Chapter-5

"How long you had been standing there?" Sam asked as he observed me standing by the door.

The pain and emptiness behind his eyes were quickly gone and replaced with his famous blank stare as he scrutinizes me with his patronizing eyes.

How can his expression change so quickly?

"Well...not too long," I said feebly - trying not to quiver and give away my lie.

Sam raised his eyebrow as if challenging me to repeat that. I knew he could easily see through my lie, as I kept trying to get rid of the single thread that had been sticking out of the corner of my top - which I usually did when I was nervous.

"Alright?" he trailed off but kept on looking at my hands that were playing with the strings.

"First stop doing it, it's making me feel irritated. Now tell me how much of it you have listened to?" Sam demanded with his arms crossed across his chest, making him look intimidating.

Well, should I tell him? I asked myself.

"Not much, trust me "

This time, he fell into my lie and nodded, then turned back to Crystal.

I stood next to him and looked at Crystal. Her condition seemed better. She looked so peaceful with her eyes closed and calm posture.

How things would be much better only if she was.

"Whenever we would fight, she would always say. Sam, one day when I would be gone, then you'll realize how much you love me." Sam's voice cracks at the end, "I used to shrug it off but now seeing her like this, it's like those words are coming to life," Sam's voice cracked as a sob broke out from his mouth.

I was surprised for a second that he was finally letting out his emotions, and there I thought he could not express his feelings.

Maybe because I was a stranger, so he was holding himself back.

Sam tried to hold back his tears, but I could see what it was doing to him. I got some courage and wrapped my arms around him. He first tensed, making me feel stupid on my bold move, but then he relaxed. Holding me like a child, Sam started crying.

He dug his face on my stomach while I tightened my arms around him to give him some kind of solace. I kept on murmuring 'it will be fine' to him and myself. I don't know how long we stayed like this, but I let him pour his heart out. It would help him in handling things later. All these pent-up emotions would eat him up from inside.

After a few minutes, he got normal and straightened up; thankfully there was no awkwardness in the air, just a comfortable silence.

"Thanks for that, I guess I just needed it," he mumbled softly. I smiled and didn't know what came to me as I moved forward and ruffled his hair - an instinct, just like I do with John.

"Don't fret it too much you can rely on me for anything, OK?" I rush out to cover up my gesture. I almost freaked out as he looked shocked for a second but soon recovered and smiled back, saving me from my embarrassment. We fell back to silence again. I was about to go when Sam's phone started ringing. He stood up and went to the window, leaning on the sill, and glanced at his phone.

"Stop calling me, I can't give you any answers to any of your questions right now," Sam whisper yelled and cut the call, pushing his phone down back to his pocket. But after some time, it rang again.

"I think you should answer it," I suggested but he glared back at me.

"God, I was just saying, no need to get so worked up," I said in my defense.

Sam sighed and got up to stand near the window and stared out of it.

I watched him, inspecting his every move. He stood near the window and looked outside, but I could tell that he was just lost in his thoughts because of his hooded eyes. I knew he was back to being a closed book, but I wanted to try my luck one last time.

"Can I ask you why those people are behind her?" I must have asked something wrong, as he shot daggers at me with his eyes - clearly not happy from my questioning,

"You did enough by bringing her here," Sam said without breaking the eye contact, "Your part is over now, so don't try to act smart and stop mending in others business," he spoke too harshly and that infuriated me.

How can someone change so quickly?

I could tolerate anything but not someone talking back at me rudely when I was not at fault.

I knew I shouldn't have pried on his matters, but for god sake, I was just asking. He could have politely denied, but he chose the worst way possible to do things.

"Fine!" I yelled angrily and left the room not before shutting the door behind me rashly. I swear I heard something breaking from inside the room.

Tom was right, he's right, I should not get myself involved in this.

It's too much, all this was messing with my head badly. I sure couldn't handle all this stress together. While I waited for the lift, I tried to untangle all the predicaments in my head but couldn't. As the elevator came, I didn't waste time going up. I went outside to the garden and sat on the swings, trying to clear my mind for a few minutes.

