Emily's POV

   Some things happen for a reason either good or bad, you just have to flow with it and make the best of it.

  Here I was stuck with two guys, suffering a severe headache after my unfruitful search with Fred this Saturday. I couldn't think properly.

We were robbed!

Rather than focus on our unfortunate events, I'd rather cheer myself up by thinking about the previous day's events.

***
Last Thursday's evening with Adam was fun. He felt he had won by sneaking to his room with my porridge but I showed him what I'm made of. I couldn't believe I was actually waiting for him to come out of his room. The power was out but thanks to his inverter, everything was functioning properly. He was really bent on not coming out. Such a coward so I lured him out.

If I was seen as a crazy person for what I did I don't care, I just wanted to have some fun and loosen up. Without thinking much, I switched off the inverter and scattered the entire living room then at intervals, I would yell like I was in pain. This would surely get him out so I could fully execute my master plan.

Indeed, he came out and from the tone of his voice, he was really worried or should I say he seemed afraid.

"Emily, are you okay? What happened and why's the light out?" He kept asking other related questions as he flashed his phone torch around the living room. I quickly hid by the curtain but I could see him now as he switched on the lantern, which I didn't know he had.

He was baffled by the appearance of the living room perhaps even frightened. The look on his face was picture and meme-worthy. I wished I had my phone with me so I could get a pic of his expression and post it on my social handles. I'm sure I would get like a thousand hearts and likes, maybe post it on Tik Tok and also #Scare my roommate. That would be dope.

Everything was falling into place. He was scanning through everything when he saw a used bandage. I had intentionally put it there to startle him.

My plan would have gone to perfection but I had to slip and fall on my face. My stupid left leg had to start hurting again. I was about to sneak behind him and sprinkle water on him when I fell.

At first, he tried to help me get up but as soon as the realization hit him that I had planned all this as a prank, he left my hands causing me to fall back once again.

"Ouch, that hurts so much. Adam, I'm serious I think I twisted my ankle." I tried to look as convincing as possible, I was truly in immense pain.

"Oh nice one Emily, I'm not falling for your little antics I know you are just pretending and this is another one of your tricks. I'm not stupid." He pushed his lips out and stared blankly at me.

"Fine, I can manage by myself anyway." What was I saying, I needed help seriously.

I struggled to walk and to my utmost surprise, Adam strolled past me.
"Clean up after you're done with your act, I'll call Fred and see what's keeping him since he's bringing pizza." He said in a sing-song manner as he left.

Not only was I frustrated then but I was also mad at him. So what if I deceived him once, he should have given me the benefit of doubt and helped anyways.

Amidst all my ramblings, I put the living room back in order. I couldn't stop myself from lingering on a particular picture, a picture of a young Adam with two people who I presumed were his mom and dad. They looked happy. The man had a lot of Adam's features, a well-defined jawline, quite a good amount of stubble and Adam's dark skin.

Fred eventually came home with the pizza and sodas. Adam immediately approached him.  "Fred, what took you so long, it's 9 pm now and we've been waiting for you." His voice was laced with both worry and anger.

"I'm sorry bro, traffic was bad." His smile was subtle and there was that tension between them.

Adam didn't insist on it and we ate quietly while watching a movie and then we went to sleep.

Before I went to my room, I saw Fred standing in front of the black door which I was curious about. He was speaking to someone on a call in a very low tone. He had a hairpin in his hand.

The bottled water I had in my hands slipped and he immediately hurried away. Something was up with him.

Despite my fuss over Fred's weird behaviour, I still slept peacefully.

***
   Friday was uneventful. The only thing surprising or unique was that Adam went to work by 10 am. I know it seems like I was chasing him out of his house but something was off. He always left the house latest at seven-thirty am. Adam also came home early. He had a neutral look so I couldn't tell if he was in a good mood or not. Everything was normal besides Fred being absent from home.

***
Finally, the long-awaited Saturday arrived. Fred had a hangover from last night. He came home by 1 am and I was so worried about him...well more about if he would be sober enough to go with me and search for my grandma's house. I'm not a selfish person just setting my priorities straight.

