Series Wednesday:Family Game night Page 35

 It has been a few days since my mother announced that she is going to execute our possible big brother. My parents are letting Enrique stick around. He has been sleeping in my room, not sure if they know that. We sent off the note to get Percy back and now it feels like a waiting game. I lay there in Enrique’s arms. He likes to scoop me up in the night and hold me, I know I probably shouldn’t let him, but it is nice to be held. “Are you scared?” He asks me. “Yeah, I am scared I might never get to see Percy again or Hope.” Enrique pulls me in tighter. “We will fight to find them and kill if we have to.” He kisses me on the head. I don’t think he knows that I won’t kill. I can’t kill anyone. I like to make my mother think that I would kill her if she pushed me, but I can’t. It is not in me to take someone’s life. I don’t think I could live with it. I am not sure why he is so okay with the thought of killing someone, maybe he has no idea what it will really takes. “We should get some sleep” I tell him not sure what else to say. “Okay.” He says, and he loosens his grip on me for me to have some room to sleep. There is so much going through my mind. First thing is what if we do get Percy and Hope back, what will my parents do with Enrique? Will they kill him? I know they won’t let him just walk out the house knowing their secret. Will I let them kill him is the real question I guess. That is a problem for tomorrow I suppose.
                “Cahira wake up.” Grace says. “What time is it?” I ask her. “It’s 6AM he sent something.” Grace says. I jump out of bed and look back to see Enrique is still fast asleep. I put my hands up for Grace to be quiet so we don’t wake him. We slowly head out of my room trying not to make a sound. After we get out of my door we run down the stairs. As I head down the stairs that’s when I see a giant pumpkin. “A pumpkin?”  I say very confused. “Yeah we are just as confused as you.” Grace says as we meet with our parents. I walk around the pumpkin to see that the top has been cut open. “Did a note come with it?” I ask my parents. “We think that the note might be inside.” I pull the tops off and there is a string with a note at the end. I pull the note off and open it. “Cheater cheater pumpkin eater. You were not supposed to have outside help with your secret. The fact that you let Enrique in on a family matter makes me not trust you anymore. So, to ensure this stays in the family I am going to send you on a scavenger hunt and since you excluded your parents when you got help from Enrique. I have decided to do the same. It is sibling time and if you decide not to listen, we will turn from four siblings to 3. I hope you’re ready to hunt for tomorrow the game begins. Love your big brother.”  I look at Grace. “What if this was always the plan?” Grace says. I look at her. “I don’t follow. His plan is to make us go on a scavenger hunt?” I ask her. “No, to get rid of Percy so he could be our only brother.”  I look at Grace. “We can’t think like that. He might not want to get rid of Percy he might want to be our big brother. Someone for us to all look up to. I mean look at what he has done so far all on his own, It’s a little impressive.” I don’t mean a word of it, but he can hear us and anyone who has done all of this clearly wants attention. So, let’s give it to him. Grace catches on to what I am doing. “You’re probably right. That is why I don’t want mom to kill him. We could learn a lot from him.” Grace says we look back at our parents who look completely confused. “We will play by his rules. I just want my baby boy home.” My mother says as she walks away.
                I go back up to my room to get a few more hours of sleep. Enrique is awake sitting at the edge of my bed. “So a scavenger hunt huh!” He smiles at me. “It is not nice to easy drop” I tell him as I push him to the side and crawl back into bed. He crawls up next to me and wraps his arms around me. “I’ll do anything you ask of me.” He whispers in my ears.  I can’t help but feel safe when I am with him. I just want to close my eyes for a little bit. “Cahira open your eyes.” I hear gently. I open my eyes and see Chance. “What are you doing here?” I ask him as I start to get up. “Don’t wake up Enrique.” Chance says I nod yes. I slowly get up and Chance leads me into the bathroom. “So why is Enrique even here?” He asks me. “It’s a super long story.” I peek out my bathroom door to make sure I didn’t wake up Enrique. He is still laying there asleep. “There are a lot of long stories you need to catch me up on but that’s not why I am here. I got this in the mail today for you.” It’s a birthday card. “You know it’s not my birthday” I tell chance. “It’s a gift for the scavenger hunt.” He tells me. “What?” I grab the card out of Chances hand. “He said it’s time for the game to begin. My note said he was sending someone you trusted first, it took me a minute to figure out he meant me.  Plus it said he wanted to be sure your parents weren’t prepared to follow you.” I just look at Chance. I look down at the birthday card. “Okay” I say as I begin to open it. “Cahira what the hell is going on?” He asks me. “I really can’t say if I want to get Percy back. Did you read the birthday card?” I ask him. “No my note was pretty clear I had no choice not to. There was a threat to out me in my note. So how about you read it and tell me what it says.” Chance looks at the card in my hand. “Yeah I’ll read it.” I open the card but I am 100% sure I am not ready for what’s inside.