Silas body jerked upright, his heart pounding and his breath heavy. The room was drenched in darkness. There stood two loft beds in the room and a small table between. Dex and Silas slept in the same room, while Sorelle and mom slept in the bedroom of his parents.
'Oh great. It was just a dream. But where is Dex?'
Silas looked over the corner of his bed and saw Dex sleeping in the other loft bed.
'Phew. It was all just a dream.'
After calming down Silas considered his options and thought about what to do now.
'It's the middle of the night, what could I possibly do? But still... I can't just leave her in the dungeon, can I?'
Having a slight frown, Silas continued thinking.
'What are the options? Number one. Go back to sleep and wait on what's going to happen. Number two. Go to Stella and talk to her. That won't be possible though because of the mind hex, no? Anyway number four. Run away, run away and never look back. Is there more I could do?'
Of course there was. Trying to free his family of the mind hex for example. But Silas didn't think of that.
'The smartest thing would probably be to go back to sleep. Though, I don't believe that to be the best option. Back to number two. First, I would learn what is really going on right now. Then I can decide what to do next. Ugh! But that won't work if I don't find out how to actually break the mind hex.'
Silas' frown deepened.
'Think, Silas, think!'
He sat up straight, controlling his breathing. He turned an imaginary lever and soon a multitude of memories shot through the nerves of his brain in an instant. Like arrows, multiple pictures of events rushed by in front of his imaginary eye. The sight of the forest becoming dry, the market being deserted, his brother standing motion- and expressionless in the corner, while he talked to Stella. The strange behavior of the people in the town hall, their eyes shimmering red. Finally his eye landed on the memory of pain it felt after seeing his sister. Silas suddenly started to smile.
"Got you."
'Are only my eyes affected, or can one escape the mind hex through pain altogether? Well I guess there's only one way to find out.'
Suddenly excited, Silas put the blanket off his sweat drenched body and stood up quietly. He sneaked towards the window and opened it, making squeaking noises.
'Oh, crap!'
Turning his head rapidly, Silas' eyes widened.
Dex moved and turned in the bed, strugling to stay asleep.
'Stupid noises.'
"Silas, be quiet already."
He opened his eyes and looked around. His brother was nowhere to be seen through the twilight though. Standing up he looked around. The window was wide open, the curtains flattering in the light breeze. The full, red moon was shining brightly that night, drowning the world in crimson red.
'Where the heck is he?'
Dexter had a worried expression and went outside the window as well, about to follow his brother.
'I can't just let him walk around in the middle of the night, can I?'
Dexter jumped down, landing 4 meters below the window. He looked around curiously, trying to discern his brother somewhere. Only a shadow of someone rushing away could be seen though. Alert as he was, Dex noticed and followed it silently.
'When I catch him, he will get the biggest lecture of his life!'
Dex always walked one corner behind Silas in order to not let him get noticed. After a while, Dexter got really nervous.
'Just where is this guy going? He won't try leaving the town, will he? Hmm... That couldn't be the case since the fastest way out is in a different direction. As I see it now, there are several possibilities to where he is facing. The sheriff department, the mines, and lastly the dungeon. But what could he want to get out of any of these places? Go into the mines? No, there is no reason to. He doesn't really have friends so a test of courage is out. I don't see any reasons for the other places too, so I should just wait and see.'
Just when they were about to cross the city, Silas plunged into the river, which was very hot at this time of the year.
'Oh, I see, he just wants to go bathing. But still, its forbidden to bathe in the river. The lecture is rising in length right now.'
About to turn around, Dex noticed Silas climbing out, putting his clothes on and heading further east.
'Ugh. Just when I thought I had him'
He followed Silas further again.
After 10 more minutes of relatively fast walking, Silas finally stopped. After looking through a window, he slid between the door of a nearby house.
'What, why is he going into the dungeon? I don't see a reason to...'
Just then, a thought entered his mind.
'Right! It's because of Stel...'
A wave of pain rolled over his head and he staggered to the ground. His mind was blinded by the agony. After what felt like an eternity of pushing through the pain and trying to keep his memory, the thought vanished. It looked like a red strand of wool was slowly pulled out of his eyes and then, the pain vanished. Forgotten like the thought of his sister.