I didn't realize when a few minutes became an hour of sitting on the swing. I watched as the sun rose from the horizon; it would've been a beautiful sight, but my mood had been too gloomy to enjoy it. I stood up with a clear mind and a decision that no matter what, I would not think about that arrogant Sam and will only focus on Crystal's well being. I went inside the house, rubbing my arms from the cold.

Going to the room upstairs, I found everything neatly arranged in the bedroom Like always Tom made up my bed and kept a set of his nightclothes on the bed. I bounced to the bathroom for a quick bath. I was tired of being too stiff for so long, my muscles got sore earlier from all the tension, but the hot water brought some relief.

I quickly wore my old clothes and went to sleep. With the last thoughts of Crystal's well being, I drifted off to slumber.

Suddenly I felt hot, like burning hot. Sweats started dripping off my whole body. When I looked up, I found myself trapped in a circle of fire. Its flames were rising by each second. I look around myself, trying to find an escape, just then, I hear a scream, and with that, the fire subsided. Suddenly everything goes black, and now I was sitting in the back seat of the car. In front of me, a man sat on the driver seat, and next to him sat a woman, who was singing happily. My vision got blurred, and I couldn't see their faces properly. Then with a speed of light, a truck came almost knocking into them, making the car take a sharp u-turn. It kept going in the wrong direction. The one driving lost control over the wheels then I started hearing voices.

"Darling, you need to jump, the brakes have failed," the man sounded hopeless and desperate.

"No daddy, I won't," a girl's voice rang in my ear, her voice was so soft and innocent like a child. I tried to look around me to see from where the girl's voice was coming from, but why vision was fixed on the couple in front of me.

"I'm sorry, my child, mommy and daddy love you," I widened my eyes as everything around me spun, and I was out the car. Like I have been pushed out the car and rolled down the street. I heard an ear-splitting scream as a few feet afar the car gets exploded.

I woke up with a loud gasp, sweating profusely.

Dream, it was just a dream.

My head was throbbing too hard, and sweat beads were forming on my forehead. I wiped them out with the back of my hand and relaxed back on the bed, sighing in relief. That nightmare shook me up to death. I shook my head to stop thinking about it.

It was just a dream and nothing more. Stop woolgathering now and go to sleep.

But it seemed next to impossible as when I would try to sleep those horrible nightmares would haunt me again. I didn't know why I started having them once more. It's been years since I had these dreams; I can't understand what triggered them to reappear again, gosh.

Those nightmares were very frightening, always leaving me troubled as I didn't remember anything much happening with me, making me more confused as to why I got those nightmares. And I still couldn't figure out who the couple was or who that little girl was. I tried to think of something good to shove them away, and surprisingly the first thought that came to my mind was about the siblings. Instantly their thought brought a smile to my face. Although I might be angry with Sam, that little moment I shared with him in that room reminded me of my family, and just like that sleepiness overtook me. When I woke up, it was already 1 p.m.

"Shit! Why didn't anyone wake me up?" I cursed before rushing to the bathroom to freshen up. Within fifteen minutes, I dried myself and wrapped my body in a fluffy towel, but then I suddenly remembered that I had nothing to wear. I tried to think of some way, just then there was a knock on the bathroom door,

"Tess, it's me. I have kept some clothes outside. I thought you would need them," I heard a familiar voice,

"Tom, you are my savior, by the way, how did you know I woke up?" I called out to him from inside,

"I came to check on you a few minutes ago. You were showering, so I guessed you might need new clothes, that's why."

"Oh, thanks, bro,"

"Ya, ya, hurry up," I heard the sound of the door being closed.

I came out of the bathroom and found a few clothes kept on the bed. Tom left a woolen sweatshirt, jeans, and a muffler for me. I put it on before going down to the dining room. The smell of fresh pancakes welcomed me. I found only Tom present in the dining room. As if Tom could tell what I was thinking, he answered my unasked question.

"Dad has gone to the hospital, John and Shirley have left already, they said they would come by evening," he said.

I wondered then who is with Crystal.

"Don't worry, right now, Sam is with her," Tom said while plating my breakfast.

"How is she now?" I asked him as he stood up to keep his plates in the sink before handing me my plate.

"Stable but still can't say anything about her waking up." I nodded and enjoyed the heavenly taste.

I love the pancakes made by him.

"Hey, are Sam and Crystal twins?" I asked him,

"Ya," he said with an obvious look.

