“I think there’s a monster in there,” whispered my sister.  “Or a ghost…” she trailed off, trembling hands clutching at my clothes.  My big brother peeked around the corner and down the hallway, and the two of us peeked around him.  There, at the end, stood the blue door.

Who knew what was behind it?  Mother said to ask Father and Father said to stay away.  It’s dangerous, he said.  Dangerous?  We were already seven, so I didn’t think that Lily should be afraid of monsters or ghosts.  I wasn’t.  But I still wondered.  

A grin tried to sneak onto Michael’s face, but he quickly chased it away.  

“Well,” he said slowly, pulling his arms up and locking his fingers behind his head, “actually, Lils, I’m really not allowed to talk about that.”  He looked at her, straight-faced, “it’s a very important secret.  Only the adults get to know.”

I eyed him suspiciously, “hey, Michael, you’re not an adult, you’re just ten.  Shut up.”  I took my sister’s hand, “come on, Lily, he’s picking on you, lets go.”

Michael turned his gaze to me, his eyes pitying.  “Now, now shrimp, I don’t think you’re really old enough to handle this.  Why don’t you go along and play dolls, hmm?  The big kids are talking.”  

My face flushed and my fists tightened.  Lily and I were twins—I was even older by a bit.  “Shut up!  I’m not scared!  I wanna know, too.”  Lily pulled her hand out of my tight grip with a yelp.  “And I don’t play with dolls!”  Michael made me mad sometimes.  He picked on me and Lily a lot.  Usually Lily, because she was a girl, but sometimes me.  

“All right, then, if you’re sure.  Don’t blame me if you get scared and cry.”

“I won’t!” I tried not to pout.  Michael said that only little girls pout.  

“Okay,” he sounded unsure, but I could tell it was fake.  I could tell he was happy.  He always got happy when he picked on someone.  Jerk.  “Listen closely now,” he knelt down, even though he wasn’t much taller than us, and pulled us up close, “behind that door…”  Lily’s breathing sped up so I took her hand again.  I hadn’t meant to squeeze it before.  “…lives…Toby.”

He looked at us, his eyes serious.  Lily shot me a confused glance and I frowned.  

“Who is Toby?”  She asked.  I could hear the doubt creeping into her voice.  

He put both hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.  “Toby is your other brother.”  I rolled my eyes while hers widened.  “It’s true.  Toby is your triplet.  You don’t remember, you were too young.  But I remember.  Mother and Father locked him in there a long time ago.  When you guys were real little.”  He nodded sadly.

“What?” Lily squeaked.  Tears peaked from the corners of her eyes, “Really?”

“No!” I pulled her away from his grip, “he’s picking on you, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”  I glared over at him, “leave her alone.  It’s not funny.”

He fake-sighed, “I knew you were too much of a baby to understand…”

“I understand that you’re a—”
“You don’t believe me?  Then why don’t you go check for yourself?”

I froze.  Lily clutched onto me, “No!  No, don’t go!  Don’t go, Theo!” She buried her face into my shirt and mumbled more protests.

Michael grinned, and I saw his trap.  Too late, as usual.  He always did that.  Lily and me didn’t fight much, so he’d force us into situations like this just for fun.  Now I could either back down, agree with his stupid story, or I could do the unthinkable.  I glared at Michael for a few seconds.

I glanced around the corner at the door.  Looked down at Lily.  Her big eyes were puffy and red.  “Don’t go,” she whispered.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and towed her back toward the kitchen.  “Forget it, Michael.  I’m not going in there.”

His taunts and jeers followed us down the hallway and through the door, but my sister’s words seemed to drown them out.

“I don’t want another brother anyways.”