...Chapter 4, Stepping out...

 

The first person to step onto the porch is Madison, mom a step behind her. They both hesitate, looking to the sides before we all move together to the garage. Once inside, Madison and I work together to get the wheelbarrow down from the wall. Then once it's down, Madison wheels it outside. Feeling weird about having to stand back, I watch her and mom load the velociraptor into the wheel barrow. And then promptly have it slip out. They try to load it twice more before I step forward, balancing the wheelbarrow while they each support an end.

"Okay, where are we dumping it?" I ask,

"Hold on," Kaylie says, kneeling next to us. "Oh wow. Uhm, can we get it on a tarp in the back yard?"

Bethany nods, running towards the garage while we try to navigate our way through the narrow gap between the house and the fence. Well, narrow when compared to a dead velociraptor. Making it through the gate involves more careful maneuvering and a lot of time with Madison pressed up against me. Even once we're through the gate, she remains close. But I don't complain.

Until she steps on my foot, causing us to almost drop the raptor. Which prompts Kaylie to step forward and help stabilize it from the other side. By the time we get it to the backyard, Sawyer and Bethany have the tarp spread out.

"Okay. Uhm, I'm going to need... the cleaver, a pair of scissors and the hacksaw?" Kaylie asks, cocking her head to the side while looking at me.

"I've got the saw," Madison states, turning back to the garage.

Mom taps my shoulder, "You go with Madison. No one by themselves. Bethany, Sawyer, you get the cleaver and scissors. I'll watch Kaylie."

Nodding, I race after Madison who's running up the gravel path alongside our house. I catch up right as she rounds the corner. And I pull her back as I see something around that corner. When she gasps out, I press my hand over her mouth, while peeking around the corner. Standing right where we collected the omniraptor is another, sniffing at the pooled blood. But there's no Mr Farlin this time. A tongue licking my hand, makes me glance at where I have Madison pressed against the wall. When I pull my hand away, she just smirks at me, before glancing out past the corner of the house.

When she pulls her head back, her smirk's even bigger.

She motions me to look, and I do so. The omniraptor is still there, only now it's neck is wrapped in an already cooling hand of magma. And it's head is lying several feet away.

"Holy shit," I mutter.

"I know, I'm pretty badass, aren't I?" Madison asks, striking a pose with her chin jutting up and her hands in closed fists on her hips.

"You definitely have your moments," I reply, scanning the area to see if there are any more dinosaurs that might show up. With nothing in sight, I signal Madison and she moves into the garage, beelining for the tool chest. She pulls out several of the long thin blades, and retrieves the handle from where it's hanging overhead before pausing and looking out at the raptor again.

"Darren..." Madison says, her eyes flicking between me and the raptor. I'm not sure why, but suddenly she's nervous.

"Yeah Maddie?" I ask, stepping forward to put my arm over her shoulder to reassure her while guiding her out of the garage.

With one last glance at the beheaded rapter, she asks, "Do you think this is really happening? Or are we stuck in some sort of dream?"

"What sort of dream wouldn't give me any sort of rad super powers?" I retort, as I pause at the gate to make sure it's properly secured. Really don't want another one of those raptors sneaking through. I'm really glad the pathway is gravel now. Nice, loud, crunchy gravel.

"One where you realize that your sisters will keep you safe, obviously," Madison states, leaning against me hard enough to make me miss my next step.

"Ha, I don't need a dream to know that you'll keep me safe," I reply as I regain my footing, elbowing her back while thinking about how quickly they checked on me after Jen... well. Yeah.

Madison stops, turning to stare into my eyes for a few seconds, her face blank. And then the biggest smile I've seen all day stretches across her face. "Holy shit. You actually mean it. You really do trust me to keep you safe."

"Uh," I start, but before I can say anything else, Madison presses against me, her lips on mine. It lasts for several glorious seconds before she pulls back, her cheeks nearly crimson.

"Sorry. I promised... I mean, we should get back to the others," Madison says, spinning and pulling me after her.

I squeeze her hand extra tight, not saying anything, but feeling a warmth spreading through my core. Then we're in the back yard, and I discover that in the short time we've been gone, Kaylie has started butchering the Velociraptor.

While I wasn't sure what I was I expecting, I know that coming back to see several roots from the old climbing tree supporting a raptor corpse that's already mostly skinned wasn't on my list. Not even remotely. It manages to make my bile rise, and I end up throwing up along the fence while Madison tells the others about the second raptor out front. Sawyer is there as I finish, her braid held firmly in one hand, and a fresh ball of water floating over her other.

"Thanks," I say as I splash water on my face before taking a sip. It's not bad, a little flat but otherwise… it’s water.

