We Are Monsters | The Curse of Lykaon

Chapter 1 - Into the Labyrinth

'Do you have any idea where she could be?' I said. 'Maybe you can find her through your tarot cards and crystal balls,' I added sarcastically.

She sniffled. 'No, Rhea, I don't have any idea. Otherwise, I wouldn't have called you and torn you away from one of your — flings.' She lifted her arm up to rest it against the doorframe. Her whole body blocked the way out as if she were trying to be intimidating. None of that physical pressure worked on me anymore, though her comments about my promiscuity did strike a nerve. It seemed to be her top grievance since I'd come back for the winter break, the second was her need to have every single light on, and candle lit, in the house all day and night. If I ever provoked that, which of course I did, it would be settled with a screaming match and then I would give in and have to sleep in my bedroom with a constant glare on me.

'Have you tried calling her?' I said.

Theia Alexandra looked affronted by this. 'What do you think?'

You don't bloody want to know what I think.

I felt a lump grow in the back of my throat and I bit back the urge to snap at this woman for pigging out in front of the TV all day. For distracting herself just enough that she somehow wasn't responsible for Arianna's disappearances. For deluding herself enough to believe that Arianna wasn't her problem at all and that it was expected of me to just come running blindly.

Theia Alexandra reeked of tobacco and sage so being within a metre of her made my nostrils flare and burn. To be fair she didn't need the cigarettes to have that effect on me, and white sage was quite nice. It was her neglect as a guardian that turned me into Arianna's mother and I didn't want that burden anymore. I moved back in temporarily to spend the winter with my sister so she wasn't just stuck with Theia the whole time. A week in and they both have tested my patience. Pushed so far that not even a soothing day of rain against the wetlands could ease me. Walking through the shopping strip and adored buildings from an older time could make the trip worth it. The nostalgia was shattered by a harsh reminder of why I left. There wasn't time to get into that mentality but I had concluded that once I found my sister I was going to go straight back home. I wasn't going to put up with this any longer.

'Forget it, I'll go out and find her. Call me if you hear anything,' I said.

'I've called Giannis, he's coming around to help.'

My hand clenched tightly around my phone, I think even my right eye twitched. 'Why would you call Giannis?'

'Because he has a car, he can drive you around.'

'Why can't I use your car?' Before she had the chance to answer, the doorbell rang alerting his arrival and threw my head in a dizzy spell. This was all I needed right now; my spoiled aunt, a reckless sister, and a Giannis Vlachos.

Theia Alexandra left the room and I explored the mess one more time. This time fixated on my sister's dirty desk and found, under scraps of papers and food wrappings, her pink journal tucked under a pencil case that had names graffitied on it.

I shouldn't, but Arianna had left me no choice. It wasn't the first time I had to find out where Arianna was hiding out through her intimate thoughts. I felt less shitty about it this time. I suppose I had to get numb to it all eventually, it was only a matter of time before I was going to become completely insensitive to my sister's disappearances.

One journal entry described a rough day at school. Well, the first half of it had before she bore into how she had skipped the rest of the day to go shopping with her friends. Not useful but worth talking to her about it another day. Another entry had a list of random names of people in her class, and they were listed from most to least attractive with a score beside their names. The score was an arsehole percentage and the male-to-female ratio was pretty balanced out. She had a separate list for those who were nonbinary which wasn't a lot and only one of them had an arsehole ratio above ten per cent. An interesting read but again not what I needed. I flicked to the latest entry and read through her scribbles about the Mavros' mansion. This I had to sit down for and her bed creaked as I sunk into it.