The two boys ambled down the sidewalk, the same route they took every day on their way home from school. The air grew bitter with the fall months as November drew ever closer.
"My hands are cold" The smallest boy complained.
Nine years separated the brothers, and although William wanted to protect his younger sibling he had to admit at times it was hard having a six year old trailing after him.
"Put your gloves on then"
"I can't, I lost them today…"
William rolled his eyes, "Again? Seriously? Mum is going to go nuts, she only just replaced the last pair!"
The youngest kicked through a pile of crinkled leaves.
"Alex, you need to take better care of your stuff"
William sighed, there was no bother in even trying to get through to him.
They walked in silence, the sound of rustling leaves filling the absence of conversation. Home was the next block over and William was already planning an evening of violent video games to distract him from calculus homework.
"Can I borrow your gloves?" Alex asked under his breath.
"What? No, you lost yours, you're not losing mine too" Will stuck a headphone in one ear hitting 'play' on the iPod.
"But you're not even wearing yours" Alex protested.
"Well, you need to learn to take responsibility"
Alex pulled a face, rucking his hands up into his coat sleeves and accepting defeat.
His snotty faced younger brother may have been a royal pain in the ass, but William loved him all the same. After all, Alex was a miracle, or so his parents had always maintained.
William's adoptive parents had tried for years to conceive a child, failing with every IVF treatment, and so they decided to adopt. Eight years later, when he was the centre of their world, William received the incredible news that he was going to have a younger brother. Nine months after that, Alex was born.
"Here" He said, fumbling inside his backpack and handing a pair of gloves over, "You lose these, I'm gonna kick your butt"
Alex grinned stupidly as his big brother helped him wrestle his frozen hands into the oversized mitts.
They pushed open the old wooden gate leading through the backyard of their home. It swung on its rusty hinges making a familiar creaky sound.
Their father was always home early from work on Fridays and their mother would have started cooking casserole for dinner. He'd never admit it, but the family routine made William feel safe. In a world of uncertainty and doubt of belonging, Williams mother always ensured her eldest felt unquestionably loved. He knew that his mother was worried about him feeling second in the ranks after her biological son.
'He's got your eyes' William had once heard his grandmother remark on a new born Alex. William had studied himself in his bedroom mirror that evening, cursing himself for looking totally different from his family. He grabbed a fist full of his messy dark brown hair wondering if he could will it to spontaneously change blonde to match his mother and brothers.
William pulled his house keys from his jean pocket and made to unlock the door. His hand hovered in mid air as he stared quizzically at the broken door handle. Shattered glass littered the step leading up and even onto the lawn.
"What happened?" Alex reached for the handle.
"No, don't" William grabbed his wrist, pulling him back, "Don't touch anything"
There was blood on the doorframe. A sudden dread filled his bones and William felt adrenaline pulse through his veins. Something was very wrong.
"Are Mom and Dad inside?" Alex trailed.
William pulled his brother away from the back door and gestured him to a safe distance.
"Was that blood?"
"Don't move from that spot. You stay right there, understand?"
"But…"
"Promise me you won't move"
William held his breath, wondering why on earth he was being so stupid as to enter a crime scene, but he had to know where his parents were, if they were hurt.
He eased the door open making sure to leave it ajar for a speedy exit if one was needed. The place was a wreck. The coffee table was smashed to pieces and the phone lay off the hook on the floor, bleeping continuously against the hardwood.
He cleared his throat cautiously, "Mom… Dad… is anyone here?"
His foot stepped backwards into a pool of blood. He felt the air escape him and his eyes followed the trail deathly slow until it reached the cold dead body of his mother.
She lay on her side, her eyes closed, the life gone from her. Crimson soaking her blouse from a bullet hole in her chest.
William wasn't aware of falling but he found himself on the ground beside her, his hands shaking, hovering over her as his eyes threatened tears.
He touched her shoulder ever so delicately, "Mom…" He sobbed. This could not be real.
"William…" A laboured voice came from the kitchen. His father no doubt.
William dragged himself up swiftly following the cries. His legs were wobbly with shock as he willed them to perform.
"William…" His father lay flat on his back, bleeding out onto the kitchen tiles.
Another bullet entry wound in his chest. The blood was haemorrhaging onto the floor; with every heartbeat his body expelled more.
