We ran towards the window and jumped, hitting the ground hard. We got out of the house and we looked back to see if Dad was coming, then we saw one of the anonymous’s blaster shoot Dad. 

We heard Dad’s voice say loudly “GO! LEAVE! GET INTO THE SHIP NOW!” Another deafening shot fired and we saw a body slump into the front yard, and heard a sickening thump. Dad’s body, I thought. A sense of overwhelmingness filled my head. DAD IS DEAD. DAD IS DEAD. That phrase kept repeating in my mind. I felt sad and afraid. Why would anyone kill him? He was such a good person. I was filled with sadness and I felt tears in my eyes. I can't cry, not right now. I need to stay strong and get out of here. 

My sister, Emily, had a sad face as well, no one was sadder than her. We got into the spaceship sitting right outside of our house. Then Emily said in a calm voice, “Don't be scared. We are just going to a new planet. We can’t use our powers but we can use them to save ourselves, OK?”  

“Ok, fine but you need to stay away from people almost 24/7, they don’t need to know what you are,” I replied. 

Our spaceship soon went into light speed and we took off. 

On the way, our ship started to go down a little, so I went into the engine bunker and tried to find the problem.

 I am a big nerd on spaceships and technology so I knew exactly what the problem was in an instant, there was no problem. No breakers were missing, there were no red flashing lights around the place, and whenever I looked at the stats of the ship, it said that it was fine, but we were getting pulled back down to our planet. 

At first we started descending slowly, but then it picked up speed and we were heading straight for our planet! We were going rapidly, but as soon as we got super close to the planet, it slowed down. 

I knew I was going to die, but I also knew that someone was pulling us down with their telekinesis and they wanted us alive. 

Then it clicked inside of my head, the only person that doesn’t want us to escape would be Jackson, he’s going for my sister. Oh no. No, no. What am I going to do? I thought. No, I can’t tell her, I just have to fix this super quick and she would never know. I want to save her by myself. I want to be the hero this time.

I heard footsteps coming down to the bunker, it was Emily. 

“Is everything ok? I saw you coming down here so I thought something was wrong,” she said. 

“Er, yes, everything is definitely fine,” I lied. 

“Are you sure? Because you sound weird, just tell me if anything is wrong. OK?” she said, still concerned. 

“Uh yeah, I just thought something was wrong with the ship so I went to go and check and didn’t find anything,” I said. 

Emily sighed, “Ok. Then if nothing is wrong, we have a long trip, so you might as well eat something.”

“I just want to be alone now, after what happened,” I said, then my eyes started getting a little too wet for my liking. 

“Ok, I understand. Just come up whenever you’re hungry.” Then Emily turned around and went back up to the main lobby of the ship. 

The spaceship has 3 parts to it, the engine bunker, the main lobby, and the balcony. 

The engine bunker is about 20 feet wide and 10 feet high. It isn’t really as big as the main lobby and the balcony but it’s alright. 

The engine bunker is also where you steer the ship, so it is like the main control center. On the left side of the room, there are a lot of desks with computers on them. That was where the magic happened. 

The ship was meant to have a lot of workers controlling it and the passengers on the other 2 stories but it is just Emily and I since, you know, our brother is trying to kidnap us and all. 

The front of the room has the main computer (It’s really big). It’s where you control the ship and it’s where I can look at the stats of the ship. 

On the right side of the Bunker, it has other computers, and there’s even more computers spread out in the middle of the room. 

The lobby is enormous and has two main parts. The back lobby, and the front lobby. In the back of the lobby, it has two rooms, one for me and one for Emily. In the front, it has a second command center but it has seats all around it, like a table. 

Also, closer to the back of the room, it has a kitchen with unlimited amounts of food. If we ever run out of food, Emily has the power to create more out of thin air. 

In the middle of the lobby, there is a separate, small hallway that has two rooms. The one on the right is a game room because I don’t want to be bored on this trip. The one on the left is a movie theater so we can watch movies.

