Shadows and Souls ✓

30:- Black Tea

"That's not true."

"It is, Sienna and you know it." Erica's voice floated down the stairs. Thoren stopped trying to pick up the coffees he had just made, and listened, his hands on the counter as he tried not to breathe very heavy. "You are a flake, because you can never stick around for very long anywhere. You never take any of the responsibility. You always run out when things get hard. You've always been a cry baby, and woe is you. Well, Sienna, you really need to grow up, take some responsibility, and stop being so childish."

Thoren frowned. That was Erica, talking to Sienna. How did they know each other? This went beyond a formal greeting this morning, even an awkward one. This was personal. These two women knew each other, but Thoren didn't know that. He couldn't have known that. But where would two women like this have met? How long had they been talking? Thoren thought, he made coffee all the time, it only took him about five minutes to make three different coffees barista style, and in that time Sienna had woken up, Erica had gotten out of the shower, and the two had been having an intense conversation.

"Responsibility?" Sienna replied. Her voice was an octave or two higher than usual, and I knew she was getting upset. Sienna was usually composed, but Erica had gotten under her skin. Thoren wondered what he had missed in the conversation. "I took all the responsibility for the two of you. I always took the fall."

"There you are again, playing the victim card."

"And you or Chelsie never did? You're an only child, Erica. You get away with murder. I always got the stick – regardless of whether I or Chelsie were to blame."

Chelsie? As in Sienna's sister, Chelsie, that had caused so many problems for Sienna in the past? Thoren was putting the pieces together, but he had so many missing parts that he wasn't sure yet what the puzzle was that he was building.

"That's because trouble followed you everywhere, whether you wanted it to or not. You were a magnet for trouble growing up."

Growing up? Sienna and Erica had known each other growing up. Had they been neighbours? Had they been friends, or schoolmates? It suddenly occurred to Thoren that he never knew Erica's last name, and Erica had bared some resemblances to Sienna, some traits that, as they got to know each other, slipped away. Had Erica mirrored some of Sienna's personality to get Thoren to like her? How had she known though, who he was, that he liked Sienna, and whom she was going to impersonate? Thoren had so many questions that would be answered if he just went upstairs; but he didn't know if that was the right thing to do. He didn't know if he should interrupt or not. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but then he couldn't help that. He thought it was probably best if he did go up and see what was going on. Two women who apparently didn't get on and were left to their own devices probably were best not left alone.

Thoren scooped up the coffees and made his way back upstairs. He could hear their voices floating all the way down the staircase. "Chelsie caused all the trouble, and you know it."

"Chelsie isn't as bad at you make out."

"And I'm not as bad as Chelsie made out, but I guess you have more in common with her than me. All style and no substance."

"You got what you deserve, Sienna. My dad said Uncle Robert was right to kick you out."

Uncle. Thoren stopped just before he got to the top of the stairs. Uncle. Sienna and Erica were cousins? It sounded like Sienna was being double-crossed? Had Erica known about Thoren and purposely came to find him when he was most vulnerable? Chelsie had gone after Valentine, had Erica made a pact to go after Thoren? Had their whole relationship been a trick? Had Erica been using Thoren just to get under Sienna's skin, and hadn't even cared, at all, about Thoren or his wellbeing? Was this the kind of people that made up Sienna's family? Is that why she didn't talk about her family at all?