Yasmine was having a nice dream when the scent of something burning woke her from her slumber. Yasmine subconsciously stretched her feet, and in the process pushed Elroy off of the bed. In a daze, he scrambled up to his feet and looked down at Yasmine. "What's that smell?" He asked. His voice was groggy, obviously because he had just woken up, and t. They quickly descended the stairs, ready to run out of the house they suspected was burning.
However, when they arrived downstairs, they found their father in the kitchen, trying to put out a small fire using a wet dishcloth. The kitchen was filled with black smoke and the fire was practically non-existent.
Elroy stuffed his fist into his mouth to prevent his laughter from spilling out. Yasmine, on the other hand, burst out in laughter. That is when Jason Boise noticed his two children standing at the kitchen doors. On seeing his face, Yasmine could not stop the laughter that continued to spill out. His cheeks all the way down to his neck were black. The only reason his forehead had been spared was because of the fringe of soot-covered hair that stuck to his forehead.
He pouted at them before saying, "Don't ask."
Yasmine raised her hands, "I wasn't gonna," she pointed at Elroy, "but he probably is."
Elroy was inspecting the burned pan. There was some black glop on it. He tried using a spatula to peel it off but failed. "How did this even happen?" He glanced at his father with a glare in his eyes. Yasmine opened all the kitchen windows to let the smoke out. This house did not have smoke detectors, so it was unlikely that any firefighters would come to put out the non-existent fire.
Jason Boise chuckled and scratched the back of his neck but did not answer the question. Elroy scratched at the glop to try and salvage the pan to no success. Jason stood to the side and watched as his son gave up and directly threw the pan into the trash. He bowed his head and whispered almost inaudibly, "I just wanted to make you guys something for breakfast like mom used to."
Although his words were spoken in a whisper, Yasmine and Elroy were able to hear them because they were close enough.
Elroy froze for a second, before forcing a smile onto his face. "We all know you can't even boil an egg dad," he patted the older Boise's arm, "just leave all the cooking to me!"
Jason smiled at his youngest child. Despite the fact that he was hurting, he was trying to act strong for all of them. He also strained a smile onto his face and ruffled Elroy's hair before speaking using a serious tone, "I want waffles."
Elroy pushed the two terrible cooks out of the kitchen. He instructed them to clean up the small knickknacks that took forever to clean up. Jason and Yasmine saluted making Elroy chase them out with a spatula in hand.
After they were gone, he took in a deep breath to steady his emotions before beginning to prepare breakfast.
An hour and a half later, they were all fed. Jason gave Yasmine the keys to the car with instructions to get groceries and have a look around the town. Elroy tagged along, knowing very well his sister would buy snacks and forget all about the groceries.
The town was small. In the car, it took almost ten to fifteen minutes from one end to the other. There was a high school in the city centre. Yasmine helped Elroy fill in the necessary details that would allow him to join the school since they were already up and about.
With their chores done and groceries, they went back home. It was already half past five in the afternoon, so the two siblings decided to watch the television as they waited for their father to come back home so that they could begin making dinner.
Without looking up from his phone, Elroy spoke up, "Yas,"
"Hm,"
"What do you think of this place?"
Yasmine shrugged, "I don't think anything of it. I think dad thought of this place because he felt like it would help him heal since he and mom met here."
Elroy nodded. It was true. While they were having breakfast, their father would stare at the window more than once, lost in his thoughts.
"There's no university or college you can go to though."
Yasmine put down her phone, "I was thinking of taking a year off of school anyway."
That answer shocked Elroy and he finally looked up from his phone. "But you were going to study medicine before mom died. I mean, you had already chosen the university you were going to join."
Yasmine smiled at her brother, "I just don't want to leave my father and brother all alone, now do I?"
"Speaking of, where is dad? He's never late."
Yasmine looked up at the clock. They had been watching for almost two hours.
Yasmine stood, "Should we go out and look for him?" Elroy nodded.
They put on their coats and shoes, ready to go search for Jason Boise when they heard a knock on the door.
The interval between the knocks was not too long nor was it too short. "Do you think that that's him?" Yasmine asked Elroy.
He shrugged, "shouldn't he be able to open the door? He does have the spare keys."
Elroy hesitated to open the door. They did not know any of their neighbors. It was the middle of the night, who would come to knock on their doors this late?
As he was contemplating this, the person on the other side of the door seemed to get impatient for the intervals between the knocks became faster.
Yasmine walked to the door, "Let's just open it."
When she arrived at the foyer, the door was smashed in from the outside. Yasmine jumped back in shock, and in the process, fell onto her brother who was behind her. Some splinters scratched open her face, drawing blood.
"Ugh. El, are you fine."
Elroy groaned, rubbing the back of his head, "I think I'm fine."
"What just happened?"
Elroy did not get the chance to answer as a knife thrown from outside lodged itself on the wooden floor right next to his head. He slowly turned his head to look at the butchers knife that was stuck onto the floor, his eyes wide. His breath was lodged in his throat. "Yas..." his voice was trembling.
Yasmine was breathing heavily. "I saw it too."
From the debris, a human shadow figure appeared. Yasmine and Elroy could not see it clearly. They both scrambled to their feet. Although it was unclear, Yasmine could see another large knife shadow gripped in the hand of the shadow.
"El, do you see what I'm seeing?"
Elroy was too scared to speak so he nodded.
"I say we run."
Elroy nodded again.
Yasmine held her younger brother's hand, ready to turn and flee. "Kitchen door?"
Elroy bobbed his head up and down.
It was at this moment that the shadowy figure stepped into the foyer. The light reflected the sharp jawline and familiar blue eyes. Yasmine nearly crumbled down on the spot. Elroy seemed to finally find his voice. "D...dad?!"