Tw: intoxication

Ella turned nervously in bed. God, she hated summer. Those who preferred it to winter were clearly rich enough to afford a 3 months long summer holiday in the cooler weather, or they loved to bake slowly in their own sweat while being eaten by a thousand insects. Even though the fan was pointed directly at her and blowing air at top speed, the girl felt like she was boiling.

The heat made her annoyed and unable to relax. She had already realized that she would not be able to sleep tonight, and that irritated her even more. She imagined herself going to work the next morning, tired and nervous. It was going to be a long day. She did not particularly like her job, but the constant fight against sleep and the heat made it unbearable.

At some point she decided to get out of bed. She glanced at the digital alarm clock on her bedside table, the phosphorescent green numbers telling her it was 03:27 a.m.

Without even bothering to find her slippers, she walked out of her room, using her mobile phone to keep her light and avoid bumping into anything. The girl gasped as a small figure ran past her at a decent speed, but she relaxed as soon as the light illuminated her brother Davin. He looked at her in surprise and slight irritation as he returned from the bathroom wearing a pair of large black headphones.

"Davin! What are you doing here? You should be asleep! It's 3 a.m.!" Ella whispered with a shake of her head.

In response, Davin continued walking as if nothing had happened. He was probably either listening to music on his headphones or deliberately ignoring her. Ella hoped that at least Tavin was asleep at this hour and that they hadn't stayed up all night playing video games like they sometimes did, but she was too tired to care. Deciding not to inform her parents, she walked slowly down the stairs, trying not to make the wood under her feet creak too loudly.

She envied how her younger siblings could afford to stay up all night. After all, school had not yet started and they were on their summer holidays. The girl cheered herself up by remembering that in less than a month she would be going on holiday with her boyfriend to a nice beach resort. Then the heat would not be a problem.

She headed for the kitchen, thinking about making herself a nice cup of iced tea with ice. Even the tap water seemed warm to her, so now she craved something cool.

Downstairs, she noticed that something was wrong. An intense, pungent rotten egg smell permeated the kitchen and part of the living room. Ella wrinkled her nose in disgust. Was there by any chance something rotten in the kitchen? Or was it just another one of the twins' pranks?

The smell was so overpowering that she felt a wave of nausea. She searched for the source of the stench with the flashlight on her phone, feeling a strange headache that was getting worse. As her eyes filled with tears, she decided to turn on the light, even if it would wake her grandfather or her parents up.

Even with the light on, Ella saw nothing unusual, but she began to feel seriously ill. Her head was spinning so much that she had to lie down on the floor to avoid falling. She was breathing heavily and her headache was now so severe that she felt as if she had been hit on the head with a hammer. Terrified and in tears, she began to call for help with every ounce of strength in her body. What was happening?

"MOM! DAD! HELP! HELP!"

After a few seconds, fast and heavy footsteps rumbled from the stairwell.

"Ella?"

"What's going on?!"

"Ella!"

From their voices one could clearly hear their fear. As soon as they arrived in the kitchen they found their daughter lying on the floor, apparently unconscious.

"Ella! Oh my God!"

The mother immediately reached for her daughter and tried to shake her to wake her up, but to no avail. She kept repeating her daughter's name in desperation, while her husband watched the scene in shock. He was completely silent, not knowing what to do.

Then a strong smell of rotten eggs made him gasp. He immediately looked in the direction of the stove and noticed that all the knobs had been turned to the maximum position without producing any fire. A faint hissing sound came from it.

"A GAS LEAK!" Mr Harper shouted as he rushed to the kitchen window and immediately opened it wide. His wife turned her head to look at him in sheer shock.

"I'M GOING TO OPEN ALL THE WINDOWS AND CALL THE EMERGENCY NUMBER! NOW!" Her husband's voice made her stand up immediately and run to the nearest phone.

Meanwhile, worried voices could be heard from upstairs. The others were woken by the screams and now there were more footsteps coming from the stairs.

"Dad?"

"What's going on?"

Their dad returned to the kitchen and quickly picked up his daughter's helpless body. Mrs. Harper was already explaining the situation to some operator on the phone.

"Boys! Open the door and get out of this house NOW! There has been a gas leak!"

~

The front of the house was lit by red and blue lights that danced in an intermittent rhythm on the walls. The family was gathered outside, accompanied by the police. An ambulance had just left with Ella and her mother on board, while the father gave his statement to a policeman. Fresh, his brothers Jake, Yutani, King and Tricky had just been examined by the paramedics. Fortunately, the gas leak had started just before Ella discovered it, and the gas had not yet made it upstairs to poison the rest of the family.

Fresh's uncle was off duty, but when he heard the news he rushed over to comfort the boys.

"Everything will be fine, don't worry. Ella was quickly rescued, lucky that the gas leak was discovered so promptly," he told Fresh, implying that if Ella had not decided to go to the kitchen they would probably all have died in their sleep.

"But how could this have happened?!" Fresh sobbed, as his grandfather tenderly comforted him, stroking his back. The rest of the kids simply observed the situation in a tense silence, not knowing what to say.

"According to your father, all the knobs on the stove had been set to maximum without producing fire," his uncle replied. "We are still investigating this. Guys, are you sure you haven't been playing with the stove?" His tone was stern, but at the same time gentle. "Please be honest with me. It's very important."

They all shook his head, and Fresh's uncle sighed. "I see." He commented. "I will inform my boss. Don't worry guys, we'll take care of it now." He walked away and started to discuss it with his colleagues.

The boys remained silent again. However, Jake began to tremble.

"Hm? What's wrong, boy?" Fresh's grandpa glanced at him and brought a hand closer to his face, but Jake took a step back.

"Nothing." whispered Jake, clenching his fist. "I will come back home now. Sorry."

"Of course" The old man nodded and gave him a gentle smile. "I would drive you home, but I don't have a license. Where do you live?"

"He lives near here. We will go with him and then come back here. Don't worry grandpa." Replied Fresh and nodded at his friends.

"Alright." Agreed the man, and gently put one hand on Davin's left shoulder and the other hand Tavin's right shoulder. "We will wait for you here. Are you sure you don't want us to call your mom first?"

"No, thank you. I don't want to worry her." Jake nodded to the elder and waved his hand in greeting. "Have a good evening, Mr. Harper".

The rest of the group followed him.

~

"Jake, this is not the way to your house." Tricky pointed out to him in a hushed voice. She still felt shaken by what had happened.

"I know." Jake kept walking a little faster than them. "I don't want to go home."

"What?" Fresh sounded worried. "Please man, don't do anything stupid. Honestly, it's not the right moment."

"I know, Fresh. I am so sorry. I think we all know who did this shit tonight." Jake 's voice sounded tense, full of anger. "Because of him, your sister is in the hospital and we almost all died. Again. It's enough. I will solve this."

"Jake, Jake, Jake! WAIT!" Yelled Yutani and grabbed Jake's wrist to persuade him to stop. "Please don't do anything dangerous. Please." she looked like she was about to cry.

"Let me go." Jake simply stated, yanking his arm away from Yutani's grasp.

"Jake, I think we should wait for the police. His uncle said that they are taking care of this!" suggested King in an unsure tone of voice.

"I am tired of waiting. I will face this guy. I will end this. There won't be any more deaths. Any more tears."

He headed toward an underpass.

"I promise."