"No!" You shouted, grabbing Alex by the arm and shoving him towards the door that would lead to the living room. "Get looking!"
"Ouch! Okay, okay!" He shouted back, looking equal parts annoyed and hurt. He rubbed his arm and slowly made his way across the kitchen, shoulders hunched a little. You just rolled your eyes and went in the opposite direction. Your house was nothing super huge or special. It was two stories with the kitchen being the first room you enter as soon as you step through the front door, after moving down a small entrance way, with the laundry room to the immediate left of that and the basement to the immediate right. Passed the kitchen was the dining room which led into the living room on the right. Down the hall adjacent to the living room was your parent's room, the downstairs bathroom, and the staircase leading up to the second floor. The second floor consisted mostly of a hallway that led to your brother's room and your room, which was at the end of the hall, along with the upstairs bathroom and a closet. You weren't sure where you would be able to find anything to use to grab the key, but you decided to stick to the kitchen for now. Maybe you could find a pair of rubber gloves or something.
As you ran to the sink, Alex dragged himself into the living room, looking around at all the massive furniture and appliances. The TV especially held his interest. He had always been jealous of his friend's big screen TV and he had begged his parents to get one but they had always refused, saying it was far too expensive for them. Here, however, the TV was at least twice the size than the one they had at home! He grinned and began hunting around for the remote, totally forgetting about the original plan of finding something to touch the key with. Touching the key would mean one thing: Leaving. And why would he want to leave? This was still his house right? It's not like they were in any immediate danger. Eventually he found the remote sitting on the coffee table. He put his hands on his hips as he looked up at it, sitting there out of his reach, taunting him. He looked around for something, anything to stand on, but couldn't see anything suitable. The closest thing was the couch and it was far too big for him to climb up on. He idly pulled at his collar which had begun to feel overly tight on him...
Meanwhile, you had reached the sink and were pulling open the cupboard door underneath it. Dish soap, sponges, various household cleaners, paper towels...you shifted all of this aside in your search for a pair of rubber gloves. Just when you were about to lose hope, you shoved a particularly hefty box of soap flakes aside and found a pair of blue rubber gloves stacked on top of each other underneath. You grabbed one of them and ran back towards the door, calling out your brother's name.
"Alex! Alex where are you? I got something to help!" You looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. "Now where did he go?"
With a sigh, you set the rubber glove down next to the door and headed into the living room, looking around for your brother. You saw him standing with his arms crossed in front of the coffee table, his head tilted. Getting frustrated, you ran up to him and grabbed him by the arm, turning him around. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"I was just thinking about how I could get the remote..." He said, not looking up into your eyes.
"What?! I thought I told you to look for something to grab the key with! Don't you want to get out of here?"
Alex, a sullen look coming into his eyes, merely shrugged and said, "I don't know. Why should I?"
"Look around! Something is definitely wrong about this place! Don't you get it?"
Alex just shrugged again and tugged his arm free, taking a few steps back from his brother. "It's still our house. And that isn't going anywhere anyway. Why can't we just hang out here for a little bit?"
You sighed in exasperation. Fighting wasn't going to get you anywhere. You took a deep breath and said, "Why don't we get the key first and then we can hang out for a bit?"
Alex looked surprised at this compromise. "Really? You mean it?"
"Yup!" You said, fingers crossed behind your back. "Just help me get the key first okay?"
"Okay!"
With a big smile on his face, Alex eagerly made his way back to the door. You felt a little bit bad about lying to him, but desperate times called for desperate measures! When you both were back at the door, Alex looked around confused. "What are we going to use to reach it?"
"The glove!" You said, crouching down so Alex could get on your shoulders. "It's right by the door."
"Uh...no it's not." He said.
"What are you talking about?" He said, getting back up and looking over towards your brother.
"Look!" He pointed at the door. Sure enough, there was not a rubber glove in sight.
"What the..." Did someone move it? As far as you knew, you two were the only ones in here... "Stay here for a second. I'll go get the other one."
Alex sighed and sat down, looking bored with the proceedings. You sprinted back to the cupboard and threw the door open again...only to see that everything that had once been in there was now gone! Not a single thing remained! What the hell was going on here? You decided to sprint back to Alex and come up with a new plan. When you got back to where Alex was sitting...