“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Alessia said. “I feel so confused over what I saw.” She sniffled, tears staining her cheeks as she glanced into Calien’s blue eyes. “I’m afraid. More than I have ever been.”


    “Nobody knows what will happen. We need to figure it out one day at a time.”


    “Do we have time, Calien?” she asked, her voice stammering. “It feels like there is no time because we are constantly at an impasse!” She wiped her tears away. She was unsure of how to move forward. Am I a hypocrite? Alessia thought. Reincarnated as a killer – when I looked down on Doireann.


    “Of course we do, why wouldn’t we?”


    “Something feels off.”


    “We’ll figure it out.” He kept saying that, yet her stomach did flips and turns, feeling the bile rising in her throat. It felt like the walls were closing in on her; all she could do was watch everything fall apart. “We still have to capture one of the creatures, remember?”


    Alessia was sure kidnapping one would not solve anything. “And make things worse?” she said. “We have seen what they are capable of.”


    “Not taking action won’t solve our problem either,” Calien said. “If we don’t try, then what? We suffer?” He sighed in exasperation. “I know you’re scared, but we can’t sit around like this anymore and wait for something to happen.”


    “But right now, we are safe, aren’t we?”


    “Safe as in confined in the house for the night and listening to the Sluagh’s voices at our doors and windows with the only thing stopping them from entering is the salt?”


    “I can’t –”


    “Alessia, think it over,” Calien interrupted. “You want your family safe and not afraid of what will happen in the dead of night?”


    Alessia nodded, but the knot in her stomach wouldn’t go away. This is all happening because of me, Alessia thought. She ran a hand through her hair. “I will think about it.”


    “Good,” he said. “Let’s go back inside. It’s cold.”


    He opened the door to the back of the house for her. She felt a sense of warmth inside. Calien tended to the fireplace in the living room, leaving her alone with Enora. Her mother continued trying to place a small piece of the broken ceramic teacup with her hands. She accidentally dropped it and groaned in frustration.


    “Need help?” Alessia asked her.


    “I could definitely use some help.” She sat down at the table. “I really need steady hands,” she added. “If your father was awake, then he could help.”


    “I’m just as good,” Alessia teased. She held the cup carefully so that her mother could glue the last piece of it onto the teacup.


    “Finally. Now it has to dry.” Enora set it aside for a moment. “What have you been up to lately?”


    Alessia shrugged. She wished she could just tell her mother everything. “Nothing spectacular.” Which was a lie. “Watching the grass grow.”


    Her mother chuckled. “I can only imagine.” She tapped her hands on the table. “Your birthday is coming up in two months. Have you thought about how you want to celebrate it?”


    “I don’t feel like celebrating anything nowadays,” Alessia said. “Rinna has shut me out, and I haven’t heard from Aunt Vilica or Uncle Delroy.”


    “Maybe things will clear up by then.”


    “I highly doubt that.”


    “What happened between the two of you? You and Rinna were attached to the hip, and now you barely say a word to each other.”


    “A disagreement, I suppose,” Alessia said, but she really didn’t want to talk about it, or she would have to admit she wanted to leave Tethys.


    Enora raised an eyebrow. “Disagreements don’t usually end friendships, Alessia.”


    “You would be surprised how quick Rinna is to anger. She won’t listen no matter what I say.” She still heard the words from Rinna after Kalix’s funeral, and it didn’t hurt any less. “She said I wasn’t the warmest person.”


    She thought for sure her mother would disagree with Rinna right away, but instead, she smiled and laughed a little. “Well, is that a lie? You can be distant.” Alessia did a double take. Did her mother really say that?


    “Thanks. I’m glad I said something,” Alessia muttered before getting up. Her mother grabbed her arm, wanting her to sit back down.


    “Your cousin – Kalix – was murdered. You only have so many relatives left,” Enora said. “I am not saying she was right to say that to you, but like I said, you are distant from people.”


    Alessia felt herself trembling, and her mother’s words did not precisely make her feel better about the situation between her and Rinna. For as long as she could remember, they never really argued and were close like sisters, but why did it feel so different this time? Nothing felt the same anymore. My mother doesn’t know the truth about me, she thought. “Well, maybe I am not that great of a person.”


    “Not true,” Enora said. “I raised a daughter who is kind and nurturing.”


    It was hard to see it from her mother’s point of view, and it was almost tempting to tell her everything, but Alessia couldn’t bring herself to say it. “Then why did Rinna say those things to me?”


    “Grief can cause people to speak without thinking. There is a lot of unsaid anger when it comes to death.”


    “Why?”


    “I don’t know,” she said. “It just happens.”


    “Have you ever lost someone?”This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Her mother paused, not speaking for a whole minute, and stared at Alessia. “I… almost did.”


    “Almost? What happened?”


    “It was a long time ago. Just someone who I cared for a lot.” Alessia felt a shiver running down her spine. “This person was very young, and she wasn’t breathing when she was born to the point she turned blue.”


