AUTHOR'S POV
Lyra returned home as soon as she saw the message from her brother saying that he was hurt.She stepped down the bike and ran to the main door. She opened the door of their house and the next thing she saw made her dumbstruck. The word chaos would be too simple for the situation right now.
The speakers are blasting some random Hip-Hop song making her close her ears in pain, the kitchen is flooded with water, some strawberry pieces are scattered on the kitchen top, the stove is on high flame burning whatever is inside the stock pot,almost half of the utensils are in the sink, the kitchen island is covered with flour, the pestle that should be inside the drawer is on the floor, in the midst of all this fuss, he was sitting on the floor dragging his feet closer and holding his toes firmly .
It was not until she got closer to him, she saw some blood stains on his hands.
LYRA'S POV
As I got inside, I winced in pain closing my ears as some music is blasting through the speakers. I couldn't understand what happened as I looked around the house in horror. If Leo is not here, I might have thought that some burglar robbed our house and created absolute wreck. I entered the kitchen and saw him sitting on the floor holding his toes.
I immediately got the overall story of the situation....he tried to cook. I am one hundred and one percent sure of it. The experience of being in this chaos for three times already just fed me with information automatically.
The kitchen is a mess....a big mess. But my only concern is him. Cutting the stove off I got near him to make sure he is okay,he lifted his head as soon as he heard me cut off the stove and looked at me with teary eyes. I would be wrong if I say I'm not scared to death of what happened. I sat down beside him and questioned"What happened?" His eyes became more teary after hearing me. He started crying holding out his leg showing me that he is hurt. I glanced at his toes which are crimson and bleeding lightly.
"That looks like you hurted yourself" I blurted out making him cry harder and say " I dropped the pestle on my leg" nodding his head. Shifting my eyes to right, I saw the pestle on the ground. Sighing,I stood up and helped him to get to his bed along with the first aid kit.
After treating his wound, i asked breaking the silence "For how long have you been hurt?" I expected him to say '20 minutes ago' but he replied "just before you came"sniffing. I frowned after hearing his words.."Few minutes back? You have been calling me continuosly every 5 minutes".
He said " That's because I wanted to eat a cake and want to ask you to get it, when you're coming home" in an audible voice.I frowned again and looked through my missed calls list , saying" And what about15 minutes back?". I lifted my face when he didn't answer me, I saw him biting his lip looking away and hesitating to talk. "What is it Leo?" I demanded making him answer me with "I called you to say I changed my mind and I don't want it...instead I wanted to bake it myself" With that anger piled up inside me thinking about every worst thing that could have happened. I asked him controlling my anger "Do you know how to bake a cake?".
He shook his head in a 'NO'.
"Then why did you decided to do it? You know how things could go wrong and you might end in a bad situation right?" I asked him carefully with a hint of anger. He nodded and looked down with guilt.
I look at my phone and saw that he called me again after 2 minutes. Deciding to ask about it I lifted my head and got his eyes staring at me with an obvious look. I raised my brow in questioningly and he blurted out the most insane words, adding up to the list of crazy things he said casually over the 9 years of our life together " I called you again to ask what flavour you would like" I closed my eyes sighing and reminding him what happened last time "Remember when you cooked last time? You almost burnt the house down. I was with you when that happened. I was just away for 2 minutes to use the washroom and told you to keep an eye on the oven. But you were so engrossed in TV that you didn't even notice the burning smell coming from kitchen. Our neighbours even called the fire department seeing the smoke coming out of our house. I also had to buy a new oven then". He protested against me saying" It was a good show so I just got involved into it. I couldn't know what's happening " and pouted a little.
I shake my head sighing and advising him "Enough with your idea of cooking Leo...you are best in your studies so just focus on them. If you want to eat a cake, tell me. I will buy it to you. Even if you want me to buy you a pizza from another city, I would get it for you. Just drop the idea of learning how to cook. I don't want you to get hurt". " But I wanted to bake the cake for you" he whined.
" You could have hurt yourself Bubs..I don't want you to get hurt-" ,He interrupted me whining " Vivi...I am hurt"he furrowed his eye brows with a pout showing me his toes lifting his leg. " That's what I am saying bubs,... you could hurt yourself. And you are restricted from entering the kitchen from now" I said with concern all over my face. " Vivi ! I said I want to cook for you. My friends help their moms in cooking. I want to help you too but you always stop me saying I would get hurt. How will I get good in cooking if you never let me?"he insisted interrupting me, with his pout getting bigger.
Getting up from the bed I shook my head in no and proceeded to switch off the lights of his room. " You can ....but not now. After you complete your studies. I will teach you how to bake one. Now sleep Bubs ,you are staying home tomorrow. You need to take rest. " I said and turned back to close the door when I heard him mutter " Yeah..Love you too Vivi. Good night. " In a rather sarcastic voice covering himself with the blanket and dozed off. I smiled internally as my face is void of emotions and my muscles doesn't support that. Coming out of the room closing the door behind me I realised I didn't ask him about the reason for his little trick of escaping the classes. Shaking my head,I cleaned the kitchen and hallway which was wet a moment ago. After doing the dishes, I completed other works and went to my room and took my sleeping pills to enter the world of nightmares, my own prison.
