Chapter 2

Dylan and Seth sat in the diner booth, both striking a bored look on their faces. It had been half an hour since Hax had gone outside for some air, and they were starting to get hungry.  

‘Seriously, if he isn’t back in five minutes, I'm going to order without him’ said Seth, ‘I mean he just leaves us in the fucking diner to sta…‘

Seth’s train of thought rambled off when he saw the hot waitress approach them.

‘Hey, what can I get you guys?’ she asked.

 ‘Well I can’t decide what to have off the menu, but I sure as hell know what I want now.” Seth said, eyeing up the waitress making sure to pay extra attention to her arse and breasts.

‘No thanks, we are waiting for someone.’ Dylan piped in. Seth shot him a look, begging for him to have a heart, but Dylan just shook his head.

The bell above the diner door rang out. In stepped Hax and a young lady who wore a dark grey parka and black jeans.  They both walked over, the girl obviously shy about being there, and Hax made the introductions.

‘Eve, These are my brothers Dylan-’ motioning towards him, Dylan giving a smile and a nod, ‘And Seth.’

‘Why hello there, Mon Cheri.’ Seth said, trying his hardest to look seductive.

‘Umm, Hax? Can I have a word with you?’ Dylan asked, his face obvious with confusion and fear for what had become of his brother.

‘Sure,’ replied Hax ‘Eve, get whatever you want. My treat.’

Dylan and Hax both walked outside, Dylan lighting up a cigarette while Hax preferring to go with a pipe.

‘You know you look like a complete twat with that pipe.’ Dylan said

‘Don’t change the subject, what is the matter?’ Hax replied, taking puffs from his pipe as he did.

‘What’s the big idea bringing a human back here?’ Dylan questioned, reverting back to the unknown language.

‘She seems….different. Why does it matter to you?’

‘What happens if she finds out about us? Remember what happened to Andy?’

‘First of all: We were young back then. We didn’t know better.’ Hax blew a smoke ring in Dylan’s face ‘She isn’t going to be a problem. As I said, she doesn’t seem like others. Her intelligence is high; she has the cunning of a thief. She seems perfect.’

‘Yeah, perfect for you to sleep with.’

Hax shot Dylan and evil look. Dylan just chuckled.

‘Okay, but do me one favour. Think for a moment. All those traits that made her so interesting to you, when was the last time we saw someone who had those skills at a high level.’

Hax thought for a moment, and his eyes widen. ‘Inquisitors? But you know as much as I do that they died out years ago. There is no chance that-’

Hax was cut off by the sound of blood curdling screams, coming from the inside of the diner.

They both ran in to see Seth, lying on the floor, his hands cupping his groin. And there sitting at the table was Eve, happily munching away at a chicken sandwich. Dylan helped Seth to his feet, and took him to the restrooms to clean his face of the tears.

Hax sat down opposite Eve, sighed a deep sigh and asked ‘What happened?’

‘You know how I gave you that rule about no touching?’

‘Yeeaaahh?’

‘Well, your slime ball of a brother tried hitting on me.’

‘Ok, go back. Tell me the whole story.’

Eve played it back in her own mind, making sure she remembered every single detail. After Hax and Dylan left for their talk, Eve sat down across from Seth and ordered a chicken sandwich.  While she waited, Seth made small talk.

‘So, where did my wonderful older brother pick you up from?’

‘He is just helping me out. Chances are I'm going to leave after this meal.’

‘Now don’t be that way.’ Seth said, getting up from his seat and moving next to her ‘Now why don’t you tell me a bit more about yourself. If Hax wants to pass up the opportunity to talk to such a ravishing beauty, then I shall take his place.’

The waitress returned with Eve’s chicken sandwich. Eve took a bite, and turned to Seth.

‘If you don’t get away from me in the next 5 seconds, the next word out of your mouth will be “MYBALLSMYBALLS, YOURIPPEDOFFMYBALLS”’

‘But that’s more than one word.’ Seth replied, obviously not getting the hint.

‘Good work, buttercup. Now leave.’

‘Aww, don’t be that way baby. You and I can have some fun together’ and with that, Seth placed one arm around Eve and fondled her breast.

In a flurry of movements, Eve, true to her words, punched Seth so hard in the balls; it felt like they had been removed. Seth let out a blood curdling scream…

‘… and that’s what happened.’ Eve said, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

‘Can you do me a favour? Please don’t hurt my family.’ Hax said, his face as grim as ever.

‘Don’t you ever smile?’  Eve teased. He just picked up his book and started reading again.

