Aefia sat on a log with her legs crossed while she glanced at her phone screen with pure boredom. Her thumb hovering over the screen and just seeing how many useless pictures her annoying brother had taken using it, which was mostly just him and his gigantic friend group having a campfire and toasting marshmallows and at other times, just him trying to take a wierd selfie with mushrooms growing out of tree trunks.
Finally, after losing enough patience, she pressed onto a small photo until the select button appeared and dragged it to the bottom, then pressing delete and watching over a thousand photos getting discarded at once. Then, she immediately got out of the application to check her storage.
That is much better. She spoke into her mind as her fingers slid through the panels, then her eyes fell onto the the new applications that seemed to have been downloaded onto her device.
Well isn't that wonderful? He had the audacity to use my phone like his own toy. Her eyes narrowed down into a frustrated look as she held onto the icon and waited for it to start shaking. Just as she was about to press on uninstall, an arm wrapped around her shoulders and her brother sat down right next to her.
"What are you doing? You seem too quite to be considered still available." Lewis spoke while glancing at her screen. "Hey! Don't delete that! It has my social media!" His hands immediately pulled towards the phone as he snatched it out of her hands to check her gallery. "Come on! You deleted every picture!"
"Well it's not like you don't have a phone for yourself." She replied while using her left hand to press on restore from the deleted folder. "And it's not like I had deleted it permanantly. Keep the ones you want to keep and remove the rest. And then, use your phone from the next time." She replied while snatching it back, then tapping on the new applications that her brother had added. "Social media you said? And this thing is packed with the most hilarious pictures you could find." She smiled a little mockingly.
"I mean... Who puts pictures of their broken barbeque sticks at their profile?!" Her fingers scrolled through her brother's profile and posts. "Like this one? What exactly do you mean by standing with something the mushroom and I have in common?! It's a darn mushroom! Let it be as it is! ... Unless... You and the mushroom have the giant head as a common thing." Her laugh came out with tears as she scrolled through the rest and watched Lewis turn embarrased with the way she spoke about the pictures.
"Well you don't even use social media... So what are you supposed to know about it?!" He protested while folding his arms in front of him and pulling out his own phone, then tapping in his password.
"Oh wow! Thank you for the password so I can access it later to see more of your shenanigans!" Aefia leaned over while glancing at his screen, which has a weird looking wallpaper. "So... You hiding your dork mentality with an 'attempted cool-guy' pose. Well that's interesting!" She bursted into a laugh as she pocketed her own phone and stared at his screen.
"Shut up Husky!"
He shouted while trying to shove her aside, but she unknowingly stumbled backwards with a dull thud among the dry leaves and a small hit to the tree trunk behind them.
"Husky?" His eyes immediately diverted backwards at his sister to check for blood stains as she stayed like a statue for a fraction of a second then sitting up abruptly. In the meantime, his internal monologue was full of panics and severe frustrations. Darn! If she is either dead or injured... Mom and George are going to rip me apart!
As she straightened up while sitting on the bunch of dried leaves, with her hand holding onto the back of her head. "Ice packs! I need a freaking ice pack for this headache!" She started shouting while blinking tears from her eyes. "This Samoyed literally tried to kill me!"
"Relax! It was an honest accident! And I didn't know you couldn't hold up to a small bump to the head where you can suffer stabs!" He spoke while grabbing onto her wrist and pulling her back up on the tree trunk. But as soon as she was up again, she wringled her wrist off his grasp and started hitting his arm with her right hand. "Well you always do that to me! And when I do that to you, for some reasons you want to already kill me!" She shouted as hurried steps through the leaves appeared from in front of them.
"What in the world?!" Merissa stood in silence as she watched Aefia start tearing up like a kid with the pain at the back of her head.
"Now you know what I mean by I have an adorable 'baby sister'..." Lewis spoke while standing up from the log and staring at the person still crying with her eyes shut over a small headache.
"Well that's understandable you know... She doesn't like headaches. At the worst case scenario... She might even try to twist out her nerves at that area of her skull." The girl spoke while pulling out a balm from her pockets. "And how come as a brother you don't know that?" With a single question, she moved towards the practically screaming girl and checking the back of her head.
"How does a grandpa know a small thing like this?! The only thing he knows how to do is annoy his younger sister! And when I annoy him back he is like 'yeah go die!'." Aefia shouted while the balm settled against her head and caused a burning sensation. "But I definitely prefer ice packs over these..." Her knuckles clenched as she gritted her teeth to the pain.
"Only if you stop acting like a kid you know. At this point, I need to be awarded a friend-mother award for the both of you." Merissa spoke while putting up her friend's hair properly again. "How many times have you fought since the time you left the palace grounds?! From what I had heard from Henry, you were fighting since the last night over snacks and supplies. And especially powerbanks. Why did you two get the same colour? And why are they so plain? Couldn't you put a sticker on it?"
"How do I get stickers when he keeps framing me by saying those are just 'Henry's' and the very next day, they are used up for something else completely." Aefia replied while stretching her arms up in the air and then letting them slump back down beside her. "And now you are going to ask why he would use 'girly' stickers... Well..." Her eyes diverted to face her brother as if expecting the rest of the explanation.
"We use it to decorate George's room honestly... I like to put it on his next day attire as a prank. And it's not like I am the only one who does it! Even she and Henry joins in. Henry literally puts it on his face while he sleeps!" Lewis spoke while shrugging. "And she... Puts it on his glasses and plates."
