A Possible Prediction

[27th December]

"You do know that every time you go to bed in a different location, the place switches in your dreams too, right?" Johnny instantly asked when I opened my eyes. "I know," sighing, I brought my legs over the bed. Johnny hummed, glancing around nonchalantly. "Not much has changed, why are you here anyway? Don't you have a mission to complete?"

"The twins insisted on a sleepover. They were pretty paranoid about the whole situation." he then gestured to the door. "Want to go see what's happening in their house?"

Scanning left and right, we tip-toed around the corridor of the second floor. It was not guaranteed if anybody was at home or not but we decided to play it safe. Johnny and I hid behind a wall when we heard a small noise. Must've been our imagination. He stretched his neck to get a glimpse of the lower level through the glass mezzanine.

Johnny retreated himself when he saw three figures step into the living room with dull steps. From where we stood, we got an unobstructed view of the entire living hall and half of the kitchen.

A slap resonated in the air and the both of us glanced at each other with wide eyes. What the hell was that!? Heels were clacking loudly back and forth on the marble tiles. Was that their mother? Johnny and I looked out again.

There we saw Nick clutching onto his cheek. Both of the twins were looking down. The woman was pacing around the room. "Couldn't keep your mouth shut huh, both of you?" her voice was so sharp you could almost feel the blades cutting through you. The twins remained silent.

"This is all your fault. It is your fault that your father is now tried in court!" we flinched when the woman raised her voice.

"How is it our fault, mother?" Nick asked below a whisper. Their mother scoffed in disbelief. "You're asking me that, Nicklaus? The last victim was your classmate, you are in relation!"

"Ethel?" I whispered. Johnny nodded. "I think so,"

Their mum then walked out of the front door with a slam, leaving the twins to stand alone in the room. Their shoulders rapidly dropped after she disappeared. Nick let out a shaky breath before dropping to the floor. "Nick!" Silas was quick to grab onto his twin.

"Was it really our fault?" Silas stared at Nick in bewilderment. "W-what?" "Should we have not told them?" the younger twin was in disbelief. "No! Mother is being absurd! It would've happened whether or not we have told them! We didn't tell Ethel anyway,"

I couldn't bear to hear more of the twins' dispute so, I tugged on Johnny's cardigan and motioned him back into the guest room.

"This is insane," I breathed out when we closed the door. "What I had imagined was happening right now!" "What do you mean?" Johnny asked, still dazed from the conversation we overheard.

"I had figured that their father would be in trouble after the truth was exposed to the public, and it happened!!" he gulped. "Their dad is a really important person to this country; do you think they'd arrest him in an instant?" he refused to have that as a conclusion. "About ten people have been murdered there, Johnny." I simply stated.

If their father was not imprisoned for concealing something so brutal just because he was a respectable person, the country is corrupted.

Footsteps sounded nearby and the both of us instinctively threw ourselves down onto the floor. We held our breaths and remained still behind the bed frame when the door cracked open.

Thank goodness the frames had little to no gap underneath.

I lifted my head slightly to see light coming into the room from the opened door. But there were no footsteps whatsoever. I continued to stare at the light seeping through.

Not long after, a sigh filled the room followed by, "I thought I heard something," before the door closed shut. I sighed in relief and let my head fall. "Oh my god," I was about to stand up until I took a glimpse at Johnny who seemed to be frozen in his spot between the nightstand and the bed as he stared up at something...

...in my direction.

"...Johnny-?" his facial expression was rather horrifying. He didn't even move an inch as if someone cast a spell on him. Suddenly, I felt a shadow looming over me and my breath caught in my throat. A shiver ran down my spine. My blood ran cold as I slowly lifted my head to meet the face of a dim figure.

Trust me, Silas didn't look scary at all. But when his face was in the dark and his eyes blown wide as he stared at me from above while I was caught off-guard...that was terrifying. So terrifying that it made me scream and wake up.

I bolted up from my pillows with cold sweat. Hastily looking around the room, I exhaled in relief when I realized it was just sleeping Ethan and Jay, and me. I rubbed my face before reaching for the door. I needed a glass of water.

I made my way down the stairs with silent footsteps. My brow raised when I noticed that the lights downstairs were turned on. "Hello?" I whispered and glanced around cautiously. Maybe the twins don't turn off their lights when they go to bed. Plausible, they were wealthy, after all.

Everywhere was lit up, except the countertop area. That was where I found Nick seated, calmly having a drink. I almost let out a scream and wake the others. He was watching me the entire time. I had thought he was Silas at first glance and recalled my dream.

"Jesus Christ..." I held onto my chest and took the seat across from him. "You woke up," he stated. He stopped scrolling on his device to fetch me a drink.

