Gemini

Chapter 10* Lurking in the Shadows

Chapter 10* Lurking in the Shadows

“How many more teleports?” I ask Sam, as we trudge along the path leading to the half torn down whitewood house. He shrugs.

“Quite a few more. Unless, like, Apollo comes back and decides to give us a lift.”

Giving a sigh, I twirl a strand of my hair around my pinky. “I wish.”

Opening the creaky door, I step into a soot blackened house. The walls, once white, had a fine layer of soot dusted all over them. Going up to it I rub a finger against it, trying to get it off, but it doesn’t budge. I scowl.

“You might want to pack this in,” Sam says, handing me a packet of instant noodles.

“Where on earth are we going to find hot water?”

Shrugging, he wanders off again. “Just eat the noodles. It’s crunchy.” Rolling my eyes, I stuff it into my backpack anyway.

My gaze comes to land on the mantelpiece. Like the previous house we were in, it is cluttered with photographs, all framed nicely. I take a curious step towards it. Lightning flashes outside, and it begins to pour.

Rain lashes against the windows so suddenly. One minute it is just the night sky outside, the next all I see is water droplets. Chill seeps into the room along with the raindrops, and Sam hastily closes the door.

We both go back to what we were doing before. Before long I am at the mantelpiece, peering at the pictures.

One of them is of a blue eyed boy, with his arm slung across the shoulder of a girl with long brown hair. In his other hand he holds a signboard with a sign: Just married. Below it someone had pasted a little tag: Gabriel and Stephanie Morris- it’s summertime!

My gaze shifts to the next picture. This is of a sour looking man with his face set in a deep scowl, and another woman looking exasperated next to him. The woman looked like she was hiding a smile, but anyone could see that the mood was jovial. Below it was pasted another tag: Alan can’t stop frowning!

A small smile graces my face as I survey the next picture. The blue eyed boy and the girl is back, and the girl is holding a little bundle of blankets, grinning from ear to ear. The boy’s handsome face is scrunched up into a little smile, the kind parents make when they croon to their kids. The tag says: Gabe and Steph! New parents with little Alberus!

Albus and Severus. Someone was a Harry Potter fan. I give a small laugh.

Don’t you envy them, a voice whispers in my head. Don’t you wish you had the perfect family.

My family was perfect, I tell the voice, gritting my teeth.

Was, the voice breathes. They’re dead, Kayla Richards. And you are all alone.

I have Sam, I think, stubbornly refusing to budge. I don’t know who I am trying to convince, the voice or myself.

He is nothing, the voice whispers. It is like a poison, seeping into my mind. He will be dead and gone, like dust in the wind. And you know what he thinks of you at night, Kayla? He thinks you’re weak. He wishes you never found him. He’s waiting for you to die so he can go on alone, so that he won’t be burdened by you. You’re nothing but a dead weight.

Hot tears spring to my eyes. Clenching my fists, I start putting up walls, barricading my mind to block the voice up, but it is like fog, seeping through the cracks, making them bigger.

Dead weight, Kayla. And your family. Your mother always hated you.

“Shut up!” I roar out loud, so loud that the house echoes with it. Sam gives a start and looks sharply at me. Tears are pouring down my face, and the nape of my neck is tingling- And when Sam lunges at me I know why.