The To-Do List

Dueces

Vivian opened her eyes and realized she was laying almost completely on top of Jillian. Killian was on the floor snoring. She smiled softly as she gently sat up, taking in her surroundings. The sun was shining outside and she could hear the faint sound of birds chirping. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so peaceful and at ease. For the first time in months, Vivian felt like she could let go of the breath she'd been holding in. She closed her eyes and laid back down, drifting off to sleep once more. 

She was woken up by Jillian gently shaking her shoulder. She sat up slowly and yawned. "Morning sleepyhead," Jillian smiled at her as he stretched his arms high above him. He gently nudged Killian with his foot. Killian opened his eyes groggily and rolled over onto his back, stretching out. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at Jillian and Vivian. They were all smiling. "I don't know about you guys but I am literally starving, let's eat," Killian said, rolling on the ground toward the kitchen. Vivian and Jillian looked at each other and laughed, following Killian. Sitting together at the kitchen bar they ate breakfast and agreed that sleeping in the living room isn't super fun, "especially not when you end up on the floor!" Killian interjected and everyone laughed. After breakfast, they all sat back on the couch and looked at each other while an uncomfortable silence settled over them, the playful mood of earlier dissipating.

"So..." Jillian started, trailing off. "Jayline's dead, along with his nest. The Boysin Line is no more," Vivian tossed out. They all nodded and tried to process it. "So does that mean you guys are done?" Vivian asked. Jillian and Killian looked at each other unsure. "I guess so," Killian said with a shrug and an unsure tone in his voice. Jillian nodded, "Yeah, we're done now. We can do whatever we want, our lives are free, we're free to do whatever we want," Jillian said, almost trying to convince himself. "And what would that be?" Vivian asked. Jillian and Killian looked at each other again. Vivian looked between the two of them, waiting for an answer. The boys started laughing. "What's so funny?" Vivian asked. " We have no freaking idea," said Killian, catching his breath, his side aching. Jillian nodded, "We spent our whole lives training to take out this Line, we never had time to think about anything else." Killian nodded in agreement.

The truth was, none of them knew what to do next. The boys had been training for this for basically their whole lives. They knew they had to report the Boysin Line dusted to the council: but they didn't even know how to contact the council. They'd received their mission when a trainer had been sent and was with them for about a decade or so before he disappeared. They had no clue how to proceed. The boys explained this to Vivian. Vivian nodded, she knew a thing or two about not living your own life.

Vivian noticed a calendar on the wall, "Hey, what's the date today?" she asked motioning towards the calendar. "March 17th" Jillian replied. Vivian smacked herself in the forehead. "Speaking of newfound freedoms, I'm 18 today!" Jillian and Killian both looked at Vivian "uh.. today's your birthday?" Killian asked. "Yup, I turn 18 today and I get to officially leave that godforsaken house I live in. I've been gone for days and I haven't heard from my mom or sisters. Maybe they won't notice me leaving and I won't have to talk to them!" Vivian was getting excited. "Well that's exciting news, V. You're more than welcome here, that spare bedroom is practically yours already," Jillian said. "Yeah, move in with us, Vee!" Killian said excitedly. "Well, I'm glad you guys are willing to take me in because that was kind of my only plan. No backup," she chuckled awkwardly. "Why wouldn't we want you?" Jillian laughed, "you're our girl, Vivian". The guys smiled warmly at her. "Also we're newly freedmen, we wouldn't know what to do without you. You get to basically teach us how to live a normal life now." Jillian said, laughing. Killian nodded, "yeah, Vee" giving Vivian a light punch in the arm. "So, uh, happy birthday!" Killian said, "sorry we didn't decorate or literally plan anything since we had absolutely no advance about this" Killian said with a chuckle. Vivian nodded, "I honestly forgot with everything that's been going on". "Well, let's get you moved in!" Jillian excitedly shouted as he dumped their breakfast dishes into the sink.