"At least I don't go that far as the rest of us." She replied in protest. "Anyway... It's almost getting dark you know..." Her hands immediately reached onto her pocket to pull her flashlight out and walked up to the place they both were standing. "And hopefully, Samoyed here doesn't get scared of the dark over a small rustle of leaves... Which even he would fear at the palace gardens honestly..." She mocked while taking off in a run, while being followed by her brother.
"Hey! I am not that scared alright!" He shouted while Merissa trailed along with them. It was all just a small moment of pure joy before the real terror begun. Because it was exactly when the two siblings stopped to discuss something serious, with the same sinister smiles they had shared at the morning, before boarding the bus. "What are you two talking about all of a sudden? It's not like for you two to stop mid-race to speak about some really tense situations." The naive, orange-haired girl asked while catching up to them.
"Well remember that I said I wanted to have Stephany killed in a very specific way?" Aefia spoke while turning around with a more calm tone. "Maybe I should let her have another week to chill out. You know... I think I have traumatized her a little too much the last time. I honestly feel bad for her."
A relief settled down on her friend's nerves as she felt a wave of excitement to rush through her mind. She sprinted forward and pulled her into a big hug as she started speaking words of praise. "The sincere mind is out! Finally!"
"Yeah... Well... I can't... Breathe!" Aefia gasped for breathe as her lungs were being squeezed out of air. Merissa let go of her as she started to drag her back towards their campsite. Lewis trailed behind not wanting to be left in the darkness to be hunted by haunted creatures or entities. "Wait for me! Otherwise I am stealing everyone of your flashlights and trap you both in the deep wood to stay all night!" He shouted while catching up, and watching the smile on his sister's face get wider in a enjoying manner. "Chill... I don't mind being trapped here the rest of the night." She replied while coming to a slow at the edge of the wood.
***
"And she is gone... Missing!"
Lewis talked to himself as he walked through the wood and arrived at the same place he had found her yesterday. Suddenly, he felt the need to rest a little bit despite the run and trying to find her. Finally, his phone dinged with a message as he brought it out to check the notification.
"What in the right mind Husky?!" He shouted while glancing up and his face turning into an annoyed brother's face.
"What? I like swinging off branches!"
She answered while folding her arms in front of her as she hung with her knees, upside down like a bat, as her hair stayed straight and her hoodie hanging off her arms.
"Yeah... All's good until your head starts hurting again." Her brother protested as he stayed staring at her from below, still wondering when she was going to fall down. "How long have you been like this?" He spoke looking at the way she still stayed unharmed, and was honestly shocked.
"Uh... Just half an hour." She spoke while glancing at her phone and the time. "And I don't fell like my head is hurting in anyway just yet." Her little movements of her head caused her hair to move along with it too. "Plus... After I return to the palace... I don't get to do the same thing again! So just let me enjoy my time as long as it last. And I don't even know how long I still get to wear sneakers."
"If that is the problem... Why didn't you ask George?" Lewis spoke while folding his arms. "And honestly though... I also prefer sneakers and T-shirt during the summer."
"Yeah not that one with pictures of cats and the croissants. You might as well do me a favour... Zip up your hoodie. That picture reminds me of cheap-stakes." She replied with dusting her own green flock, which copied the same style as the dress she had worn on the first day of her stay at Nikoan. "Then you should have lend me something from your wardrobe..." He spoke back while glancing at his screen and tapping a few things onto it with impatience.
Suddenly, Aefia's phone dinged with a notification as she glanced at it, as her eyes burned.
"'I prefer the purple coat honestly' ... Yeah that's at home." She replied while glancing back at her brother, with her vision fully inverted. Then, he tapped more aggressively. "Really? Are you that embarrased?!" She mocked him after reading the next text.
'What was the point on saying that out loud?!'
Then, another one popped up, then another... But only one caught her eyes. "Hey! What do you mean short hair doesn't suit me?!" She shouted while her phone continued spamming notifications as she turned frustrated and tried to yank his phone away, and he switched to his left hand to type single handed-ly.
"F*ck!"
She continued her mission on trying to reach it when her grip against the tree trunk loosened and she plummeted onto the leave covered ground with a thud, which caused him to look back.
"Pfft... Dried leaves taste bad... And my back almost snapped!" She shouted while spitting leaves and sitting up while looking at her phone, with all the notifications paused all of a sudden. "Seriously?!" Her fingers slid through the screen as she pointed at the many messages at once. "Thirty-two messages and an almost death sister you know!" She shouted while standing up and pocketing her phone.
"Was there another way to make you get down?" He spoke while looking at her with a mocking smile.
"There was food you know." She answered while pulling out a small wrapper of dark chocolate and tore the packet. But just when she was about to put the chocolate into her mouth, a sudden sixth sense activated as she looked up with shocked eyes.
"Well that was a serious look. Did you forget to share with your older brother who almost saved you from a headache?" Lewis mocked her.
She lunged at him with a knife and a movement so fast, she was at his place within the blink of an eye. Her hand went past his ears as a sudden 'smack' and the sound of breaking echoed into his mind.
With a simple thwack of a sound hitting his ears, he turned his head a little sideways to be greeted with blood splattering against his face as Aefia's knife retracted and spun around her fingers before stabbing the side of the beast's face. As the monster went fully limp, she stepped back with sweat settling against her forehead.
"How did they cross the lake?! They fear water!" Lewis shouted while stumbling backwards, honestly grateful he had a sister who could fight for a while.
"Well you have your answer if you consider Stephany and her stupid friends!" Aefia replied while wiping the blade as they both stared down at the bear-looking animal.