Newcomers - PT. 2

Hours passed, without me even realising it, bell tower striking five dongs and two dings in an attempt to alert me that it was already five thirty. But, the effort had been futile, as the overpowering focus on my work had kept me from fully registering the notion. It wasn’t until my phone buzzed, that my eyes left one screen for another - an SMS from Jeff.

“Bro, gd nuz! Mt up
2mrrw @ MS? 4pm?”

“Certo, looking
forward to it.”

My stomach grumbled - lunch had been pretty light to be fair, meaning that Ìspirah would’ve most likely been hungry, too. As for the twins, I didn’t know if they even ate. I wouldn’t have been surprised. For all I could hypothesise, they could’ve had any kind of absurd requirements.

As I paced myself up the steps, I noticed some light coming through - they must’ve managed to open the windows and the balcony doors.

Muffled conversations echoed down the staircase-

“-I know, I know!” it was Ìspirah “But, I don’t want to think about it!”

I stopped in my tracks. I could hear the sound of them moving heavy loads, possibly furniture.

Aspion’s voice was next.

“We don’t care, obviously~ But, you’ll still have to deal with Gabriel whenever you go back”

“Not to mention, Unders are everywhere~ One of them might recognise you and see what you’re up to” his sister added “What if one reports you~?”

“I said, I don’t want to think about it!”

With that, Ìspirah was clearly intending to end the conversation.

“Let me just enjoy this, while I- Wait, if you don’t care, can’t you do something about this? Can’t your clan do anything about this? About Father’s plan? You know what’ll happen, if- I don’t want to go through with it! I can’t-! I-!”

My heart clenched, she sounded like she was about to cry.

The twins’ tones became gravely solemn - it was unsettling.

“We’re sorry, girl” Pryra started “But, the Crivelli family must keep out of those kinds of plans” Aspion continued “Our priority is ensuring that those who are ending have a place to rest - we can’t get involved in anything else”

“What options are left, then?” Ìspirah sniffled, as she audibly threw stuff into a plastic bag “Just accept it?” her voice was barely a croak “That this will be it? I don’t want to go back, not if I have to-, to-”

She broke into tears.

I froze, not knowing what to do.

The twins hushed her and consoled her - they had a decent side, after all.

I made sure my next step was a heavy one, so she could hear that I was on my way - I wanted to give her a chance to present herself how she preferred. The three of them fell silent and began moving around hastily.

“Hey, guys…” I took my time up the final bit of stairs “Just wanted to know whether or not you wanted something to eat, it’s been a while since you’ve been at this whole cleaning thing”

“Sure, Michael!” Ìspirah yelped from the children’s room “Come and see what we’ve done so far!”

Upon entering, I tried to pass as nonchalant, not wanting her to feel pressured to explain her puffy red eyes - gosh, it stung to see her in such a state.

“Sorry, we went through your cleaning products in the kitchen and stole a few plastic bags. But hey, I think it’s turning out quite nice!” she forced a smile “And, uh, don’t mind my eyes, it’s just the dust” she added self-consciously. The twins didn’t say a word.

“It’s amazing” I grinned, earnestly “Never thought I’d see this room so clean and in broad daylight!”

It did look incredibly better. The three of them had gotten rid of all of the broken toys and pieces of scattered wood, dusted off the walls and the floors, and, with the beds being moved, there was now much more space.

“We did the same in the other one” the twins mentioned.

I went to go see.

The fan was in a plastic bag, along with all the rubble from the ceiling. The stained sheets had been removed and thrown away, making the second now-dust-free room nearly habitable.

“I was thinking of buying a few candles for lighting” Ìspirah appeared by my side “I can bring some pillows and blankets from my place. The mattresses in the children’s room are in good enough shape, although they might not be long enough for those guys - but, they’ll manage, I’m sure”

“Sounds like a plan-”

Not daring to look at her, I let my hand dangle at the height of my hip, just enough to slightly caress the back of hers and let her know that I was here for her. I hoped she’d understand.

“-I can help you bring things over, if you’d like me to”

“It’s ok, Michael” her pinky laced itself with mine “It would be a good excuse to invite you over, though. Don’t you think?”

Forcing another smile, she kept her eyes elsewhere. There was plenty on her mind, but I wouldn’t push it - she’d talk, if she really needed to.

Her stomach grumbled and she jumped.

“Ok, wow, now that’s embarrassing”

“Don’t worry, it’s the reason I came up in the first place” I chuckled “After sorting and cleaning all afternoon, you three must be starving”

I’d raised my voice towards the end, to let the twins know I was including them in the conversation.

