Bridget had a bad girl reputation. She was a really nice person don't get me wrong but she loved to run wild. That was her only problem. We played around when we were much little. I was always drawn to her because she was different from the rest of my cousins and somehow she liked me too. Our immediate and extended families used to gather to celebrate thanksgiving and spend occasional holidays together in the large family house in London. We hadn't done that in like five years and that's how long I haven't seen her since. I last heard that she was sent to a boarding school. According to mom, her dad which was mom's only brother became extremely worried on how she was turning out after he had caught her and some friends in the backyard pretending they were smoking matchsticks like cigarettes at only ten years. He had thought boarding school would straighten her out but that must've not been the case seeing as she was being sent here. Even as a kid among four brothers, she was the most troublesome. She was the one who would wander off on so-called adventures alone and I remember we were always forming search parties to find her.
I loved her though, she was always fun so I was thrilled at the thought of being with her twenty four hours. Mom and Dad were a little worried that she would corrupt me, that's why they were not too thrilled. I would allay their fears later but first I would satisfy my curiosity. "Did something happen back in New Jersey? I thought she was in school, why is she coming here?"
"Something happened that made her parents withdraw her from there". Mom explained. "Your uncle wants to change her environment and separate her from her friends. Apparently they are no good. Bridget needs to be watched closely and you remember both her parents are busy medical doctors. He asked us for the favour and after much thought and deliberation, your dad and I have agreed. She's family and it's for a good cause". She finished.
"You both are okay with it right?" Dad asked William and I.
"Of course! You need not ask me that. I'd finally be getting the sister I always wished I had". I gushed.
Mom and Dad visibly relaxed. I narrowed my eyes at them. Wait, were they initially worried I'd be against the idea? "What was that?"
"Nothing. We're glad you're open to the idea. Since she will be sharing your room we thought you'd kick against it".
"Aw, no. You were not worried she was going to influence my behavior?"
Dad chuckled. "We are sure you will influence hers instead".
I giggled happy to know they trusted me.
Mom faced William who had not said anything since Bridget was brought up. He was focusing on being sick. "What about you, Honey? You okay with this development?"
"I guess. She's cool and not anything like Alex".
My eyes automatically rolled itself as Dad hid his smile behind a glass of water.
Mom pursed her lips. "William, she's your elder sister".
"Mom, let him be. He just doesn't know it yet but I'm the coolest person there is for putting up with his nonsense for six straight years and still counting".
Mom sighed in defeat. "Whatever, you two, tear out your throats if you please".
Dad laughed and said sounding proud of himself, "I've since learned when to stay out of their spats and when to step in. Now is so not one of those times to step in".
Thank you for that, Dad. I thought as I bared my teeth at William who took one look at mom and started shivering.
"Alex, that's enough. He's sick". Mom ordered.
I did not even do anything. I said I should have told her that I passed out.
After dinner, I started working on my assignments. In like three hours, I was done with them. I closed the books with a wide unladylike yawn. If you know how that looks like you know. Hahahaha.
My phone buzzed with a message. A smile came to my lips when I saw that the sender was Sam. I opened up the message with familiar tingles.
"๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ?"
I laughed, he has gone mad. "๐๐๐. ๐๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด". I sent the reply to him.
He replied instantly. "๐๐๐. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ? ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ?"
I didn't want to tell him about the football accident so he wouldn't worry but one of his player friends who were present on the field must've told him. He met me when I was coming out of the clinic so yes, he knew about it. "๐'๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ"
"๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฆ"
"๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด". I dropped the phone on my study table imagining him dropping his too and smiled.
Time for a shower! I selected comfy pajamas and walked into my bathroom. My muscles and whole being completely relaxed one I stepped under the warm running water. After taking my sweet time, I stepped out, toweled and changed into my PJs before walking back into the room.
I halted as I realised that the room which I had left with the lights on was now pitch black. A churning feeling formed in the pit of my stomach at the familiar feeling of a pair of eyes staring at me. Very slowly but surely, I turned my head to the side with squinted eyes and jumped when I saw the tall figure of a guy all dressed in black and blending in with the darkness sitting on my windowsill.
"W-who are you?" I asked with trembling voice. No response.
Instead he shoved a hand inside the pocket of his jacket. He shone a torch under his face straight at me. My hands instinctively rose to protect my eyes from the bright light. I still couldn't see his face. I discreetly took small steps back. ๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ.
As if he had seen my movements, he abruptly jumped down. He made a deep growl in his throat as if mad at me.
With a yelp, I turned and made to run but another figure stepped out of nowhere and blocked the door. This one was a lot shorter but that did not matter if he was holding a knife...or a fucking gun!
Without another thought, I let out a blood curling scream and just like that the guy by the window let go of his torchlight and flew at me sending us both to the ground. He covered my mouth with his hands muffling my screams.
"Lock the door". He commanded the smaller guy.