"Dad" He breathed, startled by the scene.
Stem the bleed. Stem the bleed. His conscious screamed at him.
William grabbed a hand full of tea towels off the hook and pressed hard onto the wound, cringing as his father moaned in agony.
"I'm going to call 911"
"No." His father grabbed his wrist with blooded hands, "William, listen to me…" He coughed and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, "You must go. Take Alex. Too dangerous"
"I'll get help. Mom… she's dead" He'd said it and it had made it real. His mother was gone. His heart tightened at the realisation.
His father shook his head with the little life he had left in him "No cops. Can't tell anyone. You have to go find Skinner, Uncle Walter. Walter will help you. It's the only way you will be safe…"
"I don't understand. Why is this happening?"
William heard the back door creak open and his younger brother enter the house, his sneakers crunching on shattered glass, "Will…?"
"Alex, stay outside, please!" He was trying desperately to sound calm but wasn't tremendously convincing.
"Only Walter. Only trust him. Please...promise me…"
In an instant he was gone. His last breath left his lips and his eyes closed heavily. His head fell gradually to the side and William was left cradling his lifeless father. An orphan once more.
Resting his head carefully on the tiles, William rose from his father's body. He glanced across at his mother and then down to his hands. They didn't feel like they belonged to him anymore. Resisting the urge to pass out, he wiped the blood onto his jeans, shaking uncontrollably.
Not safe here, he repeated. Walter, find Uncle Walter.
What the hell was Uncle Walter supposed to do about this? He'd not seen his uncle since his tenth birthday. They'd not spoken since then either. Where even was his uncle, didn't he live in D.C?
"Will…" Alex called warily again.
"I'm coming, just one minute, stay put"
Address. Need an address. He flung open the coffee table door and grabbed wildly for the address book. The paper stained with dried blood each time he flicked a page.
'W, w, w…Walter Skinner!' His finger ran to the name and he tore the page straight out.
Keys. Car keys. Where were the damn car keys?! He skidded back into the kitchen, spotted his dads 4x4 keys and swiped them off the kitchen counter, just in time to hear the screams of his younger brother echo through the house.
He caught Alex in the hallway pulling him tight to his chest to shield him from the sight of their blood soaked mother. He continued to scream and cry into his chest.
"We have to go. Now Alex!"
They were in the 4x4 pulling out of the garage and tearing along the asphalt. Alex had stopped screaming and William wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
"Put your seat belt on"
Alex sat expressionless, completely oblivious to the request. He leaned across and fastened the buckle for him. His car seat was in the back but they'd overlook that for now, it wasn't exactly top of the priorities list and besides, he wanted him upfront where he could keep an eye on him.
"It's going to be okay. We're going to go find Uncle Skinner. Dad said he would help us…" The words sounded crazy and he wasn't sure if it was Alex he was trying to assure or himself.
Thank God the neighbours were unaware of the turmoil of the Van De Kamp household. How they'd not heard a gunshot fired he did not know. Perhaps the intruders had used a silencer. Shit. Were they being followed? Frantically, Will glanced at the rear view mirror. No cars. No sketchy looking followers. Hopefully they were okay.
Question after question flooded his mind. Should they have gone straight to the neighbours, or to the cops for that matter? He didn't have a licence. They were bound to get pulled over, and then what? He had to formulate a plan and fast. Pulling out the scrunched up paper he un-creased in on the steering wheel re-reading the postcode. Definitely D.C. He was sure his father had mentioned him working in the J Edgar Hoover building, but whether that was still the case now was another matter. No phone number, typical. Phone! He jumped at the thought, determined that his cell would help them in some way, only to sink back down on remembering it was shoved in his backpack which still lay on the hall floor. What was he supposed to do with a phone and no one to call anyway?
They joined the main arterial road into D.C just as the evening drew in. They'd been driving for hours by now in complete silence as he'd kept watch, paranoid that they were being followed. William was thankful his father had taught him to drive, even if he didn't own a licence and clearly had a lack of road traffic sense. He was just about pulling it off nonetheless. His eyes felt heavy as the adrenaline began to wear off. The hundreds of headlights were becoming all the more dazzling by the hour.
"Alex, do you want to stop for a break?"
His little brother slouched fast asleep against his seatbelt. Dreaming dreams of happy families and no fatalities. He didn't have the heart to wake him.