Two Birds

Chapter 1 - Your Average Broken Family

     The Tetrens were just an average family in an average town, dealing with average problems, while caring for their average kids. Only just recently did they start having more serious average problems. Draixin, the "father" of the household, works as an actor, and had been away from home for quite a while. His wife, Quadril, was starting to get upset. His kids, Sirlyx and Pentrix, didn't seem to mind, as adult problems aren't their main priority. They're main focus is making sure their tower of blocks doesn't get knocked over as they add onto it. They were normal kids doing normal kid things without a care in the world, despite being teenagers. When Draixin finally came back home, Quadril was furious.
     "Where the fuck have you been?" She shouted. "You said you'd only be gone for a few hours! It's been three fucking days!" Draixin rolled his eyes, acting like it wasn't a big deal.
     "It just took longer than expected, that's all." He scoffed. Quadril almost immediately calmed down. She knew his work can have unexpected complications, but she didn't expect them to cause that much of a delay. She shrugged it off and gave Draixin a hug. He hugged back, giving her a small kiss on the forehead. After that, the two made dinner, and everyone sat at the table and ate in silence. The night seemed to drag on slowly, and after everyone was done with their dinner, Pentrix picked up all of the dishes off the table and walked off to wash them. Sirlyx sat at the table for a moment, and stared at the empty space where his plate was. Something felt off about that day, and he couldn't tell what it was exactly. All he knows is that there's something off about his dad, yet he just didn't know what. All he knew is that somehow, he'll find out one way or another. When it was finally time for bed, he couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling for what could've been hours until his body finally decided to let him doze off.
     The next morning, Pentrix had to wake him up for breakfast. He could barely remember falling asleep, but who does? He tiredly trudges downstairs and sits at the dining room table, where two plates of steaming scrambled eggs, fluffy blueberry pancakes, and crispy seasoned bacon rest near the edges of the table. Pentrix sits down, and that's when they both begin eating, Pentrix skillfully cutting the pancakes into even squares to make eating them easier to eat and less messy, Sirlyx poking at it and only taking bites every few minutes. By the time Pentrix was done, he still had almost all his food left on the plate. Pentrix looked at him weirdly, but shrugged it off and went back upstairs to get ready for the day. All Sirlyx could do right then was poke at his food until his incredibly slow eating pace finally leaves him with no more food on his plate.
     When he was finally done with his food, it was already past noon, and his mother was about to be home from work. He sat for a moment and stared blankly at the empty plate for a moment. After he snapped out of it, he got up and put the plate in the sink, as well as his fork. Pentrix was out running errands for their mother, so he just went up to his room to read. After re-reading one of his favorite books, he decided to practice his flying tricks. He opened the window and squeezed his way through, which caused his wings to rub uncomfortably on the window frame. He ignored this, as he was used to it, and once he was standing on the roof, he backed up, and started running towards the edge. When he gets to the edge of the roof, he jumps into the air and spreads his wings. The wind in his hair as he gets lifted into the air causes him to forget anything that was bothering him before, and he shouts in excitement. After a few warm up turns and loops, he decides to go up higher for a better view of the area. He flapped his wings harder and harder until he finally almost touches the clouds, and he feels free. As he starts gliding over the wooded area near his town, he notices somthing in the distance, but ignores it as he hears Pentrix calling for him. He dives down a bit back in the direction of his house, and lands back on the roof, and quickly climbs back into the window. It was around 2:45 P.M. and his mother was back home, and was planning on baking something for all of them as a family.
     The first thing he notices when he's back inside is how the only thing he can smell is chocolate batter, and the slight scent of something burning. After sliding down the stairs, he finds out that the burning smell is just from Pentrix's sad attempt at baking cookies. She looks embarrassed and amused, and was almost laughing at what happened. Sirlyx was a decent baker, as he helped his mother bake every weekend before his father gets home. After he began helping them, it only took about two hours before they had a lovely looking batch of a variety of cookies, and it made the house smell amazing. Now all they had to do is set the table and lay out the sweets and wait for Draixin to be home.
     Hours later, he still hasn't come home. It's 7:36 P.M., and Sirlyx and Pentrix had went to their rooms to play. Pentrix was creating stories with their action figures and was drawing them, while Sirlyx was reading comic books with funny voices. Their dad was home just 20 minutes earlier, and he and Quadril were fighting. Sirlyx didn't care about what was happening, and Pentrix was trying to pretend the sounds of arguing was just the action figures in the comics. They didn't care to look downstairs until they heard the sound of glass shattering and a shrill scream ringing from downstairs. Pentrix stands up immediately, and almost trips as they run towards the door. Sirlyx follows close behind, and they both try to keep as quiet as possible. They peek into the kitchen, and they see shards of green tinted glass from a vase glimmering on the floor. The metallic smell of blood filled the air, and they didn't notice until they saw red spots on the ground. Draixin was now rushing out the door, and the door slammed violently as he left. Quadril was leaning onto the table for stability with one hand resting over her forehead, which was slick and red.
     Hours later, the kids were at home while their mother was in the hospital. Neither of them were able to sleep that night, and while Sirlyx was laying in bed, looking out the window, he heard shuffling coming from the closet. He looked over, and Pentrix was gathering things into their backpack. She had already packed clothes and a few cans of food.
     "What are you doing?" Pentrix turned around quickly in an almost frightened manner, but relaxed when they only saw Sirlyx in the room.
     "Just preparing."
     "Preparing for what?"
     "Stuff."
     "What kind of stuff?"
     "Stuff." Sirlyx was getting irritated about not getting a clear answer, so he threw a pillow at her.
     "What kind of stuff, though?" Pentrix sighed. They didn't want him to know that she was planning to leave him, but after a few seconds of thinking, she began to feel guilty about it. After considering other options, she decides to speak again.
     "I'm... leaving." They don't turn to look at him, but they could almost sense his expression. He was upset and hurt, and most of all, confused. He didn't know why, though. It was pretty obvious why they would want to leave. They both did witness their mother nearly die of blood loss, but he still didn't get it. This was their home, and she was about to abandon it.
     "What?"
     "I'm leaving. Running away, y'know?" She turned around to look at him. He was too stunned to speak. They looked down at their backpack, and went back into the closet to look for something. When she found it, they tossed it to him.
     "Wanna go with me?"
     It was his own backpack. He didn't know what to say. Right now he had two options. He could either stay and wait for his mother to be out of the hospital (which could easily take months), or leave his home, his toys, his room, and his bed just to see the world. He debated in his head which was the better option. He wanted to stay, but he didn't want to be alone. He also wanted to go, but didn't want to abandon his home, or his mother. It took him a bit, but now he had his answer.
     "Okay. I'll go."
     The rest of the night was spent packing their things in silence. When they were finally done, it was just past 2 A.M. They agreed that they had what they needed, and went back to bed. This was either going to go great, or end horribly.
     But now all they could do was wait and see in the morning.