Picturesque

Chapter 21: Extended Family

Pixie? I whisper in my head. Are you awake?

Yes. I am now, she says back, poking her head out of her tortoise shell. What is it? Can't sleep? Did you have another nightmare?

I shake my head. No. Not this time. But that man that came over earlier, I think. Nine, right? Do you know him? He's Loric, isn't he? Like us?

The tortoise yawns and stretches her head and legs all the way out. Yes, he's Loric, and yes, I know him. Why? What do you want to know?

Does he know daddy? I ask.

He knows all the Loric, especially your father. He and John worked together to keep the academy running, to keep the students safe. Of course, this was before you were born and before they left to heal Lorien. Why are you asking this?

So, he knows then... "He knows my mom?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. It's late at night and I don't want to wake grandpa, but I have to know. "He knows who she was?"

Pixie takes a slow step closer, then sinks down again. Put your arm around me, she pleads, so I do. Your mother was a very generous soul. She did what she could to help others, always; Nine and John made sure she could. The three of them worked simultaneously to secure the academy.

Secure? "What do you mean?"

They've had some problems, is all Pixie says before closing her eyes again.

Pixie? "Pixie, please," I ask. "How much did he know about her? Will he be able to tell me what she was like? Or did they, like, not like each other?" Nine seemed nice enough when he came in this evening, but I got the sense that there was something he wasn't telling me. Does he want me to attend the HGA or does he want me to stay here? Why was he looking at me so strangely, like I was so different? I'm not, am I?

I'm tired, Lola, Pixie tells me, which instantly makes a layer of guilt crawl up my spine. Can we talk about it tomorrow? I'll explain more to you then.

But I need to know. I don't know if I can sleep without knowing the kinship between my mom and Nine. Pixie pulls her head out again, albeit slower than before.

Check the window then, is all she says.

What? "The window? Why?"

And before I can hear her old scratchy voice in my head reply, there's a tap at the window. Three taps, specifically. Tap-tap-tap. I look over and there's a dark shadow of a man outside on the roof, sticking to the wall like Spider-Man. I turn on my bedroom side light. It's him! Nine!

I hurry over to the window, pull open the blinds, and remove the netting, and Nine—the big, bulky professor—climbs through. He's in my room! "What the hell?" I shout in the quietest whisper I can manage. "What are you doing here? And how'd you get up on the roof?!"

"I can walk on walls," he says, smiling at me whilst bringing a finger to his lips. He watches me gape at him for a bit. "It's my Legacy. Had it for as long as I can remember, but I didn't come all the way out to Canada to talk about me, Lola. I want to talk to you, again."

"So, you're breaking and entering now?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and trying to mask my surprise. "Can't I get you arrested for doing something like that?"

"It's not breaking and entering if you let me in," he says, which ultimately brings my arms back down. I stutter back a step to sit down on the edge of the bed. "May I?" he asks, gesturing to the spot beside me. I shrug and slither back to Pixie's side, who seems to be more awake now. "Hey, Pix," Nine says, petting the tortoise under the chin for a second. "How've you been?"