KILLER. 🩸

36

"Scarlet"

My eyelids fluttered open, absorbing the late morning light that pooled in through the window. I could hear sweet serenades of foreign music coming from outside and the low hum of chatter.

"Scarlet" his voice came in whisper form again and I shifted, the tiredness evacuating from my body."

"What?" I grumbled, keeping my back to him because to be honest, I was barely awake.

"Unfortunately we have to rain check on today."
I rolled over in bed, still feeling half asleep. "The whole family is here for a cookout." He rolled his eyes at me expressing that he was majorly annoyed about that.

I sat up in bed and instantly noticed someone standing in the doorway, her eyes glued to us. "Aries." I tipped my head towards the girl and he turned slowly. 

"Peppa!" He snapped. "¡Fuera de aquí antes de que te mate!" Aries threw a pillow at the door and the little girl ran away screaming at the top of her lungs.

"What did you say to her?" Aries gathered up some of my clothes and threw them at me.

"I told her to get out of here before I kill her. Get dressed." My jaw dropped open and I think he registered the obvious horror written all over my face.

"I'm not actually going to kill her Scarlet, she's seven. Would you get up and get dressed?"

He left the room and I felt rushed, having to force myself out of the bed and into clothes he picked out for me to wear.

The house was enveloped with the aroma of spices and Spanish cuisine. I followed the soft harmonies of music all the way to the garden and stood on the patio, observing everything.

I smiled, a couple had given into the rhythm of the Spanish serenade and were dancing together on the lawn, laughing endlessly.

Others sat at a table close by, they were talking Spanish and their words were completely indistinguishable to me but the animated expressions on their faces made their storylines easy to follow.

Aries chased a lot of children around the lawn, they were screaming and again talking with their native tongues but it look like great fun.

There was just something so warm and inviting about the whole scene, it was truly mesmerising. 

"Are you ready to be swarmed?" Lindsay asked as she passed by me juggling serving bowls of food in her hands.

"Uh?" I mumbled, unsure.

"Todos, esta es Scarlet, Aries novia. Ella no puede hablar español." Lindsay announced, capturing the attention of every single person here. Suddenly, they were all looking at me and I felt extremely awkward.

(Everyone, this is scarlet, Aries girlfriend. She cannot speak Spanish.)

"Hi." I greeted politely.

Lindsay was right, I did get swarmed.

Middle-aged women pounced on me, kissing my head, hugging me, pinching my cheeks. I was overwhelmed but managed to smile through it, I would never remember all of their names but I did manage to greet them all politely in some way and create small talk with them.

Aries looked over and when his eyes landed on mine, his smile appeared. He scooped the little girl from earlier up like she was completely weightless and sat her on one shoulder.

"Scarlet, I'd like you to officially meet Peppa, she's one of my many annoying little cousins."

"Hello Peppa." She had a big, gappy smile thanks to the two missing front teeth and very shiny rich brown hair. Aries set her down on the ground and held her hand.