The balcony is the last thing, there is a big thick glass dome around it so we can see space without freezing to death, it’s pretty cool to be able to see all of the stars and planets we pass. 

I went to see if we were still getting pulled down by Jackson and we were so I did the only thing I could. 

I went upstairs to the main lobby and told my sister, “Hey Emily, I'm going to head down to the bunker for a little bit. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah it is, but be back before we go into hyperspeed,” she said. 

“Ok.” I went back down into the bunker and closed the door. [Hyperspeed is whenever the spaceship would go very fast through space so the trip wouldn’t last as long. The technological advances from my planet are so advanced that they created the hyperspeed so instead of traveling to Earth for months, hyperspeed can make us have to travel for only about a day or two.] 

I started to use my telekinesis to try and overpower my little brother. I tried and tried but he was so angry that it was so hard to stop him. 

“Ugh.” my head started to hurt but I said to myself quietly, “I am the hero, I am the hero, I AM THE HERO!” 

And with one last pull of my mind, I overpowered my little brother. It felt amazing, I’ve never felt more alive. I also felt kind of like I was going to pass out, but I didn’t. 

I got out of the bunker and Emily said, “Get buckled! We’re going into hyperspeed!” 

“Roger that,” I replied, and we flew off into the emptiness of space.

We finally got into γαλακτικός κύκλος (Aka the Milky Way) after a long, bumpy ride and we woke up looking at all of the planets and their beautiful rings, it was a beautiful sight. 

I saw what these people -“humans”- call the sun and the moon. The sun was really big and bright, brighter than the core of Planet X. There is a core that powers my planet and I always thought, as a child, that it was very bright and colorful. 

Well, the core of my planet is nothing compared to this Sun. It is bright yellow and orange. It is especially huge, the perfect size for someone to live on. 

For a second, I couldn’t believe no one lived there, but then I remembered that a few weeks before all of this Jackson mess started, I heard my Mom say that it is very, very hot. CRAZY HOT. 

See, my mom was a researcher about life on other planets and galaxies. Before my mother discovered it, I thought that my planet consisted of the only form of life, but then my mom discovered another galaxy called the Milky Way. My whole life I knew about the Milky Way and the planets in it, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that she discovered life on a planet, planet Earth. Since then, I have researched and have been interested in other planets and galaxies, but I haven’t researched as much on Earth as Mack has. I just had to research the basics because, in order to take over my planet, I need to know the basics of the surrounding planets.

But Mack researched everything about Earth, I sometimes thought that he was obsessed. He would sometimes skip training just to research, but our parents got on to him for that.

Then Mack and I saw it, planet Earth. It looked like one of the cookies my dad made, green and blue but beautiful. We finally landed on the planet in a state called Arkansas. And so we started a new chapter in our lives; being human.

We got out of the ship and jumped, fully expecting it to be zero gravity, but it wasn’t so we hit the ground with a loud thud. When we got to the ground we pushed a button that made our ship into a house where there was an empty lot. We landed in the middle of a neighborhood. 

I spun around, checking out my surroundings. There were roads upon roads connecting to each other as far as I can see. We are in the middle of a town! There are houses next to ours and across the street. I was kind of surprised no one noticed. Then I remember that Emily activated a cloaking device on the ship. No one saw us or heard us. Anyone that looks at the house will always think that it was there. That is one of the ways that the ship cloaks itself, it makes everyone think that it’s normal.

After that, we took notice of all our supplies we had and that's when I realized that something wasn’t right. “Emily, I feel like something is missing. Are there any facts that you researched about that can help us?”

