The Blanket Baby

Chapter 18 - Athena

Ten days.

Ten whole fucking days locked up in a place that looks nothing like prison but should be akin to it. Athena would've broken at least half of the things in this walking dead-esque building if Adelia wasn't actually enjoying herself here plus she never failed to include Athena in her wacky ideas. Children; them and their annoyingly cute simplistic nature. The house was situated in the middle of nowhere; lush green forest peeking through any window one decides to look out of, yet had a large enough clearing where a couple of children can be rambunctious without any adult going crazy on losing them in the dense cluster of trees. She's sure Ali would enjoy herself even more if she got to go outside but the twat-muncher who put her in this place is as elusive as bigfoot. Derrick's never there when she wakes up and she seems to always miss him passing through when she's asleep yet they have never been low on the essentials and Adelia always has some sort of story where Derrick is involved.

Might as well be a fucking ghost since only Ali can see him...

Now that she looked closer, with Ali happily distracted with toys, it gave the ever present minimalistic vibe of Derrick's personality but he did have a few knick-knacks here and there. She traced her fingers over the hardwood mantle and liked the smoothness against her tips and the natural curves of the rings in the wood appeases the eyes. If she wasn't pissed at her predicament, she would have liked this place. Reaching the end of the mantle, she looked up to take in more of the infrastructural beauty until something caught her eye. The glint was faint and quick due to the setting sun but you couldn't miss it. It was wedged between a panelling of a bookshelf fastened securely to the wall. Quickly grabbing a dinner chair, Athena went climbing.

"Auntie Thee, what are you doing?" Adelia called from her spot in the living area. Athena looked back and saw that she now climbed on to the couch observing her.

"Treasure hunting."

"Oo, can I join?"

"I would let you but it seems like I've already found the treasure." she went back to picking at the object, loosening it ever so slightly.

You'd think the five year old would be bummed out. "Oh cool, can I see?"

"Sure. Just as soon as I get it out."

A couple more seconds of tinkering and the object lifted with a slight creak and free-fell unto the floor. Athena jumped down to retrieve it but Adelia got to it first and snatched it up like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. She could almost hear Adelia say the famous words: 'My preciousss'. Athena had asked for it back so she could inspect it but Ali thought it was better that she chased her for it. Around the room they went, from living room to dining room to kitchen and back to living room. She chased her so hard that she got a cramp in her side from the unexpected exertion of movement and energy.

"All right, Ali." Athena started, folded from the waist with her hands on her sides as she tried to catch her breath, "no more games. Give me the thing."

"You did call this treasure auntie Thee. And if I recall from my pirate books, spoils are just as sweet."

Smartass.

"Fair enough. Well, describe it to me."

"It feels like a tiny egg and it's silver with a small matching chain."

"It's called a locket. Can you open it?" Adelia tried but she couldn't; her pudgy little fingers wouldn't allow her. Athena couldn't help the satisfaction that rolled through at the revelation; what's the point of enjoying your spoils if you can't figure out how to use them? A small smile graced her features but she made sure the shadiness of her thoughts did not shine through. "Bring it to me let me see if I can open it."