Masks are Greater than Sunglasses [ COMPLETE ]

three - the most dangerous attacker... younger brothers

- Rya -

The drive home feels ten times longer than usual. Granted at least once I pulled over to rest my head on the steering wheel, overwhelmed with alternating washes of pain and alarm leftover from my earlier encounter. Okay, it was twice, maybe three times, and it probably didn't help that I sat locked in my car for twenty minutes in the dark city street waiting for my headache to subside.

But at least it's over.

I arrive at my house exhausted, ready to fall into my bed and sleep forever. I push all thoughts of muggings and Supers out of my head. I can't think about that anymore tonight. Or ever. 

Practically falling up the steps from exhaustion, I slip through the front door. My hopes of sneaking quickly upstairs are dashed as soon as I enter, two small figures launch themselves at me. The two chattering hooligans that are my twin brothers surround me, bouncing with energy.

"Rya, Rya! How was your track meet?" Riker questions, trying to grab my sleeve. I hold him at arm's length, eyeing his dirt-smudged uniform and hands sticky with some unknown food.

Reiss chimes in too, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Yeah, did you run soooo fast?"

I laugh despite my exhaustion. These two and their boundless energy can always make me smile. At least until they start acting too much like the fifth-grade boys they are.

"You know I did! I kicked some ass!" I give the boys high fives, surreptitiously whipping my hand on my jacket after Rikers. A chastising yell comes from the living room and My mom waltzes into the entry way, hands on her hips.

She gives me a stern 'you know we're trying to keep the boys from anything that resembles cussing at all' look. But after a moment she smiles at me, wrapping her arms around me in a warm embrace that makes all of the stress of the day fade into the background, "There's leftovers in the kitchen if you're hungry. I'm sorry we couldn't make it to your meet and the boys' soccer game on the same night."

"It's okay," I smile as she lets go of me. Swinging around and making a b-line for the food with two little shadows trailing me. As I load up a plate with food, I look over at the boys who are now jumping around in the dining room, "How did you do?"

"We won." They chorus. Riker freezing in the midst of jumping from one kitchen chair to another, Reiss trying to tag him. 

They slide into chairs as I walk to the table. For the next thirty minutes, I get a play by play of every goal the boys made. Their palpable excitement seeps into me, relieving my stress, and almost making me forget about the events of the night. Almost.

By the time my mom manages to pry the twins away and send them off to bed, it's nearly midnight. My head spins with exhaustion as I climb the stairs to my room. Even through the bone numbing tiredness, I can't help but laugh as the twins raised voices echo down the hall, arguing over who scored the 'awesomest goal' tonight. 

My door swings open under my touch, I drop my bag to the ground and flop onto my bed. Whipping out my phone and checking the notifications, a string of texts and snapchats greets me and I groan in exasperation. I press my face into the pillow, unwilling to make an effort to change into pajamas or even plug in my phone.

"How's your head?" A voice calls from the other side of the room.

I shoot up from my bed and grab the nearest heavy object, an English textbook, abandoned on my bed in the middle of trying to read Act 3 of Macbeth. My makeshift weapon raised, I scan the room and see a shadow figure lounging in my desk chair. I appraise the intruder, he's wearing a nondescript gray suit, with black stitching and accents. The suit looks more stable, made with Kevlar panels rather than spandex. And of course his face is completely covered with a gray hooded mask.