“I did hear that people around our ‘age’ on this planet have parents. We might need some parents also.”  she replied. “Ok. Any ideas?” I asked, waiting expectantly for one of her usual elaborate plans. “Well didn’t we get shapeshifting dogs for each of our birthdays?” she asked. “But remember, later on after that they died. So, what do you think we should do?” I asked, still waiting expectantly. “Well I see that you're doubting me, remember, I can make things out of thin air, I can create our shapeshifting dogs and make them turn into parents.” Emily said. “Ok, go do that and I will get the house ready. What should I do after that?” I asked. “ I don’t know, just do something, go play some VR games,” Emily replied. Emily walked away to get out of the house and what I think toward the backyard to start working on the dogs. Once Emily went to go and do her work, I wanted to check out the house. The house is two stories with a modern look that is massive! I walked in, to where I first noticed the ginormous kitchen. There were beautiful black granite counters with white cabinets which looked like an L shape around the kitchen. There was also a stove, microwave, oven, and dishwasher all spread out between some of the cabinets with many drawers with silverware and plates. Next, I walked a little bit farther into the living room and my jaw dropped. It was huge!  There was a big L-shaped couch with pillows that looked perfect to build forts with. Then I noticed something, whoever designed this really liked the letter “L”. First, it was the L-shaped counter in the kitchen, now the L-shaped couch. I wonder what their name was, Lily, Landon, Lena...the list could go on! Anyway, I immediately noticed the 75-inch TV screen. I wandered into the next room which happened to be the dining room. There was a huge modern, glass table that was set for six people, even though it was just the two of us and our “parents”. I wonder how Emily is coming along on making our “parents” by the way. I turned right and entered a big hallway. There were four rooms in total, two rooms on one side of the hallway, one room on the other side, and at the very end, there were double doors leading somewhere else. I decided to explore the two rooms that were across from each other first. After looking through them thoroughly I was confused, they both looked exactly the same. They had beige-colored walls and no furniture other than an L-shaped button, again with the L’s! I figured I could ask Emily about it later. I wandered out of the mysterious rooms and through the other door in the hallway. I found myself in a small room with a carpet mat and some shelves. It also had these two machines with a bunch of dials and knobs labeled “washer” and “dryer”. Weird. It also had hooks on the walls that looked like they were for coats. I left the room and went to the very end of the hallway with the two double doors, and suddenly I was outside. I figured I had wound up in the backyard by going through a back door. There wasn’t much to it except the huge, bright white fence surrounding it. I ran back inside anxious to continue exploring. I turned left and found myself at the bottom of a staircase. I sat down on the bottom step, deciding to take a break for a minute. I suddenly was extremely exhausted so I laid my head down, promising myself I wouldn’t fall asleep. I secretly knew in the back of my head that that was an impossible promise to keep after the long day I have had. I drifted off to sleep but it wasn’t peaceful for long. It only took a minute before the nightmares began. I saw a series of images flashing by, including ones I had worked so hard to forget already. I heard my dad screaming his last words. He didn’t sound scared, just protective. As soon as I started processing that terrifying image another one began. This one consisted of a body, dad’s body, laying at my feet. It was like some weird deja vu or something. I knew this wasn’t real, but it sure felt like it. Then it happened. I saw another body slump down, but I knew they had killed this one by accident, she was too precious. It was Emily. I knew who the third body would be. Me. I thought about running but I knew it was pointless. I heard the blaster go off with a loud BANG. And with that, I woke up. I tried my hardest to shake off the nightmare that I had. I groggily stood up and stretched, trying to figure out what to do next. I decided that I was going to explore the second floor of the house. I walked up the stairs and into the first room on my right. It looked like a bedroom. It was kind of girly so I figured it was Emily’s room. I walked out knowing she would try to kill me if she knew I had been in there. I entered the room across the hall to find a “pool” table and an “air hockey” table. I guess this was the game room so I walked back out, thinking I would explore it more later. I walked down the hall a little bit to find another bedroom. I saw some awesome stuff including a basketball hoop and a mini trampoline in the corner. I claimed this room as mine, even if it wasn’t supposed to be. I walked back out of it and down the hall a bit further. I saw two more rooms. I went into the first one on my left and it was another bedroom. I wondered why we needed such a big house for just the two of us. I pushed the thought aside and kept exploring. The bedroom I had gone into was just kind of generic. It had a bedspread that looked like it belonged in an old lady’s house, a window to the backyard, a closet, and a teal-colored chair sitting in the corner. I walked back downstairs and plopped down on the big couch. I started messing with the TV and found a channel with this weird cooking lady. I clicked on it and started watching. About five minutes in I was actually starting to enjoy it. But not for long. Emily suddenly came striding in. “The dogs are finished.”

