Chapter Text
The school bell rang, and after saying goodbye to Shin, she headed to the gym to find her brother. A few kids were playing basketball, but the coach was nowhere in sight—it looked like class had ended early. Just as she was about to assume Ezra had already left, Sabine spotted him on the other side of the court, chatting with Luke on the bleachers. She smiled fondly and began walking around the court to meet them. Luke had been Ezra’s best—and really, only—friend for a few years now. It was funny; they were incredibly close, yet they could get awkward over the smallest things, like a brief brush of hands. Unless, of course, they were roughhousing. More often than not, that meant Ezra beating up Luke. Luke was too soft to throw the first punch, but he’d always land the last one.
“Oh, hi Sabine!” Luke called out, waving as she climbed up the bleachers toward them. Ezra didn’t look up, completely focused on the Switch in his hands. Peeking over, she recognized the colorful terrain—of course it was Mario. Ezra used to be obsessed with Mario. Getting him to stop playing had always been nearly impossible. Honestly, Sabine was almost glad they had sold the Wii.
“Hey Luke, I apologize, but I must steal him from you now,” she said, placing a hand on Ezra’s head in a mockingly possessive gesture. Though, really, it seemed more like she’d have to steal him from the Switch.
“Just a sec…” Ezra muttered, pulling the screen closer, eyes glued to the game. Sabine grumbled and crossed her arms impatiently.
Luke huffed. “He’s been stuck on this same level all day.” Of course he had—and knowing Ezra, he was probably too stubborn to quit until he beat it.
“Come on, I don’t want to be home late. I told Mom I’d make dinner tonight.” Despite this reminder Ezra waved her off. That’s it. Sabine snatches the switch out of his hands “Hey—no!” Ezra protested, lunging for it, but she held it out of reach. He scrambled to grab it back, but she was quicker, and ultimately, he came up empty-handed.
“What the hell Sabine!” Ezra exclaimed in outrage.
“Mom will be home soon,” she reminded him, handing the Switch to Luke, who quickly stuffed it into his backpack in case Ezra tried to lunge for it again. “We need to go. Come on.” She turned and started down the bleachers. Ezra sprang up and clumsily followed.
“Wait! My backpack’s still in my locker!”
Sabine groaned. “Fine, go get it.” Ezra took off toward the gym locker room. With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and leaned against the wall to wait. The screen lit up with a photo of their cat, Chop, a string of spaghetti dangling from his mouth. A few texts from Ketsu about tonight’s homework, and a selfie from Shin they’d taken earlier. Sabine giggled without thinking, saved the photo, and slid her phone back into her pocket. A few minutes passed. Then a few more. Something didn’t feel right. “Ezra?” She called into the locker room. No response. “Ezra?” she tried again, a little louder this time. Still nothing.
“Everything okay?” Luke’s voice came from behind her as he walked up, shrugging on his backpack.
“Can you go check if he’s still breathing?” She had meant this as a joke.
Luke shrugged and walked toward the locker room. A few beats of silence passed, then a distant, “Ezra?”
Sabine’s stomach tightened. “What’s the matter?” she called out, already moving toward Luke’s voice.
“I think he’s just messing…” But nothing about this felt like a joke given the experience behind Sabine’s worries. When Sabine rounded the corner, she found Luke standing in front of Ezra, waving a hand in front of his face. Ezra’s eyes were wide and glassy, completely unresponsive. On the ground nearby lay an old, frayed rope. Sabine’s expression darkened.“Apparition episode,” she muttered, scowling. She kicked the rope aside, slung off her backpack, and unzipped it to pull out a bag of salt.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked, looking utterly lost. He knew about their family’s ghost-hunting past—but clearly not all the weird, gritty details.Sabine didn’t answer. She just grabbed a handful of salt and threw it at the rope. A sharp hiss echoed through the locker room—brief, but chilling.Ezra blinked, his focus snapping back as if waking from a dream.
Laughter echoed from the far end of the locker room, and Sabine immediately knew. “Aw, did dad pay you a visit?” One of the three boys taunted. Sabine didn’t hesitate. She stormed over, grabbed the talkative one by the collar, and slammed him against the lockers with a metallic clang . The other two backed off fast. “Are we seriously doing this again?” she snapped. “Middle school, Kazuda? Really? ” Her voice rang through the space, sharp and furious.
“Sabine…” Kazuda chuckled nervously, raising his hands in surrender. “Didn’t think you would be here.”
“Uh-huh…” Sabine narrowed her eyes at him, then spit in his face before letting him go. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. But she didn’t think it would happen again . The truth was, Ezra was psychic—just like their dad had been. It was the reason their ghost-hunting business had thrived. But Ezra wasn’t like their dad. He couldn’t control his abilities the same way, and after the incident, Hera had strictly forbidden him from seeking out anything paranormal. Still, people knew . Psychics were rare, but not unheard of. And ever since the incident, Ezra’s abilities had become a topic of whispered gossip at school—and then, a target. That’s when the bullying started. Kids would slip haunted objects into his backpack, his desk, his locker—anywhere he might reach without thinking and trigger a traumatic paranormal vision. Sabine had caught them more than once. Back when she was fourteen and burning with fury, she’d dragged them behind the school and made sure they regretted it . After all those trips to the principal’s office—and the nurse’s—she thought it had finally stopped. But apparently, Ezra had been lying.
Sabine whipped her head around to Ezra and Luke as the three scampered out of the locker room. Seeing his sister's expression made Ezra's face go from relief to O’ shit real fast.
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“You lied to me?!” Sabine’s voice was sharp, her hands gripping the wheel as she kept her eyes on the road. Ezra hadn’t said a word, which wasn’t like him. He clearly knew why she was pissed. “Why would you lie to me?” Her voice cracked slightly, the anger simmering just beneath the surface. “We made a promise the day Dad died. We said we’d always have each other’s backs. And in case you didn’t read the fine print of that agreement, that means no secrets.” She gritted her teeth, trying to force herself to calm down, but it was clear she wasn’t finished yet. “You know if mom knew about this she’d put us back into quarantine right?” Ezra shrunk in his seat. “I would have taken care of them, you know that.”
Ezra let out a slight sigh. “I do know that,” he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper.
Sabine’s eyes narrowed. Babies’ first words, great . Should she get the camera out? She rolled her eyes, “So then why didn’t you say anything to me?” No answer. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she seethed. “Why won’t you talk to me, Ezra?!” Her voice cracked with desperation. Being there for him—it was her job. So why wouldn’t he let her do her job- or at least do it right for once? The memory of Ezra’s screams the night they lost their dad suddenly resurfaced, but she pushed it down, forcing herself to quiet the painful thought.
“I… I don’t know.” Ezra hugged himself, turning to face the window, clearly distressed. Maybe she was going about this wrong. Maybe this was a conversation for another time…
The rest of the ride was quiet, the only sound being the hum of the engine between them. Neither of them spoke until they finally pulled into the driveway. Of course, there was no peace at home either.As they opened the door, they could hear their mother’s voice coming from the kitchen, low and tense, speaking on the phone.
“We don’t have time to look for a new place, you know that!” she snapped. “So if you know that, then why are you trying to kick us out so early? … Well, that isn’t our problem now, is it? … Uh-huh…” Hera sighed heavily. “Just… email me, and we can pick this up again tomorrow. Alright? … Uh-huh, okay. Goodbye.” A click.
“Mom?” Sabine peeked into the kitchen, Ezra following behind her.
Hera rubbed her temple, clearly stressed. “Yeah, uh…” She looked up at them, her expression grim. “They want to repurpose our house.”