Mako arrived home very late at night, almost morning. He wiped away his tears and took a deep sigh. He walked up the metal stairs that led to their apartment and opened the red painted door on the 4th floor. He took off his shoes and hung up his jacket on a hook to the right. He quietly tiptoed in to the living room to find that the babysitter was still asleep on the couch. She would probably leave when she woke up in the morning. He would have to make sure to keep Bolin asleep until then. He walked down the hallway to the 2nd bedroom on the left and opened the door. It was his parent's bedroom. He walked over to their bedside table and turned on the lamp. On the table also set a picture of his parents, just before his mother got sick. He picked up the picture and looked at it. She looked so beautiful with her long dark hair and bright green eyes, just like Bolin. The one thing that Mako got from her was her angled jaw. His Dad had jet-black hair and ember eyes like Mako. Bolin had his father's hard square jaw. Tears started to fall down his face again. He missed them so much. His chest hurt from pain that would never seem to go away. He shook his head, placed the picture back down, and went over to his father's dresser. He took some clothes and arranged them on the bed under the covers and backed away to examine his work. He nodded in approval; it looked just like his father was sleeping in the bed. Just incase the babysitter walked in there. Then he peeked his head into his brother's room. Bolin was fast asleep and even snoring a bit. Mako then made his way to his own room. He undressed and changed into his favorite red pajamas and got into his cozy bed. He lay there and tired to go to sleep, but sleep never came. The man's voice continued to echo in his head: "You got lucky, kid. You better not tell a single sprit that it was me or else there will be a bullet going straight through your brain. You understand?" Lucky? Lucky about what? The man killed his father. He didn't feel lucky at all. He eventually drifted off to sleep. Then the nightmares began.
He dreamt that he was in the park with his brother and Dad. They where playing a game of tag and his father was running after him and Bolin. The brothers hid behind a tree to avoid being it. They waited for their father to peek his head around and find them, but he never did. Mako told his brother to wait there and he would go to find their Dad. He walked around the tree and gasped at what he saw. His father was lying on the ground, dead. He turned around and ran to the tree to get his brother. Behind the tree was another horrific scene: a man holding a gun to his brother's head. It was the same man who had killed his father. Mako screamed out "Why are you here? I didn't tell anyone, I swear." The man just gave an evil chuckle and pulled the trigger.
Mako awoke to the sound of himself screaming. His heart was pounding and he was covered in a cold sweat. "It was all just a nightmare," he told himself over and over. He looked over to his window. It was sunrise, maybe around 6ish. He got out of bed and tiptoed into the living room. The babysitter had collected her money off the coffee table and left. Then he went to Bolin's room. He smiled when he saw his little brother snoring away. He left and went into his parent's bedroom. He gathered all the clothes from under the covers and put them back into their original place. He went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. When he was done eating, he washed his bowl in the sink and opened up the refrigerator. There was plenty of milk, eggs, juice, fruit, and vegetables. The problem was that he knew it wouldn't last long. He had no idea how to cook anything other than toast and canned soup. He couldn't go to the store because it was too unusual for kids to go by themselves. He didn't want to rouse any suspicions. They could not be sent to an orphanage. They would have to continue to go to school, that might be hard. Bolin was never one for keeping secrets. How would he tell him? And when? For now he would just keep it to himself. His head shot up when he heard footsteps from down the hall. He turned around and took a stance, ready to blast fire at an intruder.
Bolin-"Whoa! Mako, it's just me. Calm down."
Mako relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. Bolin walked into the living room and plopped down onto the couch. Mako poured his brother a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and carried it over to him. He handed his brother the glass and bowl and then joined him on the couch. He smiled as his brother put the biggest spoonful of cereal into his mouth and chomped away. Then he mumbled something. Mako laughed.
Mako-"Bolin, I can't understand you. You know you shouldn't talk with your mouth full. Haha!"
Bolin swallowed his food and took a few sips of his juice.
Bolin-"I said, where is Dad at?"
Mako's heart sank, but he wouldn't let it show on his face. He needed to think of something, soon.
Mako-"Um, he's uh… on vacation."
Bolin-"Oh, ok. Where at?"
Mako-"At, uh… Ember Island. You know, the beach."
Bolin-"Wow, he must be having tons of fun. When will he be back?"
Mako-"Soon. Dad will be back soon."
Author's Note: I'm kind of having writers block on this one but then it just came to me! I love it when that happens! So I will be updating a little less often than usually because school has started But don't worry, that's means that I have a lot more thinking time, haha. Review!