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It was a school night for a starter, Jayme is about to start GCSE’s and the twins about to get their mock exams back. It's been a hectic weekend for all the family, George and Lewis racing today at Silverstone, and the kids forgetting to do their washing and also having no idea on how to do their washing.
Lewis was driving down the motorway, George as his passenger princess. They finished the Silverstone gp a couple hours ago and are now on their way home at 11pm. It was a two hour drive from Silverstone to their home in Woking, the kids had no clean clothes and everyone was tired.
“I'll just do them when I get home—" George suggested, Lewis gripped the wheel tighter as George wasn't listening to him. "no, go make them do it. They need to learn how to wash their own clothes!” He yelped at George, "yeah but one of them is colour blind, one of them is mildly autistic and the other can't do simple math? For them it's like putting them on the spot in an exam!” Lewis sighed and opened his mouth to say something.
"The only thing that counts in what you just said is the colour blindness, I don't understand how math comes into this and Jayme is a very independent, and a smart girl considering she's a bit on the spectrum” Lewis stated, pointing fingers in Georges face. George rolled his eyes, “fine, if I get a call from them screaming you are dealing with them when we get home” Lewis just shrugged his shoulders and carried on driving.
George pulled his phone out and called Jayme, she was the eldest and probably smartest. Then there was Charlie the older twin, then Ryan the youngest twin also the colour blind one.
After a couple rings Jayme picked up, “hello?”
“Hey JJ, can you do me a massive favour?”
On the other end of the phone, Jayme was hesitant. She was in the living room, she had the phone on speaker so her brothers could hear it as well. They all squinted at the phone screen waiting for the favour.
“Can you get all your school clothes and your brother's and put them on wash for me-”
“NO!” They all screamed on the other end of the line, George looked over at Lewis, and he just raised an eyebrow back. You're probably wondering why they don't want to do it. It's not because they're lazy, it's because of where the washing machine is.
Their house was big, they lived on private land and had a huge back garden. Well it was actually a field, about two acres of it, with trees and ponds. At the very back of the field though was a little shed, then a wired electric fence blocking off from behind it. Inside the shed was the washing machine and tumble dryer. When Lewis and George first started living in the house they didn't have clean clothes for a while because they didn't know where the washing machine was, when they finally found it there was a family of mice living in it, Also a badger living in the ceiling.
They didn't have time to fix the shed up, only just to buy a new washer and dryer. They had to make do with what they got. The kids didn't like it because the lights didn't work and the amount of wild animals they saw there. When they were younger their uncle Nicolas told them stories of people who died in the shed. The kids believed it and still do. George and Lewis weren't happy with his totally wise story telling.
“Please? You need clean clothes for school tomorrow as well” George pleaded. Sighs could be heard, the kids really did not want to do this. But they agreed and did it anyway (after a lot more of begging not too)
“Thank you, remember; a cap full of detergent in the first slot, and a cap and half full of fabric softener in the middle one with the little blue thing in that says ‘MAX’ on it—” George blurted out before the kids hanged up on him, “also sort the darks from whites!–” the kids hung up on him.
“Why do I feel scared now” Lewis said, “I don't know but I am too”
Jayme grabbed two washing baskets and placed them on the dining room table, “whites in the basket on the left, darks on the right” she instructed, placing her shirts in the left basket. The boys put their clothes in and organized it. “Where's the cricket bat we have?” Charlie yelled running upstairs, “It's in the spare bedroom on the dresser!” Ryan yelled, if they were going out there, they were going prepared.
Jayme Searched the kitchen drawers for torches, she found half a dozen of them, only three of them worked. How convenient. “Here take one” she threw the flashlight over at Ryan, he frowned at the sight of it.
“What?” Jayme asked
“Why do I get the pink one”
“Are you really arguing over the colour of a torch?”
“Yes, I want the blue one” Jayme rolled her eyes and swapped torches. Charlie came back with a cricket bat and a football. “What's the football for?” Ryan asked, putting his Nike tech fleece on. “A way of defending yourself duh” he chucked the football over at Ryan hitting him in the face.
