Dreamers // Enoch O'Connor

Chapter 21: Eraztuna

Eraztuna - Basque for ring
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A couple of days after Horace's nightmare, as dinner finished, the children all grabbed at my arms, pulling me outside and into the garden.

The sun was setting.

It was beautiful.

The pinks, purples and oranges were blending into themselves like a watercolor painting.

Small freckles of dark blue were scattered around.

The sun glowed in the middle of it all, a deep yellow and orange combination shining against the dark pink.

The trees looked like shadows, creating silhouettes as they blocked the glowing light behind them.

The darker shades of the night were coming in from the top, small shining white stars dotted around the vast abyss.

I wished it was like this forever, for it to stay gold.

I sat on the concrete steps, watching before our small world became dark and the fireflies came out.

It would be an hour until that, maybe less.

I felt Enoch settle himself down next to me, rubbing his eyes from the brightness.

"You all know Raid The Village," Hugh remarked, walking down the steps of the house dramatically.

"All, except Ashlyn and Abraham, that is," Victor smirked, standing next to Hugh and eyeing all of us.

The sad and lonely eyes from the other day weren't there any more. Rather, they were replaced by a fire.

A desire. A competitiveness. Eyes I had never seen on the boy, but they suited him.
Well, I mean, everything is better than those sorrowful eyes.

I turned to Enoch questioningly who just rolled his eyes at the theatrical nature of the two boys.

"You'll see," was all he said, as if reading my mind.

"Basically," Hugh started, "we go to the village and there's a specific item you will need to steal from a specific person. There's usually a catch, which makes it more exciting. The teams are usually pairs, which Vic and I have already decided. Once you have the item, you run back here."

"We try not to hurt anyone, but it does happen sometimes," Victor said and must have noticed my bewildered expression for he continued, "if someone does get hurt or dies everything will be alright, they'll be back tomorrow after the reset without a single scar on their bodies. The only thing that can happen bad for us is if the police come but I mean we can even kill them if we need to."

"Tonight," Hugh continued, and I noticed that every time there was a game involved Hugh and Victor explained everything like reading a play script, something that must have been rehearsed dozens of times before, "we will be attempting to steal a diamond ring from Mr. Chambers."

"Mr. Chambers lives in a two story house with his wife and children. He has three kids, two daughters aged 14 and 1, and a son aged 7," Victor stated, "the catch is that their infant girl wakes up at any sound of commotion, like some sort of alarm. The elder daughter stays up late, later than her parents at least, and if she hears any noise she panics."

"The son isn't a problem, he sleeps like a bear," Hugh snickered as the children all giggled, "as for the parents, the mother's not that dangerous I guess. But, the father owns a gun. We need to be careful and I really mean it. I don't want any dead kids coming back, you hear me?"

For the first time I heard Hugh being serious.

It was... scary?

"The ring itself is in a small box on the dresser of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers. The gun is in the top drawer of that dresser, right under the ring. There are three bedrooms on the second floor, including the room of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers. You'll have to figure out whose room is whose yourself," Victor explained.

"And now, the teams," Hugh smirked, "we made teams we thought were, what's the word, suitable I guess based on experience, age and chemistry. Emma and Olive, as usual, will not be participating in our game, and will be the judges as to decide who returned to the house first with the ring."

"Myself and Bronwyn," Victor began as the pairs started coming together, "Abraham and Horace. Fiona and Hugh. Millard and Claire, last times champions. And Enoch and Ashlyn."

"Millard and Claire won last time?" I asked, content with my partner for the game.

"An invisible boy and a sweet 7 year old, what can beat that in a robbery?" Enoch replied, standing up and stretching his long legs.

"Why are Ashlyn and Enoch together? I wanted to be with Enoch!" Claire whined from the side, holding onto the transparent palm of Millard.

"It's love Claire, might be a bit before you know what that feels like," Hugh reassured her, patting her bouncy locks.

"It might be an eternity for Hugh. The only things that love him are his bees," Enoch retorted, scowling.

"At least something loves me back and I'm not chasing a dream," Hugh smirked.

"3, 2, 1, GO!" Emma yelled from the steps, sensing the tension and stopping the situation from becoming something bad.

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A/N:
Thank you so much for reading!! Y'all I'm genuinely like freaking out we haVE 4K! I'm honestly so speechless and low-key hyperventilating. Thank you sosoosos much!
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