story promptDay 17 is here! Kara seems to have stumbled into some sort of feud between two brothers. One wants to use her, the other wants to save her…


 

Kara pouted. Zane was ignoring her. Again. She’d gone to such lengths to dress up for the party and it looked like that time had all gone to waste. She watched him flirt with another girl from her class.

She sighed and wandered over to the snack table. Who was she kidding? Zane was never going to notice her, never going to be interested in her. She should give up on him. She’d told herself this before, but it never seemed to stick in her head. Every time he even vaguely looked in her direction her heart melted.

She glanced at him. Still flirting. Damn, he was good looking.

“Hey, why so gloomy? It’s a party.” The voice at her side startled her.

“Off in my own world,” she replied automatically, flashing a bright smile. She didn’t know the guy who’d spoken to her. “I’m Kara, by the way.”

The boy picked out a couple of sour gummy worms from the sweets bowl and popped one in his mouth. “I’m Zoltan. Call me Zolt.”

“Zolt? I’ve never heard of that name before.”

He shrugged. “My parents were into names beginning with ‘Z’. I guess Zachary was too common for them.” He grimaced and jerked his thumb in Zane’s direction. “My brother got a more normal sounding one.”

“Zane is your brother?” She hadn’t even realised Zane had a brother.

“Not that he’d ever admit it, but yes.”

Kara frowned. “Well, he’s certainly never mentioned you.”

Zolt gave her a pained look. “I know. We don’t exactly get along and rarely see eye to eye.”

“That’s a bit sad.” Kara couldn’t imagine not getting along with her younger sister. Sure, they bickered, but that was normal sibling stuff. Zolt seemed to be talking about something bigger.

“What are you doing here?” Zane had appeared at his brother’s side and was now glowering fiercely at him.

Zolt leaned nonchalantly against the table. “Enjoying the party.”

“You don’t even go to the school!” Zane kept his voice low.

“Hey, I’m enrolled. Just because I choose not to go to the stupid, boring classes, doesn’t mean I don’t get to come to the fun stuff.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Kara. “Besides, I was making friends.”

“Stay away from her!” Zane’s voice was so vehement, Kara was taken aback.

“Zane, it’s okay, we were just talking,” she said, not wanting to cause problems between the two brothers.

Zane turned to look at her. “Zolt doesn’t ‘talk’ to people.” His eyes were ablaze with anger.

What the heck is going on here? She’d never seen Zane like this.

Before she knew what was happening, Zolt had taken hold of her hand and was tugging her towards the door. “Let’s get a breath of fresh air, sweetheart.”

Unease lancing through her, Kara tried to resist his pull. “No thanks, I’m fine here.” She couldn’t shake his grip around her wrist. He wasn’t listening to her, continuing to drag her towards the door. “Let me go!”

A blast of chilly air hit her as they stepped outside. The door banged shut behind them. Kara shivered. It was a crisp autumn evening and her coat was inside. An idea came into her head. “I’ll be back in a sec, I need my coat.”

“You’re staying right here.” His grip tightened.

The door banged again. Zane had followed them. He looked ready to explode. “Why are you here, Zolt? What do you want? Why are you threatening a girl who has nothing to do with any of this?”

Her blood ran cold. She was in danger from Zolt? She involuntarily tugged at her wrist, wincing at the tight grip. What did he want with her?

Zolt’s lip curled. “You know what I want, Zane.”

“How many times are you going to ask? I can’t give it to you.”

“You mean you won’t give it to me.”

Zane’s jaw was tight. “I’m sworn to protect it. Of course I won’t give it to you. It would mean forfeiting my life.”

Zolt’s smile turned nasty. “Well, now it’s either your life, or hers.” He quickly spun Kara towards him and placed his hands on either side of her head.

NO!” Zane cried.

A second later, Zolt released her abruptly, a satisfied smile on his face. Confused, she stumbled backwards. Strong arms encircled her as Zane stopped her from falling over.

“See you in a week, sweetheart,” Zolt sneered, walking away.

“Kara!” Zane’s concerned eyes scanned her face. He moaned softly. “No. No, no, no! How could he do this to you?”

Despite what had just happened, Kara smiled giddily. “You know my name!”


Hope you liked this one! I can’t help but laugh at that last line… hehe. 🙂

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