Till Death (Volturi / Twilight Fanfiction)

13: Liar, Lair, Soul on Fire

Mid-February

The afternoon brought about heat which caused condensation on Taylor's kitchen windows. Not her kitchen, her rentals'. A small space illuminated now only by the opened curtains of the window panes as well as the nearby living space. Upon a sage colored island, which separated the kitchen and the living room, sat that infernal box. The house was empty, so it sat catching the sunlit dust particles descending lazily from the air. It was insentient, and thus unable to judge the piles of dishes in the sink also collecting dust. Taylor had been gone all morning, she had woke determined to open the box. She had plunged her hand into her suitcase, removed the box and slammed it upon the island before leaving in a rush. A clicking deadbolt signaled her return home, and not alone. 

"Efharisto, Efharisto, Deacon. I appreciate this so much." Taylor thanked the man she invited in with a big smile. 

"Parakalo, Kyrá it is no problem ." Deacon was Taylor's neighbor at the moment. He was a large older man with calloused hands, a handyman and mechanic running his own shop with his daughter. He entered with a torch in one hand and Callie in tow. Her full name was Calista but she allowed those close to her to call her Callie. Her face held a spattering of sun-kissed freckles, her eyes shone auburn, her smile was as loud and bright as her laugh. She was not one to hide emotion. And she was large in stature like her father, tall with the physique of one accustomed to manual labor. Right now her brown hair was pulled back, brushed hastily with her fingers into a high ponytail. Her father didn't need her help this time, but she tagged along anyway. 

"Here it is." Taylor led the duo to the island, and motioned to the box. 

"This is your heirloom?" Deacon asked, Taylor nodded. 

"Yeah, passed down on my Ma's side. Nobody's ever opened it-well, I'm sure somebody did to put whatever's in there...in there. But yeah, it's just like, a box." 

"Who welded it shut?"

"My uncle, he's an asshole." 

"I see." Deacon said, setting the torch down and picking up the box. He carefully turned it over in his hands. Taylor didn't feel great lying to these nice people, but it would most likely be frowned upon messing with ancient artifacts. And she doesn't usually come out the gate with the ghost seeing stuff. So she couldn't even explain why she really needed it open. Right now she was on a trip, and had been passed down the box as an heirloom, and today she had the itch to get it open since it was now hers. At the very least to move the contents to a new container. That's the most she said, and Deacon didn't have a reason to doubt her. "I will have to bring this outside, I do not want to burn your counter tops." 

"Oh yeah, that's fine."

"It will take a little while, I have to go slow and carefully so I do not damage what is inside."

"Course, sounds good." 

"Do you want snacks while Patér works?" Callie spoke quicker than her father, she was more familiar with English. Taylor smiled at the kind offer. 

"Yeah that'd be nice." It was not bad outside at all. Taylor was more than comfortable in her coat, so she sat on Deacon's front porch steps next to Callie munching on a bag of chips. All the houses here were small, some were owned, some were rentals like where Taylor was staying. Deacon's was sky blue. 

"So, you came on a vacation? It's been a long vacation." Callie laughed lightly with raised brows. Taylor shrugged. 

"I'm used to traveling. And I needed to get away for a while." Callie and her father had a few spirits with them. They were peaceful and did not care to bother Taylor though. Grandparents, great grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, family pets even flitted in and out of existence once in a while. None of them seemed stuck, they would just visit from time to time. So often that without prying too deep into the neighbor's life Taylor already had a good grasp of what it was like through the eyes of their deceased relatives. One stuck around, much more than the others. Deacon's late wife, she was fading now, happily so. But she stuck around for Callies' sake mostly as Deacon had remarried. Currently Mrs. Deacon was working as a school teacher for little little ones. The late Mrs. Deacon was a nurse. Deacon attracted giving people, as he himself was a giving person.