Chapter 2 Moving in

"Hey weirdo, you coming?.", Gehal shouted from the car jolting me back to reality,

"I wouldn't take any chances, and don't call me that.", I replied with a stern look

"Yes your majesty.", she said, making little effort to hide the sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes back before picking up my bags and one last look at the ruined building brought memories I wished I could leave behind the same way I was leaving everything else behind.

I couldn't fight back the tears that were begging their way to ascendancy. My cheeks burned red as the hot tears streamed downward nonstop. A pair of soft hands gripped my shoulders, and I felt my tensed body ease without effort.

"Crying won't bring them back and it ain't gon' do you no good kid, I know you're hurting, and so am i. They were my parents too, and I'll miss them as much as you will." Gehal said calmly

I turned and flung my hands around her neck hugging her so tightly I heard her wince. I moistened Gehal's jacket with my tears as she combed her fingers through my hair gently.

She peeled my hands off gently and motioned toward the car. "Let's go, Ivy, it'll be alright," Gehal said reassuringly.

I've never seen Gehal so sympathetic towards me, not even to anyone, but I guess our parents' death had thawed her cold heart a bit.

The house in front of us was rather intriguing than horrifying, the paintings were off in so many corners, that it looked gray and gloomy. I could feel an eerie sensation just staring at it and it wasn't the appearance, something was out of place. I shrugged the thoughts off Since it was Aunt Veke who lived here, she was our closest relative and the only person who agreed to take us in.

We got separate rooms, while Gehal chose the one next to the basement, I chose the room upstairs. settling in was much of a task. The entire room was covered in dust and cobwebs, the air was clogged and I could barely breathe. The moist windows which were attached loosely to the walls were becoming almost invisible.

I tried separating the mush from the mash. The room was quite large so it took a lot of effort to clean everything up. Aunt Veke agreed to call in a Handyman to fix the worn-out furniture and someone to fumigate the room.

We took turns in helping each other put things in place. The mirror was placed on the nightstand next to the bed which was in the middle of the room that took out little space. The accessories in my room were small but big enough. I filled it with different kinds of art, photos, and bedding. On the wall was a black outlined photo frame with photos of Flowers and vegetation. The tall wardrobe by the corner of the room occupied arranged clothes and my artwork. I chose to leave the floor bare, not that I liked it that way, but the sound of objects scraping the carpet made my insides cringe. when I and Gehal had finished setting up my room, we went downstairs to hers. She insisted on replacing every item in the compartment, and I had no other option than to oblige her request. Not because I couldn't refuse her willingly but I didn't want to upset her, Gehal can be a handful sometimes.

My decor was a bit exquisite compared to hers which was rather drab. We treated ourselves to some desserts and iced tea after the day's work.

After the mini buffet we had, Aunt Veke let us wander away from the house, but not beyond the river that was far off, not quite a distance had we gotten when we saw bones that seemed to belong to human beings and human remains scattered all over the place. I wondered why she hadn't driven through this part on our way coming and I had the feeling Gehal must've been thinking the same thing.

I turned to catch Gehal's reaction, her hazel blue eyes were dilated and her mouth hung open, she was trying as much as possible to hold her breath as she took everything in.

"Have you seen this before now?" she said In a half-whisper.

"I just got here at the same time you did, and close your big mouth you look like you got struck by lightning." She looked on and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Sometimes you seem eccentric, weird ass"

"Is that news?" I turned away wearily.

I was used to Gehal telling me I acted weird most times, even mom told us I never made a sound at childbirth, only Gehal cried.

Gehal was the first to come forth before I did, the nurse that held me pinched my cheek so she could get me to cry, she got disappointed when she couldn't seek my tears. And I didn't start speaking until I was seven. My parents pinned me as the strange twin and I gave them little trouble. They took me to a specialist one time when they would come into our room and find me on the floor crying occasionally. At first, my mom thought it was just a phase but when these unusual occurrences persisted, they hoped for a solution to come by quickly.

Dark and cumulus clouds were starting to gather in the sky, the leaves on the nearby trees curled and they swayed in a rhythmic movement. I noticed My sister's smooth straight hair suddenly was a bit frizzy. There was a moist sensation in the air and I could tell the rains were coming.

"It's going to rain, we better get going"

"How can you tell?". she quizzed emphatically

"I just know it". I replied unfazed

She stared at me with a suspecting look in her eyes, I felt her hard glare upon me but I kept a straight face and looked ahead. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it.

"I want to explore some more, you can go on without me." I heard her say.

"Then I'm staying too."

"You'll get a cold."

"I can handle it.", my hair was damp, and the rain was drizzling already. A little sneeze escaped my nose, I sniffed and wiped the moist liquid from my canals with my forearm.

"Coward, can't handle a little rain." she spat at me.

"Sorry, it's not my fault I'm allergic to the Cold, can...can we go now"

She felt the tremble in my voice and took my arm as she dragged me all the way home amidst grunts and grumblings.