“Who are you?”
“I… I’m Amy Carter. I don’t understand…”
“It’s okay,” Tariq said, loitering behind her. “Let me explain.”
Amy’s heart thumped hard, as she struggled to figure out what to do next. This might be the only time for both her and Ivan to escape Tariq’s evil grip before he executed whatever heinous plan he was about to explain. Amy was sure that together they could overpower him; Ivan was tall and strong like his brothers, and Tariq was standing near enough for Amy to turn and headbutt – which would shock him enough for Ivan to get in a few blows as they escaped. Amy summoned every iota of her inner-strength, preparing to assault Tariq, but she suddenly realised that Ivan was staring quizzically at her, as if she was the anomaly here.
He transferred his attention to Tariq. “Why did you bring her down here? I was sleeping.”
“We’re running out of time, Ivan,” Tariq said. “I don’t want you dead.”
A renewed sense of danger overwhelmed Amy as she realised that Ivan was on Tariq’s side. She raised her fists, ready to fight for her life, but relief poured over her as she heard the front door being smashed in. Adam, thank god!
Frantic feet trampled across the hallway above and his voice called her name. “Amy! Where are you?”
“Adam!” she screamed. “Down here!”
“Wonderful,” Ivan said. “Who invited my brother?”
Tariq glared at Amy. “I’ve no idea. Ms Carter, I thought we had an agreement?”
“Well I thought he was dead!”
Adam crashed through the basement door, followed closely by Dylan. Amy turned to help them fight, but Adam was so pumped up he could take on an army single-handedly. Without even noticing his resurrected brother, he grabbed Tariq by the shirt and drew back his fist to punch him.
“No!” Ivan shouted. He spurted forward and charged Adam so hard that he was knocked sideways into the wall. Ivan crumpled on top of Adam, so – still clueless as to whom he was fighting – Adam shoved him in the chest, then prepared to punch again.
Dylan threw himself between the two brothers and dragged the struggling Adam into his arms. “No, Adam! It’s… Ivan?”
Adam panted in Dylan’s arms. Both brothers stared at Ivan in disbelief.
“Ivan?” Adam said. “What the fuck?”
Ivan threw them both a sheepish wave. “Hi.”
Amy watched as the three brothers sized each other up. She realised that Ivan was a combination of the other two. He looked physically like Dylan, but he seemed to possess Adam’s relaxed charm. He radiated a genial aura – so what was he doing here with the evil Tariq? This was completely surreal.
Ivan smiled self-consciously and opened his mouth to explain. But then he noticed Dylan’s face and frowned. “Why have you got a black eye, Dylan?”
Dylan glanced at the floorboards like a chastised child. “Adam punched me.”
Ivan adopted an older brother stance. “Adam! Why?”
Adam visibly flinched, as gravity took control of his jaw. “Excuse me; I think we’ve got more urgent questions right now, like what the fuck’s going on? Ivan – you’re alive! I’m hallucinating, right…”
Ivan chuckled and raised his hands aloft as if to demonstrate that he was most definitely alive. Amy could almost smell the suppressed emotion between the three stunned brothers who hadn’t expected to be reunited in this way today. Or ever. Adam cracked first. He stepped over and grabbed Ivan roughly by the shoulders, then he stared at him intensely for a second, before pulling him into his arms and hugging him tight.
Dylan unfroze and piled in to hug them both. Amy bit back her tears as she recovered from her own shock – her tense body trembled from the unused adrenaline. She wanted a hug, too, but she knew she shouldn’t interrupt this family reunion.
She glanced at Tariq who was also watching with a smile on his face. Amy was still utterly confused as to what was going on, but this tender moment between the Quinlans trumped any explanation.
Eventually, Adam pulled away from Ivan’s arms and glanced over. He threw Amy an apologetic wince, then strode over to wrap her up in his secure embrace.
“Amy,” he said. “Jesus, sweetheart, are you okay?”
She nuzzled her face into his strong chest and nodded, watching the other two brothers continue their reunion.
Dylan brushed his fingers down Ivan’s face, checking for sure that he was really real. “You’re alive? I don’t understand.”