Braylan was almost ready to visit the hospital when Jane told him that Jayden was discharged.
"Can we surprise him with a small party?" He asked immediately. "It's Sunday. I can ask Jacob, William and Samuel to join us. " He suggested eagerly.
"Fine. What do you want? " Jane asked, liking the idea.
"Some chips and balloons, welcome back stickers, etc." He said. "And, you will need to drop me at the wallmart." Jane agreed and they went to the wallmart. Braylan picked a pack of 30 balloons, wall stickers which read 'WELCOME HOME!', a couple of flavors of Pringles, some sodo and juice, some chocolate cookies, a few bars of chocolates and ice cream for dessert. He texted Jacob and Samuel un the car and asked Jacob to bring William too. Jacob had returned only seven hours ago and he was excited for the party. Samuel and Jacob joined him immediately. William said it would take him a few minutes to reach. Jane dropped him and went out, saying she had a surprise for all of them.
The boys were left alone. The started vacuuming the house, and cleaning it. Then they started blowing up the balloons. William joined them at this point and all four of them blew all thirty balloons, except for a couple which they had managed to burst. They started decorating the living room with balloons and stickers they brought. Williams brought some fairy lights that were not in use at his home. The sticked the balloons around the wire of lights such that the bulb was between two balloons. When they switched on the light, it gave a pretty effect. They paused for a moment to examine it and-
"We should draw the curtains. It will give the dark effect and the lights will look coooler. " Samuel said and Jacob drew all the curtains. Sure enough, it looked five times better in less light.
"Guys! We gotta set the table. " Braylan reminded them and the boys started working onece again. They emptied Pringles in two separate bowls, stacked the chocolate bars like a pyramid, made another pyramid of paper cups, placed soda and juice bottles on the counter, poured milk in a jar and kept it with cookies. The front door opened and they all turned to see the visitor. It was Jane.
"Oh my! Boys, that's amazing! " She said. She was carrying chick-fil-A bags. "I bought lunch too. Some burgers, fries and grilled nuggets. " She informed. They started setting the new items.
"I hope they come soon. I am starving. " Braylan said, rubbing his stomach.
They had to wait for more ten minutes before they heard the car park. They heard the car doors open and shut.
"You guys stay here. I will go and bring them in. I will say that mom is in office. Her boss called. " Braylan said and ran towards the front door
"Jayden! You are finally home! " He said the moments he saw him. A sincere grin was dancing in his face. Jayden smiled the moment he heard him.
"Took me long enough though. " Jayden replied.
"Where is Jane? " Asked Marco.
"Her boss called. She has some sort of important client meeting or something. She is not home. " He replied and Jayden's smile dropped a bit. "Anyways, come on in." He said and they followed him in.
"SURPRISE! " All of them welcomed Jayden.
"Man you lied to me. " Jayden said grinning. "I am starving." He said. They had a lot of fun. They ate chips and cookies, drank juice and enjoyed their lunch. After that, they started popping ballons for fun. It created a firework effect.
"Wait. We have ice cream too. " Braylan reminded and Jane, remembering that they didn't have had any dessert, started scoping cotton candy ice cream for them all. They were now talking about random things. Marco and Jane were cleaning the kitchen and boys were cleaning the living room, while talking. Braylan could see that this party was a really good idea. He could see Jayden looking more alive than he had done in days. Even he felt like he had woken up from a long, enchanted sleep. Within twenty minutes, the living room was clean and the boys were now playing Scotland yard. It was a fun game. He was the villian and others were trying to catch him. So far he was safe and they weren't even close to finding him.
"Now!" He said dramatically, "It is my time to reappear. " He said and kept his coin on 95.
"Whaa.... Man, the whole time we were trying to catch him on the opposite side of the board. " Samuel said.
"You are one sly person! " Jacob said, "but let's see who will win." They all made their moves and Braylan removed his coin once again.
"Man, we gotta catch him before we run out of all our tickets. " Jayden said thoughtfully.
Braylan was happy but his happiness was punctured by an uninvited guest. After half an hour, Braylan was still free and he looked up from the board, smiling and saw the tall man behind Jayden. He was smiling and looking at Jayden just like a predator who examines his prey before attacking it and ripping it apart. Nobody seemed to have seen the man but the man noticed Braylan looking him and his smile vanished. It was replaced by a very ugly look that was full of hatred. Braylan didn't dare to blink.
"Braylan it's your turn." Jayden said. "Braylan, Braylan, BRAYLAN! "
"Huh? What did you say? " He asked, without removing his eyes from the man's face. They all stared in the direction he was seeing., but ni one noticed the man.
"It's your turn! " Samuel said and Braylan removed his eyes away from the man's face. He moved to a next spot within thirty seconds, not thinking about it. He looked at the spot but the man was gone.
After thirty minutes, they all cornered Braylan but luckily they were out of tickets and the left a spot for him to run from. In the end, Braylan had won the game and Samuel, Jacob and William were heads back to their homes. Braylan, whose happiness was punctured by the appearance of the tall man, tried to look joyous in his victory, feeling anything but joyous.
"You know I think I should go and get some sleep. " Jayden said.
"Yeah I was thinking the same thing. " Braylan replied, not knowing what his brother had just said.
"So I am going. Bye! " Jayden said and climbed the stairs. Braylan followed him after a few seconds.He got in his room and sat on the chair. He couldn't believe that he was so happy about an hour ago and now he felt the same dreadfullness flooding in his body. There were two important questions in his mind. Why was the tall man smiling and then looked at him with deepest loathing? How was he able to see the ma and how did the man know he was looking towards him? He tried to answer these questions by brainstorming. But he was unable to find any reasonable answers for these questions. Annoyed, he hid his head in his pillow and stopped thinking about it at all.
"I will find the answers, " He whispered to himself, "I will definitely find them. "