Family?

Back at home, Elara ran straight to the bathroom, grumbling to herself.

"I’m taking a shower. I don’t even want to think about how dirty those guys were when they touched me..."

Raze followed her, curious. "You still haven’t told us what they did to you. What were they after?"

Dorian, who had been watching all this unfold, couldn’t help but laugh. "Maybe they were looking for a circus clown. Seems to fit."

Elara groaned. "Great. My brothers are just as bad as my enemies. Thanks, universe."

As she stood in the shower, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. She remembered the men talking about her purple eye, but why were they so obsessed with it? Purple eyes weren’t that rare, so what made her different?

Could there be more to her powers than they knew?

A knock on the bathroom door startled her.

"Who’s there?" she shouted.

Dorian’s voice came from the other side. "Relax, crazy. I’m just checking if you’re still alive. You’ve been in there forever. Don’t you want to come out?"

"Forever? I just got in!" Elara replied, confused.

Dorian groaned. "Cut the drama and come out already."

When she finally stepped out, Elara caught sight of herself in the mirror. Something didn’t feel right—her veins in her left eye were bulging for a moment, then stopped. She stepped back, startled, but shook it off, thinking it was just from the hot water.

Still uneasy, she walked out to find her brothers waiting, smirking at her.

She glared at them, hands on her hips. "What’s so funny?! Why are you laughing at me?! Did I mess up somehow?!"

Dorian, still laughing, pointed at her. "sweetie... you put your clothes on inside out. Seventeen years old and still dressing backwards!"

Raze, trying not to laugh, said simply, "Go fix your outfit, squirt. We’ve got stuff to talk about."

Frustrated, Elara stormed off to her room, pouting like a child. But a few minutes later, she came back out, properly dressed—still hoping for a little sympathy from her brothers.

She got none.

Raze motioned for her to sit down. "Elara, sit. Tell us everything you can remember."

Sighing, Elara sat beside him, resting her chin in her hand. "Well… from the moment I woke up, I heard something about my eye. They kept talking about how it’s purple... They were planning to sell me."

Raze furrowed his brow. "That doesn’t add up. Why would anyone want to sell you just because of your eye?"
Raze narrowed his eyes. “Something doesn’t add up. Why would they want to sell you just because of your purple eyes?”

Dorian crossed his arms, thoughtful. “Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe there’s more to this little one’s power than we know.” He tapped Elara on the nose, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Elara, clearly annoyed, snapped, "Dorian! Stop messing with my brain, you big idiot!"

Dorian, still chuckling, grinned. "I can’t help it. Your brain’s so small, there’s not much space for me to get in!"

Once, Dorian laughed so hard he actually died—and then came back to life.

Elara stood up, storming to her room and slamming the door shut behind her.

Raze glanced at Dorian, a knowing look in his eyes.
"You went too far this time."

Dorian shrugged, a playful grin on his face. "So what? I mess with her all the time, but I love her."

Raze shook his head. "Your little stunt’s going to cost us."

Dorian raised an eyebrow. "What? What did I do?"

Raze sighed. "You remember? We’ve got assignments for tomorrow."

Dorian froze for a moment, his smirk fading. "What’s our assignment got to do with Ela..."

In her room, Elara grumbled to herself, when suddenly the knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
"What is it now?"

Dorian’s voice came from the other side, full of fake sweetness. "Who’s my precious little sister? Who’s the most adorable sister in the world?"

Raze muttered under his breath. "At least keep some of your dignity, idiot."

Elara opened the door, her expression cold. "What do you want, Dorian? What’s your deal?"

Dorian, still grinning, held out a notebook filled with incomplete homework. "Come on, my cute sister wouldn't want me to fail tomorrow, right?"

Elara’s lips twisted into a wicked smile, her purple eyes gleaming. "So that’s it? You want me to do your work, then come back and tell me my brain's too small?" She crossed her arms. "You should be the one saying, ‘I messed up, my brain’s the small one,’ not me."

Dorian, never one to back down, smirked. "You messed up, and your brain’s the tiny on...."

Elara, with a swift kick to Dorian’s chin, snapped, "Don’t even think about it."
Dorian crumpled to the floor with a loud thud.

At midnight, the air had turned a bit chilly, and outside, the house was completely dark.

Elara was getting ready for bed when, once again, her eyes flickered, and for a moment, the familiar shift appeared before quickly returning to normal.

She felt a bit uneasy but, being immortal, pushed her fear aside and decided not to dwell on it.

Getting out of bed to grab a glass of water, she noticed a strange shadow on the wall—an unusually tall figure, with the lower part of its head larger than the upper.

Fear surged through her, and she took two steps back. The figure moved, causing Elara to scream, waking the entire neighborhood.

She quickly turned on the light and saw Dorian standing in front of her, his jaw clenched tightly, making him look like some kind of monster.

"Dorian!" Elara snapped. "It’s not the time for jokes and nonsense…"

"Sorry," Dorian said with a grin. "I was just looking for some band-aids for the damage you did to me."

"Do people put band-aids on their jaws?" Elara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no," Dorian admitted, "but you put them on for hand wounds." He showed her his hand, where a deep puncture had formed on his finger.

"And how exactly does this relate to me?" Elara asked, confused.

"Because I had to write my homework myself since you didn’t do it, and while writing, the pen went straight into my finger," Dorian explained.

Elara made a face, looking completely unimpressed. "Wait a second… Is that even possible?"

The sunlight filtered through the curtains, hitting Elara’s face…

She slowly began to roll around in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position. Then, with a loud shout from Dorian, she shot up, almost three meters in the air.

"Do you seriously think you’ll survive if you wake me up like a normal person just once, you useless piece of garbage?!" she yelled as she finally sat up.

Exhausted and barely awake, she stumbled into the next room. As usual, her brothers were up early, and Elara struggled to keep her eyes open.

Dorian smirked from the couch, "I swear, you’re supposed to be my sister, and you can’t even make us breakfast before school. We’re gonna starve!"

Elara was so tired that she barely registered his words. She walked straight toward the bathroom…

A few seconds later, she returned with a horrified look on her face, giving Dorian a death stare from the corner of the room.

"Did you say something, brother?" she asked with an eerie calm.

Dorian, feeling the tension, subtly and quietly placed his head back on the couch.

"Guess I got lucky," he muttered under his breath.

Elara washed her face, still staring at herself in the mirror. She noticed a small issue with her left eye and felt a flicker of fear.

As long as she knew she was immortal, there was no real reason to worry, right? Well, maybe she didn’t need to be concerned…

Just then, Raze called out from the main room.

"Come on, Elara, or we’re going to be guests at the principal’s office again!" He slammed the door shut.

Elara sighed, relieved, and left the bathroom…

But was there really nothing wrong...?