If you haven’t read Part One, you can do so here. Last week, you guys chose to have the characters check out the banging by the window. Here is part two.

Another banging at the window came, shaking the wooden boards that held it together. Luna shrank back stepping away from the window while Alex grabbed a poker from the fireplace and pointed it toward the window. Felix watched this with wide eyes before holding a hand up motioning for her to stand down.

He crept to the window and peered above the board that covered most of the glass. He saw nothing. He ducked lower and peered before the plank.

Felix turned back around with a shrug. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried that the banging must have just been the bugs or maybe the wind.

Alex let the poker go lip, her face twisting in frustration. Luna looked as though she were about to pass out.

None of them spoke a word or dared to breathe loudly. There still could have been something out there, but no one was willing to suggest it out loud.

“I know you’re in there.”

Felix looked back over his shoulder at the window. He heard Luna gasp from behind and Alex possibly take out another tool from the fireplace. He crept closer to the window.

“If you want to live, follow me.”

Felix furrowed his brows. He couldn’t make out who was standing outside. The window was tinted with dust and there was only a small crack at the bottom, Felix could barely hear him speak.

“If you want to live,” the voice said louder, “follow me.”

He walked away from the window and Felix turned to the girls. “Did you hear that?” he said quietly.

Alex nodded.

“You’re not going out there, are you?” Luna asked, stepping forward.

Felix shrugged. “This could be someone in the same boat as us. Someone who can help.”

“Or it could be a trap,” Alex suggested.

“He could have sent the bugs,” Luna added.

“I don’t think anyone can really ‘send bugs,'” Alex said, rolling her eyes.

Luna glared at her. “Have you seen the size of those things? They’re not normal. Something altered their DNA or their mechanical. And where did they all come from?”

“Bugs lay eggs and nearly 100,000 of them are born,” Alex stated.

“You know what I mean,”

“Girls,” Felix interjected, putting a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “I’m going to go outside and check what’s going on.”

“Don’t you dare,” Luna snapped.

“Alright,” Alex agreed. Luna shot her another glare, though the new friend just shrugged in response.

“We haven’t heard any buzzing in a bit, so I’m thinking the bugs moved on to a new location. Let me just see what this guy wants. He might be able to help us,” Felix explained in an attempt to convince his sister.

Luna shook her head. “Or he could just be trying to kick us out of our hideout so he can have it to himself.”

“Oh, please. This is the worst possible shelter,” Alex grunted.

Felix, ignoring Alex, looked Luna in the eyes. “I will be right back. I promise.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned his back and exited the house closing the door behind him. Luna stared at the door as though it would open back up immediately. She looked over at Alex, who sat dwn on the couch.

Alex shrugged. “And now we wait.”

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Felix propped a couple chairs against the front door and wiped his hands on his pants. Dust flew around the room with any sudden movement they made and the house they ran into was filthy. It was clearly abandoned a long time ago. At least, he hoped it was… the last thing he needed was a stranger popping out.

“How about the couch?” Luna asked. She stood in the middle of the room hugging herself. She shivered with nerves but her face flushed with heat.

“The chairs should be enough for now. We might need the couch for later.” Felix replied. “Besides, this might be an okay play to stay the night. You can sleep on the couch. You’d be most comfortable there.”

Luna glanced down at the couch and gave it a disgusted look. It was leather, but the holster was scratched up as though a monster had come through and destroyed it. She wasn’t even sure what color the couch was supposed to be – brown, maybe? Whatever it was, it was faded. There was a thin layer of dust covering the whole surface of it as well.

“We have to make due, Luna.” Felix said exasperated. He knew exactly what his twin sister was thinking from the look on her face.

“Are we going to die?” Luna blurted.

Felix swallowed a lump in his throat. He didn’t know how to answer that. He wanted to tell her no, they weren’t going to die. However, their house and hometown were destroyed. They were on the move with no where to go. They had no money, no food, and this was the best shelter they could find. They haven’t come across another human in days. At least, Felix thought it was days. He had lost track of time.

There were no more days, only darkness. Whatever caused the bugs to come, it blocked out the sun somehow. It was hard to tell if there were clouds in the sky or if it were the bugs.

“You’re not answering me.” Luna sighed. She sat down on the couch. The cushion sunk pretty low but for some reason she didn’t even care.