Luckily for me by ten a.m he was perfectly fine. This Saturday was a lazy one for us. No one was in the mood to do anything. Each person was engulfed in their thoughts. I remembered that if I was at my grandma's house, by now I would be sweeping the rooms. My grandma made me do other such tasks. I'm not lazy but how she gave me house chores was really annoying.

I couldn't take the silence anymore as both Fred and Adam were deeply lost in a world of their own and stared blankly at the television screen.

"Hey guys, I understand if you don't want to do anything but you promised to help me find my grandma's house today." I was glad I got their attention.

"Fred promised, I didn't," Adam said while going to his room. I was sad at his response but I just shrugged it off.

"Oh yeah, I'll get ready so we can go but really Adam, shouldn't you be bothered about finding your grandma too?"

I didn't know what to say, I hoped we hadn't been caught. "Well--I..."

"Oh, I remember, your grandma isn't his grandma, you're his step-sister right?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to see her." That was a close shave.

"Sure, I won't be long miss beautiful" then he walked away winking at me.

Well, that's the Fred I know. I still couldn't stop myself from thinking about how weird he was last night. A part of me wanted to tell Adam but I didn't want him to think I was histrionic.

Fred got ready quickly, he took just ten minutes and he was ready.

We randomly boarded a cab and it seemed Fred and the driver had an understanding. They both spoke the same dialect but I couldn't make out anything from what they said.

After a long drive around Victoria Island with no success, we decided to head home. It was four pm by then. This was just unfortunate, I had no idea what I was going to do now.

  I couldn't help but notice that Fred was tensed throughout the drive. From time to time, he kept looking around like someone was tailing us. I couldn't help glancing around also. The entire atmosphere was tense.

As soon as we reached home, he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him. At intervals, I stumbled on the stairs but he didn't stop for a minute, rather his grip tightened and he dragged me along with all the more. Once we reached our apartment, he quickly undid the locks.

I wanted to react but I was feeling nauseous from the stress of our journey and the stairs incident.

Not long after, Adam arrived. I couldn't tell what was going on with him but it seemed like he had been crying. I decided to let the sleeping dog lie.

After tossing around my bed and playing with my hair, I heard some weird sounds. I quickly ran out to see what was going on. I spotted a figure. It was distinct and was definitely not Adam or Fred.

Before I could turn back, I was hit by an object. I was in a daze for some time.
Once I was fully conscious Adam hugged me tightly then he let me go looking flushed.

***currently

  I was back in my room. Adam was by my right-hand side and Fred was by my left-hand side. They both had concerned looks.

"What were you thinking Emily, were you playing Supergirl, you cou-ld have gotten seriously hurt, what would I have done? There's no hospital close by, what if it was severe? You're lucky it's just a scratch-" Adam kept spluttering.

"Yes, we had a series of unfortunate events, I didn't even find my grandma's house then this happened but seriously I'm fine. Have you taken an inventory of everything that is missing?" I quickly cut in.

"Nothing is more precious than you." Adam's words shocked me. I could see the sincerity in his dark brown orbs which at this moment looked even bigger and brighter.

I couldn't help but notice Fred roll his eyes.
"Enough with your brother-sister drama."
Does he know the truth, Adam?

"you can see she's fine stop overreacting, I get it you love your step-sister dearly. I'll go check if he took any of my stuff, too bad you didn't catch him, Adam." Then he left the room.

There was something off about Fred. There was a streak of sarcasm in his words or it was my headache working wonders.

Something felt odd about the robbery incident. I didn't have the full details since I passed out but a part of me felt it was planned. It couldn't be a mere coincidence.

I could only wonder.

.......................

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I updated. I'm so sorry, I was swamped with school activities. Happy New Year by the way.

What can you say about Fred's latest behaviour? Any warning light going off?

Whose point of view (POV ) do you enjoy most, Emily, Adam or do you want a Fred POV?

Thanks for all your support, you're the best. Do click the orange star below, love you all.😘😘😘😘😘