CHAPTER THREE: JAMES' OUTBURST (Draft 1)

She sat on the floor, her silver laptop in front of her, aggressively typing. The room was dark, nearly pitch black, the only light was from her dim screen. Her expensive phone, which was set on the floor next to her, was switched off. Her fingers continued to fly on the keyboard when the screen of her phone suddenly lit up and there was a notification. She did not look away from the screen, 
“Sarah, what was that?” 

Her phone began to speak, 
“A text from Tim. He’s asking where you are. What do I tell him?” 

The phone spoke so casually it almost sounded like a teenage girl, but its automated voice made it impossible for it to sound human at all. The girl stopped typing. She sat up straight, 
“Tell him I’m looking for a job or something.” 

“But summer’s almost over.”  

“Then tell him I’m at the library, or at home.” 

“Silver, I am a hundred percent sure that those are the first places he’d check.” 

“Then I don’t know Sarah!” 
She threw her arms,  
“Make up an excuse! I don’t want my little brother to know...” 

“Noted.” 

Silver inhaled sharply and frowned at her laptop screen – an article on Ashlynn Speed.  

 

Tim slowly walked back towards his aunt and uncle’s bakery, which stood at the corner of the busy street, staring at his phone, wondering why his sister didn’t reply yet. He opened the door and heard the little bell ring; he did not look up from his phone. Suddenly, he bumped into James. He looked up and smiled nervously,  
“Sorry about that!” 

James returned an anxious grin, 
“No problem!”  

They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes until Tim’s aunt called out, 
“There you are Tim! Would you mind going with James to the supermarket really quick? He’s not familiar with the city yet!” 

Tim nodded diligently and smiled at his aunt who went back to serving customers, 
“Thanks dear!” 

Tim turned around and exited the bakery as James followed silently. They walked side by side on the pavement, cutting through crowds near shops, cafes and restaurants, avoiding the busy street of cars, taxis and buses. They both came to a halt in front of the market area. James glanced at the shopping list and back at Tim, raising an eyebrow, 
“So, what now? Should we split up and get the task done faster or stick together?” 

Tim stared blankly at the busyness of the market area, before turning to James, 
“I think we should split up. You can take the half of the list of items we can get in the supermarket, and I’ll take the other half!” 

They both nodded in agreement and went their separate ways. James watched Tim, who disappeared into the crowded street, attempting to find the items on his half of the list, and then set off to get the items on his half. 

James left the supermarket after he paid for his half of the groceries. He stood outside and was about to call Tim when he saw him paying for the last of his groceries. He smiled and was about to run towards him, when he saw a strange man, wearing all black and an evil grin on his face, and stopped. He stood silently. Just as he saw the man about to grab Tim’s bags, he sprinted across the street to push him away, 
“Get away Tim!”  

Tim stood in shock. James eyed a large crowbar sitting on the pavement next to a parked red truck. The man was about to attack him when he swiftly dodged and grabbed the crowbar. James viciously snarled at the man, the blue hue in his eyes slowly transforming into something amber. 

Everyone around him grew afraid and dumbfounded, not noticing his eyes. Tim watched silently and wondered what was happening. Seeing that he was armed and not to be messed with, the man got scared of him and ran away. James calmed down, his eyes going back to normal, and stood up straight when he realized what had happened. He looked at Tim and spoke grimly, 
“Let’s leave Tim. We’ve got everything we need.” 

Tim, confused by the incident, and James, processing his sudden anger, left the marketplace in complete silence. 

They slowly made their way back home. The sun was about to set, and they had to get home quickly before dinner. Each boy was hidden in their thoughts, until Tim finally broke the deafening silence, 
“So where did you learn how to do that?” 

James’ head jolted up and glanced at Tim, 
“Uhm... my father taught me...” 

“Oh...” 

They continued to walk in silence until Tim spoke again, 
“Tell me more about him.”  

James hesitated and bit his lip before speaking, 
“Uhm... he was brave. He is a kind of like a leader. And he taught my sisters and I everything we know.” 

“Is?” 

"My younger sisters may say he's dead, but I don't think so." 

"Oh..." 

“What about you? What was yours like?” 

“I didn’t really know him that well...” 
Tim looked down, 
“He and my mother would often be on business trips. They would never tell us where they’d go or when they’d leave, they’d just disappear every morning, a bunch of times every month. When he was around, he would teach Silver and I how to code, programme and invent stuff. But Silver was better at it than me, so I would just usually head off to the library and stuff...” 

“I see...”