"Charlie!" Alan screamed to his son when he heard him running downstairs. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. Something had happened. What was it?

Alan ran down the steps after his son, who he found in the bathroom throwing up. There was something in his hand that he clutched tightly in his grasp.

"Charlie? What's wrong?"

Charlie's breathing was so rapid that he was gagging as he threw up. Sweat dripped from his forehead and off his nose. He held himself up by the edges of the toilet, but strength began to escape his body. Fear hit him in waves, and as another hit, he lunged forward.

Alan caught Charlie before he went head-first into the toilet. With one hand he held Charlie up, and with the other he held his son's hair back.

"Hey! Where is everyone?" Don called as he walked through the house. He saw the bathroom door was open and could hear his father's voice. What was going on?

"Whoa," Don said when he came to the bathroom door and saw inside.

"What's going on?" he asked his father, since his little brother was obviously preoccupied.

"I don't know. He just got home and suddenly he was running in here."

Charlie's breath turned rapid again.

"Charlie, calm down. You're making yourself worse." Alan spoke sternly, trying to have more of an effect on his son.

Alan was right. Charlie had to get a hold of his emotions. Charlie knew it, too, but he couldn't calm down. No, not with the news he'd just been given.

Charlie's stomach was already empty, so when his stomach lurched again, only painful bile came up. He spit it out and leaned his head down.

"Come on, Charlie. Let's get you cleaned up," Alan said. He motioned for Don to help him get Charlie up, so Don came over and took one of Charlie's arms to pull him up.

"You okay, Buddy?"

Charlie shook his head vigorously. No. He wasn't okay. Not by a long shot.

Don held Charlie up while Alan wiped his mouth. Charlie was beginning to shake, so Don had to keep a tight hold on him.

"Sh. You're okay," Don said, trying to soothe his brother, but Charlie knew it was a lie. He wasn't okay.

When Charlie was cleaned up, Don led him to the couch. Alan followed close behind and eyed the letter in his son's hand. He couldn't make out the words on it, so he just waited for Charlie to explain.

Don rubbed circles on Charlie's back while his brother held his head in his hands. Charlie shivered when his gaze hit the letter in his hands and suddenly he dropped it, as if he'd been burned.

"Charlie? What's in that letter?"

"I-It's from the California State Penitentiary. J-J-Jake-"

"What? What about him?" That caught Don's attention.

Charlie turned his gaze onto his brother's. "He's been released... on parole."

"What?!"

Don grabbed the letter from his brother's hands and read it. Why hadn't he been told?

Alan moved to his son's side and moved Charlie into his arms as a way to protect his son. Looking back, Alan could hardly believe he had talked to Jake. It scared him how close the man had come to his family. And what he'd done just to Charlie...

"I can't believe this. It's only been four months!"

Charlie didn't want to think about it. Would Jake come after him? He feared so. All this time he had focused his fear on Carl, and he was the one who could never touch him again. But Jake, that was a different story.

"Buddy, I am so sorry. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, okay? If you want, we can file a restraining order against him."

Charlie shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good," he whispered. He knew how Jake had been. He had no morals. He didn't care what he did and how he had to do it. A restraining order would just be one more thing he could break. It would basically be saying, "Come get me."

Charlie leaned against his father. It couldn't be happening. He could deal with the stress and fight against Carl. He could fight a dead man. It was someone who was alive he couldn't face. Would he ever need to?

Don sat down beside his brother and turned him so he could look at him.

"I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

Charlie nodded, wanting so much to believe his brother's words. But he had let something happen to him last time. What could he do to save him now?

He left the safety of being near his family. Charlie went upstairs and closed the door his room. It couldn't be true. This couldn't be happening.

Jake had been a threat he had some how overlooked. When Carl was gone, Charlie assumed Jake would be too. But Jake hadn't died. He had been in jail. They hadn't been able to connect him directly to any murders, so he wasn't in jail for life. He was already out... and he was probably coming for him.
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Don stared up the steps where his brother had quietly disappeared to. Alan was watching his oldest son and smiled gently.

"Don? Donny, why don't you go up there?"

"No, I-I should go. I need to get home."

"You're already there, son."

Don turned to his father and saw the truth in his eyes. Yes, he was home. That wasn't what he had meant. He meant his house... not his home.

Don sighed as he pushed himself up off the couch. He followed his brother to his room and knocked softly on the closed door.

"Charlie?"

There was no response, but a few moments later, Charlie opened the door. Immediately following, he turned around and went to his bed. He had a small notepad there and was writing numbers. They appeared random to Don, but he knew that with his brother there was a meaning behind those numbers. A meaning he probably wouldn't understand.