Dylan returned with Seth, looking a lot worse for wear.

 ‘Look, he has taken a lot of damage, and I think it best if we just go home.’ Dylan said, while Seth slumped over his shoulder.

‘How much damage are we talking here?’ Hax asked, placing his book down again.

‘You see these lumps on his chest?’ Dylan motioned to a pair of small lumps that looked like horrible bruises.

‘Yeah….’

‘Well, I'm not doctor, but I'm pretty sure those are his testicles.’

Eve snickered. ‘Chesticles’

‘Fine,’ Hax said, getting up from his seat, ‘I’ll drive us home so you can get some rest.’

Hax paid for the meal Eve ate and strolled over to the car.

‘Alright. Eve’s in the front guys.’

‘What? You can’t be serious’ Dylan yelled.  Seth groaned a few words that sounded like “bullshit”

‘Okay, whoever has to sit next to her, has to risk ending up like Seth over there; or in his case, loss of manhood completely.’

‘Sounds like a great plan Hax. I’ll keep Seth company back here.’ Dylan exclaimed with a cheerful manor, almost creepy in a sense.

Eve enjoyed riding in the front seat. It made her feel wanted, safer. It wasn’t until she noticed most of the cars were moving slower than they were, did she really feel nervous.  She leant over to look at the dashboard. This very old, very frumpy, very GREEN station wagon was doing in excess of 200km/h.

‘Umm, don’t you think we are going a bit fast?’ she asked Hax, but to her dismay, his eyes were stuck to the road in front of him. ‘Uhh, guys. Should I be freaking out about this, because I kind of am.’

‘Don’t worry about Hax. He is the most careful driver I know. Never once in all his years of driving has he had an accident.’ Dylan replied.

Eve just closed her eyes and tried to remain calm.

The trip that would normally be made in 20 minutes took just 5. Eve was impressed, if not a little scared. They stopped at the end of the street. Dylan and Seth got out, claiming they could walk the rest of the way.

‘So where can I drop you off?’ Hax asked, not even bothering to look at her.

‘Umm, the closest train station.’ Eve replied, feeling really nervous on the inside.

Another 5 minute trip, this time at regular speeds, and they were parked out the front of the station.

‘Ok, here you are.’ Hax said. Eve searched his face for any kind of emotion, but found none. Maybe he really doesn’t care…

‘Thanks for the lunch, and the lift.’ And with that, Eve was off. She walked down the underground path, and waited until she was out of sight from the road before she collapsed. She curled up into a little ball against a wall and started to cry. She cried about what had happened, the one person who actually gave a shit about you and you let him walk off, she thought.

Suddenly she felt a pair of hands grab her and pick her up. Survival Mode: Activated. She tried as hard as she could to fight off the person who grabbed her, but they were too strong.  She opened her eyes to find herself staring into a pair of deep purple eyes.

‘Hax…? But how?’

‘Little thing you should know about me. I hate people who lie to me. Now come on, I have to take you home now. We have a room set up for you already.’

‘Wait, wait, wait!’ she said, breaking loose of his grip. ‘What makes you think I’m homeless?’

‘You never got on the train, and those tears you just shed. Look me in the eye and tell me they weren’t because you felt alone after today.’

‘fine…’ she said, picking up her bag, ‘can we go now?’

Hax wondered if he was making a mistake with this girl.

‘Thanks, by the way Hax.’ She looked at him with her beautiful blue eyes ‘It really means a lot.’

‘No worries.’ He said, quickly typing a message on his mobile phone. ‘How about we go for a coffee beforehand? You look like you could use a cup.’

After Hax had dropped Dylan and Seth off at the end of the street, they slowly stumbled down until they got to their house. It wasn’t too flashy, just a small two story house surrounded by a black picket fence. Dylan dragged Seth inside, and dropped him on the couch.

‘OW! Be careful you son of a-’ Seth cried out in pain, only to be interrupted by Dylan.

‘Would you shut up? I had to drag your heavy arse all the way home. The least you could do is go to sleep so I don’t have to deal with you.’

Dylan’s phone buzzed. He picked it up and his face dropped.

‘what’s up?’ Seth asked.

‘It’s a text from Hax. “Code red! Eve is going to be living with us!” Man, I told you he had a thing for this girl.’ Another text message came through. ‘”Shut up Dylan”’

‘Wow, he’s good. All the way from across town and he still knows when you need to shut up’

‘I’ll be back in a minute. I have to make up the guest room.’ And with that, Dylan was gone. Seth tried to relax, and as he did he thought, Wait, we don’t have a guest room? And with that final thought, he drifted off into a deep slumber.

