“No.” Alexandra immediately says.
“Yes.” I state it firmly. “You’re a grown woman-so grow up and LISTEN.” I may sound harsh, but it’s what I have to do. I watch Alexandra’s lip quiver, but Aviva stays silent, yet confused.
“I don’t remember him….at all.”
“That’s because we divorced him before you were born, Aviva.” Alexandra’s whole body is shuddering, but not from the cold.
“Why?” I ask dumbly, only to get a quick objection from Alexandra.
“You think I’d tell you?”
Naomi, I’ll tell you later. It’s….bad. Carlana’s conspicuous eyes watch me. Alexandra isn’t telling the truth.
My will to speak diminishes as my gut clenches. Could we trust Alexandra at all? Even with the Three S’s, Carlana admitted her dirty deed, but...Alexandra’s lied too much.
“Aviva, come here,” I say, putting my arm around her collarbone and pulling her against me. Alexandra’s eyes are distant, far from reality. Reality of death, that is.
“Where’s Peter?” I call, and I feel a tap on my shoulder.
“Looking for me?” I turn to see his toothy grin.
“How’d you know?” I ask, surprised. He gives me a quick wink.
“The first power all soriers get, intruding minds? You get real good a’ it after a while.”
I grin. “Could you...take Aviva on a walk? Just around town for a bit?”
“Sure thing. C’mon, Aviva, let’s go.” She happily grabs his hand and skips with him, disappearing with the flick of her hair around the corner. I turn to Alexandra. She’s nervously twisting her dirty tendrils between her palms, wrinkles shining through her skin.
“You wanna take a walk too? Get your mind off things?” I smile, rubbing her shoulder. She sniffs, nods, and disappears as well. Carlana’s eyes are a muted, brown-infused green.
“You got a lot of explaining to do.”
It’s not my fault Alexandra can’t face reality.
“I know,” I say softly. I sit on the ground, leaning my back against the brick building. I look up at the sky, reminded of the damage I did with lightning earlier. “What actually happened? With Aviva’s father?”
Aviva’s mother, Alexandra, and Aviva’s father, Brian, never actually got divorced. Yet, they were the most incompatible couple I’ve ever seen, I cannot even imagine how they met.
“They’re not dead yet, how’d you figure all this out?”
I had to know all about them when I had first died, remember? The Three S’s? Now, let me continue.
“Sorry.”
Look, they didn’t get along. Aviva was...well, she wasn’t planned. Before she was born, both Alexandra and Brian were excited. After she was born, everything went awry. Carlana pauses, as if bracing herself.
They didn’t divorce when she turned two. That was when Brian started drinking. No one knows why….work? Stress? Fighting with Alexandra? It’s still a mystery. I think he realized how dangerous he was to Aviva. When she was little, he left. He realized it quickly, right before she turned three… He was gone.
“Why didn’t he just FIX himself, stop drinking, and be there for his daughter?!” I say, outraged. Carlana hangs her head.
He couldn't handle the fact that Alexandra abused her.
My hands drop. “What?” Carlana’s eyes are their angry fire color, her mouth in a sneer.
Why couldn’t I kill Alexandra instead? She never loved Aviva. She would tell Aviva every day. EVERY DAY that she was WORTHLESS. Beat her every day. I saw so many images of Aviva with bruises and cuts covering her body. It was like her skin was permanently purple.
I couldn’t speak. How….How could Aviva be such a happy child but have all of this hanging on her when she was only 10?
“I…” Instead I just burst out sobbing Snot covered my face as Carlana’s face only showed distress. My body shook.
“Why couldn’t….why didn’t Brian take Aviva with him?!”
He panicked. Couldn’t think straight, so he left and didn’t look back.
The only thing running through my mind. Who did I hate more?
I had to find them. Everyone. Brian AND my father.
I’ll help you. Liquid gold formed her eyes.
~*~~*~*~*~*~~**~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Do you know anything about locations?” I growl, kicking a stray soda can from my feet. It rolls into the road, clunking against the pavement. I watch it as Carlana whispers in my head.
What I know...the sorier wakes up where they were born.
My head whips up at her, letting off the gaze on the soda can. “What?”
But that could mean anything! What if you moved away while living?
My head sinks. Carlana walks over and pats me on the shoulder.
Don’t give up hope.
“Where does the newscast on tv record?” I ask abruptly. She smiles, eyes swimming with different colors.
That’s what I’m saying. They record that in this exact town.
“That means….”
Your parents are here.
“Mom.” I gasp. My throat clenches. “Dad.”
YOU ARE READING
Five Minutes
Paranormal"That's when I heard a pop, and the daughter stood stock-still. I saw her look down at her chest, wondering what had happened-but I already knew. She collapsed, falling into a heap of snow. Her mother cried out weakly, seeing her little girl with...