“We’re good~!” they called back from the children’s room “You guys go ahead and eat”

I rolled my eyes - figures.

“I’ll start taking some of these down, this kind of junk needs to go directly to the dump” I reached for the filled bags “You take a break, we’ll have food whenever you’re ready”

“Sure thing” she deeply inhaled and headed towards the twins’ room “I’ll be there in a bit”

Once downstairs, I dropped everything in the private courtyard in back - I’d have to get a hold of the ‘franken-car’ one of these days. Whilst I brainstormed when would be best, I checked my cupboards to see what I had to offer for merenda, however, my thoughts kept wandering back to Ìspirah’s poorly concealed emotional state.

I wasn’t going to insist, more than happy for her to take all the time she needed to feel comfortable sharing more with me - if she’d ever want to, that is. But, I was worried… My mind kept looping my main concern-

Her father’s plan for her.

No one deserved to be forced to do something they didn’t want to, even if it was family. Actually, especially if it was family. Family was meant to love you, unconditionally, not send you away or force you into things. It seemed crazy to me that that was her reality.

The twins obviously knew everything - at least, that gave her someone she could talk to about it all. Also, they’d mentioned ‘organisations’, ‘unders’, and this ‘Gabriel’ guy, again… I couldn’t make anything out of it. None of the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together in a way that made any plausible sense.

Her footsteps echoed, as she came down the stairs, making me quickly grab some Mulino Bianco cookies, a loaf of bread, and some apricot marmellata, then laying them out on the table, along with cutlery and everything else.

“Hey” her voice was weak, strained “Do you have any tea to go with all this?”

“Of course”

I pulled out a pot and put some water on the stove to boil, while she took a seat, toying with the cookie bag, trying to distract herself. But, it didn’t last.

“I’m really sorry, Michael” she blurted.

“You didn’t do anything wrong”

“No, I mean-” gesturing to upstairs, she exasperated “-all of this! And, I’m sorry you have to deal with all of, well-” she looked away “-me. It’s not fair to you. You have no clue about what you’re getting yourself into by spending time with me like this”

I sat near her.

“Ìspirah, please don’t ever be sorry for any of this”

“But, Michael-!” she insisted, agitation growing “You don’t-”



“I know” I tried to calm her “I know, that I don’t know. However, what I do know is that, I-”

Taking in a quick breath, I brushed the back of her hand with my fingertips.

“I like whatever ‘this’ is - whether it is anything at all, or not”

Boiling water caught my attention. Time to make the tea.

“You don’t owe me any apology, or any explanation, Ìspirah” I got up “I’ve made the conscious decision to spend time with you, as long as you’ll want to spend time with me. I am the person responsible for myself, not you”

I brought the mugs over and realised her eyes had gone watery.

“Fine, but I will tell you what I can” she grabbed a cookie “Also, thanks for the food, I needed it”

I chuckled “It’s all good” and cut myself a slice of bread for some marmellata.

“You must’ve picked up on a lot of details today” she commenced, in between cookies “I cannot tell you anything about the Crivelli Clan, or about the sacred keys, but I can tell you about Gabriel, to an extent”

I nodded, paying close attention to her every word.

“Gabriel is- How do I put it?”

She sipped some of her tea, deep in thought.

“Gabriel is one of Father’s most loyal ‘workers’. We trained together in basically everything growing up. We were raised together, had parallel dorms from each other, studied together, fought together, did everything together. The only difference between us, which is the most divisive one, is that he doesn’t question Father. He does every single thing he is asked to do. Never shows any doubts… I know he has them, but he’ll never admit it”

“Ok, so he’s a childhood friend who works for your father” I shrugged “I don’t see how that’s particularly bad”

“Because, I can’t tell you everything” her eyes pleaded for my understanding “If he finds me, and I haven’t been behaving the way Father expected me to, I’m going to be in deep trouble”

“And,” a sigh escaped me “Gabriel could show up at any time, like the twins, I imagine”

My stomach dropped even deeper than it already had.

“Yep, if he shows up, things will not be looking good for me” she crossed her arms and laid back into the chair “Speaking of the twins, I need to find their sacred key, at all costs. Fortunately, they came through the manhole behind Marilyn’s, meaning it must be in the area”

“Got it, I’ll help”

She tentatively grabbed my hand and my insides fluttered.

“Thank you, I’m gonna need it”