'Ugh. What was I thinking about just now? And why am I laying on the ground?'
Dex stood up slowly, still feeling a bit dizzy.
'Right. I gotta find Silas. Where could he be? I saw him just now so where is he? I can't just let him be endangered by staying outside that late.'
'I guess I just have to look around.'
He was about to go around the corner, when he saw his brother leave the dungeon. A girl, one head smaller than Silas followed him out of the building.
'Who could she be? Does my little brother have a girlfriend now?'
Slightly amused by the thought, he followed them further.
'Why are they going where they came from now? And more importantly, what was this gal doing in prison? From the looks of it, she can't be older than 17, so what are they going to do? Is that why Silas always went out of the village? To meet her?'
Dex was slowly growing impatient.
'Is he going to take her home? No that couldn't be. They took a different path, long ago.'
His eyes widened slightly as he saw the wall of the village rising up.
'No, they wouldn't dare! I need to stop them.'
But it was already to late. They climbed up the wall using a ladder.
Cussing, Dex followed them up, looking around.
'What are they thinking. They know the stories don't they?'
Two shadows vanished between the trees, making Dex frown.
'No but really, should I follow them?'
Dex sighed
"It's now or never."
So he decided to follow them into the forest. Maybe it was the best decision he ever made... or maybe the worst.
Since Dex couldn't see anything that's more than ten meters away, he hurried to catch up to his sibling and his supposed girlfriend. He tried to catch them, but the light of the moon wasn't reaching clearly into the dark reaches of the forest. Only seeing signs of movement Dex was somehow able to catch up. Soon a thought entered his mind.
'Why don't I call out to them. It might be dangerous, yes, but it's more dangerous to walk around in the forest at night.'
"Silas, Silas!"
Dex hissed just loud enough to be heard.
***
Silas eyes suddenly widened, he knew the voice, but was scared to turn around.
"Run!"
So he ran, grabing his sisters hand tighter and trying not to panic. Stella kept her eyes closed while running, so Silas was slowed down significantly.
'What was that just now. It couldn't be my brother. He is sleeping, so what is it?'
Silas weirdly saw everything in the night.Well, everything that wasn't covered by the trees, making him faster than anyone in this darkness. Since he was used to seeing most things drenched in darkness, he was unrivaled in speed and orientation in this obscureness. He saw the tree stumps shoot past him in the invisible fog
"Sill, wasn't that Dex just now?" Stella whispered.
"No, Dex is in bed, so whatever is chasing us can't be him."
Silas wasn't so sure himself but what could he do?
"But what if he is really Dex?"
"Do you want to die? As soon as he sees you, the mind hex will take over, even if it is him."
"Still, we can't just let him walking around in the forest alone, can we?" Stella stopped.
"Ugh. Why is it our problem?"
Silas put on an annoyed expression.
'I made a decision. I made it directly after the nightmare. I chose my sister over the rest of my family as well as my brother.'
Silas saw the smiling faces of his family in front of his imaginary eye. Sorrow filled his heart making him weighed down significantly. But he couldn't show it obviously.
Then Stella opened one of her eyes, looking at him with sadness. She raised a hand and slapped him across the face. A tear rolling down one of her cheeks.
"You're not the brother I used to know. He would have never let his family down like this." She said with a broken voice.
Silas tilted his head, staring at her coldly. His heart shattered, his emotions raging.
"Things have changed, Stella. But alright, if you want us to die then we can obviously look if it's really him." He said coldly.
Deep inside, he felt fear and sadness though, he just didn't show it.
Stella turned her head away, a sad expression on her face.
They waited a few minutes but no one came. Silas heart was still cold. Feeling battered, he looked at Stella.
"So what now?"
"We will go back and search him." Stella faced him driven, with her eyes closed.
Silas hesitated a few seconds.
Finally he answered coldly
"No."
Silas grabbed her hand once a gain pulling her in the direction they were heading.
'I hope Dex is alright. If it really is him, I need to find him. But at the same time, I endanger Stella a huge deal. I guess I'm just a bad brother to all of my siblings. What else should I have done?'
He ran faster and faster. Keeping his sister close.