“should we bring Roscoe?” Jayme suggested, the twins both shook their heads no. Once Roscoe sees a wild animal he'll chase it then try to kill it. Better to be on the safe side, they don't want to clean up intestines tonight
They unlocked the sliding door that led onto the patio, Jayme grabbed the washing baskets, stacking them on top of eachother, the twins behind her. The porch light turned on and they walked down the steps onto the grass. “How long is it going to take us to get there?” Ryan asked, adjusting the ball in his arms. Charlie shrugged his shoulders, “probably like 10 minutes maybe? Unless we speedwalk” he implied.
They started walking down the field, soon the porch light automatically turning off, the twins turned their torches on and they shined the way. “What happens if we die out here?” Charlie questioned, you could actually hear the worry in his voice. “We're not going to die out here… I don't think.”
“That's very reassuring”
“I don't know why we even agreed bro” Charlie stated, he sighed and shone the light up into the sky. He could see the beam of light and wove it around, fooling about. They were now halfway down the field and saw the shed in the distance, “what happens if there's someone in there?" Ryan chuckled, they all knew it was empty but the pressure was still on their shoulders.
They made it to the shed, they all stopped in front of the door, "charlie go in front, you have the cricket bat—” before she could finish, Charlie piped up “Ryan swap with me I don't wanna do it". Jayme rolled her eyes, I don't why he was scared considering he's been in multiple fights at school and always won them. “No, you do it" they started arguing about who Should go in front, Jayme was done at this point and opened the door. They boys both shut their mouths and looked inside, they shine the torch inside.
It was dusty, the hardwood flooring was a bit swollen, spiders in the corners. The washing machines on the other end of the room. There was a big metal table in the middle of the room. A freezer on the right side, the buzzing noise being the only sound heard.
Jayme walked in, going straight to the washing machines. She took the baskets off of eachother and put the darks in the bottom machine and the whites in the top one. She turned around quickly to see her brothers still standing at the door, “you coming in or not? It's fucking freezing" she yelped, they both ran in quickly and shut the door. By the looks of it there was no insolation in the shed, it was just one little thin layer of wall. The boy's looked around the room.
They noticed the freezer and opened it, “ooh ice cream!" Ryan shrieked, he dropped the football and grabbed an ice lolly out and ripped the packaging open, he took a bite out of it and wrinkled his face from the coldness. “That could be out of date you know,” Jayme said, raising an eyebrow. Ryan shrugged his shoulders and walked round to Jayme.
He walked to the corner and stopped in his tracks when he heard something crunch and splatter. He looked down at his feet, he couldn't see what it was. He yanked his torch out and shined it on his foot.
All colour in his face faded, the most petrified look you'd ever see appeared, "what's wrong Ryan?” Charlie asked, walking up behind him. He saw what he stepped in and stepped away himself. “Jayme…"
Ryans breath started turning into pants then eventually screams and curses. She rushed over and saw what he'd stepped in. A muntjac, a baby muntjac, it was dead. A gaping hole on the side of its stomach, “OH MY GOD, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK" Jayme screamed, Ryans ice cream was melting down his hand he was still stood still screaming his head off. Charlie was panicking and Jayme was confused and panicked.
“JAYME, I STEPPED IN IT" Ryan cried, his crying turned into very loud sobs at this point. They all started squealing in disgust. "PULL YOUR FOOT OUT” Charlie screamed, Ryan made the mistake of yanking his foot out and it flung blood all over the tumble dryer and Jayme. Ryans foot was drenched in blood, gagging at the rotten smell of it.
Jayme grabbed Ryan and Charlie and pulled them out of the shed, they stood there for a minute just to rethink life. Ryan calmed down a little bit, loud sniffles were still heard. “We go home, douse our self in bleach, drink the bleach and live a good life in heaven. Good plan?” Jayme muttered, the twins nodded frantically. “Best plan you've made this year” Charlie mumbled, holding out for a fistbump. Jayme fist bumps him.
Charlie and JJ wrap their arms around Ryan's shoulder and help him walk back, he hops on the slightly clean foot. He doesn't like the sound of blood and maybe an intestinal organ squelching against his foot. “How long until our parents are home?” Ryan asked, Charlie shook his wrist to turn his watch on.
‘11:56pm’
“Not another hour yet” Charlie sighed, “why do bad things happen to us bro? Like what did we do to deserve this” Ryan complained.
