Casters [Extraordinary Series 1: Ongoing]

5.05 ✡ Healing the Pieces

9:26 AM
Vivienne's POV

    Today was the day we decided to head to town. The exhaustion from the trip was still lingering, but Gen was too keen to see more of the place. While I was packing a couple of essentials I wanted to bring along, the necklace began to glow faintly under my shirt once again. At this point, I was used to it. But its meaning left me dumbfounded. Was something triggering this occurrence? Is it some sort of compass? Does it indicate something? I needed to understand what it was.
    But I decided to figure that out later as I needed to look for my camera. This was going to be the first time that Gen and I would be hanging out with Eli in ten years. Hence, the need to document moments as many as I could was on top of my list today. I left the necklace behind and went on a hunt for my camera.
    I was looking for it everywhere in the room but I could not find it. I went to Aunt Grace's room to see whether it got caught up in her things but spotted Genevieve in there, looking at the mirror. Stunned, I leaned on the door and examined her outfit. My sister was wearing a forest green, knee-length summer dress. Her wavy hair bounced on her shoulders. Funny, since I knew she despised dresses.
    "You're wearing a dress to town?" I asked, making my presence known.
    Gen squinted her eyes as she turned to my direction and said, "Don't you dare say a word."
    A soft chuckle escaped my mouth as I went inside and headed towards the closet. I searched through Aunt Grace's stuff and grabbed the white knitted scarf. "Why does that look familiar?" I heard Gen ask. I recognized it – Ma made it for her when she was a baby. The memories that flooded my head the other day made me remember a couple of memories that were once vague, but I have not told anyone about it yet. Not even Eli, who was already reminiscing the memories last night at the dinner table. Something tells me I should keep it to myself for a while, so I ignored her question.
    I walked over to her and wrapped the scarf around her shoulder. With her outfit, her whole demeanor changed – emitting a much more radiant glow than just being a prepubescent child with no sense of fashion.
Before I could say anything, I heard a knock on the door. Gen and I turned to the direction Eli just entered. "Are you ready, girls?" He asked. "I hope I'm not interrupting a private conversation?"
    I softly smiled and shook my head. "It's fine. You can come in.
    "Where are we going, by the way?" I asked a bit awkwardly. He sat down on Aunt Grace's bed and leaned back, grinning.
    "We're going to meet up with a friend later. But first, breakfast." He then looked towards Gen's way and chuckled. "It doesn't look like you're going on a trip to town with your brother and sister."
    Finally! I was starving. But Eli managed to spark my curiosity as to who this 'friend' is. With his age, I doubt it was just a friend.
    "Just trying out new things," Gen replied, trying to shrug off the awkwardness she was feeling. I then took a turn towards the unpacked bags by the corner, remembering the main reason I was in this room.
    "We should try Cafe de la Poste in Goult," he continued to speak while I rummaged through the things. "It's one of the neighboring towns around here."
    "Are we going to have a hard time getting there?" Gen asked curiously.
    "Don't worry, I got that covered."
    "But is it safe there?"
    God. She asks so many questions. But I guess I should leave Eli's entertainment up to Gen while I sort my camera out. Eli laughed softly and crossed his arms. "Gen, don't worry. I wouldn't let anything happen to us."
    Soon enough, I found my camera inserted in one of the boxes. "I'll meet you guys downstairs. Give me 5 minutes."
    Eli and Gen finally exited the room and continued to talk while they headed downstairs. Gen was asking so many questions that I pray Eli would be able to stretch his patience a little longer.
    As I made sure they were out of sight, I went inside my room and closed the door behind me. Without wasting time, I grabbed my bag from earlier and placed my camera in there. But something felt missing...
    I realized I wasn't wearing the necklace.
    Alarmed, I retraced my steps and found it on the bathroom sink, even though I wasn't entirely certain that was the spot I left it on. For some unknown reason, I felt relieved. I turned to face the mirror and I hung it around my neck, clipping it in place. The more I looked into the Golden Sun's stones, the more I felt like something was drawing me closer to something that was so familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time. It felt like it was emitting this energy that I was not allowed to igno–
    "Let's go!" Eli called out from downstairs. I shook my head, regaining focus. Come on, Viv. Focus. I went back to my bag in the room and grabbed it, rushing along the hallway towards the stairs.
    "Coming!"