David and Ricky went into the restaurant, but I didn’t even bother going back into the restaurant after what I heard. Also I just didn’t want to be around so many people. It seemed like our little catching up with Kale turned into a big get together with people I didn't know. Something that I wasn't used to. It also made me wonder why they all just decided to suddenly show up. But I didn't put much thought into it as I started to walk home, not letting anyone know where I was.

Just leaving left me feeling a little bit guilty. But I know that Jack will come looking for me to see if I was okay. Jake would just stay behind because I think he is in the running for me to date his brother. So staying behind while his brother went after me was his way of giving us the time alone that we needed to start something. Sadly, I can only see Jack as an older brother.

At the moment I was about half way home. The smell of fresh falling rain filled my nose as I felt the first cold rain drop on my cheek. Looking up at the sky, another drop fell just above my right eye. It was just my luck to have it rain while I walked home. I was half tempted to turn back and return to the restaurant, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain where I was. Or, why I was all wet. So I continued on. Walking in the rain was better than joining the circus back at the restaurant because I'm sure that was how it was right now.

Usually on walks like this, I just let my thoughts wander. Thinking about anything that came to mind. But this time I didn’t have much to think about. Well maybe except trying to figure out what was with everyone coming into my life that all seem to be connected in a way. It made me think of some crazy theory that there was something going on that I didn't know about and everyone was trying to hide it from me. There had to be a reason for what was happening to me. It all started with that dream I had and then me seeing that shadow standing outside of my house. Just thinking of the shadow reminded me to see if it would be around today. If it wasn't, it could have just been my imagination.

The more I thought about the shadow, the more I started to think about David. I'm not sure why thinking of my shadow made me think of him, but it did. Maybe it probably had to do with the fact that David looked highly similar to it. Which is impossible, but because no normal person can walk around as if they were literally a ghost.

I continued to walk down the street. The distance to my house getting smaller as the outline of the building started to appear through the rain drops. The temperature was dropping quickly announcing that a storm was on its way. The rain drops trailed down the sides of my face and made a home at the base of my neck and on the collar of my jacket. To me this was beautiful weather. It was nature's way of washing all of your worries away while singing you to sleep. I had to stop walking just to face the sky, letting the rain soak my face.

“Leah?” I heard Jack’s voice come from behind me. Concern and hesitation hung thick in his words. Something was on his mind as I turned to look at him. His green eyes sticking out the most in the gloomy weather. Drops of water dripped from my wet bangs as I stared into those emerald green eyes, “You didn't join us. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, Jack,” I told him honestly, “I just don’t like to be around a lot of people. You know that.”

He stared at me, studying me as if he didn't believe me. He then let out a sigh as he decided to move closer to me. It was then that I noticed that he was soaked to the skin; his green hooded sweater wasn’t much of a protection from the rain. It had taken on a darker color then it really was, he must have left to search for me as soon as the rain started to fall. It just proved to me more on how much he looked out for me.

“It’s pouring out, you’ll get sick,” he told me, just inches away from me. He was close enough to kiss me if he wanted to, but I knew Jack wouldn’t do that. He was too much of a gentleman to blindly do something like that. Even if I could tell that he really wanted to do it. But, he could never cross that line. It wasn't worth risking out friendship to him.

“I’m fine, Jack. I’m perfectly dry compared to you,” I pointed out to him. I even gave him a little smile to reassure him. He just let out another sigh as he smiled back at me. His hair was dripping wet at this point. The light brown in his hair was now dark brown from standing in the rain for so long. Making me suggest something I'm sure he would be grateful for, “Let’s go where it’s dry. We’re almost at my place anyways.”

My house was completely different from all of the others, making it a complete outcast though. I kind of knew how it felt, because that’s how I was in high school. All I had then was Jake, and all my house has is my father and me.

I started to walk making Jack follow me but due to his longer legs than mine, he soon ended up leading the way. It was funny to see the confidence in his walk as if we were going to his place instead of mine. We walked in complete silence. Not a word was said, but there was an aura coming off of Jack that told me that he wanted to say something. He was just choosing not to at the moment. The whole feeling was kind of making our walk a little awkward instead of the usual carefreeness.

