The following morning was a busy mess. In the early hours, Rachel spent a good hour in the kitchen with only birdsong to keep her company. The voice was there too, of course, but she'd learnt a long time ago to accept that complete loneliness was impossible. Despite the grogginess she felt, Rachel managed to make something presentable for breakfast and went to wake her mother up. She jogged up the carpeted stairs, stopping short just as she reached her mother's door. For some reason, the white wood seemed imposing.
'What's the hold-up? Get in, wake her up, and get out.'
'I just realised; this is the last day I'll be able to just barge in like this.'
'How so?'
'Mr Fernandez is going to be living here.'
'Geoff?' Kuna scoffed. 'Who cares about him? She's still your mother. If he gets in the way, just kill him.'
Rachel rolled her eyes, finally pushing the door open. Her mother lay draped across the bed, face turned away from what little light made its way through the blinds. Carefully picking her way across the dim, paper-covered room, Rachel gently shook her awake. Autumn opened her eyes, squinting against the light.
'Morning, honey." She whispered. "What time is it?"
"About five twenty," Rachel replied, kneeling to pick up the scattered papers. "You left your window open again. Don't you need these?" She asked, shaking a small sheaf above her head.
The sight of her work on the floor seemed to shake whatever remaining sleep Autumn had left in her. She jumped out of bed, rushing to re-order them. Rachel let slip a giggle at the sight and went about helping her mother clean up.
"You go eat, I'll handle this." She said, taking a sheaf from her mother. "This is the only room left for me to clean up, anyway."
Autumn gave in and left the room, pausing at the door. "Did you sleep at all?"
"Yeah, a bit. Don't worry about it."
Autumn gave a happy hum, and hopped down the stairs, leaving Rachel in her mess of a room. 'Maybe Goeff'll leave her after seeing how messy she can be.' Kuna snarked, prompting a guilty laugh from Rachel. She finished up and left to join her mother at the table, handing Autumn a folder as she sat down. As the smell of pancakes and coffee filled the room, Rachel checked her watch.
"They should be here in a few more minutes."
"I'll be off after saying hello, then." Autumn chirped. "How are you feeling? Nervous?"
'Shy smile, then nod.' The voice ordered.
Rachel followed it's direction, immediately taking a bite of her pancake to avoid any further questions.
'Treat them like guests. Anyway, how do you feel about them?'
'I wish I hadn't gotten out of bed today. Then maybe, today wouldn't be happening.'
'I mean, it's not like you were asleep in the first place. Say you're tired and go back to bed.'
Rachel took her now empty plate and put it in the sink, kissing her mother on the forehead before getting back to her room. There was still roughly an hour till the other children got there, and two hours before Mr Fernandez came with the moving trucks. She had cleaned every room in the house, already missing the familiar silence that accompanied each room. Her father had taught her to accept and love this silence when she was younger. Did he hear a voice as she did?
'Feeling nostalgic, are we?' Kuna's voice asked dryly.
Rachel walked up to a steel door and pulled a skeleton key from the chain around her neck. 'I'm thinking about when you weren't around.'
As she unlocked and entered the room, Kuna laughed. 'You should be thinking about after his death when we all came around to play.' She mocked. 'D'you have any idea how suffocating those years were for me?' Acid dripped from her words, the very sound a low hiss in Rachel's mind.
'Sure, sure. And when you came, those things made life miserable. Do you have any idea how miserable it was to walk into a room and see those... things standing there?' Rachel shuddered.
She locked the door behind her and walked into a carpeted room, dropping herself onto a bean bag in the corner. The walls were a stark white, old musket rifles and ancient Daggers adorned the west side of the room, evidence of her father's hobby. The room was an attachment to the house, made when he and Autumn first moved in. He'd passed the key for it down to her when she was ten.
'Your dad was a coward and we both know it.'
Rachel didn't say anything, Kuna already knew what she was thinking. The voice gave out an angry scoff and settled down. To the room's east, there was a shelf of books, a few instruments, canvases, and paints. Rachel felt restless, but couldn't bring herself to start with anything. Kuna, however, was very excited by the chance to leave her cage. For nearly an hour, she painted. An awful scene; a creature standing beneath a streetlight, its mouth faintly bloody, its head nearly touching the light. The foul thing had no eyes, spindly legs, and a bulging gut. The smile on its face seemed unnatural, ragged like its jaws had ripped themselves apart, taking the skin with them.
Somehow, though Rachel's own skill was mediocre, Kuna seemed to create photorealistic depictions with no discernable difficulty. It baffled her each time. As Rachel finished cleaning the brushes, she heard the faint sounds of chatter from somewhere in the house. They'd reached.
