Brendan's eyes scanned the library of the large house. It always surprised him, having hardly gone in throughout his whole life. It was so large, so extravagant. He wondered if there had ever been a fear who had read everything here. Some of it didn't even look like it was in English.
His grades had been slipping, so Oliver had been relentlessly urging his son to study. He had taken Brendan's phone and suggested that he go find a quiet place to look over his science textbook. And so here he was, sat in a corner of the library, finding it hard to focus; even in the stifling silence, there was so much to look at.
One book managed to catch his interest above all the others. It was an old, leather bound book, foreign symbols lettered in gold along the spine. He crept up from his seat and slowly moved toward the shelf, as if drawn by some magnetic force. He pulled the book from it's place and opened it. The pages were yellowed and stained, tearing at the edges. It would have been unreadable even if he knew the language. He sighed and went to put it back; that had been pointless.
"Need a translator?"
The unfamiliar voice nearly made Brendan jump out of his skin. He turned around and saw a boy that looked to be about his age, with straight brown hair and pale skin. He wore a light coloured cardigan and beige trousers and there seemed to be a purple glow over his whole self.
"Who are you?" Brendan asked in a whispered shout. He clutched his chest, still getting over the surprise, uneasy.
"A distant relative." The stranger replied. It made sense to Brendan, the Fears had stretched their roots wide, he was always discovering new distant relatives, and the stranger looked like a fear.
"Y-yeah? I'm Brendan." He said shakily, holding his hand out. The Fear took his hand and shook it firmly; his hand was ice cold, in fact, Brendan had to notice that the room had become incredibly cold.
"Robin, Robin Fear." He replied, "Sorry for scaring you, just then." He blushed and bent his head forward slightly, strands of brown hair falling in his face.
"Don't worry about it man, can I help you with anything?"
A smile crept onto the face of Robin. On the surface it was an innocent expression, but there was something in it that made Brendan wary.
"Brendan, I need your help with some unfinished business."