The Mirrored Souls

11.

Darce shakes off the slime from the beast they encountered while going through the last door, while Neriah shakes his head from the saliva another one spat at him. "She's not in any of these," Darce says, irritated. Neriah takes a minute to think then rushes back to the realm where the garden is. "It has to be something in her mom's journals. Before we got to talking she was piecing things together." Both make it through the realm to inside the house seeing things are torn, trashed and scattered everywhere. Darce sighs, "Now what?" He looks to Neriah who is holding his head in dismay. "We have to gather everything and start from square one, if we want to find Oriana we need to hurry before something worse happens." Darce scoffs, "Her being m.i.a and her house being this way as we come back from the Specter, isn't it worse already?" Neriah glares at Darce as he starts picking up the papers and journals tossed everywhere.

****

Leon is sketching in his sketchbook while looking up at me as I search for something I desperately need but have no idea what.

"Try talking about it, maybe it'll really–scream at you."

I flip him off mentally still looking but stop when I hear him laughing.

"Something funny?" I say folding my arms.

He looks up from his sketchbook smiling with his mesmerizing blue eyes, "Just wondering how this is going to work," he points to me and them him. I scoff, "It's not because of you," I point to him,"leave me alone and I'll stay out of your way." Tilting his head he watches me leave to my room slamming the door. Wind opens my room window, having me go over to it with the intent to close it until something tells me to look over and see what's really out in the distance. Squinting my eyes I see a portal almost getting ready to go down and get a better look but hear my bedroom door open with Leon holding a phone, "Your mom wants to see how you're doing." Looking at him then back outside he gets my attention again, "Come on I don't want to stand here all day," he sighs leaning on the door frame.

I moved from the ledge going over to him and without noticing there was something on the floor that had me fall into him.

"S-Sorry," I quickly stuttered.

I felt my heart jump tremendously like it got shocked back to life while still being in his arms.

"Just don't take too long," he hands me the phone as he moves me off him.

I nodded clearing my throat, "Hey mom," I waited for her to answer.

"Hey Na, did you eat? Are you feeling better?" She asks, concerned.

My shoulder starts to throb so I rub it sitting on the bed, "A little better, how's it over there?"

She laughs happily, "I'm doing good Na...I actually wanted to talk to you about something," the pain in my shoulder increases but I try to shake it off. "Oh yeah? What's up mom?" She takes a minute but then says, "What if we had Edur and his son move in? Like permanently?" Blood drips from my nose, having me look for a tissue, "Permanently? Mom I literally just met both today," I find a napkin stuffing it up my nose laying down in bed. Her voice soft but serious, she says, "He's important to me Na and we're thinking of marriage," I sat up so fast that my head started to hurt. "M-Marriage? Marriage mom?" She keeps talking but it just all sounds like sound with no real words.

"Na? Na did you hear me?"

I hold the bridge of my nose, "I'm here mom...I'm just trying to process all of this."

After a few more minutes of this "marriage" talk we hang up and I go to Leon, who is sitting at the kitchen table...reading a book? "What are you? Thirty?" I toss him his phone. Not looking at me he says, "Reading is good for the soul, seems like you could try it." He takes his phone placing it in his bag then keeps on reading.

"Did you know our parents are thinking of tying the knot?"

Finally, seeming interested in the conversation, he puts his book down folding his arms on the table.

"My dad? With your mom? Forever? I doubt it."

I tilt my head at him, "I mean I'm against it but why are you?"

Leon grins low, "I have my reasons," he shrugs then grabs his things grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl that's in the middle of the table, "they should be back in a few so I'm off." He salutes me like a captain on a ship, leaving out the door and on his motorcycle. When he's out of sight I go back to my bedroom window ready to look for what I saw earlier but it's gone. Getting ready to lean over the edge, I feel a force almost push me.

****

The Baird brothers are gluing, taping and stapling every sheet of paper together as they sit at the dining room table.

Neriah has a pencil sitting behind his ear, Darce is fighting with the stapler as it snaps shut on his finger making him yell out in annoyance.

"You could have hired an assistant from another realm to help with all this paper bullshit."

Neriah shakes his head, "Oriana's mom wouldn't have approved...she was very strict on who to trust and who not to."

Darce scoffs tossing the stapler looking at Neriah, "I don't get it," he looks to his brother.

"Get what?" Neriah sighs out.

"How'd you even meet this family? Odette's doppelganger?"

Neriah puts the two pieces of paper he had in his hand down onto the table, "One I didn't know Aella's daughter was the face of Odette, two Aella helped me in ways no one has in centuries, so when she asked for what I'm doing now, I agreed."

Darce nods, "Just like that? No questions asked?"

Neriah throws a journal at Darce succumbing to his anger having Darce chuckle.