[A/N: Chapter soundtrack: Naughty Boy - No One's Here To Sleep ft Dan Smith, Bastille.]
At the sound of her taunting voice, feeling a sense of dread, Aybel immediately sprinted after her.
What a troublemaker... despite the fact that she's an absolute headache and a nuisance. I can't let her endanger herself.
He understood the challenge before him - he had to stop Aria or at the very least reach the rooftop before her.
As they dashed down the hallway, he observed the walls and immediately spotted a portrait of a monocle wearing aristocrat he always loved - signed by the artist E.M. Herscher, held up by one loose nail.
How unfortunate...
Quickly, he yanked it out of the wall, and flung it onto Aria's path.
An ideal obstacle for her, who was running full speed ahead.
***
Caught off guard Aria stumbled in surprise, but her surprise soon faded, eyes suddenly lit up, she grinned cheekily.
"It's a race?! You should've said so before!"
Setting off once more at full speed, after getting a few meters away, she looked back to make sure her brother was catching up.
He was right on her heels...
Desperate to keep her lead, her eyes landed on a loose floorboard, sticking up only an inch or so in the air.
With a mischievous grin, she stomped hard on it.
***
Her evil smile brightened his day.
Despite that, taking one look at the floorboard, Aybel dashed over the obstacle effortlessly.
Using his intimate knowledge of the building's layout, he dove into an unlocked janitor's closet nearby.
Normally, this room isn't unlocked. But I've noticed in the past few days that the cleaning lady has being extremely lax about her job.
Maybe she just forgot to lock it. She does have access to every place.
I guess she'll deep clean before the building inspection in july. But I won't lie, this is quite the assist from her.
Scanning the room, he saw brooms, mops, vacuums, buckets, dusters, sponges, a scrub brush, bleach, disinfectant spray, and a bunch of other cleaning products.
All of them were neatly organized and placed on a series of shelves.
But what held his interest was...
Found it.
Flipping a single switch he plunged the entire hallway into a temporary darkness.
The lights should stay off for around three to five minutes, enough to make her slow down.
He quickly exited the closet and dashed forward once more, this time in darkness, to catch up with her.
A brilliant idea which could help turn the tables.
Naturally, Aria's much faster than me and could outrun me anytime she wanted to - alas, the unfair abilites of a former middle school track champ...
So, this dark environment may be the only way for me to keep up with her.
***
Surprised by the sudden lack of light, Aria's senses dulled, all except one. She picked up on the aroma of garlic from one of the apartments.
But she never expected the smell to have such an effect on her. Her face went from glee to one of horror and confusion in less than a second.
Suddenly inspired, Aria began to kick doors open ignoring the surprised faces of residents, all the while flooding the hallways with light and the acrid scent of garlic, sending her older brother... reeling.
A particular resident had a habit of cooking this horrid stew around this hour, and she had taken advantage of that, coupled with the fact that Aybel absolutely hated the smell.
All the while, Aria held her nose, her facial expression one of pure disgust.
Sending a delighted grin his way, she made her escape turning a sharp corner up a flight of well lit stairs.
Opting to run a few steps ahead of her brother, she swiftly turned around, hoping to catch his foot on her outstretched leg as he followed her lead.
However, quickly reacting, he stepped over her leg in a small hop.
Landing, he then tried to grab her, but she ducked and ran up the stairs quicker than he expected, managing to maintain her lead in their dangerous game of tag...
***
Realizing that he couldn't simply grab her as she ran away, Aybel's eyes flicked to the old worn rug on the creaky stairs.
Thinking: How convenient. He stepped to the side, and tugged on the rug just violently enough to make it into a tripping hazard for Aria.
His sister's eyes widened as she felt her balance slip away.
Desperate to stay upright, she wildly flapped both her arms in the air, like a bird trying to take off.
It was a close call, but she managed to plant one foot solidly on the next step.
Looking back at her brother she saw that he hadn't given up yet, only a few steps below her.
"Hey! Are you even trying? Come on, I thought you were going to be faster than me!"
Then she turned, running up the remainder of the stairs, leaving Aybel... impressed.
Aria... she's tricky and creative, which is making this 'game' of ours a lot more challenging than I expected...
He was starting to realize how much of a tough and fun opponent his sister was turning out to be... and he loved it.
Giving chase once more, Aybel sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
***
Understanding that he was catching up, Aria had to think fast, but she always loved a good challenge.
The filing cabinet looked promising, so she took a deep breath and ran forward, pushing it across the hallway with all her might.
Creeeaaak-KABOOM!
The cabinet landed with a loud crash, blocking Aybel's path up the stairs.
Gasping for breath, Aria glanced back, praying the obstacle would hold him off.
But on another look at her creative tactic, the younger girl couldn't help but feel some guilt...
However, that soon faded.
With a rare blatant finesse that only she ever got to see from time to time, Aybel kicked off the wall, grabbing the light fixture above and swung down to the hallway through the narrow gap, taking advantage of his small frame.
"What?!?"
"No fair! No fair! Why can't you just give up already!?" Her words were not one of annoyance but amazement.
"Hahaha! I guess I can't complain..."
She grinned as she ran ahead, feeling proud of her brother for outsmarting her once again.
In a way, she expected it because he never made things easy. But she still felt impressed by his ingenuity.
Even though his face didn't show it, this was one of those few times she could read his emotions.
It was clear that he enjoyed the chase.
Taking a quick look around, Aria searched for anything else that she could use as a trap to slow Aybel down.
Noticing a laundry cart in the middle of the hallway, she grinned a wicked smile as she got an idea.
Quickly, she spun around.
"C'mon slowpoke, aren't you gonna catch me?" With all her might, she pushed the laundry cart towards her brother with her leg.
A sure fire way to slow him down.
However, he remained unperturbed as he stared dead ahead.
Eyes locked onto the incoming laundry cart.
With lightning quick dexterity, he snatched a wet shirt from the pile nestled inside and twirled to the side, dodging her cart.
Simultaneously, he counterattacked.
He flung the damp cloth with laser-guided precision, aiming it directly for her grinning face.
"Gah!"
The wetness engulfed Aria's senses, forcing her to halt.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, she discarded the cloth, recovering from the momentary shock.
"Hehehehehe, good one Aybel~"
His eyes were always darting, quick and sharp, which made him difficult to surprise.
Using the opportunity, he closed down the gap rapidly.
Still laughing Aria dashed forward continuing their game of cat and mouse.
Aria's joy went through the moon.
Her laughter bounced off the walls the hallway.
The sheer nostalgia of it all had her reminisce of the time when they were little, playing tag, and pulling silly pranks on each other - pranks that would give any regular parent a heart attack...
The way the pair moved could only be described as a perfect dance only they knew the steps to.
A natural affinity for one another.
A unique connection that no one else could possibly understand.
Their race continued but would turn serious rather quickly, should only one of them take it to heart...
To Be Continued...