"You sure this is the place?" I asked.
"I think so," said Kurie, gazing at the numbers on the door. 574.
"It better be," I said as I ringed the doorbell. Looking at the house, it was quite shabby. There were bars over the small, thick windows, and the white paint was peeling in large patches. For a moment I thought it was abandoned, until I heard someone's footsteps from the inside. The door creaked open, and a tall, slender woman stepped out.
"You can put the box—Oh. Are you here to try and get me to convert to—nevermind. I don't care. Just—go."
I looked into her eyes. "We're here to talk about—"
"I told you to go—"
"It's about—"
"Don't make me—"
"Your mother!"
The woman paused. What was her name? I'd have to ask Kurie. "What about my mother?" she asked, slowly stepping forward.
"We have information on her."
"What kind of information."
"Information on her death."
"What kind of sick joke is this?" she yelled, closing the door shut, but not before Kurie wedged his fingers inside the door and pried it open.
"What. Do. You. Want," she groaned.
"For you to listen to us," Kurie said.
"Well, I don't want to. Now get out before I—"
"Please," he begged.
"You have the count of three and then I'm—"
"We have a letter from your mother!" I yelled.
The woman arched her eyebrow. "You do? Because my mother never sent letters to anyone."
I handed her the letter, and she skimmed it over with machine-like precision. "That's my sister," she said. "But who is this Ense guy?"
"My father," said Kurie. "He 'died at sea'. But we have a feeling he was killed."
"What does that have to do with me?" asked the woman.
"We think that the same thing happened to your sister," I said.
"Who the hell are you? Do you enjoy doing this to me?" she asked, on the verge of tears.
"No," I stammered, "We don't—"
"We just want to help!" yelled Kurie.
"Why?" she asked. "Why come all the way here just to break the bad news? I was finally getting happy, you know. Cleared out my sister's old room and turned it into a work space. Gave away all her old clothes to charity. And now you have to come here and fuck it all up? Why?"
Kurie stepped forward. "Because we figured you'd want—"
"How do you know what I want?" said the woman. "You don't know me."
"You don't have to listen to us," I said. "If you want to close the door now, we'll leave and never take a single glance back. Hell, you could have shut the door plenty of times during this conversation. But you didn't. Because I have a hunch that you secretly want to know."
"Stop using your mind magic on me! It's not going to work. I've been studying mind magic for years."
"It's not mind magic," I said, taking my conduit and putting it on the ground. "It's just common sense."
YOU ARE READING
The Four Chimes
FantasíaAri Hotan was never one for politics. Lera Taxas would rather be running her shop than fighting a tyrannical regime. But the king is dead, dark forces are rising, and no one seems to give a damn about it: except for them. So they fight. But will the...
