Sigil | Ghost The Band

Cataclysm

Calliope awoke as the sun glared into her bedroom. This was definitely a rare occurrence, as she usually rose with the sun. With a confused frown, she got up looking around the absolutely trashed cesspit that was her room.

"Jesus, I forgot about this fuckery." She grumbled aloud, trying to find a reasonable outfit that wasn't torn to shreds. Her clothes from yesterday lay in a pile, seemingly in the worst condition of everything else. The blazer was absolutely mutilated, which sucked because that was her 'uniform'.

She discovered an untouched dress shirt in her closet and an ill-fitting pair of pants. Ill-fitting is the wrong description, ill-suited would be more befitting.

But of course, the vandals would leave the wide-leg trousers unharmed.

Calliope stumbled into the hall, still tugging on her shoes' straps. As she eventually descended the stairs, she immediately knew why she was left to sleep for the second time. A swarm of people were in the mortuary, and amongst them stood Sister Imperator.

She'd never seen that steely woman look so stressed before, barking out orders left, right and centre.

Cal's approach was cautious, really not in the mood to be yelled at. Nevertheless, Sister Imperator turned to her, looking exhausted and exasperated. "You could have at least tied your hair."

"I have a feeling that my hair is the least of your worries," Calliope told her dryly, glancing into her office, where a man typed away furiously behind the computer. "So... what's going on?"

"It's a lengthy explanation," the woman sighed, watching as a body bag was wheeled out of the embalming room.

"Was someone killed?"

"Well... no, that was very much self-inflicted..."

Calliope immediately remembered the couple's son. "Are they changing funeral homes? This late into the process? They've already made a deposit."

"Cal- Marianne, this is an extremely complicated situation, how about you just... Go to your room."

"Alright..." Calliope backed off, turning to leave as she scanned the room one last time.

She stopped in front of Terzo's office, opening the door to peek inside. Much to her surprise, he wasn't there. That's a first.

Calliope stood in the empty office for a second, sitting down on the extravagant chaise lounge chair by the door. What was she supposed to do now? It's not like she had any other responsibilities... God, that's depressing.

She remained seated for a few moments, trying to listen for any activity in the hall. She didn't hear anything besides the chatter within the mortuary.

Calliope nearly jumped out of her skin as the door swung open, the handle smashing against the wall with a force that shook the windows. The executioner of this violent act? None other than Secondo.

Calliope couldn't stop the glare that fell onto her face even if she tried. Not that she had time to say anything, the man's attention was solely focused on the area around the desk, rambling in Italian. He stopped once he realised that his little brother was, in fact, not there.

His gaze snapped toward her, the wrinkles in his painted face seemingly deeper as he scowled at her.

"What are you doing here, fastidio?"

"I don't know what the fuck you just called me, but I'm guessing it wasn't a term of endearment." She scowled right back, crossing her legs.

"You have no right to be in here-"

"What are you going to do about it? Because, as far as I'm aware, you aren't in charge anymore." Her challenging words did nothing but anger him more. As intended.

"Watch your tongue, lest you want rid of it." He hissed at her, stepping out to leave. The words elicited a chilly reaction from her, but also stoked the flames.

"Can't be any worse than what you've already done to me." She seethed back. Secondo ignored her and continued storming down the corridor. "Fucker."

She muttered this under her breath as she finally stood, realising Terzo wasn't coming back soon.

***

Her clothes were ruined. Absolutely, utterly, destroyed. Her day-to-day uniform? Ripped apart like it was done by a fucking wild animal. Nightgown? Clawed to shreds, Yes, clawed. The only thing undisturbed was her drawers. Which meant one of two things, a) they found what they were looking for - if they were looking for something. Or b) they ran out of time.

Either way, it wasn't funny. But she couldn't really bring herself to be mad. None of it was actually her clothes, Sister bought all of it for her when she first arrived, besides some bras and other essentials, obviously.

Speaking of...

She shuffled through her pile of clothes from the day before, finding... yep, a destroyed bra.

They tore through it so haphazardly, not even searching for something specific. Ah, yes, Cal, they destroyed your clothes haphazardly. What an astute observation, you fucking dumbass.

"Anything we can salvage?"

"No..." Cal sighed, looking around her cataclysmic room.

"What's that?"

"A bra," she chuckled. "My favourite one, too. The heartbreak... Anyway, your brother's looking for you."

"Which one?" Terzo asked with a grunt, collapsing on her bed, and sighing deeply.

"The mean one." Oh, look, another destroyed shirt.

"Ah, of course. He's up my fucking ass 24/7,"

Calliope snorted. "Of course he is, he's a pain in my ass, imagine being related to him."

"He wasn't always like this, it's a fairly recent development. But yes, he's not pleasant."

"It's difficult for me to picture him in a positive light but he is your brother so I suppose you'd know better than anyone."

"Yes... I suppose." He stayed silent for a moment before groaning something in Italian. Something Calliope, obviously, didn't understand.

"Oh, yeah, totally. Big mood." She sighed monotonously, fiddling with the bra in her hands. "Do you think I can go shopping? Because like... I have nothing."

Terzo looked over to her, eying the dismantled remains of clothes on the ground. "I will talk to Imperator."

He grunted as he stood, "Before I forget, where's the grucifix? I still need to look into that..."

"Oh, uhm..." She shuffled through the dismantled jacket's pockets. "It's not here..."

Realisation dawned on his exhausted face. "Oh, for fuck's sake. I know who did this."'

And with that, he disappeared into the hall.

"Mind sharing?" She hollered back, confused.