Eve sat in silence, staring at her coffee, feeling more and more uncomfortable as time went on.  Hax just sat there, indifferent to what was going on around him.

‘Why don’t you take your jacket off?’ he asked ‘It’s not raining anymore and you’ll probably catch pneumonia staying like that.’

‘And let you stare at my chest. Get stuffed. You’re probably just like Seth, a massive pervert.’

‘No-one is like Seth. And if it makes you feel better, I’ll stare at your face instead.’

Eve didn’t know what to think of this guy. He showed no emotion in his face, but his actions showed he cares a lot. She unzipped her parka and placed it on the back of her seat, revealing a very baggy black t-shirt printed with the logo of a local indie band.

‘So, you like “Formal Strait Jackets” too?’ Hax enquired.

‘Yeah, they’re alright. Not as good as “LSD Sound System” though’

‘Do you mean “LCD Sound System”?’

‘Good work. You know your stuff.’

His eyes wandered from the t-shirt logo to a tattoo on her upper left arm. It looked like a sword with a tentacle wrapped around it. Hax froze immediately, recognising the symbol. But this can’t be, He thought, She shows no sign of knowing.

‘Yeah, it’s a nice tattoo, isn’t it?’ She asked

‘huh?’

‘You have been staring at it for like, 5 minutes. It was getting kind of creepy.’

‘Sorry. Might I ask where you got it?’

‘Oh, just this little place in the city. I thought up the design in a drunken haze.’

‘I see…Well tell me about your life then?’ This threw Eve into a loop. This guy actually cares, but shows no sign of wanting to bend me over a table and have his way with me. What is his game?

‘Only if you tell me about your life too.’

‘Sounds like a plan. You first.’

‘Well, there isn’t a lot to tell really. I grew up in the north; my family loved me very much. At about 16, I started to rebel against them and at 18, I left. Legally I was an adult, so I didn’t care. Ever since, I have hitch hiked and stolen to get where I need to go.’

‘And where would that be?’

‘As far away from my parents as I can.’ Eve said with a smile, leaning in ‘Oh, and look at the time. Mr I-have-no-emotions has to tell me about his life.’

‘Okay, what do you want to know?’

‘Are you really brothers? You know, with Dylan and Seth?’

‘Yes. We are brothers. Next?’

‘Wait, you don’t look anything like them. Are you serious?’

‘It doesn’t matter how we look. I was born, and then they were. We share a mother and a father and a family history. They may act obnoxious or sleazy, but family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.’

Tears started to well up in Eve’s eyes. ‘that was the most heartfelt thing I’ve…wait a minute. Did you steal that line from “Lilo & Stitch”?’

‘It doesn’t matter where I got the line from; it’s as true today as it was when I was born.’ Hax said, placing his sunglasses back on.

‘For a second there, I actually thought you had some sort of emotionally connection to them.’ Eve said, drinking down the last part of her coffee. ‘Come on. Let’s get going.’

As she got up from the table, she noticed a single tear slide down his cheek.

As they walked to the car, Eve turned to Hax and asked ‘So how do you explain the purple eyes then?’

‘Severe genetic mutation to the pigmentation of our irises crossing albino-ism with the slight chance of having blue pigments.’

‘Huh?’ Eve’s expression said it all. Every word that left Hax’s mouth went in one ear and out the other.

‘we’re…different.’ Hax simplified.

‘so like freaks?’ Eve said, with a slight chuckle at the end. Hax stiffened his entire body. ‘Come on. Lighten up will you? Let’s go see this room you made up for me.’

Back at the house, Seth woke up from his deep sleep on the couch, and went in search for food. He found Dylan in the kitchen, rifling through the cupboard.

‘Oi, chuck us a packed of 2 minute noodles. I’m starved.’ Seth called. A small packet flew out of the cupboard, and hit him square in the face. Seth tore open the packet, and consumed the noodles without even cooking them. Outside, a car could be heard driving down the street and turning into the driveway. Dylan removed himself from the pantry.

‘Just in the nick of time, I'm going to give them a hand.’ He said, walking towards the back door, only to be stopped by Seth.

‘Umm, Dylan? How about I go give them a hand and you give yourself one as well.’ Seth said, motioning his eyes towards Dylan’s left arm.

‘Shit… damn fucking side effects.’ Dylan cried, running towards the bathroom, ‘If anyone asks, tell them I needed to take a shower or something.’

