I need to find a place for my sister and me, soon the social services will get us.
"They won't," Maka smiles, "that old lady you sat next to says she is your great-grandmother."
"That's strange.
I don't have any family here."
The old lady's hair was gunmetal grey and long and lush; her eyes appeared milky, and she looked tired and somehow gleaming with energy. Her face also appeared world-weary, but she is usually active and alert.
Her clothes were moth-eaten, but she still wore them and hung them in the wardrobe. She glanced at them, stepping down the stairs and holding onto the railing, "I thought this was your place, Maka."
"No, it belongs to the old lady. She asked me to bring you here."
I was not sure how to feel. On the one hand, I was happy we had somewhere to go. On the other hand, I was wondering if this lady won't kill me in my sleep.
Jia gripped my coat, leaning against me, looking up at the lady. Her flowery scarf, once white, appeared yellow, "finally, I get to see my grandkids," said the lady in a friendly voice.
She reached out to touch Jia's shoulder, and as Jia tucked away under my coat, I ran my hand over Jia's hair, noticing my hand was unusually hairy.
Maka expressed no emotion.
It was hard to tell what she was thinking, I removed the old lady's hand, noticing her nails were long and dirty, and I looked over at Maka, "can I talk to you for a moment?" Before Maka could respond, I took her hand, pulling her aside.
Jia followed, "how sure are you this lady is my grandmother? Have you seen her nails?"
Maka nodded, "I am not sure, but I know that she told me about how you were when you were small."
"When I was younger? Dammit, not even I know how I was, Maka."
"Look at the bright side. Social services don't have anything to dig into."
I thought for a moment, "you have a point. It's not like she was a threat to us. I mean, look at her." Maka and I looked at her. She was wearing an old skirt with a few broken holes.
"I guess this could be a temporary solution."
"it has to be Kai. You have to think of your sister."
Maka reached for the chain on my neck, pulling out the stones and pendant.
The yellow stone was still glowing. Maka looked to the side and saw the old ladies looked surprised, "Listen, keep your sister and your chain as close to you as you can."
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
The old clock kept time in a house that was no longer alive. No sunlight danced in through the dirty windows.
Cobwebs hung everywhere, their occupants dead or gone, and the dust lay on the floor, a dreary carpet on a sagging floor. A stray fly buzzed around a chandelier that stared miserably down from where it was bolted to the ceiling. This house was probably as old as she was.
An open door creaked as a breath of wind caused it to move on its rusty hinges. A crumbling cloth fluttered like a bird trapped in a cage.
It was an empty, lonely building without a breath, but the house had not always been void of life. A long time ago, the house had lived and breathed. Chubby, happy children had run through the velvet-carpeted halls.
Red, white, and yellow roses grew on the walls outside the building. Willow trees drooped over a pond, creating a very romantic atmosphere.
Grass covered the lawn without an imperfection. Young maidens were wooed in the house and garden, and marriages and feasts took place inside the large house.
Old and revered grandfathers and grandmothers have been laid to eternal rest in the charming cemetery in a copse of trees. Friendly birds sang in the trees and kept the squirrels company. Sunlight flowed in like a river through the crystal-clear windows.
The wind entered with the sunlight and played tag with the muslin curtains. It danced with the garden flowers and sang the trees to sleep, but all of this was long ago.
The house's days were past. It was an old, long-forgotten, abandoned house. It was broken down in disrepair, and weeds filled the garden where once the grass had been as soft as a blanket. Birds no longer sang in the trees, and even the insects had primarily left the house.
Part of the roof had caved in after years of storms. The house lived no longer, and it never would again.
I kept my sister's hand as we looked around. I wish Maka had come inside. For some reason or another, I felt more relaxed knowing and was here by myself.
The old lady walked over from the door, which she had taken ages to close, and slowly walked down the steps.
On the dusty greasy wall hung a portrait with flowers the same color as my stones. Jia was clingy; she had never been this clingy before, "It will be okay," I repeated.
"Are you kids hungry?" She
replied, "No, thank you," before Jia could say something.
"I am hungry," said Jia, looking up at me and holding her teddy. I leaned over. "We will go home to eat."
"Go home," Jia repeated.
The old lady walked up to us then, looked up, and pulled a dusty string from the roof light. As the light went on, it brightened the place slightly. We could now see clearly.
The chairs were covered in their original packaging, and the table had a white sheet over it. On the right side of the wall was a post of a vampire biting into a boy. At first, I just glanced, but when I looked again, that vampire gave me a flashback of Maka, the first time she, I paused thinking, the first time I bit her.
The old lady's glossy white eyes had a delicate lining of blue around the pupil. She smiled as she looked at the portrait, "that's a collector, done in the eighteen century."
I was intrigued as I walked over to the painting hanging three meters high, just below the top of the staircase, "is there a meaning behind this painting?"
The old lady smiled as she walked over to the table, sitting on the chair wrapped in plastic, "yes, there is. It was a little boy who got lost and was lured deeper into the woods by what some people called a witch.
After a year, they found the boy's body next to the house. The lady in the woods denied it being her. She said she woke up from a coma after a year, the boy was examined, and two bite marks were on his neck.
His body was long stiff, and pale. However, the villagers never believed her story and took a rope and tied it around her neck, dragging her across the gravel, then stripped her naked after stripping her. They threw stones at her before setting her alight."
The light flickered as a gust of wind blew through the window. The old lady then stood up, "the boy woke up, and the villagers surrounded him, believing he was possessed. They set the boy alight.
They later discovered the boy was not possessed. Five stones protected him," she glanced over at the roses as my eyes followed.
She walked over to me and gave me a pair of keys. "That is for your and your sister's room. I am sleeping downstairs in the spare room you have upstairs."
"Thank you, we will be back abit later to settle in. We must go back home to gather a few of our clothes."
The old lady nodded, "just be back before sunset."
I never asked why. I left the house with my sister. As we exited the door, Jia asked me if we were going to stay there, "yea, for now, we are, but we can spend time at home in the afternoon and sleep here at night."
Jia nodded, "what about mom?"
"Mom is no longer around."
"I know." Jia replied, "I meant moms things."
She was only six and sounded way too mature for her age, "we will wrap it up and put it in a safe place," Jia reached out her arm and took my hand.
We arrived at my house, and as I entered, everything was the same, just as I had left it. It felt empty even though mom was barely around. I missed her.
The screen popped on, and Maka was sitting on her bed, "so stranger, welcome back. How was it?"
I do not want to say too much, but I was exhausted after the long day. "It was okay."
"Sleep at home tonight and leave tomorrow?"
That's a great idea.
We needed time to adjust to the living situation and changes; I smiled at her suggestion. "I have to go see you later," she said.
"Wait, see me later?"
The screen switched off. Agh, why do I even bother asking questions?