1 Team Game Night

Austin/Vector's P.O.V.

You heard of family game night, right? The entire family under one roof and playing a bunch of ridiculous games. Some get very competitive (V.E.R.A.). Some really don't care (Trey and Tamra) Some just act extremely goofy (Parker). And then there's me, the person who just has fun no matter what. 

As cheesy as it sounds, it's true. It's just great to see all the guardians, plus V.E.R.A., together playing crazy games.

Currently, we are playing charades, and Trey, the all-star basketball player, was trying to mimic a puffer fish. The other team, the girls, were just plain confused at what he was doing; Tamra was even recording this game night and considering on putting it on her blog, Tamra Sez. Parker is just laughing his head off trying to guess under pressure. 

"Is it a some sort of jazz monkey?" My best friend snorted, trying to not drop the tablet he was holding in front of his chest. "A cuckoo bird?"

The blogger giggled as she tried to keep her phone steady while she recorded this. "How do you go from jazz monkey to cuckoo bird?"

"I don't know!" Parker replied. 

"I suggest to look at his facial structures to attempt to make a better estimate," V.E.R.A. hinted, her usual emotionless tone due to her being an A.I.. Long story...

Parker decided to take the hint. "Some sort of fish?" He guessed.

Trey, not able to talk, signaled him to keep going. "Hurry Parker!" I exclaimed as I checked the timer on my phone. "You only have fifteen seconds." I turned to my 'sister-from-another-mother-board'. "Start the countdown Vera."

"Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven..." My A.I. sister said.

"Um... um..." Parker hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"... Six... Five... Four..."

"Is it a-a... what is it?"

"... Three... Two... On-"

"PUFFER FISH!"

"YES!" Trey collapsed on the couch across from the girls', happy he doesn't have to keep mimicking a fish anymore.

I sat on the couch right next to Parker. "Which brings us to a tie," I sighed, sitting straighter. "Ten for the girls, ten for the boys."

"What should be our tie-breaker game?" Tamra asked, beginning to stop giggling.

Trey pursed his lips. "Why don't we search around the house for a game?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?" I agreed, getting up to my feet. 

The rest of my friends stood up and followed me as I walked down the hall. The silence coming from behind me indicated that nobody has struck an idea yet. We continued to walk quietly towards the back of the house, passing door after door. I started to get a little nervous as we were slowly getting closer and closer to the final door.

Before we all made it to the last door, I spun on my heel and began to walk back to the living room, hoping my friends would follow me. But it wasn't long before a hand grabbed my wrist, a tiny electric shock striking up my arm. I turned to see Tamra, her mysterious dark green eyes staring into my light-ish brown ones. 

Wait, what?

"Hold on just a second," she said, still holding my wrist with a firm grip. "Why are you walking away from that door?"

Trey scoffed. "Is our fearless guardian leader afraid of fairy tale monsters that lie on the other side of that door?" He teased.

I shot a glare at him as I gently pulled my hand away from Tamra's, ignoring the lack of warmth that came right after. "It's nothing," I lied. "Let's just go back to the living room and declare a tie, 'kay?"

"Austin?" Parker said questionably from behind Trey and Tamra. We all turned to see him standing right in front of the door, his hand only centimeters away, his fingers curled around the doorknob hesitantly as if the doorknob was gonna electrocute him. I looked up and met his eyes. "Is this the room where you keep your s-"

I cut him off before he could finish or I could start crying again. "Yes, and you know better than to not bring that subject up ever again after what happened, right?" I scolded, which was highly unlike me.

Tamra took a step back from me, fear beginning to cloud her eyes. "Are you okay, Austin?" She asked cautiously.  

I bit my lip so hard it began to draw blood. "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied quietly.

The basketball player took this opportunity to lunge for the doorknob and try to swing it open in an attempt to snap me out of my state. But I already knew that my mom locked it the last time she cleaned it. Trey visibly struggled to open the door but ended up giving up and punching the door instead as a last resort. Nothing.

V.E.R.A. marched over to the door. "I can open that lock if you can't D-Frag," she said as she placed a hand over the lock. I thought she was going to bust it open, but instead I started to hear clicking sounds coming from the lock. One after another, as V.E.R.A. got closer and closer to unlocking the door. Being reckless, I was about to shout "No stop!" before she could finish.

But it was too late.

The door swung open, revealing a darkly lit room. The only light that came from inside was through the light curtains that hung from the only window. Light began to pour into the room as everyone stepped inside, allowing light from the hallway to shine inside. V.E.R.A. did her weird coding head cock thing and the lights turned on a few seconds later. 

The light came from the ceiling fan and everyone looked around at the room in shock. I did as well, considering that the last time I've been here was a few months ago. Once you walk into the room and look left, you saw a black coat hanger. At the foot of it was a rack of a few shoe boxes.

There was a twin bed in the corner with a lavender purple blanket and indigo covered pillows at the head of it. There was a night stand with a small lamp and a familiar charging station that I was aware of.

In the corner to the right of it, was a small violet vanity, next to it was a closet, leading to the bathroom. On the other side of the vanity was a dark purple drawer, which held all sorts of clothes. 

A light purple desk sat in the last corner, a black rolling chair was pulled up. On it sat a petite desk lamp and a desk cover. Next to the desk were the objects that probably confused my friends the most. There was a bunch of recording equipment and headsets hanging from the wall. Music stands, microphones, cameras all stood in the middle of the wall, hooked up neatly behind the desk.

The final thing I looked at was the wall between the bed side table and the window. There were pictures framed all over the wall, multiple colors and patterns splattered all around. 

But one picture caught my eye; in the middle of the cluster of pictures, was one about the size of a MacBookPro screen. It had the fanciest frame, swirls of black and white. The picture was of the front of my old house, when we first moved in when I was around six. My mom and my dad were standing in the back row. In the first row on the left, there was me. On the right was Parker, whom my parents insisted to be in the family picture since he was the first person that made me feel at home in the new neighborhood.

Tamra followed my gaze and stepped closer to the picture. Her fingers delicately traced the frame, then my face, my young, innocent face. She gasped, finally finding the reason why this picture was so important to me. 

She turned to meet my eyes. "Austin," she whispered. I felt everyone's eyes on me. "Who's that girl in the middle of you and Parker?"

I looked back at the picture. In the middle of me and my best friend, was a little girl who looked about a year or two younger than us, but really, it was just her height. She looked similar to me; long golden-brown hair tied back into two pigtails, hazel eyes that sparkled like gold as she smiled the slightest bit. She looked so small in her violet skirt and pastel purple shirt. Both Parker and I had a hand on her shoulder, as if we were reassuring her about something.

I suddenly remembered why I never stepped into this room. Tears were threatening to escape my eyes, but I was strong enough to resist the urge to. I bit my tongue so hard that if I bit it just a little harder, it'd start swelling. I can feel my lip beginning to quiver a tad. I felt so weak, trying to fight the need to cry because of a memory.

I stole a gaze at Parker, who was also trying not to collapse and sob in his spot. That girl was an important member of both of our lives. I cringed at the word was in that sentence. 

But Parker managed to say one last thing before a tear streaked down my face.

"That's Jane, Austin's dead twin sister."