“I don’t have an answer for you.” Felix shrugged. “I’d like to say we’re going to be fine, but mom and dad and… I just don’t know. I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Luna buried her face in her hands for a moment. She drew in a deep breath and then looked back up. She cracked a smile. “We’re going to be okay.” She said. She stood and walked over to the window. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and wiped away some dirt on the window. The bugs were swarming all around the house. There weren’t going anywhere for a long time. “Someone needs to contain them.”

“Who?” Felix asked. Now he sat down on the couch. He nearly fell over when the cushion sunk so low and he grabbed hold of the edge to balance.

“I don’t know. There must be some military or police around, right?” Luna asked. She hugged herself watching the bugs, listening to the buzzing getting louder and louder as they flew above the house.

“I hope so.”

“Are they following us? I feel like we haven’t been able to lose them at all.”

“They’re attracted to something.”

Luna jumped at hearing a strange voice. Felix too jumped from the couch and stood beside his sister. A young woman emerged from the other room.

“What they’re attracted to, I have no idea. I’ve been holed up in this house for a long time.”

“We’re sorry, we didn’t know anyone was here.” Felix apologized.

“No need to be sorry,” she shook her head. “We’re all in this together. It’s not like I’m going to toss you out and make you find a different shelter.” She smirked. “I’m Alex.”

“Thank you,” Felix said with a sigh of relief. “I’m Felix and this is my sister Luna.” Luna gave Alex a small wave.

“How far have you guys come? Is it just the two of you?” Alex asked. She walked over to the window and looked out.

“Just us, unfortunately. We’ve been walking for days. We’re not really sure how far we’ve come.” Luna explained.

“You and me both. I’ve been here for a while but I’m sure I’m a long way from home.” Alex stated. “It was quiet here and I wasn’t sure what to do next or where to go. I waited too long though and then the bugs made it here. They’re on the move, but like I said, I don’t know why. I don’t know what they’re trying to get to.”

“I wish we knew where they came from.” Luna added. “Maybe we could herd them back to where they came from or catch them or something.”

“There’s too many to catch. They’re too big to herd.” Felix countered with a shake of his head.

“We can’t squish them so the only thing I can think of is the light.” Alex said.

“The light?” Luna repeated turning her attention to the stranger.

“Think about it,” Alex began to explain, “the sun was blocked out as soon as the bugs came. I’m not sure if that’s coincidental or not. I’m not sure if it’s the bugs’ fault. But I know there are some bugs that are attracted to light and they bring themselves death by getting zapped. If we brought the sun back, then maybe the bugs would disappear or disintegrate or something.”

Felix hummed to himself. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”

“But how in the world are we going to bring the sun back?” Luna sighed.

Felix turned to Alex. “Have you thought further on your idea at all?”

Alex shrugged her shoulders. “Well, that’s the problem. I have no idea how to get the sun back. But maybe, now that there’s three of us, we can think of something together.”

A banging came at the window causing the three of them to jump.

Words: 1,005

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Penny walked into her local coffee shop. The café had just opened about five minutes ago and the line was already nearly out the door. Everyone was on their way to work or school so most of the tables were vacant. Penny loved coming at this time of the day because there was a certain buzz around the coffee shop. It was loud, but it was almost like white noise. It wasn’t difficult to concentrate. She loved the aroma of the café between the various flavors of coffees being made along with the freshly baked pastries.

She claimed her usual table by the window across from the main counter where people ordered their drinks. She took her laptop out of her bag as well as a notebook and a couple of pens. She had a lot to get done today. Her boyfriend had taken the day off from work so he was home and still sleeping. Penny wanted to have some peace and quiet to work on her writing without her boyfriend nagging her to hang out with him and go out and do something. She’d get herself a coffee, write a couple thousand words, and then head home with a pastry for him. Then they could spend the rest of the day together.

It was six o’clock in the morning and she knew he wasn’t going to be awake for another two or three hours anyway. They’d have the whole day ahead of themselves and she’d be able to get her writing time in.

Penny sat down opening her laptop and turning it on. She was thinking about getting a scone but decided to settle for just a coffee for the moment. Her stomach was starting to rumble with all the smells around her. Hearing other people say their orders and receive their drinks, Penny was beginning to wonder what kind of drink she wanted to get. Her boyfriend always got the same thing whenever they got coffee. He was pretty easy but Penny enjoyed a wide variety. It always took her a little while to figure out what she wanted to get. She never really ordered the same thing twice in one week. Of course, the holidays were upon her which meant the winter drinks were out. There were so many good flavors that she wasn’t sure what she wanted to get this morning.