I had Mack follow me through the front door, around the house, through the gates, and into the backyard. I hadn’t really gotten a chance to explore the house, I was too eager to get the dogs ready, so it was easy to get lost. When we got outside, the two dogs were sitting down, waiting to be programmed. They were sitting side by side and studying the world around them. The one on the left was a medium-sized dog that was white with black spots. It had a black patch of fur on its left eye that made it look like it was wearing an eye patch. The dog on the right was also medium-sized, it was a twin of the other dog. The only difference between them was that it had a black patch of fur on its right eye, instead of its left. They both still had to be programmed so that they knew what to do. The one on the left was a boy and was going to be Mack’s protector. The one on the right was a girl and was going to be my protector. You may be wondering how I decided this. It was apparent whenever I saw Mack drooling over him. “What do you want to name him?” I asked. “Benjamin. Benji for short,” he answered without stopping to think. “Okay then. That was fast. I want to name mine Summer.” And then it struck me. “Mack, these are our parents. Everyone is going to know their names.” He stared at me. “Well duh.” I assumed that meant I was the stupid one for not realizing that sooner. I went over to the computer sitting on the table right next to the dogs. I took a wire out of my pocket and plugged it into Benji. I ran the program to make Benji Macks protector. I turned around and did the same thing to Summer. “Emily,” Mack said softly, “You look exhausted. You have been working all day to get this all set up. I think you should probably go inside and rest for once, I can take care of things around here.” I thought about it for a moment. “Okay, I guess you’re right. I am a little bit tired. I am going to go inside but I want you to promise you won’t do anything stupid right?” “I won't, I promise. I just want to explore the house some more,” Mack answered. “Okay fine, but don’t leave the house or talk to anyone okay? We can wait tomorrow to take care of everything else.” I told him. “Okay,” Mack said. I turned around and walked through the back door of the house inside. I haven’t really had any time at all to explore the house. I am suddenly in a hallway with some rooms. If I wasn’t so exhausted I would have wanted to walk into the rooms and explore but first I need to find out where my room is. I realized that Mack explored the rooms and probably has already called a room for himself so I should turn around and ask him. Suddenly there is this loud chime going through the house. Is that the doorbell?