‘Sooo, this is your house, huh?’ Eve said, admiring the backyard through the garage window. It was quite extravagant, especially for such an ordinary looking house. On the dark green grass sat a boxing station fitted with punching bag and speed ball, a small brick shed in the back corner and a magnificent oak tree at least 10 metres high, fitted with a tyre swing.

‘Come on, this way.’ Hax said, opening up the side door that led into the dining room of the house.

The house was as plain and ordinary on the inside as it was on the outside. It didn’t seem that any normal person lived there. No pictures hung from the walls, no fancy extravagant decorations. The house seemed ORDINARY.

‘Welcome home guys.’ Greeted Seth, ‘what took-’. He cut himself off. He looked Hax in the eyes, and received a slight shake of the head.

‘Oh for crying out loud.’ Yelled Eve, ‘Didn’t you learn the last time not to be sleazy? Now you have the nerve to stare at my tits.’ Hax grabbed Eve’s shoulders.

 ‘Come on, I’ll show you your room, before my brother makes another mistake.’ Hax walked Eve through the lounge room and up the stairs. On the second floor of the house, there was a long hallway with 5 doors leading off.

‘Those two doors on the right are Dylan's and Seth’s.’ Hax said, leading her down the hall, ‘The one on the end is the restroom. And this is your room’ stopping in front of the second door on the left. She opened the door to find a fairly bare room filled with a single bed, and a desk with a chair. Tears started to well up in her eyes again, but she shook them off.

‘So, I assume that’s your room next to mine.’ Eve said, a sly smile growing on her face.

‘Yeah. It’s kind of important my room stays where it is.’

‘Oh really.’ Her smile growing, could Hax finally open up to me?

‘The room below is my personal study, so I had a second set of stairs put in so I could go to bed easier.’

‘Oh…’

‘Come on. Let’s go have dinner, and we can discuss the house rules.’

There was a knock at the front door as Hax and Eve walked down the stairs. Seth answered it to find the pizza guy standing there. After Seth graciously paid for the pizza, they all sat down sat down at the table just as Dylan emerged of the bathroom. 

‘So I ordered a meat lovers and a vegetarian cos I don’t know what you wanted.’ Seth said, placing the pizzas on the table.

‘Thanks,’ Eve said, and turned to Hax, ‘About these house rules?’

‘Mmm,  1. No going into my study without my permission. 2. Same goes for any of our rooms.’

‘No going into my workshop in the backyard.’ Dylan added.

‘You can come into my room anytime.’ Seth said, only to find himself kicked in the shin.

‘And you must find a job. Pull your own weight around here. Chores are divided evenly, and everyone has the chance to cook. We all eat at the dinner table, unless something comes up.’ Said Hax.

‘So, what do you guys do for jobs?’ Eve asked, taking a bite of pizza.

‘Seth and I are teachers at the local high school’ said Dylan. Eve choked on her mouthful of food.

‘WHAT?!? But you’re both like 20’

‘We excelled in school, and graduated at 15. Did a few years in university, and landed jobs at the school.’ Seth chimed in, ‘Also we have amazing fake beards.’

Eve turned to Hax. ‘so let me guess, you own a fortune five hundred company?’

‘I’m a mechanic.’ Hax said, taking a sip of water.

‘bullshit’

‘No. And on weekends I do handyman work for people in town.’

‘Well aren’t you just mister perfect.’

‘oh, thinking up pet names already.’ Seth chimed in. Eve was about to punch him, when Hax grabbed her arm.

‘Also, no hitting my family…’

‘Thanks Hax’

‘…without prior consent; which I shall now give since he involved me in this.’

WHACK!

Eve got Seth right across the head. Dylan chuckled. Hax just ate more pizza.

After dinner, Eve helped Dylan do the dishes, and decided to get to know him better.

‘So, what do you teach at school then?’

‘Well I teach maths and physics, while Seth teaches psychology.’ Eve’s mouth dropped.

‘The sleaze teaches psychology? Wouldn’t he be more suited for, I don’t know, sports. So he can stare at young girls.’

‘Despite how he acts, Seth isn’t that bad. He never really got over his first love. He just acts like this to feel better, and push others away. He is quite smart as well, sometimes smarter than Hax.’

‘oh… so what’s up with everything in this house? There is, like, no pictures or décor in here.’

‘That’s how we lived. We are the last family left, and we like it this way.’

‘And Hax? Has he always been-’

‘Not always but recently he just became more serious. He used to be happy, and I miss that about him.’ Eve chuckled. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘At first I lol’d, but then I serious’d’ Dylan obviously didn’t get the joke.

‘have you thought about where you are going to work?’ Eve’s face dropped.