An older gentleman moved out of line after ordering and paying for his drink. The cashier behind the counter puffed his cheeks out in a breath. Penny and him locked eyes and she they smiled and waved to each other right before the next customer got in their line of sight and began to order their own drink.

Penny looked to the door and noticed the line was now inside the café. She figured now was a good enough time as any to hop in line. She usually didn’t mind waiting for the line to die down. She was never in a rush to get her coffee and she knew she was going to be there for a while anyway that it didn’t matter if she got her coffee now or an hour into her writing time.

She was never one who needed a coffee to wake up. She was a natural early bird and only made herself a lot of coffee throughout the day because she thoroughly enjoyed the taste – and she loved holding onto a mug of coffee during the colder months because she was always cold.

The line steadily moved forward. Penny waited patiently. The smells were beginning to get to her. She had decided that she didn’t know what she wanted to get so she was going to let the man behind the counter surprise her. He knew her well enough since she was at the café just about every day. It would be interesting to see what flavor he would pick out for her.

By the time she made it to the counter, she greeted him with a smile. Though before she could give him her order – or allow him to make it for her – he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“You can move on.” He smirked.

“What?” she asked.

“Your drink has already been ordered and paid for.” He said.

Penny looked around the café and the people in line behind her were starting to look a little grumpy. She didn’t care though. She wasn’t even taking long. “What are you talking about?” she asked again.

She had heard of people paying it forward but she had never imagined that it would happen to her. Usually when someone paid for a drink it was then honored by that person paying for the next one and so on, right? Penny took out the money from her wallet anyway. This was the point of paying it forward, wasn’t it?

“Okay, then here’s a medium for the guy behind me.” She said and noticed a smile go across the gentleman’s face who stood in line behind her.

The cashier chuckled. “Thanks for paying it forward, but I think your boyfriend was just trying to surprise you.” He took the money and put it in the cash register. Then he waved her on again.

Penny looked over her shoulder and sure enough Oliver, her boyfriend, was sitting at her table. He was sipping a coffee and there was a festive cup beside her laptop.

Her jaw dropped and waved a goodbye to the cashier. “Oliver?” she said as she made it back to her table and sat down.

“I got you a peppermint, hope that’s okay. I don’t think you’ve gotten that kind this week.” Oliver grinned.

“Nope,” Penny smiled and took a sip. “Oh, this is so good. Thanks for this.”

“Of course,”

“But what are you doing here? You were sleeping when I left.” Penny inquired.

“I pretended to be asleep. I wanted to surprise you. I want to spend the day together, but I know you want to get this done. I brought a book.” Oliver pointed to a book on the table.

Penny nodded. “Okay, fair enough. Well, I’m happy to have you here with me.”

“Me too.”

“How’d you sneak into the café though? I didn’t see you at all. I was watching the line.” Penny said.

“You weren’t watching it close enough,” Oliver laughed. “I was right in front of you a couple of times and you looked right past me. You hopped in line while I waited for the drinks. Then I sat down and waited for you to get through the line.”

Penny pouted. “You made me wait in line all that time even though you had my drink ready and waiting for me?”

Oliver chuckled and took a sip of his own drink without a reply.

Words: 1,136

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Ellie headed down the street not really sure where she was going. The day hadn’t started off well for her when she woke up late, thus making her late for working. In fact, she didn’t notice it until her partner at work had called her wondering where she was. So, she went into work late and had decided to stay late, but the case she was working on wrapped up. It didn’t end in the way she had expected, in the way she had hoped. In fact, the case ended in such a depressing way that, despite scolding her for being late earlier, Ellie’s boss had let her go home early.

Ellie was still a fairly new officer. She had seen many things happen and had worked on a good amount of cases. However, she had by far seen everything. People were mean and they were weird. The cases were bizarre and didn’t make sense half of the time. After each case, she always thought they could never get any worse and they always did.

She was a hard worker and she was good at what she did. Ellie and her partner worked well together. They made a good team and always had each other’s backs. It was easy for them to split up their workload and they each had designated things to do whenever they worked a case together. Ellie was the better observer while her partner, Jim, was a better conversationalist. Usually, Ellie would investigate the crime scene and Jim would talk to any witnesses and get victim statements. He was more empathetic than she was anyway so it was easier for him to do rather than for her to talk to people. She enjoyed collecting the evidence and the sight of blood or dead bodies didn’t bother her in the slightest.

