CHAPTER 2

{Celia POV}

What happened to big brother. He never had enough time to come play with me, "Sorry Celina, maybe next time. Besides, Richard is in his bedroom. Go bother him." He'd always say before running off with his two wierd buddies and only coming back when it's time to eat dinner.

There was one time in Gregor's sixth grade when he had came home with them only to leave them alone in the house with her while quickly going to a nearby supermarket 2 blocks from our house. This was the first time I ever regretted not going shopping with my mom and brother.

I was scared at first, since I had never been left home alone; especially with two random strangers. One of them even looked dodgy with a lightning bolt cut on the side of his head and a red stud earring on his left ear. He was hatched-faced with curly black hair and green eyes which kind made him look like a horse. He called himself Prickle.

The nickname did not shock me at all since I had heard them calling my brother Ice earlier before he left. I being an eight year old in my second grade of school suspected that it was normal for year six graders to have them. I even thought that it was somewhat cool.

Surprisingly, even though he looked unapprochable; he was the polite one. Unlike the other one who was simply a jerk despite looking all handsome with his cliché long blonde hair and gleaming blue eyes. He completely snapped at her when she greeted him which caused her to back away from him in fear.

"Tezla, you don't have to act that way to her. This is Gregor's younger sister after all."

"Shut Up! I don't have the time for this shit. Just keep quiet while I work on this." Tezla retorted impatiently before continuing, "Besides, shouldn't you be working on the-"

He looked at me before saying, "The elixir! Dammit!"

"Don't worry about it. I found the time to finish brewing it at home, since both my parents went to the Teacher & Parents assembly.

"And Yes!" Continued Prickle when he saw the doubtful expression on Tezla's visage. "I added in all the ingredients listed on the recipe and might have even overdosed a bit on the second ingredient. I made a lot so... if you want some; you are welcome to come and try. It's all in my bag pack over there."

Prickle finished by pointing to the couch while smiling delightfully. Though to me, nothing about that smile felt delightful at all. If anything, it was more on the side of wickedness. Then something miraculous started happening. Tezla started laughing as if Prickle had said some joke.

"You Dumbass! Like hell I want some."

"Can't blame me for trying, now can you?"

Before I knew it, they were both laughing hard as if they couldn't stop even if they wanted. I seeing this got irritated by the fact that they were ignoring me and purposefully kept me out of their inside joke.

Thus, I left them in the living room while I went to Richard's room to play on his gaming console; completely forgetting that I was scared of being alone in the house earlier.

{6th grade Gregor POV}

"WAHAHAHAHA"

'That bastard better enjoy what is coming for him today. Trying to bully me, Tezla and Prickle just because his uncle is the deputy principal and he is the teachers pet. Oh! He will get what is coming for him soon enough.

1. To dare try and bully us thinking the teacher will help you fight your own battles against us.

2. To look down on us "The Pope's guards" (Name of their group/pact).

3. To have eyes, but fail to see Mount Tai when it is in front of you.

You have perpetrated three treasonous acts and now the blade shall fall.'

"HAHAHAHA"

As usual, Gregor -or Ice- would always end up shouting or laughing out loud whenever he thought too much about something which excited him, because of his inability to calm the raging emotions inside him when he is in the "zone". (What his two friends call it.)

Unfortunately or fortunately for him, this unique habit of his continues to follow him, even as he finishes middle school, splits up with his friends, moves to a new country and enters into high school. It even becomes a trademark belonging to him later on in the distant future.

Supermarket.

'I finally got here. It honestly took forever, but I reached the destination.'

Ice looked at the old fashioned digital watch which he bought a week ago for the sake of this mission tonight.

'Damn! It's already twenty four minutes to seven, meaning the Teacher & Parents assembly already started six minutes prior. I'll have to hurry at this rate, or we won't even have enough time to initiate the plan.'

Ice ran into the supermarket at full speed after checking that he didn't lose any money or forget his wallet. The reason why he came to the store was to buy black tape. It was easy to find, since all you had to do is turn left upon entering the store; where you would find a shelf full of school stationary. The tape was on the second last, left rack.

As Ice was rushing towards the counter to pay, he passed by something which caught his and made him stop in amusement. Eventually nodding his head, he took it as well and went to pay. After paying for his merchandise, he ran all the way to his house; not daring to walk like before in case all their preparation goes into smoke.

{Celia POV}

"Aaaaargh! So boring! I couldn't care less about this stupid damn thing anymore."

Celia who was excited at the thought of playing Richard's new console game COD was now angry, because she would always die. She didn't even understand what the game expected of her she couldn't even read the words on screen; only seeing a few familiar words.

'Why does it have to be so hard to play some dumb game when Richard isn't around to explain it. Am I that dumb to not be able to play games as well as him.'

Celia not liking the thought of not being good at something threw the controller in her hands onto her brother's bed before walking without looking back out the bedroom and down the corridor. At the end of the corridor she turned right into the archway which led to the living room where the two wierdos were waiting.

Only when she reached the opening of the archway did she see her big brother in the lounge drenched in sweat while breathing heavily.

"Guys! Sorry I'm late, but I think we can still make it if we take the bikes in my garage. We'll even have time to spare by the end of this."

Big brother said in a rush before running to the kitchen to drink water and then leaving with his friends.

'No way! Mom said he shouldn't leave me here alone in the house, since I'm a kid and yet he is still going. How could he? I mean, does he not care at all about his little sister.'

The decision Celia is about to take is an immense one, for it is what caused her to finally see her older brother for who he really is; completely shattering the picture she had of him in her head. From this day forward, she started looking at him as if he was a monster and was always to scared to tell her mother in fear of something happening to her.

"Tezla, you take my mom's bike which is the big one over there, since you are so tall. Prickle you can take my brother's one which is the blue one."

"What about your sister?"

"Don't worry about that, we'll be back before she even realises it. Besides, she won't even notice that we are gone."

"Let's go then"

Celia heard them talking in the garage.

'Damn you big brother! " Besides, she won't even notice that we are gone." Of course I noticed!'

"... !!"

The fridge suddenly made a sound from the kitchen startling Celia into shock for a moment. The house had never been so dark and quiet before. This is when it finally sank in. Celia was all alone and she was scared of the dark.

"There is no way I'm staying here. Mom said he shouldn't leave me alone so I'll go after him."

Reaching at this outcome, she decisively ran into the garage to where her medium sized bike was. It had training wheels attached to it and was a mixture of purple and navy blue; which happens to be her favourite colour.

She started peddling as fast as she could down the pathway before turning right onto the street where she saw three figures on bicycles a block away quickly turning right and disappearing down that street. She started peddling faster and faster as if her life depended on it.