𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞 {𝑚𝑎̊𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛}

𝙇𝙖 𝙇𝙪𝙣𝙖

Under the weight of the anxiety, sleep eluded her completely; she can't let her guard down.     She just can't let her body rest, she's tired, but she still can't sleep.

It's like she's under a spell that leaves her completely exposed and vulnerable. And just like that anxiety-fueled insomnia left her exhausted. Fading at the edges, too tired to sort through the blurred line between past and present. She had fallen back into old habits of watching entrances, not being
able to close a single eye.

The only other thing her eyes do at night is cry, it's the only use she has for them. Her tears roll down from her nose, not being bothered to wipe them, they fall down on her red sleeping gown. The red fabric gets dark stains as more tears start falling.

She almost feels like a little girl again,
scared of the so-called
shadow monsters who eat people's
souls at night.
Maybe it would be easier, after all, to be eaten by a shadow monster, there wouldn't be any pain anymore, right?
Vic would always climb
into her bed at night whenever she was scared of them back then.

But times change,

people change...

-

He hears sounds coming from the
livingroom as he walks down the stairs, he is definitely not the first to be awake. He's normally second, first is Vic or Damiano, it depends on the day and if they partied the night before.

As he enters the living room he sees Vic sitting on the couch in her pajama top and shorts.
"Buon Giorno Edgar", she says while looking up from her phone.
He notices that she's on Instagram, probably making a morning story for her account.

"Morning Vic", he says with a smile while stepping out to the backyard. It's going to be a hot day today, even worse than yesterday...

Ethan loves the sun, but this hot? It's a little bit too much.

As he steps into the house again he notices Vic staring at her phone, lost in thoughts.

"What's on your mind?", he asks as he sits down on the couch opposite of her. She looks up from her phone and he notices some dark bags under her eyes.

"Couldn't sleep?", he asks and she nods, "Yeah", she says, he keeps looking at her trying to encourage her to talk about it. Vic has some trouble sleeping some nights, so it isn't that unusual for her to be up early.

"I'm just worried about Luna, I don't know why. She seems distant, and I feel like fucking shit about it. I mean I barely come to visit her, so I shouldn't have expected anything else... I'm just a shitty sister for her", she says while looking rather disappointed in herself. He shakes his head and sits down next to her.

"Vic, you're not shitty. I remember how excited you get when you call her, but she would tell you that she wasn't at home and that you should call another time.
You wanted to visit her but she was always busy, it is not your fault", he finishes, Vic seems to agree for a moment but changes her mind quite quickly.

"It still doesn't explain why she is acting so weird now", she says while putting her phone on the coffee table in front of her.

"She just needs a break from school and all, that's all. She'll be more relaxed in a couple of days, and you'll go shopping for hours", Ethan says while imitating a Diva that's looking through clothing.

"We'll go to every vintage shop in Milan".

Little did they know, the outcome of a few more days would take a turn for the worse...

-

It's already 1 pm when she sends Ethan to get the groceries, together with Leo who arrived earlier today.

Even though they have the best team ever, they forgot to fill the fridge.
Breakfast consisted of a coffee with some fruits, since it was the only thing they did have.

She and Luna are sitting on the couch downstairs while watching Thomas and Damiano play on the PlayStation.

"Cazzooo", Damiano says as he loses the game, "Cobra always wins", Thomas says while standing up and flexing his arms, she can't help but laugh at them.

She notices Luna sitting next to her in long denim, while she is sitting in a top and shorts. It's freaking 30 °C outside for God's sake.

"Luna, how aren't you hot?", Vic asks and she snaps out of her thoughts.
"I'm fine, I like the warmth", she answers while looking back to the TV.

Vic wants to say something but shakes it off. Luna has always hated warmth, as a kid she would always jump into their little kid's pool outside, even though they weren't allowed. She has always been more of a winter person, probably because she was born in winter.

"Do you guys want to go swimming today?", Thomas asks while Damiano is turning the TV off.
Vic nods enthusiastically, she's happy to go swimming in this hot weather.

"Cora, e tu?", he asks, but she declines, "No, I'm tired. I think I'm going to take a nap", she says while standing up.

While she's standing Vic notices her swaying a little, she has even got her hand on her head.

"Luna, sta bene?", she asks while looking worried at her sister.

It was dumb of her to stand up that quickly, she was already having a headache all day from the lack of food. Her body functions but it has no fuel to burn, it's running on an empty tank.

She answers as quickly as possible while smiling, "Si Vic, sta bene. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Ethan is coming home with the groceries in some minutes, you can nap after we have lunch", she says persistently and Luna knows there is no way to change Vic's mind so she just agrees.

When sitting down again she misses Damiano's worried glance...