"Thank you," I muttered when he returned with iced water. "So, what did you dream of tonight?" he turned off his phone to listen to me. I downed the glass of water. "I don't think I've told you this before but whenever I sleep somewhere else, the location in my dream changes too." he nodded understandingly, still rather unclear with the whole dimension thing.

"Today, Johnny and I witnessed something. We may have seen the future but I hope that won't be the case." I began. "The public found out about the consistent murders that happened in the park, and your dad was tried in court." Nick's shoulders raised. "Fuck," he cursed. "Your mum blamed you and Silas for everything because the last victim was our classmate." he turned to me, perplexed. "Wait, who was the classmate?" right, I haven't told them yet.

"It's not certain why, but it was Ethel," I breathed out. Nick was speechless as he leaned back in his seat. He quickly dialed someone on his phone. "Who are you calling?" he stood up to go in the back. "My father. Might as well tell him about it. It's bound to happen," he said in a rush.

"Call Ethel too and check if he's in danger or not." I grabbed my phone from my pocket before scrolling through my contacts. Nick stared at me in desperation as we waited for the other ends to pick up. With every beep, I only grew more anxious. What if the killer had already advanced? I don't get it. Why was Ethel even murdered in the first place? What about Ethan?

"Hel-" I winced when I heard a loud thud over the phone. "Ethel?" "Hello?" he cleared his throat, his voice groggy. That made me glance at the time. It was seven in the morning. "I'm just calling to check if you're safe." he didn't know anything so I had to put it simply. Heck, he still thought I was Johnny!

"Seriously? At the crack of dawn? Couldn't you have done it later or something?" Ethel grumbled. "Sorry," I chuckled apologetically. "You're okay, right?"

"Could've been better if you had called later." I rolled my eyes. "Okay, good to know. Stay safe and get your beauty sleep." "Hm, I plan to lounge around all weekend." I nodded. "Good, that's good." usually, I'd tell him to go outside and smell the flowers but I'll let him off the hook this time. With that, I hung up and set my phone on the table.

"He's doing fine," I put it in short for Nick when he returned from his call. He looked rather relieved. "My father said he'll handle this." A door upstairs suddenly opened, followed by footsteps down the stairs.

"Going already?" down came Jay with his school bag and winter coat in hand. Speaking of winter, the snow had gotten really harsh. I wondered if it will affect the mission somehow. Jay hummed, stuffing his phone into his back pocket.

"My dad called. Told me to come home for a 'family day'." he scoffed. "As if we'll do anything worth calling family time. All we'll do is visit some old folk's home or an orphanage, take pictures and have it all over the internet with the title, "CEO of a worldwide brand is also a family man!". My ass," Nick and I exchanged glances. "Well, if it ends early, you are more than invited to come back." Jay smiled slightly.

"I doubt it will but I'll keep that in mind."

"What about yesterday's matter?" I asked softly. Jay's lip thinned as he shook his head. "He completely disregarded it. Acted as though nothing happened. But it's normal...that's his way of telling me he gave me another chance." he scoffed.

"I'll return your clothes on Monday," Nick gave him a thumbs up. We walked him to the door and watched him go down the elevator. "Stay safe!"

"You think Jay might be involved in this?" I shook my head immediately.

"I highly doubt that."

"What happened yesterday, anyway?" I sighed. "Jay told his dad about us. It didn't go well." Nick pursed his lips. "His dad is a jerk."

"Where did Jay go? I was going to wake you up but I saw both of your beds made and empty," as if on cue, Silas shuffled into the kitchen just when we returned. "Dad business. He had to go." Silas pursed his lips. "I pity that dude,"

What would teenagers do to distract themselves from something?

We play games.

It took up lots of time and is effective at keeping our minds diverted. We played various types of games the entire day, ranging from board games to games that needed controllers.

Before we knew it, it was already two in the afternoon. It was getting rather boring if I said so myself. We locked ourselves in the twins' apartment out of our own will and for safety purposes.

At one point, we became so panicky that we even considered taping Ethan to the wall to ensure he was safe. The boy himself immediately protested, whining that he'd be bored out of his mind. "I really want to go to Ethel's grandma's antique store again..." Ethan lounged around in the living room as I fetched a snack from the pantry. "Now is not the time, Ethan." Silas patted his shoulder. The oldest clicked his tongue in annoyance. "We can go after all this is over,"

Nick was busy scribbling on a notebook on the countertop. "Watcha' doing?" I peered over from across. "Hm, I thinking of all the suspects," I blinked in shock.

Hell, Nick was doing more than I was and it was supposed to be my mission. "Who do you suspect the most?" I asked. He hummed tirelessly. "I'm not sure. I've gotten Ethan to list down all the people he was close with and give a brief introduction about each one and if he had done them wrong or not but none of them seemed odd to me." Nick roughly ran his strands through his fingers in frustration. Maybe it wasn't an effective method since Ethan was known to joke a lot.

