Eyes of White

Chapter 9: Games

Penelope and Persephone sank down to the floor next to the board games, already bored. "These are all pieces of-"

"Language!" Zania screamed.

"-crap." Persephone snickered.

"Did you hear me?"

"What?"

"Did you hear me!"

"Who?" Persephone's face was 99% laughter. Penelope's was 100% indifference as she flipped through the board games. "Just for Fun, Bullies, Victims and Bystanders, Ancient UNO on papyrus, Sapphire Wheel, oh, hey! Gifted! This looks fun! Persephone, there's powers! I'll be the thunderstorm, you can be the tsunami. Or the weird plant. Or... what is this? Some sort of bird? Anyway, stop teasing Zania and come play."

The game turned out to be one of those 'imagination adventures' where you had to imagine a town being destroyed by a disaster, then draw it and see what happened. Normally nothing would happen, but whenever Penelope drew a storm or Persephone a wave, it would become an animated short. The game was so much fun, the twins played with no idea of the time until Zania called, "Dinner!" from the lounge next to the girls playing. They looked up, startled. The doorbell rang again and Zania scurried to the door. There was a man standing there holding four plastic containers full of curries and a bag of Indian pastries. While he got the cash off Zania, a pure black cat with green eyes slipped past him. Penelope heard a whisper from the cat, "Mel!"

Mel whispered back, "Aradell. It's been a while."

The black cat, whose name must have been Aradell, put on what must have been a cat pouty face. "Oh, come on. I call you Mel, not Mellpell, why can't you call me Ara?" Then she seemed to notice Penelope and Persephone. She smiled, showing off her teeth. "Troubletwisters. I trust you can hear me?"

Penelope nodded frantically, smiling, then she realised the cat was addressing Persephone as well. She hurriedly pointed to Persephone and shook her head. Aradell nodded. "She can't? I see. Interesting. Well, troubletwister, I am Aradell, Ara is my nickname and preferred name," she said the word preferred very pointedly and aimed it at Mel, who sniffed and turned away, "what is your name?"

"I'm Penelope." These words were whispered to avoid Persephone's attention.

"Penelope," Ara said, savouring the word, tasting it, "Yes, very pretty."

Penelope looked up from Ara and turned to Persephone. "Look what the dinner delivery man brought in!" She pointed at Ara.

Persephone looked up from the drawing she was doing and stared at the new cat. "Do you know her name?"

"Uh... no?"

"Oh, okay. Let's ask Zania over dinner."

"Yup. Apparently we're having Indian curries and pastries for dinner."

"Mmm..."

They pranced into the kitchen and slid onto their stools, serving themselves from the steaming bowls with curries and rice in them. They then had a selection of different flavoured naan and chicken tikka, papadums and samosas. They started scoffing their food with relish.

"What's the new cat's name?" Persephone asked Zania after she had swallowed her first mouthful.

"Aradell. She likes Ara better, however."

Persephone nodded, satisfied. They ate in silence after that, only speaking when they had to ask for something. Persephone had no idea what brought down the silence, but she just played along with it.

After dinner, the twins went back to their game. Zania went and watched them play it. She didn't seem surprised when the drawings moved, but after each girl had made a moving drawing, she sent them off to bed.

**I know the book is sort of boring right now but it will get interesting soon, I promise! Is Persephone the weak one or will Penelope give in like she almost did at the start? Does the Evil ever return? (Who is the Evil, you ask? Do not worry, my friend. All will be revealed in the next few chapters. The next one is a little bland but then it gets better. Trust me.)

P.S: Please report any grammatical errors to me via commenting so I can fix them up - I am meticulous about my grammar so this would be greatly appreciated.

P.P.S: Don't forget to vote!

P.P.P.S: CAT-ALIENS RULE!!**