Memories Fade

Secrets

Gia strained to hear what they were talking about, the kitchen wasn't closed off from the rest of the house. She looked around, she was sitting on the couch, her reflection could be seen in the French doors that lead to the snow-covered deck in the back of the house which means hiding at the corner of the kitchen and living room wouldn't work.  

There weren't really any options, so she did the next best thing. Gia leaned back as far as she could and tried to focus only on the whispered voices coming from the kitchen. All she heard were fragmented words when their voices raised slightly.

She heard the words "stop," "together," and "replaced" come from Shin's voice. The words "Disgusting," "project," and "kill" out of Asher's mouth. She felt her heart nearly stop and she didn't want to listen in anymore. The wolf howled beyond the door.

"Forget completely," Asher's voice was loud enough that she didn't have to strain, "everyone."  This emphasis made her body shake, she looked out the front window where Do-No's eyes bore into her soul.

His eyes made her deeply uncomfortable. Her anxiety of the wolf won out over her desire to hear the sibling's conversation. She stood up and walked towards the corner she had wanted to hide behind only moments before. Her slender fingers curled into a fist and she gently knocked on the wall.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said as she stepped around the corner only to find Shin and Asher chuckling to each other as Shin cooked, "I just, I need some water, I'm really thirsty." Gia looked from brother to sister and stepped further into the kitchen. Asher stepped around her and out the room after sighing heavily.

"No problem," Shin said with a soft smile, "So, do you want to help me tomorrow?" Shin grabbed a glass from the counter, filled it with water, and handed it to Gia. Her hands were noticeably shaky as she passed the glass off, "Gotta love siblings, right?" She hid her hand behind her back once Gia took the cup of water.

"I wouldn't know, about siblings, but Cadence and I fought when we were younger, still do sometimes. I guess he's the closest I've come to having a brother," Shin couldn't hide her feelings any longer. Her hand covered her eyes and she turned her head towards the ground. Gia put a hand on Shin's shoulder. She was shaking but when she turned her face back towards Gia, she was smiling like nothing was wrong.

Gia took her hand away and stepped back a little. Shin's body and her face were telling different stories, "you don't have to pretend you're okay when you clearly aren't." Gia sat down at the kitchen table and Shin followed.

"He's just not used to being around other people for an extended amount of time." Shin nodded towards the living room where they heard Asher shuffling around, "Sometimes he gets snippy with people and he can be pretty cruel to the ones he likes the most. Some of the things her says..." Shin stared out the entryway to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Gia said after trying to process what Shin said, "If he's that mean to me I can only imagine what he's like to you." Shin cleared her throat and looked down, Gia continued, "I'll be gone tomorrow, so that should help. I mean, it's pretty stressful having a guest."

"No, we are fine." Shin waved her hands in the air and stood back up to get started, once more, on their dinner. Gia watched her for a minute and stood up to go back to the living room, "just, be careful. You seem like a really nice person." Shin's words followed her to the living room where Asher was staring at the doorway. His face seemed dark with shadows it made Gia shiver.

"What?" Gia asked, already guarded by the knowledge that the Asher waiting in the room was the version of him she disliked the most. He shook his head and turned towards the fireplace where a fire was starting up. Gia walked towards the little padded bench under the front window. She felt Asher's eyes on her the entire time,  "I'm not going to apologize for being here since I didn't choose to stay with you guys." 

Before she could sit down, Asher coughed, "I wouldn't sit there," he said. As if it was on cue, Do-No lunged at the window and bared his teeth, "He'll keep doing that until he has a bloody snout." Asher sighed. Gia took in a deep breath and watched the wolf as she walked closer to the fire where another little chair was positioned facing the couch. 

"I'm okay with you being here," Asher looked her in the eyes and shifted uneasily.

"You don't have to lie, Asher," Gia maintained eye contact but squinted at him. The two stared into each other's eyes for quite some time, but the intensity of Asher's gaze made Gia's cheeks go warm and her chest tight. She looked away from him once she felt like she would explode. She stared instead at the fire glowing softly next to her. Asher stood up and walked towards the kitchen once more, Gia assumed he wanted to finish their secret conversation.

She couldn't escape the growing anxiety in the pit of her stomach while she strained to hear anything else from the conversation. She jumped when she heard Shin's voice escalate, "I can't do this anymore. Not to her!" Gia's heart thumped once more and she was grateful that she had held onto the glass of water.

They were talking about her, but, she didn't know why. Tomorrow couldn't get there fast enough since she wanted nothing more than to be at her own home with her dad. As she thought of the snippets of whispered conversations she had heard, she wondered if she would even make it to tomorrow. They had already slipped something inside her tea, what if they put that in her dinner?

She walked over to the couch and laid down, if she fell asleep before dinner, they probably wouldn't wake her up. She hoped she would be able to avoid dinner with that trick. Gia closed her eyes, sleep wouldn't come to her easily tonight but she knew how to fake it. Gia flipped onto her stomach and faced the back of the couch and closed her eyes. She tried to slow her breathing I am breathing in, I am breathing out she thought with every inhale and exhale.

Not long after, Shin came in and gently shook her arm, "Gia?" Shin whispered, "Gia, I know you aren't asleep." Gia almost panicked, "stay down; I want to help you so I'm going to tell Asher you are asleep. Just, stay exactly as you are," Shin stood up. Gia kept her eyes closed but felt like they needed to be open in case something happened.

"She asleep?" Asher asked, his voice sounded deeper than Gia had ever heard it.

"Yes, when she asked for water I distracted her and put tonic in it." Shin replied, "We can wipe them again. This Cadence one is harder to get out though so it might take another go."

"We don't have time for this, Shin," Asher sounded troubled, "You know what will happen if we can't do this. He's getting angry with us as it is."

Gia kept her eyes closed as they approached the couch and someone placed a blanket on top of her. Strong hands patted her shoulder and she felt Asher get close to her face. She was the best at faking sleep. She thought of her breathing, only her breathing. Her head started to spin as she felt Asher's strong hands gently glide over her cheek, "I don't want anything bad to happen to her and what you want, it seems worse to me." Asher was soon away from her. A small part of Gia missed his warmth.