It was dark in my room, the blinds were shut and curtains closed.
The ear-piercing sound of my alarm going off startled me awake, and the infinite thoughts of how to get away with skipping class started flooding my head once again, as they did every morning.
"Wake up, you'll be late!" I heard my mum shout at me as she slammed my bedroom's door open, her wrinkled features twisted into a frown when she saw me still in bed.
Very rudely, she opened the curtains and pulled the blinds up, the blinding lights of early sunrise assaulting my eyes. I groaned in response, turning the other side on my bed and pulling the bedsheets high over my head dramatically.
"I don't wanna... I'm sick, mum! My stomach hurts!" I whined pathetically after my mother's harsh hand turned my alarm off with a slam on the off button.
She clicked her tongue, and I could already picture the way she rolled her eyes with a mix of anger and disappointment. "Nonesense! You're already 12, for God's sake! You should already be more mature, why can't you just be like your brother?"
I felt my mood immediately sour at her comparison. It was always like this with her, my brother was the golden child while I was just the 'problematic one'.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. Geez..." I grumbled under my breath as I kicked the bedsheets off of me, my body trembling as the cold air hit my skin. But I quickly shook it off when I got up, barely sparing my mother a glance as I walked out of my room and towards the bathroom.
If I thought my room was cold, the bathroom was even colder. The smooth tiles of the floor lacking any kind of warmth and making the biting cold run up the soles of my feet, my toes turning a reddened colour as I stood still while I brushed my teeth, and then cleaned my face with cold water to wake myself up. I dried my face and hands, but the damp towel did nothing to take the lingering coolness on my limbs.
When I stepped out of the chilly room, I watched for as second the moment my brother walked into the kitchen, standing at a hundred eighty six centimeters tall, his usual smile plastered on his face showing his perfect white teeth. My mum smiled at him, greeting him with a good morning and a ruffle of his perfectly kept short, curly black hair.
His deep blue eyes met my greyish green ones, but I walked back into my room before he had the chance to greet me.
The sound of my door slamming shut was louder than I meant it too, making me flinch and my heart rate get faster as I stayed quiet and tried to hear for footsteps. But, alas, they never came. I was sure by now that my mum didn't even bother with me anymore, the only comfort I had was the thought of her carung enough to at least wake me up in the mornings, but I realistically knew that she only did that because the eighth year is still mandatory or she will get in trouble otherwise.
I shoved those thoughts to the back of my head and started getting ready, just a plain shirt with sweatpants and off-brand converse sneakers. I tried to brush my hair, but the unkept curls were far too tangled for my hairbrush to do anything except causing pain with every pull, so I sighed as irritation clawed at my heart and I threw the brush onto my bed and tied my hair in a simple, short low ponytail.
After spraying myself with a ton of scented deodorant, I swung my backpack over my shoulder and walked out of the room towards the entrance of this flat. My gaze flickered towards the kitchen as I walked, debating on whether to eat breakfast or not, but then I remembered the warmth my mum treated my brother with and I felt any semblance of appetite drain away.
My brother was waiting for me at the front door, the car keys in his hand and his own backpack settled on his shoulders. His expression lit up when he saw me, and the moment I got within arms reach he pulled me into a warm side hug.
"Good morning, E.T." he said with a light tone, using the same nickname he made for me all those years ago when he first made me watch that movie.
"Hey, 'Liam." My voice was much quieter and way less enthusiastic compared to his, but I could feel a small smile beginning to pull at the corners of my lips before I wrapped both my arms around his torso to pull him into a proper hug, any and all hints of the previous envy seemingly disappearing. How could I envy him when his hugs could make even the grumpiest of people happy as a puppy? Rhyme fully intended.
His strong arms easily wrapped around me in a tentacle hug, making me feel as secure as when I was five and he was protecting me from those mean geese at the park.
"You're clingy today, huh?" I could hear the humour in his voice as clear as the worry. "Did you eat breakfast?"
That made me pause. He always asks, so I didn't know why I was surprised by that point, but it somehow always makes me hesitant to lie to him. "I'm not hungry."
"Ethan..." The worry in his voice made my heart ache.
"I'll eat later."
"Promise?"
"Promise." I reassured him, and it seemed convincing enough that he pulled away and put his arm around my shoulders, the sudden weight almost making me stumble.
"I'll hold you up to it, E.T. Let's go to school now, aye? We don't want you to be late and have the teachers call home again."
I almost winced as I remembered the ringing of my ears after the loud scolding the high pitched voice of my mum gave me, but I definitely grimaced at the thought of my dad's calloused hand slapping me across the face, since that was when William playfully shoved me forward and out the door. "Quit daydreaming, lil' alien."
A huff of mock irritation left my lips when I stumbled forward, and I looked at him over my shoulder to flip him off as I walked out the flat and made my way down the stairs.
The walk down was short, and the walk to the car was even shorter, thankfully. I didn't know what type of car it was, I just knew that it was old and grey. But, hey, it's what we had, so I couldn't complain.
I threw my bag in the back seat and sat behind the driver's seat, my head resting on my fist as I looked out of the window while William drove.
Streets and people quickly passed in front of my green eyes, and I almost nodded off before I noticed something.
Time seemed to stop as my eyes locked with the blue, animalistic gaze of a grey wolf standing on the entrance of my local park. Its snout was pulled back in a snarl with blood and chunks of flesh dripping from those bone-breaking jaws, and a gut feeling told me that the blood wasn't the creature's own.
But the creature disappeared as soon as I saw it, getting left behind by the speed of the car, which I noticed was going a bit faster than usual.
"Did you see that?" I asked my brother, my voice almost quivering by the previously gruesome sight.
"See what?" Was my brother's reply.
I paused for a moment as I thought of what to say. I had obviously noticed a shift in his tone when he had spoken, only a hint of something that differentiated it from nonchalance, but I simply shook my head and muttered:
"Nevermind..."
I must've been seeing things, right? There are no wolves in London, and I was sure that my brother wouldn't lie about something like that, right? I trusted his judgement, even if I still felt the freezing blue gaze of the animal lingering in my back, eyeing me as its next meal.