They drove to Vivian's house and parked right out front for the first time. Vivian told the guys to stay in the car until she needed help. Vivian walked up the empty driveway and unlocked the front door, excited that nobody was home. As she turned to shut the door behind her, she paused and listened. Did she hear footsteps upstairs? She listened intently for a couple more seconds. Silence. She waved to the guys, motioning them to come in. Jillian and Killian got out of the car and followed. "Is everything alright, Vee?" Killian asked, noticing Vivian's alerted posture. "Yeah, I just, I thought I heard something upstairs. But I think I'm hearing things" Vivian chuckled nervously. Killian nodded and the three made their way up the stairs to her room.

Vivian stood in the center of her room and shut her eyes. She thought about her past, far and recent: before this house, her time in this house, meeting Jillian and Killian, everything that's happened with them. She thought about her future and wondered what was next. She took a deep breath and knew she needed to let go of all her bad memories in this house in order to move on. Opening her eyes, she looked at the guys and nodded, "I'm ready". They nodded back. Vivian went to open the closet door and her hand stopped on the door handle. Her skin prickled, her arm hairs standing up on end, and her breath hitched. "Do you guys feel that?" Vivian whispered. Jillian and Killian looked at each other then at Vivian, shaking their heads. "Are you alright?" Jillian asked, his eyebrows knitting. Vivian nodded, taking a deep breath and holding it as she opened the closet. Empty.

Vivian let herself breathe and grabbed her luggage from the closet. Handing Killian the big suitcase she pointed towards her large dresser, "empty that into that will you?". Killian nodded and began transferring the contents of the dresser into the suitcase. She handed Jillian a duffel bag and pointed towards her smaller dresser, "everything from there into there, yeah?" Jillian nodded and got to work.

Vivian went into the bathroom and began bagging all her toiletries and random crap she had in there. In the bathroom, her arm hair once again stood at high alert. Vivian froze and looked around the tiny bathroom confused. She shut the door and gripped the counter, looking into her own eyes through the mirror. "What is wrong with you?" She muttered. She watched herself in the mirror for a couple of seconds before shutting her eyes and lightly banging her head against the mirror. She opened her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. "What're you scared for?" a raspy breath blew through her mind as she saw a shape in the corner of the mirror. She whirled around but nothing was there. She quickly looked back to the mirror and again nothing was nothing there. She had everything she needed out of this fucking bathroom and she slammed the door as she left. Jillian and Killian's attention snapped towards her, "Vee?" Killian raised an eyebrow. "I'm good! I'm good. I am fine" Vivian huffed, eyes widened, heartbeat racing.

Vivian quickly walked around the room throwing stuff into various bags. Killian whistled and turned to face Vivian and Jillian, a pair of Vivian's underwear stretched out between his hands. He whistled again and wagged his eyebrows. Vivian rolled her eyes and Jillian laughed. Killian laughed and tossed them into the luggage. Finished with the dressers, the guys zipped their luggage and put them by the door. Vivian packed her bedding and looked around the room. It was excruciatingly empty. She felt like she should feel sad. But she didn't. She felt.. relieved. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Let's get the fuck out of here guys," Vivian spit out, grabbing all her stuff. Jillian grabbed the duffle and Killian grabbed the suitcase. They went downstairs and into the kitchen. Vivian scribbled something on a piece of paper and stuck it to the fridge. "What's that?" Jillian motioned towards the paper. "My duces. I said I'm moving out and that's about it." Jillian nodded. As Vivian exited that house for the last time, she couldn't help but cast one more glace inside. As her eyes crossed over the kitchen, through the french doors, she thought she saw a shadow scurrying across the backyard. She slammed the front door shut. "What in the actual fuck is going on," she muttered under her breath. She hastily scrambled down the driveway and threw her stuff into the trunk. Slipping into the backseat she slammed the door shut and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Killian and Jillian both looked back at Vivian in concern and she gave them her best convincing smile. "Let's roll!"