On the page he was on were writings over writings. It looked like those scribbles I have seen in Asylums. Well, I happened to come across those on the internet. "How about our group?" Nick tensed in his seat.

"I..." he gulped and looked away. "I don't think any of them hold grudges towards Ethan..." he looked over his shoulder at Ethan and Silas bickering on the couch over movies to watch. "He's the oldest after all. We look up to him, and the fact that someone wants him dead is just so...weird to us." I glanced at the boy. It was true, by his smile alone you could tell he was kind and sweet.

"Have you ever thought..." Nick spoke. "That it won't be Ethan that...dies tomorrow night?" my breath hitched. I truly hope that wouldn't be the case. Not that I want Ethan gone. "Let's not think too far, Nick." he meekly nodded before returning to his notebook. With a sigh, I made my way towards the living room.

"My birthday is tomorrow so let's watch my pick!" Ethan argued, causing Silas to scoff. "Exactly! It's your birthday TOMORROW and you'll get to do whatever you want so let's watch my pick today!" "As if!" Ethan rolled his eyes. "I have to worry about dying on the day of my birth! That already sucks a lot!" I looked back and forth at them.

"...what are y'all watching?" I planted myself on one of the vacant seats. "I want to watch the new horror movie but Ethan insisted on that new animation!" Silas pointed a finger towards the projector with a deep frown. "Oh," their tastes were so different. "How about this?" Ethan turning to me. "Choose. Horror or animation?" Silas scoffed loudly.

"That is not fair! He's practically future you! It's a two against one game here!" I snickered. I wasn't a fan of the horror genre too. I guess Ethan and I were really a soul. "Sorry but I hate horror movies, Silas." said male fake cried before rolling off the couch onto the floor.

"So, this is what betrayal feels like," he muttered. "Oh, shut up! We can always watch your movie right after mine!"

"Guys!" we turned in sync as Nick called for our attention. "Movies can wait, I need some clarification." he sat next to me and opposite of the duo. "What clarification?"

Nick flipped through his book with furrowed eyebrows. "Ethan, are you sure you've listed down everyone for me?" Ethan thought about it. "Hm, not really. I thought about someone a while ago. I have a cousin, but he lives far away." "Did he ever tell you that he'll return or something?" he shook his head. "We're pretty close and talk often. He would've told me...unless he was planning a surprise." Nick hummed softly. "Why do you suspect him, though?"

"Well, I pushed him off a trampoline when we were six." my shoulders dropped. "Ethan, this is a serious matter." "I am being serious here!" Ethan replied, waving his hands to emphasize.

"He forgives but he never forgets! What if one day he just recalled about it and thought that I was so mean he should just-?" he paused and pretended to snap his neck. I fell back onto the backseat with an exasperated groan.

All of a sudden, my phone started to ring. "Oh," Jay was requesting for a video call. "Jay!" I exclaimed and angled my camera to show all four of us. "Are you having fun?" Silas snickered. "Ugh, barely. But at least this kid next to me knows how to draw!" Jay showed us the girl that was scribbling on a piece of paper beside him. "Psst, Sara." Jay lightly nudged her and she immediately looked up. The kid looked absolutely adorable. We waved at her and she waved back timidly. "Show them your drawing!"

She held up the paper at us. "I-I want to be an artist when I grow up!" we clapped. "You can do it!" her eyes twinkled and a tint of red blushed up to her cheeks. "Thank you!"

Jay then stood up to go somewhere. "My dad was planning to give financial support to a couple of kids from this orphanage. He told me to choose one so, I'm thinking to go with her." he grinned excitedly. "That's awesome! Which one did you go to? Can we visit too?" Ethan asked. "Oh! I'll share the location. They're open for visitors on Friday and the weekends." not long after, a ping sounded from all of our phones, and we figured it was just Jay. "What are you guys doing anyway?"

"Oh, we're just finding out who the murderer might be,"

We whipped our heads towards Nick with wide eyes. He realized he accidentally let slip a split second late. "Huh? Murderer?" Jay momentarily stopped walking; his eyebrows furrowed. "We're playing a detective board game. It's really stressing us out." Silas saved his twin.

Jay took his word for it as he continued his journey with a grin. "Oh, good luck! I have to go now," we could hear Jay's mum call for him from afar. "Have fun with Sara and the other kids!" I hung up after that.

"Nick! you-!" I tackled Nick down onto the couch and playfully hit him with a pillow. "Sorry! It was something we talked so casually about that I accidentally let it out!"

"You're lucky I was born!" Silas huffed in pride from the couch across us. "Thank you." Nick jokingly rolled his eyes. "Did you just roll your eyes!?" it was Silas' turn to battle his twin as he grabbed a pillow and threw himself onto Nick. "Ow! Get off!" Silas roared loudly.

"Call me your savior!"

"Hell nah!"