AUTHOR POV
"Lyra... come here baby" her father said with a sweet smile opening his arms for her to hug him. As her younger self walked towards him with a big smile on her face, she held her hands up in the air and ran to him hugging him. "Happy birthday my sweetheart" He said fishing out a small box from his coat pocket. She squealed seeing the keys with a violin keychain inside it and looked at her dad with bright eyes saying"Dad!!You got me a violin?!!" He smiled as he nodded and gave her the keys to the violin case.
She grabbed them and ran to her room only to see her dad in there dragging his feet towards the door with all the gunshot wounds on his body. She just stood there in shock and unable to process what's happening. Her dad reached her with horror in his eyes and whispered to her in a low voice like he is afraid that someone might hear him " Why did you come here darling?, go...go to our room and hide somewhere. Please don't get out of there until someone save you. You understand me? Don't come out until someone save you". By the time he finished, tears sprung in her eyes and he kissed her forehead. And..he was shot from the back. Blood stained his already drenched shirt. He mouthed the words 'RUN' and lost consciousness falling to ground.
Lyra lied on her bed frowning, sweating profusely evenn in the lowest temperature of the air conditioner. The cold air didn't care to cool her already warm with sweat body from getting any hotter. She is Muttering something in her sleep because of her nightmare, when Leo entered her room.
LEO'S POV
I couldn't sleep because of the pain in my leg I thought maybe if go sleep beside her,I might be able to fall asleep. With that thought,I checked the clock to see what time it is. Reading 3:34 Am ,I got up and entered Vivi's room quietly as I might ruin her sleep.
As I approached her,I can see disturbance in her face clearly. She is Muttering the same thing again and again.."Dad..don't go..don't leave me. Please!" In an inaudibly low voice. She is sweating so much with a big frown on her face, her eyes seemed to be restless even though they are closed and she's moving her hand constantly like she's holding to something With rapid breathing. I got the situation... she's having a nightmare.
I got beside her and covered myself with the blanket and placed my palm on her forehead. That seems to be working 'cause she stopped talking and her frown disappeared slowly. I cooed " shhh !! Vivi.... nothing's gonna happen to you. You will be alright" more like I was telling this to myself. That she's going to be okay.
Her breaths slowed down and became constant. Only then I was relieved. I heard a sweet low voice that startled me, "Thanks bubs" I looked at her grey eyes that held no emotion. I nodded and snuggled closer to her. "I couldn't sleep because of this pain" I said referring to my injury. "That's because you won't listen to my words. ' don't go into the kitchen. You might hurt yourself ' " she persisted and I just sighed and closed my eyes. She dragged me closer to her and kissed me on the forehead. That obviously helped me because the next moment I can feel my eyelids getting heavy. The sister magic really works well on me.
LYRA POV
I can feel him beside me. My precious treasure. I can rest assured now. I don't have to fear anything now. He will definitely make me feel better. Even in my sleep and amidst my nightmare, I can feel him beside me and I shot opened my eyes fully awake. He assured me that it will be okay. Only if he knew I will never be alright...I will never stop fighting my demons. As they always try to catch me, I keep fighting against them , just like have been doing from the age of 15. Now I am so tired of fighting that I just keep running from them. From the monster in my head that keeps reminding me of my past which made me lose my smile and laugh. But when he's here,with me I am better. A lot better. His assurance gives me energy to fight the monsters and demons inside head.
It is too unfit to say that his assurance just worked. It made its effect much more on me, like a spell casted over me, relieving me from the bottom of my shattered heart. Leo just came into my life, like a thunder strucks a dark city making it brighter than the thunder itself, he made my dull world somewhat better even when he is drowning in his own hurdles. He tries so hard to make me leave my shell and to instill some emotions in me again.
But my life was so miserable at a time that my mind just shut down itself. I couldn't blame him....rather i blame myself for not giving him the results he is trying to get from me. He was so patient with me ....he knows about almost all my miseries. He too have some tragic past. I guess life is so unfair to us , that it felt like making our fragile hearts meet each other to eradicate each other's miseries and heal our hearts. He is a god gifted family for me. My only family. He is my brother. He is my reason to live. My reason to try to get my emotions back.
While I am on my own world, I heard him mumble in his sleep "Vivi!....I am hungry...get me a cake when you're coming home". I hit my forehead with my hand sighing.....as he slipped into sleep once again. I looked at him sleeping so comfortably in my embrace. My 19 years pack of craziness. My favourite chaos. My chubs and bubs. My cupcake. My chaotic ball of hunger. Watching him sleep so peacefully puts my heart at ease. Slipping into my dreams, I too feel asleep relieved.