Noxious

40 | dust settles

Charly 

I spun around at the voice. 

My heart beat wildly at the sight of a double-barrel shotgun pointed directly at us. Tommy and Rowan froze as their eyes landed on it as well. We were still crouched down, in awkward positions, but we didn't dare move. 

How crazy could this night get? 

For a second, none of us breathed. There was a faint trail of light from around the corner of the room where a single kitchen light buzzed, but it provided no other details of the person in front of us. 

I was silently panicked. 

Kyle seemed to debate about his next move until he was slowly rising to his feet with his hands raised. I wanted to yell at him, what if the person was trigger happy? 

I wouldn't know what to do if one of us got shot. 

When nothing happened, only the barrel of the gun raised to match Kyle's position since he was in front of us now, Tommy and Rowan slowly stood as well. I was afraid to until Tommy reached down with an outstretched hand. 

I took his hand and he gently helped me up. He positioned himself in front of me, as if he expected the worst thing possible to happen, and he had decided to protect me first. In that moment, Tommy was acting like my older brothers. 

"Stop!" 

My eyes snapped back to the person. I furrowed my brows as I caught the higher pitch of the voice. I didn't realize Kyle had inched forward. 

"We're not here to hurt anyone," Kyle explained, "We just--"

"Then what are you doing here?" It was definitely a female voice that demanded answers, the barrel of the shotgun unwavering through the shadows that surrounded us, "Why are you breaking in?" 

Even in the dark, I saw her shift to her right. Her hand reached out and touched the wall. It clicked in my head a second too late. 

"Don't--" 

Kyle tried to warn her but the lights flickered on over our heads. 

Those next few seconds were a blur to me. I was partially blinded from running the dark for so long and then abruptly exposed to fluorescent lights. 

Kyle sprung forward and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun. Tommy left my side, I could literally feel the whoosh of air from how fast he moved, and then the lights were off again. 

Rowan had moved closer to me when the darkness cloaked the room. 

There was a lot of grunting and cursing as bodies hit the floor and rolled. Something glass shattered and there was a screech of a wooden stand being shoved into.

I couldn't see what was happening, my eyes were burning and I could see little white stars in the corners. The light could be very disorientating. 

I assumed Kyle and Tommy were wrestling with the girl. I knew she was because for that brief moment the lights had been on, I saw her long curly hair and bright green eyes. There were only a few more seconds of struggle until Kyle spoke. 

"Stop, we're not trying to hurt you," He said, sternly.

Rowan only left my side to snatch the shotgun away from the girl and then he returned. It almost reminded me of a guard dog, though I didn't think that lowly of my brother anymore. He had a heart of gold. 

I could faintly see them in the dark again. Tommy was trapping the girl's legs and Kyle was straddling her torso as he held her wrists against the floor. I couldn't see her but she kept struggling with the belief she could overpower two males.