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Neil texted his sister 40 minutes ago. His message was a simple location. Foxhole Tower basement. A half hour later, Katelyn was taking the stairs of Foxhole Tower to the basement floor. The staircase leading to the basement was propped open with a paint can. Katelyn removed it as she descended the old stairs.
The tower’s basement was unfinished. Concrete surrounded all four walls with wooden supports. Katelyn recognised a boiler sealed behind a stainless steel door. Even though she was ten minutes early, Nathaniel laid in the middle of the room like he’d been here for days. He sat up off the floor and up-nodded Katelyn.
Katelyn didn’t bother with pleasantries and set her water bottle on the old stairs. She looked at Neil’s wrapped hands and pulled out her own wrist wraps from her backpack.
The next five minutes consisted of Katelyn weaving the wrapping fabric between all four of her fingers and around her thumb on her left hand. She tossed the remaining wrap to her left hand and repeated the motions on her right hand. Katelyn used her left hand efficiently with the assistance of her teeth.
Both twins were right hand dominant at birth. When Neil first picked up an Exy racket it was with his right hand. The same thing happened when Katelyn did as much. Since they reached the age of seven, the siblings trained to use both hands. Mary beat them every day until they could stitch themselves and wield a weapon at the same time.
Katelyn tied down her wrap and flexed her fingers a few times, testing the fabric. The wrap held and she grinned at her brother. Neil climbed to his feet and backed a few steps away from Katelyn.
There was a second where only their breaths filled the silence. Katelyn could sense the chaotic thoughts running through her brother's head. Sparring like this was one of the ways the both could put their skills to catharsis. Throwing punches was therapy for them. Maybe this was the part of their upbring which none of them could shake.
Neil took the first kick. Katelyn easily dodged and rolled forward to capture Neil’s legs in a double leg grab. Before Katelyn could yank Neil’s legs out from under him, Neil quickly hooked both his arms under his sister's armpits and controlled their fall so he landed over her. In turn, Katelyn flipped Neil over his back.. Neil didn’t go far after he was flipped. He dropped to one knee and pivoted himself so he could jab Katelyn in the solar plexus.
Katelyn gasped for breath and Neil sprang to his feet. He wound his bicep around Katelyn’s neck, successfully putting her in a chokehold. Still trying to get her lungs to work, Katelyn stamped on Neil’s toes on his right foot. Neil gritted his teeth. When he lifted his right leg on reflex, he jammed his knee into Kately’s chest, hard. He tackled his sister to the ground and pinned her hands beside her head, straddling her torso.
The sudden and intense contact with the concrete floor did not help Katelyn’s breathing situation. The little air she managed to take in flew from her lungs. Neil’s eyes were dark with conflict. Katelyn tilted her head and examined the expression.
“Tap” she bit out.
Neil climbed off of Katelyn's middle and released her pinned arms. Katelyn did not stall and quickly jumped on her brother's back, locking her arms around Neil’s neck.
“Why are you so pissy today?” Katelyn asked against her brother's ear.
Neil stood to his full height– which was still shorter than Katelyn’s 5’4. The twins are fraternal but Neil made it very apparent that he wouldn’t forgive their mother for letting Katelyn “grow an extra inch of height in the womb”- his words. He aggressively shook his upper body until Katelyn’s grip faltered and she flopped to the ground.
“He went through my duffle,” Neil said gravely.
That gave Katelyn pause. She understood the deeper meaning of that statement. Someone went through Neil’s binder. That binder contained every important piece of information.
Their uncle’s cell phone number was disguised in an old word search. The coordinates of various safe houses and money stashes were concealed in a connect-the-dots puzzle. Most importantly, Neil and Katelyn’s plane tickets to France were carefully hidden between the collage of pictures of Kevin and Jean.
Katelyn just hoped Neil did a good enough job at passing off the binder as a harmless shrine to two great Exy players. From her brother's enraged glare rather than his flighty stare, Katelyn would say Neil succeeded in that task.
Still, Neil was rightfully shaken.
“Who?” Katelyn asked. Her voice held an edge of threat, Katarina haunted her words. Neil scoffed. He tended to let Nathaniel consume ‘Neil’ more often than Katelyn let Ktarina come out to play. Katelyn isn’t surprised by this. She supposes Neil needs less separation from the person who goes by ‘Nathaniel’ compared to Katelyn and Katarina.
“The driver. Minyard” Neil hissed the name like poison.
Kately took a minute to draw up a clear memory of Andrew Minyard. Then, she cocked a brow.
“Seriously? What he take?” Katelyn asked.
Neil ripped the velcro of his arm wrap with his teeth. He spit out the free end of the velcro. His face went blank.
“Nothing. But he saw” Neil started unwrapping his knuckles.
Katelyn stuck her tongue in her cheek. She was almost scared to ask her next question.
“What did you do after you saw what he did?” Katelyn remained emotionless as she spoke.
Neil laughed. He threw his head back and smiled. “What does any sane person do in that situation?” He locked eyes with Katelyn as he still faced the ceiling. “I yelled at Kevin” Neil waved his words nonchalantly.
Katelyn chuckled herself. Genuine amusement took over her feature. She had only heard Kevin over the various phone calls she shared with Nataniel when he was in the Nest over the years but with how much Neil talks about the raven haired Striker, Katelyn would like to say she knows Kevin Day pretty well. There was also that one time when Katelyn and Kevin were both in little league and watched Nathan gut a man open but that was a long time ago.
“Target practice?” Katelyn questioned, nodding in the direction of the stacked foam pads. Neil’s genuine grin sharpens as he loses a throwing star from his upper arm band. Katelyn has the same strap around her bicep but today she pinned one of her stars in her half-up half-down hairstyle.
Neil launched the first star right into the centre of the bag. The twins had been throwing and– for lack of better wording– playing with knives and sharp objects since they could hold things. “Target practice” for them is sorta anti-climactic given the fact neither Neil or Katelyn ever miss. They always hit their mark.
The twins go back and forth throwing stars. Eventually they abandon target practice using the foam pad and check their stars around the room.
Neil throws one at the wooden support beam across the room. “I’m going out. With Andrew and his cousins. And Kevin” Neil flipped a star in his left hand and chucked it at the same post.
Katelyn’s eyes kissed her hair line. “Oh?” She exclaimed incredulously. She threw a star at the support beam next to Neil’s.
Neil hummed. “Mhmmm. Somewhere in Columbia. On Friday”
Katelyn’s movements stuttered. Her throwing star hit the floor and she slowly turned to her brother. “And you think that’ll be okay?” She put a hand on her hind, holding her several other throwing stars. She’s not sure about being in close quarters with two strangers, a thief, and… Kevin is a good idea for Neil. Especially if this place is out of town.
Neil looked confused. He doesn’t seem concerned with spending his weekend with the guy who broke into his dorm and riffled through his private property as much as Katelyn is. “Uh yes?” He asks rather than answers.
Katelyn shakes her head to herself. “I’ll be close by. Send coordinates” Her next throw lodges itself in the caulking of the concrete wall.
She makes a mentally note to book a hotel in Columbia this weekend.