"No prob. I had the exact same reaction," Sawyer says with a shrug, gesturing at the skewered raptor. Even though she says that, her eyes are locked on where Kaylie is working, her hand playing with her braid. She keeps flicking the end as she tugs on it. When she notices me looking, she says, "I feel so useless. At first, I thought water magic was cool. But everyone else’s is better."

"Water magic is cool. Great for summer days," I say, only to receive a blast of the aforementioned water to the face. With a dripping shirt, I turn to see Sawyer's smirk. "Also, apparently great for harassing your brother."

"You deserve it. You've practically been fixated on Kaylie all night," Sawyer mutters the last part, and before I can comment, she adds, "Besides, I can always do this."

The water that was soaking my shirt is suddenly shifted away, floating in a dirty ball in front of us. Then with another flick of her hand, Sawyer sends it off to the small garden Kaylie keeps along the other side of the yard.

"Hey, sorry if I haven't given you enough attention tonight," I say squeezing Sawyer's shoulder as I put my arm around her while looking at the mess Kaylie's making of the velociraptor.

A sharp jab in my ribs is quite the contrast to her next words, "Idiot. It's fine. But you better lavish me with love tomorrow."

"Lavish, huh? I'm not sure an idiot like me knows what that means," I tease, managing to dodge the quick finger jab this time.

"It means, that whatever attention you give to Kaylie tonight, you better be ready to give me the same tomorrow," Sawyer states, making several more attempts to jab me. Her reflexes might be good in video games, but in real life, I'm simply able to employ the mighty 'grab the hand that stabs at thee' method. Which works for all of a second before she stabs me with her other hand. “I’m serious.”

"Oh?" I can't help but smirk at her insistence. Especially with how... extra flirty Kaylie's been tonight. The twins don't keep secrets from each other. Ever. And if Kaylie's interested in me as much as I think she is, Sawyer's basically saying she wants the same thing. Is my last ability not as crazy as I thought? Does my ability know something I don't? Are my sisters-

"What the hell," Sawyer mutters, dragging me out of my thoughts as she leans towards where Kaylie is working.

Following her gaze, I lean in as well when I catch the glowing light emanating from a jagged crystal partially wrapped around the raptor's heart.

Kaylie is holding the heart up, frowning at it. Then she looks to Bethany, who's standing on the back porch, studiously not looking at where Kaylie's working. Kaylie calls out to Bethany, "Hey Bee, you can make things out of light, right?"

Bethany looks over her shoulder for a second, and seems to regret the decision, shuddering as she quickly looks away. "Yeah. Why?"

"Can you make me a scalpel?"

With a frown, light forms over Bethany’s extended palm, gradually reshaping itself until it's in the form of a scalpel. When it's done, it plops down into her hand. She inspects it for a moment before holding it over her shoulder in Kaylie's direction without looking back.

"Thanks!" Kaylie says cheerfully, turning back to the heart and cutting it away with quick strokes until she only has the crystal left. I watch as one of the roots supporting the raptor spears through the heart, then carries it over to Kaylie's garden. Which is when I realize that despite all her work dissecting the raptor, there isn't a single drop of blood on the tarp.

My eyes shift back to Kaylie who's still staring at the crystal. Right as I notice the text over it saying 'Essence Core - Feral - Mortal Grade' Kaylie turns to me. "I think it can be used for making... uhm, I'm not actually sure about that. I just have the feeling we can use it in stuff. Like a battery. Or we could consume it, but something tells me that would be... bad. For some reason."

"Maybe cause it's Feral?" I suggest, looking at the crystal that's still glowing with a soft green light.

"Okay. No one's consuming any strange crystals. We're not that far gone yet," mom says, stepping forward with one of those cloth grocery bags which Kaylie drops the crystal into. "But we should get this meat put away. Internet and cells are down. And if the new sky overhead's any sign, there's no telling when the grid's going to stop providing power. Might need to fire up the genny."

As one, the rest of us all look up at the words 'new sky overhead'. True to mom's words, the familiar empty blue sky I'm used to seeing over Token's Point has been replaced with... a rather bright, but completely unfamiliar set of constellations. And some of them are clearly patterns I've never seen when looking into the sky before. With actual lines connecting them. And this is what I can see in the daylight.

"Wow, not used to being able to see them so clearly during the day," Bethany says, stepping down off the step. "But where's... I don't recognize any of the constellations."

"Like I said, new sky," mom says, rubbing her forehead.

“Does this mean… we’re not on earth anymore?” Bethany asks, tapping her chin while she turns, staring upward.

“Probably,” mom answers while I step closer to Kaylie to help her with packaging the meat. Then I realize the actual packaging is easily handled by Kaylie literally growing a wooden wrapping around the slab of meat she’s cut free.

“So, monsters, magic and a whole new world. That’s gonna have mean some big changes. Society will be different,” Bethany continues as I take the bundled packages she’s already completed up to where the deep freeze sits on the back porch.