The silence remained until we were at my front door. Jack watched as I turned the handle with ease, meaning my father had left it unlocked for me. Either that or he was still home and decided not to go into work today. But my father never takes off of work to keep him from thinking of the past. He doesn’t say it, but I can tell that it still haunts him. The door let out a small creak as it opened exposing an empty entry hall. I looked around and saw the house was dark, not a light was on. Proving that my father was gone.

“Your old man really needs to learn to lock the door when he leaves,” Jack said with a smile as he walked into the house dripping wet, ending our awkward silence. He left small puddles on the wooden floor as he walked down the hall to the closet that held all of the towels. He’s been here enough times to know where everything was without asking. Only him and Jake are the only ones I know that act like they live here as well.

“He is just making sure I can get in when I come home and he’s not here,” I told Jack as I took off my jacket and hung it in the closet closest to the front door. Creating a puddle on the floor as it started to drip dry.

“Has he heard of a spare key?” Jack said walking up to me, drying his hair with a light blue towel. I always found Jack the most attractive when his hair was wet.

“This is my father we’re talking about,” I told him as I headed for the kitchen. I was getting hungry, but I couldn’t put my finger on what I wanted though. It was what I got for not eating while I was at the restaurant.

“Leah, can I tell you something?’ Jack asked as I opened up the fridge. There wasn’t much in it except for some left over Chinese food and two containers of potato salad that I made the other day. There was also a carton of milk and a few eggs. I started to hope that the freezer had more of a selection.

“Go ahead, Jack. You can tell me anything. You know that,” I told him as I closed the fridge and opened the freezer. I was just as disappointed. Three tubes of ice cream. One of chocolate, one of strawberry, and the last one was some weird kind that my father really liked. There were also two empty ice trays, but that was it. I think it was time that my father and I went shopping for food. This was just sad, “Not even a pizza.” I complained.

“I know you are wondering why I came back from New York,” Jake started as I grabbed the strawberry ice cream and sat at the little island in the middle of the kitchen. The thought did cross my mind, but was forgotten after Jack being back for three months. I just assumed that he had come back for the summer. Taking some time off from school to de-stress from the college life, “I came back because I want to be with you Leah.”

I froze. I knew that Jack liked me. But hearing that he came back because he liked me, throwing away his dreams in the process was kind of crazy. The temptation to tell him that all of it was in his head was strong. Fortunately, I kept it to myself because I didn’t have the hear to hurt his feelings.

“Leah, you don’t have to say anything,” Jack continued. He took a seat next to me at the island, “Just let me get this out. I know I dated your sister knowing fully well of my feelings for you, but I only did so because it made sense at the time. Don’t get me wrong. I loved your sister very much, but I’m in love with you, Leah. I’ve always had been.”

There was small problem with his little confession and I’m sure he knew it already. There were no serious emotions for him. Jack could protect me and tell me anything on his mind, but that wasn’t going to change how I felt. Jack just didn’t give me what I wanted to feel. I wanted to feel like a little kid again, falling in love for the first time. So far there have only been two people that made me feel like that. One of them I could strangle in a heart beat and was also happen to be Jack’s brother.

“You don’t feel the same. I understand that. We are more family than friends. I just wanted to tell you everything on my mind. That was all,” Jack finished. He looked so sad as he handed me a spoon from the silverware drawer. He sure knew how to make me feel like the worst person in the world. But, I couldn’t help how I felt around him. There just wasn’t a spark, or so they would say.

We were silent once again from that point on. I ate the ice cream trying to not look at Jack as he pouted, realization that he didn’t have a chance finally sank in. It broke my heart to see him so down, but it wasn’t his fault. It never was. I knew that he was going to be there until the end no matter what. Sometimes I even felt like I didn’t deserve to have someone in my life like Jack. My knight in shining armor whenever I needed it.

I suddenly didn’t want my ice cream anymore. I ended up putting the lid back on and placing it back into the freezer. When I closed the door of the freezer, I heard something come from upstairs in my father’s room. It sounded as if someone was walking and I knew my father was gone. There also was no possibility that my house is haunted either. Meaning, we most likely had an intruder that was probably looking for things to sell.

I looked at Jack and he was staring at the ceiling. At least I knew he heard it too and I wasn't just being crazy. He slowly stood up and started walking for the stairs, still staring at the location the sound was coming from. I followed closely behind. I was terrified because this kind of thing never happened to me. My heart was racing and I took long deep breaths as Jack put out his left arm in front of me in a protective way. We headed slowly up the stairs, trying to make them not creek under our feet.