‘Not…not really. I don’t know where I'm going to fit in.’

‘Well, we will help you as much as we can.’

‘Thanks Dylan. Anyway, I'm going to set up my room.’ Eve made her way upstairs. When Eve was out of sight, Dylan dropped the tea towel.

‘Okay Seth. You might as well come out.’ Seth popped up from under the kitchen table.

‘Did you see it? Did you see her tattoo?’

‘Yes.’ Dylan sighed, ‘But this doesn’t mean shit. Hax says she got it from a drunken haze.’

‘but can we take this chance Dylan? How do we know this human isn’t playing us.’

‘how about you go outside, and beat the bag for a while? You need to let off some steam.’

Seth wanted to argue some more, but knew it would lead nowhere, so he left.

The rest of the night went by smoothly. Dylan and Seth watched a few action films, Eve spent the night in her room, and Hax did what he does best. He spent all night inside the study. Behind the locked door sat a librarians dream. The room was filled with books from all great authors; Poe, Shakespeare and an entire shelf dedicated to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The spines showed they were all written in different languages too. From English to Russian, Chinese to Latin, there were even books that had languages not spoken for centuries. In the middle of the room sat 2 tall arm chairs and a small coffee table, stack high with books. One interesting feature of this study was stair cases that lead to the second floor of the house, and a strange looking metal chest that lay at the bottom, locked up with a large combination lock.  In one chair sat Hax, once again delved deep inside another book. He looked up at the clock and noticed the time.

‘1:30 am, looks like I should turn in.’

He picked up his sunglasses, and made his way upstairs to fall asleep. As he hit the final stair, he heard a creak from down the hall. Probably someone was going to the bathroom. He poked his head outside his door to see darkness.

Seth held his breath. He knew he had chosen a bad time to leave his room. After working out for an hour, he had sat down with Dylan to watch a few movies. At about midnight, the both called it a night.

‘What do you have tomorrow?’ Asked Dylan.

‘ year 12.’ Seth replied with a yawn.

‘Well make sure you get some sleep. They can be rat bastards.’ And with that Dylan closed his bedroom door. Seth did the same, but purposely stayed awake. He knew that Dylan was a heavy sleeper, and Hax most likely went to bed before anyone. After he felt it was truly safe, Seth made his way out of his bedroom, and sneaked quietly towards Eves. He opened her door with a creak.

Crap, he thought, and shot inside before anyone could see him. He heard Hax’s door open. Seth waited to hopefully hear it shut again. After a few seconds, the shutting sound came. He was relieved. Seth made his way towards the bedside.

‘if Hax doesn’t have the balls to deal with you, I will!’ Seth whispered. He reached his hands out and grabbed Eve around the throat.

Suddenly, in a flash of movement, faster than the human eye can see, Seth was thrown against the wall by an unknown source. All he could see was a pair of purple eyes staring at him.

‘You forget your manners, dear brother.’ The darkness said.

‘Ahh...Hax. Do you really want to risk the human seeing this form of you?’

‘The darkness hides my form quite well. My question is, what are you planning to do with my guest?’

‘You know as well as I do what they did to us. WHAT THEY DID TO HER!’

‘YES! We have all lost loved ones in this war, you most of all.’

‘She is one of them-’

‘There are no signs.’

‘-and if it’s dormant, and becomes active. She will-’

‘She will be dealt with accordingly. My dear brother, I know how much you cared for Claire,’ Hax could see tears streaming down his face ‘but you must remember that the inquisitors were wiped out decades ago, by your own hands.’

‘But…but…’ Seth just broke down.

‘Come on Seth; let’s get you back to bed.’ Hax released Seth, and resumed a more physical form. He gave Seth a hug, and sent him along his way. As he walked out of her room, Hax notice a sketch pad on Eve’s desk. On it was drawn a small child, sitting in the rain. He flipped the page, to reveal a closer look at a teenage girl. Page after page, this was a storyline. The teen sat there in the rain, and broke down into her hands, until a mysterious shadow came along. It was a man holding an umbrella, his eyes coloured purple. Is this about me? Hax thought. The man in the picture reached down, and helped her up. The last picture was of the man and the girl walking away, holding the umbrella over her while he became drenched.

Hax heard a noise behind him. He quickly spun around to see Eve stirring in bed.

‘Uuuuh? Hax, is that you?’

‘No sweetheart. You are still dreaming.’ And gave her a kiss on the forehead.

‘Must be, Hax would never act like this.’ She mumbled, and fell back asleep. He placed the blanket back over her and snuck silently out of her room.