They've done a lot of bad stuff to deserve this, yes Lewis said they were good kids in general but they all have their moments. One time Charlie raged at call of duty and so he threw his controller into the wall, his bedroom wall was connected to his parents. It was also two in the morning at this point. He got a proper belting by Lewis. Then Ryan, George was picking up his dirty washing off the floor and a vape fell out of his jean pocket, his parents were very VERY disappointed to say the least. Jayme was just as bad as them, she snuck out with her mates, went to London to go clubbing at 15. The only thing George and Lewis liked about tabloids and social media is that they can tell what their children are up to.
There were a lot of things they needed to repay their parents for, “are we really that bad of a trio of children?” Ryan said. “Damn, I actually feel bad,” Charlie admitted. They make it to the patio and tell Ryan to stay on the grass so he doesn't get blood stains over the stone. Charlie tries to open the sliding door and it doesn't budge, he pulls on it continuously until Jayme has to stop him from breaking off the hinges. “Your actually fucking joking mate” he groaned putting his head in his hands. Jayme just pats him on the back and goes to sit down on the brick wall that looks over passing fields.
The twins join her, sitting either side. “I don't see what potential our parents see in us” Charlie questioned, he was right, they've done more wrongs than rights in life and never made up for any. Even if they tried they'd make it worse, “we have potential, just in different ways.” Jayme argued
“In what ways JJ? We can not even be trusted to do our fucking washing” Ryan slammed his hand down on the brick wall, slightly wincing after. “What happens if we just behave?” Charlie recommended, if they behaved like nice kids all the time, it just takes the fun away of being a little grid kid. You always need to cause havoc and have fun at one point in life. If not, what's the point of being one.
“our parents would think we did something so bad that we had to behave” Ryan laughed, Jayme giggled and Charlie reached round and gently punched him in the arm. “We really need alcohol right now” the eldest said, leaning her head on the older twin's shoulder. The both mumbled in unison, Ryan let out a small yawn and rested his head on Jaymes lap, his bloody foot stretched further away. “I'm going to sleep, wake me up when our parents save us'' Jayme nodded, she closed her eyes as well. Not sleeping, just resting them.
George kept picking up his phone every five minutes checking for notifications, Lewis was tempted to grab it and throw it out the window. “Georgie, I'm sure they're alright” he rested his free hand on George's thigh and soothed circle repeatedly. “You know what they're like, I'm just trying to be—”, “overprotective”. George furrowed his eyebrows. They are now 10 minutes away from home, not a single word or scream from their children.
Soon Lewis pulled up to the driveway and George rushed out of the car before he could even turn it off. George jammed the key into the lock, twisting it until he unlocked it. He rushed through the door and Checked the living room for the kids, then he checked the kitchen and saw their phones sitting on the table.
“Lewis! There's phones are here but not them” he shouted, Lewis sighed and sped walked towards the dining room and connected kitchen. Lewis opened the patio door to go down the shed to find them. Before he could go down the patio stairs he heard Charlie's voice. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face the brick wall.
“What are you lot doing out he— oh my god what happened to Ryan's foot” Lewis glared at Ryan's foot, Charlie went wide eyed and gently nudged the sleeping teenagers on him. Ryan jolted up to see his dad and papa looking at him horrified, Jayme took more time to wake up. “It's a lot to explain alright, by the way do we have any bleach?" Ryan dumbfoundingly asked, George wished he could keep his jaw shut. Once Jayme woke up fully, she turned around to face them and softly smiled. "it's not my blood, or theirs” she pointed in both directions towards her brothers. They both let out a small sigh of relief.
The kids told them what happened, George was mortified by how much gore was involved in the story. Lewis sprayed down Ryan's foot with the hose, the kids never got to drink bleach and live the happy life in heaven unfortunately. What they did get was two days off school though. The Monday was spent getting the blood stains out of Ryan's foot and the Tuesday was spent cleaning up the muntjac, putting new lights in, restocking the freezer with in-date ice cream and learning how to do your washing.
They were all sitting around the dining table, eating a spag bowl, “did you ever realise you never actually turned the washing machine on?” George said, no they didn't realise they were too busy trying to sort out the screaming kid that stepped in a dead animal. “Yeah we did” Charlie replied before Jayme. She gave a small smile at him. “How did it even get in there?” Ryan questioned. Everyone gave everyone looks,
no one knew the answer.
“I'll guess we'll never know” Lewis mumbled, shoving a meatball in his mouth.