I was almost inside and to the stairs when the doorbell made me spin around faster than a dog chasing its tail. Emily yelled from the hallway, “Ah!” She came rushing in before I could even register what was happening. “There is someone at the door!” she yelled. “Well no duh Sherlock.” We slowly walked towards the door, on our guard the entire time. After all, you never know who it might be. As we approached the door we heard knocking. My heart was pounding the entire time. Emily spun around quietly making sure not to make any noise, ”Stand at the edge of the door where it opens. Whenever I open the door and something happens, you will be ready to defend yourself. You got it?” Emily asked. “Yes,” I replied, my voice wavering, “I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said with more confidence. Emily turned back around silently as I followed her directions and went to the very edge of the door, out of sight if anyone were to look through. Emily unlocked the door and slowly opened it, her hand behind her back with a bright electric light pulsing out of her hand in a little ball. I took a moment to look at her. She was very beautiful, with dark brown hair, bright blue eyes. Her skin looks flawless and clean. She is wearing a bright blue xorac, a suit that she wears for training on our planet. The xorac has a blue coat over the real suit, the coat has lots of technology programmed in it to help with fights. I remembered what I was wearing for a moment. I was wearing a greenish-blue xorac with the same color as a coat. The colors represent our rank. My sister being the strongest, and being a royal. Me being strong, but not stronger than my sister. The coat is only for the royals, it gives us extra protection. On our planet, we were required to wear that coat with anything we had on, so if anything happened, that coat would protect us. For a quick second, I realized that we never changed into human clothes. We were so caught up with settling in that we never thought to change clothes. What if that person at the door is one of Jackson’s goonies? What if they recognize what she is wearing? A whole lot of possibilities that could happen went through my head. Emily was about to open the door and I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. I have to protect her with my life. “Emily, sto—” I was suddenly interrupted by her shutting my mouth with her power. “Hello,” Emily said with a smile. “Hi,” a light voice replied back. I saw Emily slump back, there is no danger. I guess she already looked through this person’s mind and figured that there is no danger. “I heard you just moved in, I’m your neighbor. I was wondering if we could start getting to know each other and if I could welcome you to this neighborhood.” “Oh uh. What do you want to talk about exactly?” Emily asked, after a quick pause, hesitating. “Are your parents here? I would like to speak with them.” Emily looked at me in a state of panic, I could tell she was asking me to help her out. I stepped out and into the doorway. I looked at the person I was about to talk to. It was a man. He was tall and slender, about 40 years old. He was handsome, with short, dark brown hair. He wore a plaid t-shirt with some light khakis. I felt proud knowing what clothes he was wearing. I have been studying things on Earth for years, what people wear, what they live in, their customs and traditions. Emily and I, being the children of the people who ruled our planet, were required to learn all languages of this planet fluently just in case something like this happened. A short dread-filled through me, a longing, dad is dead. Tears were about to spill through me when I heard a sharp voice in my head. Don’t do this, you can think about this later but not in front of people we don’t know. It was Emily, speaking in my head. I listened to her and quickly gathered my thoughts. “Our parents are out getting groceries and stuff for the house.” I said to the man. “Oh okay, well my name is Mitchell, tell them to come over anytime if they have any questions,” he looked at me skeptically, then quickly cut his eyes to study my sister. After a short moment, he then changed his expression to a happy grin. He then looked at Emily again. I protectively stepped in front of her, my friendly expression slowly faded. I still didn’t trust him. I trust that Emily did well searching through his mind, but she has also been through a lot, she could be wrong. “You know,” he said looking at her still, “you look around the age of my son, you should probably look out for him at school. His name is Hunter.” Emily looked at him a little annoyed, “Thank you for letting me know. We need to go and keep unpacking, if I have any questions I will make sure to come and ask.” “Okay,” he replied with a smile, “Bye.” He waved. He turned and stepped off of the stone porch and walked across the street. Emily and I kept the door open just in case he decided to turn back and attack us. After everything seemed okay, I closed the door. I spun around and looked at Emily. “We need to change and change quickly.” I said to her. “No, no, no! I am not doing that!” she looked at me as if I had just struck her with lightning. “I am sorry but we need to. I get that you miss home and are trying to hold on, but the only way we can stay safe and fit in is if we take them off.” She looked at me, tears in her eyes. I felt sorry for her, our dad just died, our brother is hunting us, this is the only thing she has and I am asking for her to get rid of it. “I am sorry, but if you want us to survive like this, you need to take it off.” I told her. After a long minute of just standing there, she sighed and went upstairs. “First bedroom on the right is yours.” I called out after her. She never said a word.

