dreamed about.

Standing there was all he did; that’s the only thing he can do, after all.

After a while, the kids calmed down and stopped all the shouting and running. They sat down next to the parents and either talked or relaxed silently.

Their mother hummed a lullaby to herself, ‘Round after round, The children play-’ It was calming and relaxing. The atmosphere grew very peaceful and quiet, in fact, too quiet. The mother’s voice slowly faded away, and so did the surrounding environment. Thomas felt a heavy weight in his chest as the dreaded moment approached. Just when things seemed to be getting better, his dream was about to be shattered.

Thomas glanced one last time at the family and felt a sense of sadness. It was just a matter of time before he was going to get another dream of them. But this dream was calming and comforting; it gave him an unfamiliar sense of serenity that he wanted to last longer. The boy tried to reach out, but it was too late and-

‘Ramus, I told you to be more careful! Look at what you did!’

″It was an accident!′

The boy slowly stirred awake. His eyelids slowly opened, his vision blurry as he saw two figures arguing. He looked down and found himself taped to a chair. Ah, now he remembers what happened.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, they both immediately looked at him and felt at ease.

‘Thomas! You’re alive!’ said the first male, slightly shorter than the other two.

‘Fortunately, I am. Explain what happened. All I remember is trying to help you two for your acting class,’ said Thomas in a deadpan tone, staring at his younger brother Ramus and his friend, waiting for an answer.

’Er… well, maybe, just maybe… one of us wasn’t so careful and kind of… hit you on the head too hard with our props…,′ said the second male—Carl—in a bashful tone.

‘I wonder who’s at fault for that, eh, Carl?’ said Ramus to his friend Carl with a clear hint of sarcasm. Carl looked at him with irritation; he didn’t appreciate sarcasm.

The two boys started arguing again—but this time Thomas stepped in and said, ‘Alright, alright. Stop it, you two. I don’t care who did it as long as I don’t get brain damage.’

The two boys huffed and looked away; reluctantly, Carl said, ‘Fine, it was me, I admit.’

Ramus chuckled at his friend’s reluctant confession. Carl heard his chuckle and glared daggers at him. Thomas just sighed; this was getting annoying to deal with.

‘Good heavens, these two are quite the handful to deal with,’ thought Thomas. It wasn’t uncommon to see the two of them hang out, have fun, and then be at each other’s throats.

‘I’m going. My part here is over as the kidnapped victim, or whatever it was,’ said Thomas.

‘Aw, man. We could’ve gotten more time for this if you didn’t pass out...’ said Ramus. It was half true. Thomas’s passing out made their time slip away—not to mention they also started arguing instead of checking if Thomas was okay; he could’ve gotten a concussion or something like that. Not that it was as important as their acting, of course.

‘Ramus, the stupid act’s more important than your brother? I feel betrayed,’ Thomas said dramatically. Putting a hand on his chest to emphasise his ‘betrayal’.

‘What are we going to do now, Carl?’ asked Ramus, ignoring his older brother’s attempt at drama.

‘Well, we don’t have a victim now… do we just train on our lines and dialogue?’ answered Carl, also ignoring Thomas’s attempt at drama.

They continued to think. Thomas rolled his eyes at their disregard for him. He asked, ‘Anyways, what time is it?’

‘It is… quarter to eight,’ answered Carl. Thomas’s eyes widened. Quarter to eight?! He was supposed to study for the upcoming Science test, but those two begged him to help them. Thinking it wouldn’t take that long, he agreed.

’Alright, I’ll start studying since I do not want to stay up late,′ said Thomas as he rushed to his room to study. It will be a tiresome night for him. Science was never his strong suit.

Time seemed to flow painfully fast, making Thomas wonder if he would even finish it. It was half past twelve. He was so tired that he could collapse at any moment. Deciding to take a break, he scrolled on his phone a bit whilst humming softly, checking who might’ve texted him—no one ever did. But hey, maybe today was special. Or someone would remember the good ol’ Blood Fist Thomas—Never mind. The humming continued. After a while, a soft sigh broke the rhythm of his humming.

Thomas sighed again, resting his head on his notebook and thought to himself, ‘I wonder how Carl and Ramus are doing… I am sure they fell asleep; those idiots are lazy and easily distracted.’ His eyelids drooped. His head was feeling heavy, and his thoughts were quieting down. The room fell into an eerie silence—broken by the soft hums in the background.

…

Didn’t Thomas stop humming, though?

That’s what he realised—confused and alarmed, he immediately stood up. What was the source of the sound?

Thomas held his breath. The hums were still there. He carefully looked around the room, trying to find the source of the sound. Then he realised the source—the window. Thomas tensed, heart racing. Should he check what’s behind the curtain? Was it dangerous? Those questions were rushing into his mind. Thomas decided to check it; he had to anyway.

He approached the curtains and pulled them open, and he could’ve sworn he saw something in the corner of his eye. Something he couldn’t quite identify, and it was not an animal nor a bird.

Feeling afraid, but also curious—he had to be brave to make sure he and his brother were safe. And probably the other guy too, ‘Eh, optional,’ he thought.

Thomas rushed downstairs to go outside and check it, walking past the two boys who were fast asleep on the ground after a long acting session. Reaching for the door, he grabbed the handle.

To be continued..