Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 17: Super Stupid

I charged at my baby brother. Sliding like I was aiming for home plate, I skidded over his blood and vomit to get to Aaron. My mom was screaming and weeping from inside the den, where I could hear Varun fighting to hold her back. 

"It's OK," I promised him, trying not to sob. "I've got you. It's going to be OK."

He was quivering in fear, or maybe it was adrenaline, which made him look smaller than he was. Our eyes locked and the pure fear in his expression shocked my veins with icewater. Aaron knew it was bad and it scared the hell out of both of us. 

"Oww!" Aaron bellowed when I tried moving him.

"Can you get him to us?" Varun shouted.

"No!" Tears spilled down my cheeks as I succumbed to panicked shivers. "He's hurt, bad!"

My mother wailed again, the tortured sound of a lioness unable to reach her cub. Color drained from Aaron's face and his breath became dangerously shallow.

"Just pick me up, nimrod," Aaron gurgled, his eyes watering as they rolled back in their sockets. "It's OK."

More gunfire and howls echoed up the hall, bouncing off the wrecked surfaces to disorient us further. Nothing sounded as bad as my brother's labored breathing, which was growing more ragged by the second.

"I love you," I whispered into his shoulder and heaving upward. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

My brother shrieked and twisted against the movement, but I managed to hold his seizing body before he abruptly passed out from the pain. As quick as possible, I drug Aaron over the ruined plush carpeting, dodging the costly furniture and electronics strewn about.

"This way!" I followed the sound of Varun's voice toward the wall next to their sizable entertainment center.

A small inclusion in the oak cabinetry was ajar where a brown hand was extended through. Sirens were wailing from all around, layering over the melee with discordant urgency. Lowering my brother to the floor, I let Varun take over to drag Aaron into the panic room I didn't know they had.

"Ellie!" My mom screamed over another round of gunfire. "Get in!"

"Seal this up," I instructed her. "I'll be fine."

"No!" She yowled.

I kicked the door of the cabinet shut the moment Aaron's blood-soaked sneakers crossed the threshold and headed back into the madness.

Another chorus of sirens broke in the distance, barely perceptible over all the confusion. One of the ninjas caught sight of me as he darted away. I ran after him, hollering through the pain wracking my body.

The man in black flung himself in front of me and slammed into a large painting of a naked lady on the wall, smashing the glass and bringing the whole thing down with him. His glossy black eyes flickered in my direction as I tried to keep a watch on the fleeing bad guys.

"You need to go!" He gasped.

"No shit Sherlock, we're under attack!" I yelled, kneeling to wedge myself under his arm.

Shoving my back against the wall, I pushed us up to our feet. He moaned, doubling over in pain and clutching his ribs to keep the blood from oozing around his fingers.

"Get out of here," he groaned.

"Quit bossing me around," I grumbled, planting one foot in front of the other to concentrate on moving.

I couldn't take him back to the secret panic room but we had to get out of the hall. I squinted through the dust and smoke to realize that the bullets had stopped firing.