I took off the suit dreadfully. I hated this. I hated what Jackson did. I hated that we had to leave our planet. I hated that this is what our lives are going to be like, on the run. I hated running. I went across the bedroom to where a dresser was, opened up the wooden drawers, and looked inside. There were some black leggings with pieces of fabric at the bottom woven to make a crisscross design. I picked those up and put them on. I need to find something blue; something that can still symbolize stuff from my planet, however small. I opened up the drawer right above the one with the leggings and looked inside. There was nothing in it except for some jeans. I huffed, I need to find something to wear. I looked to my right and there were some double doors, I walked over there and opened the doors. There were loads of sweatshirts, shirts, and jackets all over the small room hung up on little circular pieces of plastic. I guess this is what these humans call “closets”. I looked to my left and there was a blue sweatshirt, just plain blue. It was the exact same color as my xorac. I quickly grabbed the sweatshirt and put it on. I sat on my bed and started going through the conversation with Mitchell, our neighbor. I remembered what he said whenever he looked at me. About his son, Hunter, and about school. Shoot! I remembered that we need to start going to school. We have to go to school so we don’t seem suspicious. I hurried down the stairs and towards the living room, immediately noticing Mack laying back on the couch with a weird-looking device. I ran towards him and smacked it out of his hand. “What are you doing?!” I yelled at him. “You know better than to start using random devices right after we just got to a new planet, our dad was just killed, and we are being hunted by our insane brother!” He flinched, either not noticing me come in, or my words hurting him like salt in a wound. “Woah! Emily, calm down. It’s just a cell phone,” he said, picking it back up and tossing it to me. Still not trusting this “cell phone” device, I caught it with my telekinesis, careful not to touch it. While holding it with one hand, I used the other hand to look through it, all while never touching it. Although I didn’t find anything, I still didn’t trust it. There were just too many possibilities. I tossed it to the floor, causing it to shatter. “Ugh, not another tantrum,” Mack retorted. “Oh, hush,” I told him, not in the mood to argue. “Look, we need to find a ‘school’ so we don’t seem suspicious,” I told Mack. “Ugh, is it about that whole conversation with Mitchell? Or,” Mack said, his voice making a rollercoaster of sound, “do you just want to meet Mitchell’s son? Hunter was it? I should’ve known, Mitchell was handsome, but too old. So you want to try Hunter,” Mack said, with a hint of taunting in his voice. I rolled my eyes, “Look I am not playing with anything like that. Mitchell is going to tell Hunter to look for us at school. We can’t seem suspicious by not showing up, so we have to go.” “If you say so,” replied Mack, tossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. I shot him with a wave of telekinesis, knocking him off the couch. “Ow,” Mack cried out, “just because you can’t feel pain doesn’t mean I can’t!” “Whatever,” I replied, with my face hinting at a smirk. 

I scrambled up and off of the floor, still in pain. That will hurt tomorrow. I thought to myself. I glared at Emily and sulked out of the living room, grumbling. I went into my room and plopped onto my bed, exhausted from our adventures. I laid there for a few minutes, staring at my ceiling and going over the day in my head. I suddenly felt so overwhelmed. This happens to me sometimes when a lot is going on. I am thinking about everything when my breath catches in my throat, I get really shaky, and my stomach gets tied into knots. Usually when this happens something that helps is making a list of what all is happening and how I can help fix it at the moment. So I got up and searched my room for paper and a pencil. After a few moments, I found some. I sat down at my desk, my breath still shaky. I picked up the pencil and started writing: 

Dad died
Can’t help
Insane brother
Can’t help
Moody sister
Be nice
Being hunted
Don’t get killed
New place/planet
Can’t help
Have to fit in
Can’t help
Have to start school 
Can’t help