This case was different though. It hit close to home for her. The next-door neighbor at Ellie’s parents’ house, the home and neighborhood she grew up in, had died. She was an elderly woman who had watched Ellie and her siblings grow up. They played a lot with her children and Ellie even babysat her grandchildren.

Ellie’s boss didn’t want her on the case because it was personal for her, but Ellie insisted. She knew she would be able to keep her emotions in check and she did. She was mourning the death of her old neighbor, but that wasn’t why her day was so bad. It wasn’t why her boss was sympathetic and had let Ellie go home early. In fact, her boss never let anyone go home early. It was part of the job and Ellie knew that. Normally Ellie wouldn’t have left her shift early, but this really bothered her.

Ellie was always observant and never missed anything. She did this time, however. Her neighbor’s killer – her own daughter – was just proven innocent because of piece of evidence Ellie had missed. Sure, part of it was the detective on the case and the defense attorney was strong and determined to get the woman Ellie grew up with and played with as a child off free.

While she knew it wasn’t completely her fault, the other officers and detectives missed the key piece of evidence as well. Ellie still took the blame. It was bad enough that her childhood friend had murdered her own mother, but what was worse was that now she had to go the rest of her life not knowing why. Of course, she wasn’t going to admit it now that she was proven innocent so there was no way Ellie could figure out the motive. She wanted to keep investigating but part of her knew it would be a waste of time.

Her boss even warned her of that as well. It was part of the reason she let Ellie take the rest of the day off. She didn’t want Ellie to feel tempted to keep investigating even though there was plenty of other work that needed to be done and other cases that needed to be solved.

Ellie made it over to the park and she sat down on the bench in the middle of it. A few families were there with their children. Some were having picnics while others were playing on the playground or simply going for a walk. The air was a bit nippy and Ellie was beginning to get cold, but she didn’t want to move from her spot. She remembered her neighbor taking her to this park a couple of times with her daughters. They had a lot of fun together.

It was weird to think back to those times, especially since at the time, they had no idea things would end up this way. Ellie watched the other families gather together and have a nice time and she wondered what went wrong between her neighbor’s family. What made her daughter snap? Her neighbor was in her 90s. What was the point of murdering her? It broke Ellie’s heart that it was a daughter who killed her own mother. She couldn’t imagine it.

No, none of the cases that Ellie had ever worked had bothered her. They were sad and they were out there sometimes, but Ellie was always able to keep a straight face. She knew this was part of the job and she felt bad for the people involved, but she needed to do her job and that was that. Sure, she knew these people personally, but she wondered how she would have felt if she didn’t know them. She wondered how different things would be right now.

Ellie would still feel bad, but at least she would have been at work right now working on the next case. That’s what she did as a cop. She moved on from one case to the next and always hoped for the best. It was just part of the job.

That’s what she was going to have to do for the next case. She would start that tomorrow though.

Words: 1,005

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“So, where do we go from here?” Matt asked. He leaned against the kitchen counter staring at his girlfriend stirring a pot of boiling water. “Also, what are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” Anna replied shaking her head. She was staring deeply into the pot and put the wooden spoon down. Then she opened a package of penne pasta and dumped it all in.

“You don’t know what you’re doing with cooking? Or where we go from here?” Matt wondered aloud.

“Both.” Anna shrugged. She watched the pasta foam and simmer down as she stirred it again.

“Would you like me to cook?” Matt asked with a hint of caution in his tone. He wasn’t sure what was bothering Anna but she was normally a great cook and she certainly seemed to be a bit off tonight.

“Nah, I got it.” Anna said. She put the spoon back down and turned around to face him. “So, you want to talk about it?”

“I think we should. We kind of have to. I’m not really sure what the right thing to do is.” Matt stated. He looked over his shoulder through the archway into the living room, but nothing was there. “Is Phil in the bathroom?”

“I think he’s taking a shower.” Anna replied. “I feel like this is something we need to talk to Phil about as well. It can’t just be us.”

“I know, but we should come up with some sort of plan. I mean, what if we talk to him and he sucks us back in?” Matt countered. “Your brother said he was only going to be here for a week and it’s been three months. He needs to move on. He needs to be an adult. Get a job and get his own place.”

Anna sighed. “I know, I know… I just hate seeing my younger brother go through this, you know?”

“I get that. I love Phil like my own brother, trust me. I’d do anything for him, but it’s getting to the point where I feel like we’re enabling him more so than helping you.” Matt explained.

“I agree,” Anna said nodding her head.