I looked out of the window and found a car missing- the one in which we drove Crystal here.

"Tom, where's the car which we drove here last night?" I asked him,

"In the garage," he said. "We tried to find it's the owner, but there was no missing report for this car. So we had to leave it in the garage,"

I digested the information with the food. Max's house has a backyard with a garage where he kept those cars, which he doesn't use often.

Tom moved to leave the kitchen, but I stopped him.

"Tom," I said, quickly swallowing my food. "Can you drop me off at home? I need to see mom; she may be worried about me..." I trailed off.

"I am sorry Tess, but I need to go to University. I have a few reports to complete. It will be the total opposite direction for me," he apologized for not being able to help. I waved him off.

"It's fine, I understand, don't worry, I'll take a taxi," he thanked me before leaving the house.

I stood up and kept my plates in the sink too. I thought of seeing Crystal and check on her. Tom had told me the password to the lock-in case I wanted to go down in the basement. I made my way towards the room where Crystal was staying in and entered inside. I found Sam sitting beside her and reading her a book. He had his coat hanging behind his chair, a muffler around his neck, and was wearing a black-high neck. He always looked so young, and that made me wonder how old was he?

I still didn't know how he'll react after he practically told me to go away from here.

He sensed my presence and glanced at me sideways. He got silent and stopped reading.

I stood beside him quietly and observed Crystal. She looked better from yesterday, but her scars looked more clear. There was slight awkwardness in the air, which I so wanted to clear, but my ego stopped me from doing so.

"Sorry"

I heard a soft voice. It was almost so light that I would have missed it if not for the deadly silence in the room.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked, wanting to hear it again so that I can make sure that I didn't dream it.

Sam sighed heavily, "I said I am sorry, I shouldn't have behaved that way last night," there was sincerity in his voice that made me believe him.

"It's fine, I also shouldn't have crossed my line," he nodded, and that was it. He was back to his arrogant self, and that was my cue to leave as I knew I wasn't getting anything else from him.

"Then guess, I'll leave," I said as I turned towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Sam's called out from behind. He turned towards me, his eyebrows twitched upwards in confusion, but his eyes still looked blank.

"I am going home," I told him,

Sam stood up and took his coat from behind the chair. He wore it and wrapped the muffler around his neck tightly. Sam passed by me and said, "I'll drop you,"

Sam left the room. I stared at the space where he was a few seconds dumbly.

Well, it's first.

I went outside to catch up with Sam.

"You know there's no need for it," I told him as we stood together in the lift. Sam didn't reply.

"Hello? Am I being ignored here?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face. Sam pushed my hand aside.

"Just take it as my apology for last night," he said in a bored voice like he's doing me a favor.

I so wanted to tell him. I didn't need his help but stopped myself as I needed a free ride home.

"Whatever," I knew that was a lame comeback, but I couldn't find anything else to say.

Sam smirked at my lack of response. I huffed and walked out the lift; he sped up his pace and went outside.

I first went upstairs to take my essentials and an extra coat - just in case if it was too cold outside. In a hurry, my leg slipped on the last step of the stairs, and I fell flat on my ass. I winced in pain as my ankle twisted, and my back hit the corner of the stairs. I got up with a limp. After twisting my ankle a few times, the pain went away. When I went outside, I put on the coat as the cold winds swerved, and I shivered in the cold. I found an Audi 8 parked outside and was frozen in my place, admiring the beauty with a hanging mouth. I came out of my reverie as Sam kept blaring car honk, making me irritated.

"I'm coming. I'm coming." I got inside the car and glared at him.

"Don't give me that look. Where were you stuck?" Sam spoke gruffly.

"I went to take my belongings," I explained to him.

"Couldn't you do that earlier" He rolled his eyes. I gaped at him, annoyed at his behavior.

"I didn't ask you to drop me. You can still go back; I can go on my own," I crossed my arms over my chest and looked out of the window angrily.

"Whatever," he gs me the same I gave him earlier, and this time I smirked at his lack of response.

He is so bipolar.

Sam started the engine and asked me for my address. I gave it, and he put it on Google maps and starts driving. For the rest of the ride, I kept silent and admired the scenery - clad in sheets of snow - through the window.

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