While I’m storing the meat in the deep freeze, shifting some of the frozen veggies from Kaylie’s garden to the side, mom replies, “Probably. We need to worry about immediate problems though.”

“Sure. I’m just realizing this means our plans for the next few days are kinda shot, not to mention going to college,” Bethany says with a surprising amount of cheer, “And that we can probably get away with all sorts of stuff we couldn’t before.”

“Just because we might not be on earth, that doesn’t mean we won’t find civilization here,” mom says, “Besides, we’re not going to just go wild.”

“Well, sure. But you can’t tell me there aren’t things you would do differently,” Bethany replies, drawing mom up to the porch where she has less chance of glancing over at Kaylie’s work.

While they continue talking about potential philosophical impacts of being on a new world, I move to help Kaylie finish packing the meat. I'm not much more than an extra set of hands, but I can practically feel where Kaylie wants me to be as she works. It takes us a while, and the process is almost reminiscent of helping her with her garden. Except bloody meat instead of juicy vegetables. Soon we have everything packaged and stored in the deep freeze. Which by the time we’re done is very full.

As Sawyer gleefully sprays Kaylie and I down, I notice they’ve brought the second raptor into the back yard. Completely negating the point of Sawyer's unrequested cleaning.

"Whoops," Sawyer sings out, drawing the water away from Kaylie and I. But not before I get a chance to see Kaylie's erect nipples straining against the fabric of her v-neck blouse. Seriously, it we weren't dealing with some major crazy shit, I'd… I don’t know. But I’d take Kaylie to the side, at the very least.

Instead, I continue to serve as her second pair of hands. It's still gross, but I soon discover I can cleanse the blood by applying purify to myself. Which is something my abilities don't mention. I count as a target. I suppose I am technically, my own blood relative. But still.

Once we have half the second raptor butchered, mom informs us there's no more room in the freezer. So, once Kaylie retrieves a second essence core that's the same as the first, the rest of the raptor is deposited in her garden. Which absorbs the remains in seconds.

There's a clinical part of me that wonders if I should feel disturbed by that. But somehow, it feels natural. If anyone other than Kaylie did it, I'd be freaking out. But since it's her, I just feel happy that her garden is well fed.

Yep. I'm definitely not going crazy or anything.

Despite my ability to purify both Kaylie and myself, Sawyer insists on hosing us down again. While we're being hosed down, the others head inside. Even Sawyer heads inside the second she's sucked all the moisture back, one last glance back at me as she mouths the word 'everything' before blowing me a kiss.

"That... that was intense," Kaylie says as she leans against my arm. “I can’t believe I just butchered a lizard twice my size. Sorry, two lizards. It was… like I was in a trance.”

"Yeah," I agree, suddenly nervous. But it's a good nervous. Like before going on a rollercoaster. I slip my arm over Kaylie's shoulder as I lead her up onto the porch bench, looking out over our fort-like backyard but hidden from inside. With giant murder lizards roaming around, suddenly, mom's decision to collect literal tons of rock doesn't seem so impractical. Then I glance back at Kaylie's garden, where the skeletons of the lizards have been stacked in neat piles. "So, now you’re collecting bones, huh?"

Kaylie scrunches up her face in a way that is way too adorable to resist booping. So I don't. Resist that is. One boop, and an elbow to my stomach later and Kaylie sighs. A happy sigh as she leans against my chest. "I'm so glad you're here. I don't want to imagine going through this without you."

"I'm glad too. I'll say this, between all the magic and your flirting, I've hardly thought about Jen," I admit, stroking her hair softly.

"Oh, thank god. You figured out I was flirting," Kaylie mutters, before tilting her head back and staring into my eyes for a second. Then she starts smirking, "Sawyer thought we'd have to tell you. But I knew better."

"I mean... you did drill your bare nipples into me. And then your grinding earlier," I chuckle. "It wasn't exactly subtle."

Kaylie rolls her eyes. "I've been trying subtle for over a year. It obviously wasn't working."

At this, I blink. I thought I was good at reading my sisters. But I didn't pick up on her trying to flirt with me. At all. "You... have?"

The smirk on her face is so predatory, a small part of me thinks I'd be safer with the raptors. Kaylie doesn't say anything else, instead leaning forward until her lips graze against mine. Then she leans even closer, her lips breathing on my ear, "all those times I 'slipped' out of my bra. Or you caught me bent over in the garden and I wiggled for you? The time you walked in on me in the shower. I’ll admit, it’s cute that you always told me when you noticed a nip slip while averting your eyes."

Shit. If those were supposed to be signs... well, then it isn't just Kaylie and Sawyer. I've had things like that happen with all my sisters. Though Kaylie is definitely the worst offender.

"Damn," I chuckle, running my hand through her hair as I kiss her cheek. "Can you blame your brother for not thinking you were flirting?"

