The Five [ON HOLD]

˚CHAPTER ONE˚

April 10th, 2018
Southern Kentucky
3:15 a.m.  

Scarlett clenched her teeth, silently debating if it was worth it. On one hand, her thoughts were nagging her so much that she couldn't drift off to sleep no matter how hard she'd tried. But on the other hand, waking her cousin just to talk seemed cruel, especially since she planned on waking her again at a decent time tomorrow. 

Scarlett shuddered. Just the thought of tomorrow sent a new wave of nausea over her. She shook it off and with a swinging-like motion, Scarlett was off the bed and leaning on her elbow, staring right into the glowing eyes of the alarm clock. She squinted at the harshly displayed letters, 3:17. It was really too late to wake her cousin now, she should just lay down and wait out the dark.

Scarlett reluctantly snuggled back down under the warm blankets and drew them up to her chin, which caused the blanket to slide off her feet. She took a deep breath to calm down and gently searched the foot of her bed with her now exposed toes, only stopping when she felt the soft fur of her dog. She caressed the fur with her bare toes since she was too lazy to sit up and use her hands. 

One more quick glance down to the floor told Scarlett that her cousin's form was still moving up and down in rhythmic slumber. Scarlett really wanted to get her mind off the vexing feeling in her bones, but she couldn't bring herself to wake Chrissy.

I need to sleep! Scarlett told herself, growling quietly and flipping over to her side. With one last sigh of frustration, she forced her eyes closed and relaxed against the plushy bed.

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April 10th, 2018
Trofors, Norway
12:00 a.m.  

"Today was so much fun!" Martinus enthused, practically jumping up and down with excitement. "I'm so happy, I don't think I'll be able to sleep!"

"You'd better sleep, we have a rehearsal tomorrow," Marcus replied, but his matching smile showed that he had enjoyed the day just as much as his twin.

The way the two boys happily pranced through the door, it was almost like they were dancing into their house. They quickly made their way right to the living room with their father following close behind them, shutting the door. 

"I think your energy is from all that candy you ate at the interview," their father said.

"If that is it, then I definitely will not sleep tonight!" Martinus said.

"You will if you ate enough. You'd crash," Marcus piped up.

"It takes a lot of sugar to crash that hard. I don't think you two ate that much," their father said, pulling off his heavy coat and joining the boys in the living room. Their silence prompted him to ask, "Did you?"

Marcus let his gaze wander away, breaking eye contact. Martinus gave him an "oops" smile, accompanied with a shrug. Their father chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright, off to bed you two."

Marcus laughed and Martinus shrugged again. The two of them bid goodnight to their father and thundered around the corner to head off to their beds.

"You know, I almost wish we had a free day tomorrow," Martinus said over his shoulder as he led the way. "That way I wouldn't have to worry about how long it might take to sleep tonight, you know? But, of course, it's the price we pay for being famous singers."

Martinus stopped suddenly when he realized his brother was no longer following him. He swiveled around and faced Marcus, who was standing still, staring at the floor with an odd look on his face.