“So, I believe we should come up with some sort of plan – maybe two – and then either give him the options or just tell him like it is.” Matt said firmly.

“Alright. What do you propose?”

“I have no idea.”

“So, then…?”

“I was hoping you’d have some ideas.”

“Ideas for what?” Phil entered the kitchen. He immediately went over to the fridge and took out a carton of milk. Instead of getting a glass, he opened the carton and chugged it.

Anna put a hand on Matt’s shoulder when he noticed him getting tense. He looked as though he was about to blow. She knew it bothered Matt to no end when people drank out of the carton, especially in someone else’s home.

“Phil,” Matt said waving an okay to Anna. She turned her attention back to the stove not wanting to have anything to do with this conversation.

“What?” Phil replied. He took another swig of milk and then put it back into the fridge.

“Anna and I were just discussing your… situation. You know, the job and apartment hunting? How’s that going?” Matt began. He wanted to give Phil a deadline, an ultimatum, or something. Since he didn’t get a chance to talk it over with Anna first though, he needed to improvise.

“How’s it going?” Phil repeated. He glanced at the ceiling and hummed to himself. “It’s not, I guess. I didn’t realize I had to.”

Anna turned around and glared at her brother. “What do you mean you didn’t realize you had to?”

Matt put a hand on her shoulder. Usually it was him who lost his temper. He didn’t want Anna to start yelling at his brother. He wasn’t in the mood to have a rift in his own home between his wife and brother in law. Anna swatted his hand away though.

“Well, I’m here so I don’t need a place to live. You guys own the house so I don’t have any bills to pay. So, why do I need to get a job?” Phil asked.

Anna’s jaw dropped and Matt stepped in front of her.

“Phil, I think you’re missing the point… this house belongs to us, yes, and we’ve been kind to let you stay here, but we agreed it would be temporary. You said you were going to look for a job and then look for an apartment after. We can’t keep paying for your stuff. You need to take care of yourself.” Matt explained as calmly as he could. He wanted to blow his top at Phil but it was clear he needed to keep Anna’s temper in check as well.

“Oh, well you didn’t tell me that part.” Phil said with a shrug.

“Phillip! You’re an adult! You should have already known that especially since you told us you’d only be living with us for a week.” Anna snapped. “I love having you here. Really, I do. But you need to take care of yourself, like Matt said, and honestly, Matt and I need some space.”

Phil looked between his sister and Matt. He grinned and winked at Matt. “Oh, okay. I get what you mean.”

Anna glowered at him. “No, that’s not what I meant at all and you know it.”

Phil held his hands up in surrender. “No worries, Anna. I’ll get out of your hair soon. I just have a quick question…”

“What is it?” Matt asked.

The boiling pot of pasta hissed as the water poured out of the top. Anna turned around and turned the burner off before looking back at her brother.

“How do I go about getting a job? I’ve never really had one before.” Phil stated.

“You’ve gone on plenty of interviews, Phil. You’ve just never stuck around a job long enough to know what it’s all about.” Anna sighed.

“All the jobs I’ve had were boring. I didn’t want to stay there.”

“My job is boring too, but it’s a paycheck that pays for his house and food and clothes and everything else Anna and I need.” Matt explained.

Phil rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh. So, I guess that’s why Ashley broke up with me and took the apartment, huh?”

Anna nodded. “She couldn’t count on you.”

Matt took his laptop off the kitchen table and handed it to Phil. “Use this and search for a job. I want to sit down with you tonight with at least five job options and we’ll work together to submit your resume.”

Phil took the laptop and nodded. He left the room without another word.

“I’m sorry.” Anna muttered.

“Why are you sorry?” Matt asked.

“I didn’t realize he was dumb and actually thought we were going to let him freeload from us for the rest of his life.” Anna explained.

Matt put his hands in his pockets and raised his shoulders. “Well, all we can do now is help steer him in the right direction. He’ll be fine and so will we.” He kissed Anna on the cheek.

Anna smiled at him. She strained the pasta over the sink and dumped it back into the pot. “Can you get the milk, please?”

“You mean the one that has your brother’s germs all over it?” Matt grunted. He opened the fridge and picked up the carton. He let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asked.

Matt tossed the milk into the trash. “It’s empty.” He grabbed his car keys. “I’ll be back… do we need anything else other than milk?”

“Pop-Tarts?” Anna said sheepishly.

Matt shook his head. “No, I hid those from him.”

“Yeah… he found them.”

Matt sighed. “I’ll be back…”

Words: 1,304

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