As I walked into the apartment, I immediately wanted to walk right back out the way I'd come, as I stepped into what could only be described as a bloodbath. Seth had come home by this point and was in a screaming match with both Zoe and David. "You always do this, Zoe!" screamed Seth, as his eyes fell on me. "And you're in on this shit too? And why did you have to bring this son of a bitch in here?"
I took a deep breath as I tried to explain what happened, but he simply wasn't hearing it as he went on and on about how David was untrustworthy and shouldn't be in our home and I shouldn't have any contact with him. "Excuse me if I feel safer with him around," I spat back, trying to remain calm. I wasn't about to be drawn into his argument with my sister, that was between them.
"Then tell me, what happened that you would resort to bringing this asshole in here?" he asked me. But by this point, I was done with him, as I grabbed David's hand and dragged him out of the apartment with me.
I took a deep breath once we were outside the apartment as I looked at him. "I'm sorry about all of that. I guess Seth still hasn't got over what happened last year and that he still blames you for everything with Vierre. . ." I said, glancing back at the apartment behind us. "I would have thought that he would have accepted by now that the real antagonist of that story was Vierre, not you."
Last year, there was a major fallout with Vierre, which led to him leaving school. It ended up in this massive spell-and-insult-slinging duel between David and Vierre, which I knew Vierre had instigated. But Seth didn't accept my word on it, and simply thought that the instigator had to be David. "Vierre had never done such things until David came along," he would say. But I knew that was false. He was just really good at hiding who he really was. He had a charm about him that everyone fell for. Everyone, except of course, for me. I saw right through him from the beginning, and I think that was where the conflict with him really started. I was the one person to see through his disguise, and he became obsessed with me.
David sighed. "It's not your fault. If Seth still hasn't got over all that stuff, that's on him. If he refuses to believe you about who he really was, that's also on him. You never lied. You know the truth."
"Still. . . I feel like Seth is robbing me of the only friend I have here, and that makes me feel isolated. Now, more than ever, I need you," I said. "I feel safe with you, I'm not going to lie about that. I don't lie about anything, but you know what I mean. . . I may not be interested in dating right now, but that doesn't change that fact. You make me feel safe, and I need that right now, with all this going on. I mean, Zoe, I feel like, hates me sometimes. And Seth won't listen to a word I say."
"Hey. . ." he said, as he directed me to look at him. "I'm not going anywhere. Whether your godfather wants me around or not, I'm sticking by you through thick or thin. No matter what. I'm not leaving this time. I mean that."
I smiled slightly as I nodded. "I appreciate that, I really do," I whispered. Then I backed up and sighed. "I'll keep working on him. Eventually, he will have to see my point of view and he will have to understand that Vierre is not your fault and that I need you. Before you go. . ." I took a deep breath as the words from the book I read replayed over and over in my mind. "I found something. The shadow was something called a Necro Spirit, and it said that these things can attach to people, draining their energy and replacing it with negative energy. It went on to say that a home infested with one of these things can become heavier. . ." suddenly the words were making me look at the apartment. "Arguing becomes more frequent. . ." My thoughts flashed to Seth and Zoe just now. "And eventually, it may possess someone." The last sentence fell the heaviest as I realised. . . It was describing my home exactly.
"There's more, isn't there?"
I nodded. "In infestations. . . death is known to occur."
"Uh, will we be needing a priest? Sounds an awful lot like we'll be needing a priest," said David, his words ringing true to my ears. I had to admit, as much as I wasn't particularly religious myself, this was probably a case where a priest would be required. I felt as though I had met my match on this one, and I would need a lot more help this time.
I only nodded. I really hoped that I was wrong. I needed to be wrong about this.
As he said his goodbyes, promising to find a priest in case we needed one, I turned back to the apartment. Our home, which had become a battlefield. I knew I needed to reduce the temperature, but I didn't know where I would even begin. I spent what seemed like an eternity outside, trying to think this through, as I stared up at the twin moons high in the dark sky. Dark grey-ish purple clouds partially covered the smaller of the moons this night. I sighed as I took a deep breath. Sometimes, I just liked to come out here and stare at the moons for a while. It calmed me and helped me to think. There was just something relaxing about the moons for me. Luna and Mund, they were called. Luna was the smaller of the moons, while Mund was the largest, which was around three or four times the size of Luna easily.
As time went by, the dark clouds began to multiply in the sky, and I knew it was about time to head back inside. This meant rain was about to fall any moment now. Something that only really happened in the wet season months, and it was indeed the month of Conflee. School had just opened, and we were months away from the dry season starting.
Sighing, I turned toward the door back into the apartment, not knowing what I was about to walk into. I hadn't really heard Zoe or Seth screaming for a while, so I hoped things had calmed down by this point. But I also didn't know if Seth was waiting there to lecture me about hanging out with David again. Who I see is none of your business, Seth, I thought to myself. Whether David and I were dating, which we weren't, was beside the point. This was about Seth trying to control who I called my friends. I was beginning to agree with Zoe.
As I stepped back into the apartment, there he was, sitting on the couch, staring right back at me, his arms crossed. I groaned and rolled my eyes as I started to make my way down the hallway toward my room.
"Kairine. . ." he said, stopping me cold.
I turned back to look at him with a stern look on my face. "Seth, who I call my friends is really none of your business. You are wrong about David. Period. Leave it at that."
"Kairine, it's my job to look after both of you girls. I made a promise to your parents. . ." Seth started.
"And they are both gone now. Seth, I am not my sister. I wish you would have a little more faith in my ability to see the darkness in people's hearts. I can see it in everyone. I can even see it in you. Vierre had so much darkness in his heart that you never saw. He was narcissistic and egotistical. But you refused to see any of it. He pulled the wool over your eyes, and you refused to admit you were conned by him. He was not the person you thought he was. He never was," I said, just unloading on him everything that I was feeling. "Vierre was evil. David didn't make him that way, he was already that way. He simply charmed you and everyone else so that you couldn't see it."
Seth sighed. "I have every faith in your abilities, Kairine. . ."
"It sure doesn't feel like it most of the time, Seth," I spat back at him. "And the way you go around antagonising Zoe all the time really needs to stop. She only gets like that because you keep trying to control her life, and now you're doing the same thing to me! You are not our father!"
My last words really stung him like a Scourge's stinger as he took a step back and fell silent. I didn't mean to hurt him, but I only told him the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, and he knew it.
As I knew the argument was settled by this point, I turned and walked away, letting it drop there. Zoe would have kept going, but I was not like her. I knew to walk away from a fight.
I made my way to my room. Zoe was there, standing outside hers, looking back at me. She obviously had heard all of that. "Thanks. . ." she said simply, as she turned and walked back into her room. I smiled slightly as she did. That was high praise coming from her. She hardly ever said please or thank you to anyone, so I learned to take it in stride whenever she did. Coming from her, it really meant something.
"Anytime. . ." I whispered as she shut her door.
