Whispers

“I’m calling the cops,” Trystan breathed, panic clear in her voice. Rae still had not moved much. She looked like an imitation of herself, trying not to panic as she stood there staring at her friend, hearing the voice of a nightmare through her door, soft and taunting like the mist through a night forest. “I’m going-"

“No,” Rae rasped, blinking her eyes and coming into reality with a crashing sense of clarity. She gripped Trystan’s hand and shook her head vigorously. She remembered what it was like when they tried to call authorities on these people. They did not react kindly to such acts. “You know that will make it worse.”

Trystan stared. “I’m sorry, did you take stupid pills this morning? There is a psycho path standing outside of our door. Do you suggest we invite him in for tea?”

“I want to know what he wants.”

Trystan grabbed Rae as she made her way to the door, stopping the girl in her tracks. Rae glared at Trystan, her jaw set. Rae wasn’t going to play this game with him. “He wants to butcher you like Michael fucking Myers, probably! What the fuck, Rae?”

“Go upstairs,” Rae murmured, giving her a serious look. “And if it starts to go wrong, call the cops then. But for right now, I’m not going to panic. Show them fear and they use it.”

Letting go of her, Trystan shook her head, crossing her arms. “I’m not going upstairs. Let the bastard in if that’s what you really want to do, but I’m not leaving you down here alone with him.”

Rae licked her lips and faced the door. Sean was still knocking on the door. They were rapid knocks, tiny little sounds that were meant to sound funny, meant to sow that beyond that door, he was probably smiling sadistically. She could see it now, his tall from and blonde hair slicked back.

Hands sweaty and trembling as if she were too cold, Rae approached the door. Taking a deep breath, she put her hand on the door knob, unlocking it and opening the door, casting her blue eyes upwards to look at Sean, who was standing on her porch, hands in his pocket and smirking at her.
Sean looked the same as he always did. He was taller than his brother, but you could tell that he was younger, if you talked to him long enough. His hair was a golden-blonde and his eyes were a dark shade of brown, almost black. He had an ever present smirk, that often plastered his face because he liked to remain silent.

“You opened the door?” he asked in surprise, cocking his head to the side. Rae tried not to flinch at his voice, still unused to it. Leon, the older of the two brothers had always done the talking. Sean’s voice had a dark, cold quality to it, like the darkness that you felt in a cave somewhere in a lonely part of the world. “You always surprise me, Rae Bastian. I must say I am rather impressed.”

“Will it impress you more if I invite you in?”

His smirk increased. “I could almost imagine you’re flirting with me.” Sean walked past Rae, throwing her a grin that she did not like at all as she stepped aside. He brushed close to her, almost touching her arm but not exactly so. She knew that he did it on purpose, making her hold her breath.

Closing the door behind her, she closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. The heart in her chest was pounding, like sound waves hitting the wall of an empty cavern, echoing back and forth and making it louder and louder. Following him, she tried to physically force her heart to stop pounding.

“You look lovely today, Trystan,” Sean commented, breezing by her with arrogant ease. “Didn’t mean to give you a fright at the window. I was quite lost as to where the front door was.”

“Huh,” Trystan commented flatly, following him into the living room, spine rigid and walking extremely stiff. Rae could see the tenseness in Trystan’s posture, and wanted to tell her to hide it, but couldn’t. “For someone has creepy as you, I’d think you had the floor plans memorized. I sort of take you as American Psycho sort of type.”

Sean shrugged lightly, sitting on the couch. He was completely relaxed, which is what made Rae feel so disturbed. She walked to the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with crossed arms. “Good thing I left my ax at home. Why don’t you sit down, Rae?”

“I like the feeling of a wall behind my back, that way you can’t stab me in it.”

He chuckled once. It was a short, menacing sound. “I wouldn’t stab you in the back.”

“No?”

“No, I’d do it where you could see it.”

Trystan visibly paled. Rae’s stomach clenched as if preparing to be stabbed at that moment. It was such a simple threat, but it was one that she believed. Leon would have made a grandiose, hard to understand statement about it. Sean just blurted it like he wanted the world to know it.

“Charming,” Rae commented, nodding once. “It’s a shame you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Not really. Now,” he said, tossing an arm around the back of her couch. She hated more than anything to see him so comfortable in her own home. She wanted to hit him, to smack him hard. “I have a problem with you.”

“Really?” Trys snorted, leveling him with an icy glare. Her tone was darker than Rae had ever heard. Every ounce of hate was put into her voice. “Because I guess you could say I’ve got a right few problems with you, you bloody fucking tosser.”

Sean’s eyes darkened and he leaned forward, making Trystan step back. If it had been Leon, he would have smiled. But this was Sean, and he simply looked at her with a very hungry gaze, as if he were trying not to kill her right then an there for her comment. Leon liked to play along with sarcasm. Sean? Not so much. “Well if you had not sent me to jail for a month, I may have less problems with you.”

“You’re just mad you got punched in the face by a girl.”

Sean’s patience with Trystan was wearing thin. It was obvious when he stood up, causing both Rae and Trystan to go rigid, suddenly not able to hide their fear. “I don’t like when people mess with my brother and I,” he said, glaring at them. “and you have done a pretty fine job at doing so. You will get what is coming to you, and I will laugh when you do.”

“So why are you here?” Rae asked, shaking her head. She did not understand why he was telling her any of this. She was sure that he wanted to play with them, to keep them on their toes like he had been. “Why are you warning me?”

He smirked then, cool and collected. It made her heart flutter in her chest, but not the good kind. It was the kind of flutter that made you feel sick. “Because I want you to know you’re not escaping this. And because in this moment, while I’m talking to you, Leon is having a… chat with a friend of yours.”

Rae inhaled. She wasn’t sure how she knew it. She knew it wasn’t Harry. Leon was going to keep toying with him. But in her heart of hearts, standing there face to face with a cold blooded snake, she felt who Leon was having a chat with. Trystan glanced at Rae with questioning look. “He has nothing to do with this.”

Sean shrugged, leaving them in the living room to make his exit. “Not my problem.”

“Who?” Trys demanded, Rae bowing her head. “Who the fuck are you talking about?”

Rae glanced at her. “Niall.”