Frozen Blooded

4

The last 3 days before our departure to Almas have been eerie. Now that our class size has been reduced to two, we cannot help but feel lonelier than ever.

The night of the incident happened so fast, I could barely recall what exactly happened. It was a blur of fury, confusion, and even guilt.
I was told I threw a fit. Trashed all of Achilles' room until all that remained was rubble. I smashed the mirrors, broke the furniture, but I left all of Achille's human toys untouched.
At least that's what Magnus told me, I remember nothing. After my adrenaline induced fury, Mother apparently was forced to tranquilize me in order to calm me down. I woke the next morning with no recollection of my doing, all I knew was that my own flesh and blood was alone in an unfamiliar world.

In effort to hide any evidence of Achilles' mischievous behavior, Drusus burned the thousands of paper currency we found underneath his floors; money that was supposed to be in the hand of Achilles when he got kicked out, I later found out.

Magnus had misunderstood Achilles' request. He didn't want his incriminating things to be removed, he wanted us to give them to him without mother finding out. He knew that no matter what, he was going to be thrown out, and he wanted us to bring him the money so he could survive out there. Now, he's alone, abandoned, and penniless.

That night, when Magnus realized his mistake, he ran out looking for Achilles, but didn't have any luck. Our parents told us he was out doing chores, they didn't want us to know about the favorite child's insubordination.

So now, the three children, blood of Nicholas and Livia Mavrotakis, must live with guilt that they are currently contributing to the suffering of their beloved brother.

I hope that we are wrong. I hope that his friends took him in and he'll find work teaching young humans how to play piano. I hope that he finds bliss in the little, meaningless moments that life has to offer. That he never has to perform a spell again or follow one of Mother's ridiculous rules. Jealousy twinges in me, but gets quickly extinguished when I meet face with the reality, that my vision for him is most likely not the truth.

I hear Drusus whimper in his room each night. It is ironic that in a family powered by so many chaotic emotions, we have been conditioned not to cry publicly. I want to knock on the door and comfort him, but I don't know what I would say.

Magnus rarely speaks to us out of shame. He blames himself for all this, that maybe if he was a nicer brother, Achilles wouldn't have been sneaking out in the first place. My first instinct is always to blame Magnus too, but even I cannot deny that none of us foresaw this.

So as I'm packing my suitcase, for a trip we leave for in 2 hours, I put in all his little human gadgets. Maybe he'll find us in Almas, maybe he's devised a plan to get the rest of us out of this lifestyle as well. Achilles was always cunning and unexpected, I wouldn't put it past him to surprise even in times like this. It's difficult to feel excited for Almas otherwise, it won't be the same without him.

"The limo is here" Drusus announced at my door. "Why are you bringing Achilles' things?"

"He liked Almas, it's like a part of him can come"

"He's not dead" Drusus murmured. He doesn't know that I've been hearing him cry at night. He acts like his twin brother leaving shouldn't bother him.

"You're allowed to be upset." He needs to know that he can talk to me, even if I never know to respond.

I looked at me with his green round eyes, the same ones I wore. "So are you"

"I literally destroyed his room out of anger, I think I've expressed my emotions enough" I scoffed.