"Charlie? Buddy, are you all right?"

Charlie titled his head up, looking away from the notepad for the time being. "Yeah. I'm... okay."

Okay wasn't good. Fine wasn't good. Don knew the words that implied otherwise. Charlie always used them in the same instances, and that was when he wasn't really okay.

"Talk to me." Don didn't bother saying what about or pushing him forward. If Charlie needed to talk, he would.

Charlie shook his head and focused his gaze on a mark on the wall. He'd punched the wall there. He could vaguely remember the day. His mother was still going through chemotherapy. He had been angry with himself because he wasn't able to stop it. Don was coming over that day. He figured his brother would be the one to save their mother, and he hurt himself for being so incapable that he couldn't save his own mother.

"Charlie? Come on. Say something."

"I'm fine, Don. I'll be okay."

Don's face fell when he realized that was all he was going to get out of his brother. He wanted it to be the way it had been, when Charlie always would confide in him. That hadn't been the case for a while. Don hated that. He liked being so close to his brother.

"Okay. If you need anything, call me. You hear?"

Charlie nodded as he continued writing on the notepad. Don rested his hand on Charlie's shoulder, and then got up and left.

Something would need to be done about this. Charlie could not be put at risk. Don would have to protect his brother. He had always felt that he had needed to protect Charlie, but he had failed him last time, so now Charlie was exposed to what it felt like to kill someone. Don never meant for that to happen. It should have been him who had fought Carl. He should have stopped it from happening, saved his brother the trauma of living with the knowledge that Carl wanted him and his family dead. Don could have saved him, but he hadn't. And that failure continued to haunt him every day.

Don took one last look at his brother and pushed the pain and worry down. Charlie would be okay. Jake wouldn't come after him. No, he wouldn't let that happen. He'd take care of him better this time than he had before. No one would touch his brother again. Not without going through him first... and no one would. He'd make sure of it.

Charlie returned to school the next day. The after-effects of hearing about Jake were still visible on his face. Ever-observant Larry caught on quickly that something was wrong.

"Charles? Charles?" Larry said as he tried to get his friend's attention. Charlie was only staring at an area on the chalkboard and wouldn't move his gaze from it.

"Charles!" Larry screamed, finally being effective enough to jerk his friend out of his trance.

"Larry! What, what are you doing in here?"

"Well, I couldn't help noticing that something was wrong. I was wondering if I could help in some way."

Charlie sighed and rubbed his temples, trying to work out the constant headache.

"What is it, Charles?"

Charlie looked up at Larry and leaned forward. "Jake has been released from prison on parole."

"You mean the man I saw in your office that one day?"

Charlie nodded.

"Well, no wonder you're upset! I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do..."

Charlie stood and walked to the board. "No, there's nothing. I'll just have to be on my guard 24/7, not that I hadn't been before. Hopefully everything will work out in the end."

"What are you thinking?"

Charlie turned around to look at Larry. "About what?"

"Anything, but I was thinking along the lines of Jake."

"I think he'll come back. I think he'll try to finish what Carl started."

"Hmm. Now you're making a strange assumption."

"And what's that?"

Larry tapped his chin with his fingers, in thought. "Well, consider Eratosthenes."

"The man who found a systematic way of finding prime numbers?"

"Well, yes, him, but I was thinking along the lines of his more famous work."

"Meaning, the one relating to your field of study, not mine?"

"Precisely. Eratosthenes figured out approximately how far around the Earth is, and despite that, Ptolemy tried to prove him wrong and incorrectly said the earth was 18,000 miles around."

"Rather than the estimated 25,000 miles around. What's your point?"

"If Eratosthenes hadn't decided to take the time to find out how far around the earth is, do you think Ptolemy would have incorrectly proven him wrong?"

"Meaning..."

"Without Carl Waits, Jake may have never bothered you at all. And now that Carl is gone, maybe he won't anymore."

Charlie sighed. "I hope you're right, Larry. I really do."

"As do I, Charles."

Amita walked in and looked at their stoic faces. "What's going on? What are you talking about?"

"Eratosthenes," Larry answered.

"Prime numbers?"

Charlie and Larry smiled at each other. If only it were that simple.

I know it's not very long, but it's the end of the school week. It's the best I can do. I hope it helped with the cliffhanger. I promise to give you only a few cliffhangers, but I realize it does often gaurantee your return. LOL Have fun, guys! I'll update ASAP!