A God Amongst Wolves

8

Word Count: 1790

~Alvera

I wiggle my fingers, feeling the restrictive layer of latex wrapped around them.

"She's going to kill you if she comes back to all her shit being moved around," Eldon says, dumping a roll of rubbish bags on the floor in front of us.

Tackling Belle's mess is both a favour to her and a way to keep myself occupied. If she returns, I can't have her living in these conditions.

It may just cost me my life, though.

"This needs to be done. If she returns, she can't continue living like this." I grab an empty cardboard box, huffing out a breath. This is overwhelming.

Eldon eyes me sideways. "So we throw it all out?"

"God no. She would order a hit on me." I shake my head, turning to him. "Anything unnecessary we put in the bags or boxes. Lilith will store it until Belle returns."

From there I'll try convince her to sell or donate the items. I doubt she even uses a quarter of what's stored in here.

Eldon straightens his shoulders back, forcing calm over himself. It's nice of him to help. I think his eagerness to get into it is so he doesn't have to spend the next couple days living in this state.

"I'll put on the music then." He pulls out his phone while I turn toward Belle's bedroom.

Three hours pass with ease. I've managed to clear everything off the floor, leaving stacked cardboard boxes outside the room.

Thankfully she's not a particularly dirty person. She is just disorganised and a hoarder.

"I'm still not over how creepy it is to go through all of your sisters personal things," Eldon says across the house. His head is shoved into the kitchen cabinets, digging into a collection of ancient tupperware.

"That's why I'm doing her bedroom and not you," I respond.

I draw a line of tape over an overstuff box, sealing it shut. Stepping back, I wipe the back of my hand over my sticky forehead, making me grateful for the headband pressing my bangs back.

"All her kitchenware is covered in webs and dust," Eldon grumbles, yanking a large oven dish up onto the counter. His cheeks are bright red and irritation dusts his expression.

"She doesn't cook," I say.

Eldon tears away at some of the cobwebs on the dish before letting out a giant sneeze that has him curling over. I smother a smile behind my hand.

He waves his hand in front of his face as if to clear the dust. "Why so much shit then?"

"It was our parents," I inform him. "Like I said, she can't part with anything."

Thankfully I don't recognise much of the items here anymore. Seeing personal items of Belle's, like her clothing and jewellery has been gut wrenching enough. The weight of the necklace she gave me years ago has suddenly appeared heavier against my chest throughout this process.

Facing her closet, I hold my breath before I yank it open.

A blur of movement above me calls for my attention before a box lands square on the top of my head before toppling unceremoniously onto the ground at my feet.

"Ah, fuck!"

Eldon peers his head up above the kitchen bench.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." I wave my hand at him dismissively. "Just nearly assassinated by a box falling from the sky."

The box isn't too large and mostly tore away at its own bindings upon colliding with my head. Its contents have spilt across the floor, consisting mostly of crinkled paper and pens.