The Curse of Thelonious [✓]

thirty eight

"Do I have to?" Lera grumbled as she glared at the front door, as though it had personally offended her.

She had been ignoring all the calls and messages on her phone, fear nestling deep inside of her. She was too scared to see what everyone would say, too fixated on what everyone had seen. They now knew she was different: they had seen her float, watched her glow and heard her talking to her dead sister.

They would think of her as a monster.

Whilst most people had left it at that and given her space, Jubaida was having none of it. She had barged into Lera's room the next morning, demanding her friend to get out of the house. Although she didn't understand what had happened, Lera had always been her friend and she trusted her.

"Yup, of course you have to," she chirped, bending down to tie her shoes. "C'mon, we'll see if anyone else wants to come too."

She dragged Lera by the arm, smiling shyly at the cluster of families sitting around the house. Lera's parents greeted her and they made small talk, introducing her to Lane, Mei and the girls.

Lera heard Atlas talking to his father, their voices growing louder as they walked towards the room. He stiffened and clamped his mouth shut when he caught sight of Jubaida, not quite brave enough to speak in front of her.

"Er, I'm making Lera come to town with me. Do you wanna come, Atlas?" She asked, shuffling her feet slightly awkwardly. Whilst she was no longer scared of him, the way his midnight eyes were usually so empty was unnerving.

He only stared at them two, unsure of how to react but his father made his decision for him.

"Yeah that sounds great, they need to get out again. In fact, I want to see the town too."

Lera giggled at the way Jubaidas dark eyes widened in surprise as she caught sight of Kelvin, her gaze running back and forth between father and son. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Or rather, you want to see someone. I'm right with you, mate," Lane said as he got up from where he had been typing on his laptop, stretching as he made his way over. He and Kelvin had stayed up all night, reminiscing about their childhood and memories of Colette. And they had vowed they would pay Manning Sinclair a visit.

Lane introduced himself to Jubaida as Atlas tugged on Lera's jumper, pulling her to the kitchen. "You don't have to go if you're not ready, Lera."

She nodded, smiling slightly at his concern. "I know," she whispered as they walked back to the group. "But I probably need to. It will be okay, right?"

He curled his fingers around hers and squeezed her hand in reassurance. She would be fine.

They made an odd group as they walked through the field, Lera thought to herself as she looked them over. Atlas was silent and brooding, in comparison to his uncles laughter booming against the empty air. Kelvin was deep in thought, hair messy as though he had run his fingers through it all night and Jubaida was chatting away. Her eyes flickered across the new faces though, and it was obvious she was still unable to believe that Atlas was in fact not related to Manning Sinclair like they had all thought for almost two decades.

There were a few people out and about when they came to the main roads, all eyes on them. Lera wanted to shrink herself small so nobody would stare at her, worry eating at her. She was reminded of the way she had been scared to start at Clearford High, seemingly so long ago although it had only been a handful of months. 

So much had happened since then.

"Mornin' everyone!" a voice called out as Mrs Carter from across the street walked past, pushing her pram. Lera smiled nervously, surprised when the kind lady didn't glare in disgust. Jubaida introduced Lane and Kelvin to her, giggling when her mouth dropped open as she realised Kelvin was in fact Atlas's father.