(Author’s POV)
"She did make it clear to you, didn’t she?" Yelena uttered spitefully. "That she doesn’t want to keep any contact with you. So, why are you tormenting her? Why~ ...?" She was fuming like a live charcoal; her face flushed with intense red and yellow hues. Her index finger kept poking at Brave’s rain soaked chest mercilessly, over and over again.
Witnessing Fabian’s wretched state and recalling Myra’s crestfallen expression, she couldn’t hold the curse words and accusations in her throat any longer. She bombarded Brave with them.
After getting caught unprepared by her ’out of the blue’ entrance and now hearing the outrageous words spewing out of her mouth, Brave, the ever so rational and calm guy, was starting to lose his cool.
He knew she had mistaken him for his twin, but this was no way to behave with his brother as well. He certainly couldn’t stand it anymore. He got up from the place, with his sturdy build towering over Yelena. Next~ ... he caught up her motioning hand and clasped it midway, his grip firm on it. Refraining from uttering anything to her, his penetrating gaze did all the talking.
His intention was to just intimidate her, but did it happen? The answer was a big, bold~ .... in capital letters~... NO.
Instead, .... it only intensified the disgust in her eyes. She knew he was trying to scare her off. But that only rubbed her the wrong way.
To her, Alaric Everests’ presence was creating a mess in Myra’s peaceful life. And now, seeing Fabian lying like a withered flower, she was annoyed by the attitude he was showing to her.
Snatching her hand out of his grasp, she took a step closer, matching his intense gaze, and mumbled, her voice eerily cold, "If anything or anyone tries to harm any of my friends~ .... I swear to god~ .... I won’t stay still. No matter who I have to go against. Now~ .... Tell me, where have you taken her? Where is she?"
Brave glanced at her from head to toe, observing her disorderly appearance, a stark contrast to her determined look.
With pursed lips, he tried to clarify once again, his voice calculative, "Miss~ .... Let me make a few things clear. Firstly, Fabian Stephens fell into the water on his own~ .... and~ ... I was the one who saved him. Secondly~ .... I don’t have any idea who your other friend is~ ... whom you keep talking about. I would just like to say that no one is with me, and I have nothing to do with your friend. And lastly and most importantly~ .... I – AM - NOT~ ...." He was about to reveal his identity to her, but before he could, Nora came back and called out to him, "Brother Rave~ ... it has been so long. So, why hadn’t the ambulance arrived yet? I am getting wor~ ..."
Withholding her voice, she spotted an oddly intimate scene between her and an unknown girl. She could help but ask, her voice laced with confusion, "Uhhh~ .... umm~ Brother~ .... Who ... is this?" She pointed towards the person.
"She is~ ...." Casting a glance at Yelena, he shifted his gaze back to his sister, "She is Prof. Stephens friend." He stated casually.
Nora nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, Yelena was having a complete meltdown, ’What the fuck? Isn’t that No~ ... Nora? What’s she~ .... What’s she doing here?’ She was stunned to the core, never expecting Nora to be here. Her face was concealed with a hoodie and sopping strands of her hair.
Then all of a sudden, she was hit with another realization, ’And~ .... what did she call this guy? Brother~ ... Rave? As in Brave Everests?’ She was aghast as she peeked at Brave’s face. ’Did I mistake him for Alaric?’ A stone of guilt pressed on her chest.
She was so immersed in her inner monologue that she didn’t even hear Brave asking her something. "Miss~ .... Miss~ ...." Clicking his fingers in front of her, he brought Yelena back to reality.
"Huhh~ ...." Yelena was caught absentminded.
"That’s your car, right?" he pointed toward the distant vehicle. Yelena nodded with hesitation. "Good. We need to take him to the hospital. You drive," he stated and picked Fabian up.
This time, there was no hesitation in Yelena’s movement. She sprinted towards her car, unlocked it as Brave lay Fabian on the backseat and then settled inside as well.
Nora followed them quietly, taking the passenger seat. She was still feeling a bit woozy and experiencing dizzying spells due to the extreme exertion of her powers.
Yelena started the car as the four drove off. While driving, she kept taking a glance towards the back from the rearview mirror, wanting to observe Brave’s expression.
"Where are you~ ... taking me?" Yelena questioned, her voice low. Brave didn’t answer and just kept on walking. He didn’t even look her way, his eyes trying to search for something. When he saw what he was looking for, he wasted no time and took Yelena straight to the room.
*Knock~ ... Knock ... Knock*
The staff looked in their direction. Brave took her inside and said, "Sit~ ..." Yelena, quite uncharacteristically, obeyed. He then turned to the nurse and said, "She had injured her foot, and her toenail is bleeding a bit as well."
Yelena was a little surprised. In all the chaos, even she had forgotten about it. She looked at her foot and thought, ’The nail is bleeding, so he must have seen it, but how could he say that my foot is injured as well?’
Truth be told, Brave had already noticed the way she was walking with a slight limp. He took a seat opposite her, glanced at her and said, "By the way~ ... don’t you have anything to say to me?"
Yelena was truly ashamed of her reckless conduct. Her face turned crimson as she mumbled, almost inaudibly, "I am~ .... Sorry."
"Huhh~ ... what did you say? I didn’t catch it. Speak a bit louder," Brave crossed his arms as he tilted his head to poke his ear towards her.
"I said~ ..." her voice raised by two decibels, "I am sorry. I mistook you for your brother."
"But why~ ...." He inquired. "Why did you say all that? What did Alaric do to you?"
Yelena pressed her lips. Her mind started spiralling with thoughts. If she were to tell Brave about the reason she was blasting Alaric, Myra’s name would be automatically dragged. And she knew very well that Myra didn’t want to associate with any of the Everests. Plus~ ...with Nora now present in Esteria, it was all the more reason not to say anything about it.
To Be Continued . . . . . . .

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