Young Writers Society

The door to his house, a drab grey plank of splintering wood, was as intimidating as the solid metal of a prison wall. Sam's thoughts whizzed around his head, bouncing off the edges of his mind. He rubbed his temples, took another deep breath, and reached for the door handle.

"Sam!" Peter shouted.

Sam grinned and leaned over to hug his little brother. He lifted him up into the air and whirled him round. The grin on Peter's face was like a hug in itself and Sam felt his own lips tug upwards. He squeezed Peter tight, unsure how many more chances he would have to be with his brother before he set out on Xander's mission.

"Hey, where's Declan?" Sam asked, setting him back down.

Peter shrugged. "Cross country practice probably."

"Oh, right of course. Till six, right?" Sam took Peter's hand and smiled as he realized the boy came almost up to his shoulder now. "And Georgia?"

Peter turned his face up to Sam and rolled his eyes. "Reading."

Sam turned the corner into the living room, his arm wrapped around Peter's shoulders. The empty chairs glared at him and the little table in the middle of the room looked painfully lonely.

"I thought you said Georgia was reading?" Sam surveyed the room again. The chairs were all facing rigidly into the middle of the room, and there were no books in sight.

"In her room," Peter explained, "Dad's here."

"Oh," Sam said. He glanced towards the stairs and tried not to picture Georgia curled up on her bed, tears landing on the pages of her favorite stories. "Wait, where's Dad?"

"Out the back." Declan shrugged. "He took his axe."

Sam crossed to the window that faced onto the back garden. He groaned when he spotted the hulking figure of his father hacking away at his favorite tree trunk. There was one man he would not miss as much over the coming months. Chips of wood piled up like landfills around him. Sam hoped he remembered to stop his training before the piles got to knee height this time.

He turned from the window and followed Peter up the stairs. He stopped at the doorway of Georgia's bedroom, smiling as she flicked the page of her book.

"Hey." He put his hand on the doorknob and balanced a little weight on it.

"Uh-huh?" Georgia replied. She turned her head as if she was going to look up but never quite took her eyes off the page.

Peter tugged on the edge of Sam's shirt. "I told you, she's reading."

Sam smiled at his little brother's frown and put an arm around his shoulders.

"Georgie," said Sam, taking a few steps forward. "I did something stupid."

Georgia rolled her eyes and set the book down on the bed. "What now?"

"I asked Mrs Kyseth about you going to school, again." Sam fiddled with a piece of loose skin on his lip.

Georgia shot up from the bed, her hair flying in all directions. "Sam! What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't-"

"What did she say?" Georgia sat back down on the bed and fixed him with a gaze that twisted up his heart.

"What do you think she said, Georgie?" Sam sighed and picked up Peter, who whooped as Sam slung him onto his back. Sam continued, "Declan will almost be finished by now. Would you like to come with us to pick him up?"

Georgia had already grabbed her book and was resting her head against the wall behind her bed. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell in a slightly uneven rhythm.

"See you after," said Sam. He turned, ducked so that Peter's head wouldn't hit the top of the doorframe, and left the room. One day soon, 'after' would mean a hell of a lot more than after she was done reading.

Peter sighed as Sam walked down the stairs and Sam gripped his hand tight.

"Let's go get your brother," said Sam as he reached the foot of the stairs.

Peter had just replied when the front door flew open and crashed into the wall, wobbling like a sheet of drywall. Sam gaped at the short, slim figure it revealed as she stepped over the threshold and shoved him out of the way.

"Auntie Marie?" he said, backing into the living room as she strode past.

He heard Peter gasp as she dragged a stretcher past them. Sam blinked and staggered back as he realized who was splayed on top of it.

"What happened?" Sam lowered Peter to the ground and followed the stretcher to the bathroom door.

"He fainted just before the end of practice -- What was that?" Marie glanced down at the wheels of the stretcher. "Damn it. It's about to snap."

Sam frowned at the little twigs of wood someone had decided were strong enough to hold up eleven-year-old boy. He darted forward and grabbed his brother, just as Peter stumbled around the corner.

Marie gasped. "Peter! You gave me a heart attack!"

Peter sighed. "I don't look that much like him."

Marie rose from a cabinet in the bathroom, a narrow vial clasped between trembling figures. "I think there's enough left for him."

Sam lowered Declan to the floor and held his head. Marie opened his mouth and dropped a few spots of the green liquid onto the back of his throat. Declan's breathing juddered a little less than it had been but his legs didn't stop twitching.

"Uh-oh." Marie squinted at the bottle and said, "I think that was the last of it. Is there any more in the house?"

Sam, still kneeling, wrapped an arm around Peter's waist. He chuckled quietly to himself and stared straight into his little brother's eyes as he said, "There's probably very little left in all of Lone."

Without warning Declan jerked upright and started to choke. His hands flew to his neck and Sam only just managed to get them off before he strangled himself. He eased Declan back down to the floor and stroked his forehead.

"It's okay, Dec," he whispered, "It was just the sickness again."

Declan blinked, which Sam had come to recognize as nodding, then closed his eyes and let go of Sam's hand. The door to the basement clattered open but Declan barely flinched. At least Dad could be relied upon to ruin the day.

"Lentils tonight, alright?" he said, staring straight at Sam.

Sam nodded. "Fine, whatever." He waved one hand and felt Declan's brow again with the other.

"Will Mum be home?" Peter asked, standing up and taking a few steps towards his father.

Their dad snorted. "Don't count on it."

Sam rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Declan, who was attempting to sit up.

He tilted his head to the side. "I wonder if he's ever considered it could be his cooking causing me to faint in the middle of training."

Sam smiled and gave Declan a light hug. Marie went back into the bathroom with the empty vial and returned a moment later to take Peter's hand. Declan nodded at Peter who smiled and glanced towards the kitchen.

There was a crash and a grunt, then some muttered cursing. Peter nodded and said, "Yep, Dec, that is definitely a possibility."