When we got to the top, we could see my father’s room and standing in the door way was a young man. Jack tensed up and he moved closer to me. I stared at the young man. He had dark brown, almost black hair. His eyes were as dark as blood and they were filled with hate. I saw touches of green gleam in his hair as we slowly got closer, but we stayed close to the stairs as if it was a going to be our route in case we needed a quick escape.

“Donny,” Jack said with such hate that it sent chills down my spine. It was something I never imagined to come from him.

The young man just smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. He wore a leather jacket over a plain black shirt. Now that I examined his outfit, he was wearing all black. He seemed to be about six foot from what I could see, but everyone that I knew was around six foot. Being a little taller than average, I needed to be friends with people taller than me because I dwarfed normal girls in town.

“Jack,” he spoke in such a playful tone that it made my skin crawl. There was something about him that just creeped me out. He seemed to be extremely attractive, but yet a little voice in me told me to run. His voice was deep and had a certain evil tone to it, “I see you are one of them now. Well, sort of. But, you are in the way of what I want.” He pointed in my direction as he said that last bit. Making me shiver uncontrollably.

“You can’t have her,” Jack spat with such venom in his voice that I could feel the hate coming off of him. My heart was still beating viciously in my chest. I had no idea what was going on. I was so lost and so scared that I had to hold tightly onto Jack’s soaked hoodie. This was probably one of the rare moments where I depended on his protectiveness so deeply.

“Where are your brothers? You know you can’t fight me off alone. You’d die for sure,” the young man said as he uncrossed his arms and started to walk closer to us. The look on his face was like a predator ready to pounce on his pray. The whole look terrified me. Jack moved closer to me and I was almost right behind him by now. He slowly started guiding me closer to the stairs to lead me down them. The other guy continued to slowly approach us, “My brother is foolish to have a weakling like you protect anything. Especially someone like her.”

Suddenly he had a hand wrapped around Jack’s neck. I couldn’t even keep track of his movements. His grip must have been strong, because I could hear Jack struggle for air. He was killing him or at least trying to. Fear started building up in me more. A scream was trapped in my throat as I watched what was unfolding in front of me with horror. Making me feel completely helpless. Turning around I started to run down the stairs in hopes that I could get help in time to save my best friend’s life. The whole way, I could feel those eyes watch me as I headed for the front door.

When I opened it, I ran right into David. He wrapped his arms around me with a confused look on his face but understanding quickly showed as he looked in the direction I had came from. That was when Ricky ran into my house, towards Jack and the young man. David handed me off to Jake before following Ricky in attempt to save Jack. Or, at least I hope that was what was going on.

“Donny, let him go,” I heard Ricky demand with a strong tone. Jake held me close as we both watch with fear. That’s when I saw something, Ricky and the young man looked exactly alike. They were the exact copy. Making me wonder if Ricky was the brother that he spoke of earlier.

The young man let go of Jack by throwing him down the stairs. David caught him, nearly falling over. He then checked on him to see if he was okay. It was plain to see that Jack was unconscious but still breathing. I was relieved for that. David placed his brother at the bottom of the stairs and then hatefully stared at the young man. Ricky stood at the bottom off the stairs, also staring at the young man with so much hate.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance, Ricky,” the young man spoke and then left the way he came in. Then I remembered that my father had a little balcony and he must have left it unlocked. That’s probably how the young man came in, but how did he get to the balcony? That was impossible to accomplish without a ladder of some sort. Questions started to race through my mind as I tried to make sense of all that had just happened. I knew my life was going to get interesting, but this was a little ridiculous.

Jack groaned back to life, snapping me back into reality. I ran to him to see if he was okay as David walked up to Ricky. I heard them whisper something to each other, but I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. They appeared to be speaking in some foreign language that I didn’t bother to learn. Plus my main focus was on Jack to begin with. Jake kneeled by my side as I rested my hand on Jack’s shoulder. I looked at him with concern as he slowly opened his eyes.

His emerald green eyes focused on me and he made a small smile to let me know that he was okay. I let out a sigh of relief and I then wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me gently and I could feel him resting the side of his face on my shoulder, burying his face in my damp hair. I also could feel eyes on me, making me pull away from Jack and confirm that David was watching. An unreadable expression on his face.