“Fair,” Kaylie says, leaning into me aggressively, driving her head under my chin as she reaches around me. “But now you know. So… what do you think?”

“What do I think? I mean… I’m not sure,” I admit, still stroking her hair.

I can feel her tremble as she asks, “You’re not?”

“Like, how do you decide which twin is hotter? That’s an impossible question,” I say, bracing for the incoming elbow. But it doesn’t arrive. “Kaylie?”

“Ass,” she mutters, but her trembling has stopped. “And don’t ever mention that in front of Sawyer. You know she’d take it as a challenge even if we weren’t… you know…”

“Trying to catch your brother’s eye?” I ask, kissing the top of her head softly.

“It’s not just… I mean, yeah, obviously we want you to look. But…” Kaylie pulls away, squinting as her hair falls in her eyes. Shaking it out, she smiles, “I know it’s wrong, but… do you remember when you were helping me practice for the play last year?”

“The one with the pirate queen and ninja king falling in love? Sure, that was a blast. I swear I can still feel where Sawyer hit me in the ass after stealing the, what did you call it, a washiti?”

“Wakizashi,” Kaylie replies with a smirk. “You’re a failure as a nerd, you know that right?”

“Hey, at least I don’t forget burritos in the microwave overnight,” I jab back.

“That was one time!” Kaylie exclaims, pushing me before setting her head against my shoulder. “Thanks for helping me clean that up before mom got home, by the way.”

Snuggling her closer, I let my hand slide up and down her side, brushing along her ass as I say, “Hey, that’s what brothers are for. Besides, can you imagine how mad mom would’ve been?”

There’s a moment where we sit in silence, Kaylie breathing against me before saying, “Not as mad as she’ll be if she finds out how I’ve felt since you helped me practice the confession scene.”

“Right. I remember that. I’d finally gotten the… uhh… little sword back from Sawyer and then it was time for the… confession scene.”

Kaylie doesn’t say anything, just nodding against my chest.

“I… remember. I wasn’t even looking at you as I read from the script, running my hands through your hair as I pulled you close. Just like it told me to. Then I tilted your head. Again, just like it said in the script. You laughed. And then I kissed you. But it was only for like a second,” I say, thinking back. “I remember you tasted like strawberries.”

Suddenly, I’m once more conscious of how close she’s pressed against me. And yet, it doesn’t feel like enough. “You didn’t say anything, but you did stop laughing. And then Sawyer declared that we’d done enough practicing and chased me around the house dual-wielding the pirate and ninja swords. And I didn’t fight back, cause I felt bad for getting carried away.”

“I’m glad you did. Though it was way too short,” Kaylie says, tilting her head back to look up at me. She squeaks as I wrap my arms around her, pulling Kaylie into a full body hug. One that lets me lift her up. She works with me, intuiting my intent as she straddles me as I set her back down in my lap, her breasts pressing against my cheeks. So, I lean forward, inhaling her scent. Strawberry has never smelled sweeter.

Then I pull back, staring into her eyes. “What do you say we try that scene again?”

"Love you, brother," Kaylie whispers as her lips find mine. We spend a long time, just gently kissing each other. My hands explore her body, slowly but surely eking out as many delightful gasps as possible. And her hands do the same with mine.

And then there's a loud knock on the porch door, causing Kaylie and I both to jump. Then Bethany pokes her head out. "Hey, mom says we should all get inside. She'll take watch for tonight."

Her gaze roams over both of us. With Kaylie still straddling me, there isn't much hiding what we were doing. But Bethany has a smirk fixed firmly in place as she spins one of her golden locks around her finger. "And you'd better get upstairs quick, unless you want mom to catch you."

Despite knowing that my sisters are flirting with me, I have Kaylie very firmly locked on top of me and hearing Bethany sets my cheeks aflame.

Considering Kaylie's vigorous nodding and silence, I suspect I'm not the only one.

"Good. I'll distract mom," Bethany says, popping her head back inside.

Turning to Kaylie, who's as flushed as I feel, I say, "So, uhm, I guess we should-"

"Yes!" Kaylie exclaims, hoping off my lap. Then she pauses, fixing her hair in place as she peers back at me almost shyly.

I can’t help the smile on my face as I take her hand. With a quick squeeze, she leads me inside. She keeps her gaze locked on the floor as we pass through the central hall to reach the stairs. I, on the other hand, keep my eyes up. Bethany's voice can be heard from the living room, where I'm guessing she's keeping mom busy. Both Sawyer and Madison are standing just at the bottom of the stairs. Madison has a faint blush and a small smile, and Sawyer gives us an exaggerated wink while mouthing something I can’t make out as Kaylie practically drags me past them.

Then we're ascending the stairs and it's just me and Kaylie.