Well, that didn’t help much. I sighed loudly and went back downstairs with Emily. Although I wasn’t the happiest with her right now, being with her always helps me feel better. I walked in and sat down on the couch. “Food,” I said, without looking at her. Emily looked over at me, “What?” she asked. I looked back at her, “We have to eat at some point.” My stomach growled audibly at the perfect time. “Oh, yeah. I forgot that you have to eat.” I rolled my eyes, “Lucky, you don’t get hungry,” I muttered under my breath. “I have incredible hearing Mr. Grumpy,” she grumbled. “Ugh. I hate you so much right now. But anyway...food?” I asked, expecting her to get me something to eat. “I love you too. But get up and make something yourself for once. You also forgot that I’m not your maid,” she answered, getting an attitude. I held up my hands in an “I’m innocent” way and got up to go into the kitchen. Once I was inside, I looked around for anything that could fill my stomach. I looked in the refrigerator, nothing. Where could I get any food? My stomach grumbled again, begging for food. I heard footsteps coming into the kitchen. Oh, has Emily finally decided to come and help? I was about to turn around when, suddenly, I felt a hand come to my throat. Whatever it was pushed me, pinning me face down to the fridge. I felt the air go out of my lungs. This definitely isn’t Emily. I could barely breathe. Maybe this is it. I can’t die here. I can’t. I still have a life to live, but instead, I am going to die. All because I was hungry. How did anyone manage to get in here anyway? Emily has so many security measures set up, I don’t know how even she manages to get through them. “That was a test, dummy. Haven’t I told you before to never let your guard down? Do you ever learn?” The hand released me and air rushed back into my lungs. I whipped around to see Emily standing in front of me crossing her arms, frowning. I was bent over, still gulping down air, my heart pounding. “I thought I was going to die, Emily.” I gasped. “If you didn’t want to die then you should have been paying attention to more than your stomach.” “Whatever. Can you please just make me food? After all, you do owe me after that,” I said, starting to catch my breath again. “Fine. But I’m teaching you how to cook tomorrow,” she said. “Ugh. If I have to.” I grumbled. “Do you want the food or not?” I rolled my eyes and walked over to the couch, throwing myself down. “Oh, and by the way, in a few weeks, you are starting school. While you were sitting there sulking about your tummy, I went and got us signed up.” “Ugh,” I sighed, “do I have to?” “We have to start a new life here. This is the only way that we will be able to fit in, we have to do things that other people our age have to do. We are starting high school tomorrow and that is that.” “Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. I guess I could enjoy myself while I can before going to this school. I would’ve thought that maybe we could have a little more freedom by starting this new life, but I guess I was wrong. No. Stop worrying about yourself. Emily is in danger and I am sitting here on a couch begging for her to take care of me. This isn’t right, I promised myself that I would protect her, I need to keep with that promise. I can’t be the one babied around by her. Be the bigger person. But I can’t do that right now. I just want to go to sleep, it has been a long day. What if I just dozed off…

- Three weeks later -

Running. I was running again. The evil smile of my brother, chasing me. My legs burned, my lungs burned. But still, I kept running. Every so often I would have to swerve to dodge a tree. There was wet grass beneath my feet and trees all around me. My pink tank top stuck to my skin thanks to the sun beating over my head. It was the middle of summer and the temperatures had gotten up to 104 within the past week. I have to get to Mack. I have to get to Mack. That phrase had been repeating over and over as I ran. Whew. There is a clearing up here. As I came up to the bright, grassy clearing I realized something that would change my life forever. “BEEP BEEP BEEP,” my alarm screamed at me, startling me out of my nightmare. I sat up, still dripping with sweat. “Not again.” These nightmares had happened about once a week ever since the night we fled to Earth. “Another nightmare?” Mack asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah but this one was the weirdest I’ve had. How long have you been here anyway?” I asked suspiciously. “Just a few minutes. Couldn’t sleep.” He walked over to my bed and sat down on the end of it. “Is dad really gone?” he asked, not able to take his eyes off of the floor. “Come here.” He scooted over to me, fighting tears. I sat up and put my legs over the side of the bed. I reached over and held him to me. The second his head hit my shoulder both of us started to cry. We cried for our dad, for our mom, for Planet X, and for everyone else who understood our pain. At some point, we ran out of tears. Mack drew in a shuddering breath. 

“We should probably get some sleep before school tomorrow.” 

“You know what? On second thought, we don’t have to go tomorrow. We should finish getting settled in here and get used to this new place before adding more to our plate.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to go back to my room.” he said, starting to get up. 

“Why don’t you go get some blankets and your pillow and sleep in here tonight on the floor?” 

“I’ll be back,” he said with a smile hinting on his lips. He started to walk out but stopped at the door. “Thank you. For everything.” He said. I rolled my eyes, “Don’t get used to it, dork.” I didn’t know at the time how true that sentence would be.