Damian’s hands were trembling from anger and fear. He turned his face away from the others, toward Theodore and Blake. His whole body was shaking, and the embarrassment on his face was impossible to hide.
Theodore and Blake gently patted his shoulder and guided him to sit on the bed.
Theodore knelt in front of him, lowering his voice.
“You know… you can talk to us,” he said calmly. “Carrying everything alone isn’t the best idea.”
He began to stand up, giving Damian space, but Damian suddenly spoke.
“It’s something I’ve had ever since I was twelve.”
The room fell quiet.
Mr. Charles stood near the doorway, clearly unsure what to do. He didn’t want to interfere, but the little kindness in his heart wouldn’t let him ignore the boy either. After a moment, he walked in and handed Damian a glass of water.
Damian looked at him, confused.
The girls smiled reassuringly as if to say it’s okay.
He took the glass and sipped slowly.
“Thank you.”
Mr. Charles nodded once. “Kid, you need to rest.” Then he quietly left the room and headed upstairs.
A moment later the girls stepped inside too.
Damian looked at the broken vase pieces scattered on the floor.
“Sorry… I’ll clean it.”
“It’s fine,” Lily said gently, crouching down to pick up the shards.
“Careful,” Sienna added. “Let me help.”
Together they cleared the broken pieces. No one pressured Damian to speak. No one rushed him, when the floor was finally clean, they all sat on the bed.
It was silent, Blake looked around awkwardly.
“So…”
No one responded. Damian rubbed the back of his neck.
“Sorry again,” he muttered.
Then he looked at Theodore and spoke, “I’ve been carrying this trauma for twelve years. I stopped seeing my psychiatrist a while ago.”
He took another sip of water.
“I had a little brother. He was five years younger than me… he was seven back then.”
His voice softened.
“We used to play hide and seek all the time. One day he asked me to play… but I ignored him and went to play with my friends instead.”
A faint smile flickered across his face.
“He joined us anyway. Everyone loved him… they were always sweet to him.”
The smile faded.
“I was jealous.... — Jealous that he was my brother so no one can get close to him. Jealous that he got more attention than me.”
His fingers tightened around the glass.
“One time I was the seeker. I saw him hiding behind a door and I told him ‘I see you.’”
Damian exhaled slowly. “He started crying because I found him too quickly.”
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
“So after that… whenever we played… I would always find him last. Even if I saw him first.”
His eyes drifted somewhere far away.
“His smile… was the sweetest.”
The room remained silent.
“That day we were playing near a garage,” Damian continued. “I saw him hiding behind a truck. But instead of tagging him… I went looking for the others first.”
His breathing became heavier.
“Then I saw a man getting into the truck.”
Damian’s voice trembled.
“I ran to stop him… the truck driver had his stupid headset on…”
He stopped speaking as everyone understood what came next.
Damian’s jaw clenched. “The driver started the truck.” his voice cracked.
“I shouted my brother’s name. He turned to look at me… and I told him to move away.”
His fists tightened.
“But it was too late. DAMN IT!”
His shout echoed through the room.
“I can still hear him crying,” Damian whispered. “I hear his voice all the time.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“If I had run faster… if I had just caught him first…”
Theodore placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Guilt has a cruel way of convincing us we had control over things we never did,” he said quietly. “You didn’t cause what happened.”
Damian looked at him and he smiled faintly, but something in his eyes was still unsteady. 107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7dbG5632Q
“Some memories don’t fade,” Raven said softly. “You don’t get to forget them. You just learn how to live with the noise… and eventually the silence feels empty without it.”
Damian’s eyes glistened.
“Who would have thought,” he murmured, “that I’d meet such rare souls here… People usually just make me feel worse, always blamed me.”
Lily’s eyes were teary as she reached forward and took his hand.
“You were a very good brother,” she said gently. “You’re confident, strong, and always leading us. Your brother would be proud of you.”
Sienna and Blake stayed quiet, but they nodded in agreement.
For a while they simply talked—small conversations, random jokes—anything to keep the room feeling lighter. No one mentioned the danger outside.
Eventually Blake stretched his arms. “Do you think we should cook something? The couple hasn’t come down at all.”
Sienna raised an eyebrow. “Do you even know how to cook?”
Blake gasped dramatically. “Hey! Don’t underestimate the MasterChef.”
Everyone laughed.
“No seriously,” Blake insisted. “I was actually on MasterChef once.”
That only made them laugh harder.
“Well Raven cooks for a living,” Sienna teased. “Maybe she should make dinner.”
Theodore looked genuinely impressed. “You cook?”
“For a living,” Raven nodded.
“Yeah right,” Theodore scoffed. “At least you cook instead of ordering takeout.” He shot Lily a side-eye.
She gasped. “HEY! Your cooking is terrible, okay? That’s why we order takeout!”
More laughter filled the room. Blake then turned to Damian, “What about you? Can you cook?”
Damian thought for a moment. “Not really… I helped my mom once though.”
He shrugged, “It turned out pretty good.”
Raven suddenly stood up, “Should we ask if we can use the kitchen?”
Theodore stood too “Let’s go.”
As they stepped outside the room, the rest of them laughed softly as Blake shrugged, “They get along well.”
“We heard you,” Raven called from the hallway. Laughter echoed behind them.
“I’ll ask,” Raven whispered. “You just give your innocent smile.”
“Innocent smile?” Theodore blinked, confused.
They walked upstairs. One door was closed. Another room glowed with warm light.
Raven knocked and then Mr. Charles opened the door and looked at them suspiciously.
“What’s going on?”
“Can we use your kitchen to cook dinner?” Raven asked politely.
Beside her, Theodore gave the most exaggerated innocent smile he could manage.
Mr. Charles stared at him.
“Sure?…That’s creepy, kid.”
Raven burst into laughter, Theodore turned red instantly.
“Thank you,” he said quickly. “Please rest while we prepare dinner for you and Mrs. Patricia.”
Then he hurried downstairs.
Raven smiled warmly and gave a small bow. “See you later.”
Back in the room, they signaled a thumbs up so everyone got up and headed toward the kitchen.
Blake cleared his throat dramatically, “Ahem. The menu for tonight…” He folded his arms like a professional chef, “Fried rice… with some curry.”
“Some curry?” Lily teased.
The kitchen quickly filled with chatter, laughter, and the clatter of utensils. It had been a messy, terrifying day.
But somehow, the night ended with warmth.
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and then Add to home screen.