'Good luck'
Rachel walked into the kitchen and saw Autumn talking to three kids around her own age. She felt her shoulders go tense at the sight of the strangers. Autumn noticed Rachel and called her over with a smile while getting her things so she could leave for work. As the two crossed each other, Autumn gave her a hug.
"Please remember what we discussed last night. They don't know yet." She whispered into Rachel's ear before kissing her forehead and leaving.
The four children stood in silence till they heard the door click shut. Almost immediately, the tension in the room melted away. They relaxed their postures, the oldest of the group turning to Rachel with a smile.
"Hey, I'm Kevin! it's great to finally meet you." He chirped, extending his hand toward her.
'He's just a guest, Rachel. Be nice for now.'
Rachel smiled and shook his hand, relaxing her body posture. "Nice to meet you, too."
She turned to the other two kids. "Then you must be Lucy and Chris? The twins?"
"Yeah. We've heard a lot about you, it's good to know you're actually real." Chris replied with a grin.
Lucy waved but didn't say anything, instead, looking back to the oldest to carry the interaction.
'This feels awkward.' Kuna commented. 'Offer a tour of the house, brief them on the rooms, kill them, anything, just do something.'
"Have you all eaten?" Rachel asked after a brief pause, glancing behind them to see empty plates already rinsed in the sink. "So you have." She commented awkwardly.
"We'd love to look around the house if that's okay," Kevin said, seeming to sense Rachel struggling.
"Yeah, sure. I was supposed to brief you on a few things anyway, so just follow me." She said, turning to walk away.
Rachel directed them around the lower floor, discomfort gnawing at the base of her stomach as she felt the passive eyes of her guests on her back. She couldn't stop herself from thinking that they were there to replace her. On the top floor, the other kids seemed to become much response when introduced to their own rooms.
"This one will be Chris and Kevin's, Lucy and I will be just the opposite." She said, pointing to both rooms. Chris and Kevin did a high-five, already thinking about the design.
"Wait, I have to share a room with you?" Lucy blanched.
Rachel shrugged, looking down. "That's what mom said."
"Lucy, it'll be fine! I mean, Chris and I are sharing, and we're cool with it." Kevin cut in helpfully, a smile on his face.
"But I don't even know her!" Lucy whipped around to face Rachel. "No offence."
'Kill her.' Kuna dead-panned.
"Maybe we should go sit down." Rachel offered awkwardly as Chris and Lucy argued.
'She hasn't done anything.' Rachel told Kuna.
"We aren't tired, it's fine, lucy's just the squabbling type." Kevin waved away the offer with a reassuring tone.
'I already hate them all.' Kuna said; irritation sparked from her tone.
"No, I'm not. Why don't you just shut up?" Lucy grumbled.
'They haven't done anything.' Rachel responded resignedly.
"Nothing to do with that, it's just that there's that one thing I was supposed to tell you." Rachel sighed. There was too much noise.
'Doesn't matter. I want them dead.' The voice remained stubborn.
"It's really okay for you to just say it now." Kevin offered; irritation beginning to surface in his own voice. Maybe it was just Rachel's own imagination that over analysed his tone.
Rachel gave them an apologetic look. "The honeymoon's before the wedding. They're leaving in two days, and they'll be back before break ends."
"Well... that seems like something we would have known about earlier." Kevin was clearly shocked.
Chris spoke up; sceptical. "Dad usually tells us everything; what's the deal?"
"I mean... I didn't know you guys even existed till yesterday. Or that mom's getting married." Rachel said uselessly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Right, maybe they wanted to show you that it's equal ground here," Kevin said, his eyes lighting up. "My bad, I completely forgot."
'Your mom fucking told them.' Kuna said, realization slowly growing in her voice.
Rachel felt something in her stomach drop. 'No, She promised she wouldn't.'
'No, she did. She told them, and now they think you're sick too.' Kuna spat, her fiery anger nearly scorching Rachel in its intensity.
"Right... so your dad's going to be here in a little while. I'll let you get used to the house." Rachel muttered, backing away from the trio of children.
With a quick turn, Rachel walked down the stairs and into the living room and crashed into the couch. There were too many noises, too many people speaking. She wasn't sure she could take it if that was going to be the state of the house after the move. Curling up against the soft fabric of the sofa, Rachel tried to block out the sound of her new 'guests' getting used to their rooms upstairs. She was supposed to look after them while her mother was away. She'd been assured that it wouldn't be too much.
At that moment, with Kuna whispering 'advice' into her ear and the sounds of yelling flowing through the house, Rachel wished she could fall asleep.