    Alessia placed her hand on her mother’s, now knowing who she was talking about. “It’s okay; you don’t have to say anything if it hurts.”


    Her mother sighed. “I kept this in for so long… I have to.” She wiped her tears away. “I almost lost you the day you were born, and even though you were saved, it made me afraid I would still lose you. Your father and I feared if we spoke about it again, you wouldn’t live to see another day.”


    “You were afraid to jinx it,” Alessia said, trying not to cry with her mother. “You aren’t going to lose me, I promise.”


    The conversation between them left her confused. What was she supposed to do? The need to tell her mother everything gave her a headache. “I’m just afraid.” She blinked away the tears in her eyes. “That I won’t be able to continue being a good person. That… the past defines who I am.”


    “Let your heart guide you,” Enora said. “You will make the right decision.”


    “How do you know?”


    “I just do.”


    She nodded. “Thank you,” she said, her hand over her mother’s.


    “Anytime.”


    A knock on the door interrupted the moment. The doctor arrived to look at Alessia’s father. Once Calien finished with the fireplace, he smiled at Alessia. “Did talking to her help?” he asked.


    “It did, but I am still freaked out over what happened.”


    “Understandable.”


    “Doireann – the woman I kept seeing over and over, she is probably planning something, and I am not sure killing her will work,” Alessia said. “It might prove her point that I’m a killer and will always remain so.”


    “You want to find another way?”


    “It wouldn’t hurt. In my past life, I killed people. That doesn’t mean I have to now.”


    “Good start. Are you coming around to Saiph’s plan?”


    “Yeah, I am. Especially if it can help us avoid killing her.”


    <hr>


    They found Saiph in his spot in the woods, digging something in the dirt. Alessia waited until he stopped and finally noticed them. His soulless eyes followed her for a moment, his bony face unreadable. “Nothing happening here,” he said quickly, patting down the dirt flat.


    “You seriously can’t expect us not to ask what you were digging?” Calien said.


    “I wasn’t digging, sir. I buried.”


    “Are you a canine? What in Light’s name did you bury? A bone?”


    “Yeah, because I have a…” Saiph stopped and sighed in agitation. Alessia was surprised he could make that noise. “It isn’t a bloody bone. It was something I had on me that I didn’t want to see ever again.”


    “What did you remember?”


    “I didn’t have memories return… I had unwanted emotions. For some reason, I hated the item and buried it.”


    “Have you given any thought to your plan?” Alessia asked Saiph, whose only concern was the buried item. He fussed with the soil, muttering how there wasn’t enough of it.


    “Not too much,” Saiph said. “It still needs to be done. It’s a matter of who and when.” He fumbled with a medium-sized rock, putting it on top of the small mound. “Since these things can’t hurt me, I was thinking I do the kidnapping.”


    “But where do we put them?”


    “In a cage?” Saiph suggested. That sounded like a lot of unnecessary work.


    “How will we have the time to do that?” Alessia asked. “It’s a waste of resources.”


    “Do you have any better ideas?”


    “Well, no.”


    “Then get moving!”


    “You don’t get to give us orders!” Alessia snapped, now moving closer to Saiph. “I brought you back to life, and you never thanked me.”


    “Why should I thank you?” he spat back. “As far as I am concerned, I was fine being in the stream between life and death until you disrupted it!”


    “Enough!” Calien shouted in the middle of both of them. “We won’t get anywhere by arguing.”


    “Your idea is crazy! Calien and I know how dangerous the Sluagh are. I doubt a cage will stop them from killing us!”


    Saiph shrugged. “Fine, then perhaps we don’t do the plan at all. I just thought you wanted this done.” Alessia rolled her eyes, no longer wanting to hear anything he had to say. “Spare me the roll of your eyes.”


    “At least I have eyes!” she retorted.


    Calien’s eyes widened at Alessia’s quip. Saiph, however, was not amused in the slightest. “Leave,” he snarled.


    Not having much choice, they left him.


    “I wish I never raised him back from the dead,” Alessia said once they were in earshot of Saiph’s hideout. “He has unresolved anger issues.”


    “Wouldn’t you if you were in his shoes?”


    “He doesn’t even wear shoes! He’s barefoot or rather bare-boned.”


    It started to get dark, so they returned home. Alessia’s mother was heating up a kettle over the hearth. “What did the doctor say about father?” Alessia asked her.


    “He’s in good health, but the doctor isn’t sure he can walk properly.”


    “How come?”


    “His injury was a lot more severe than expected. The doctor suspects the initial infection from the attack is what caused it.”


    “He won’t be able to walk?”


    “Not without a limp and a cane.”


    Alessia sighed, scratching the back of her head. “Well, I may as well get ready for bed,” she said. “It’s been a really long day.” Moreover, given how unusual he acted, she wasn’t sure if they could work with Saiph anymore. There was no plan despite Alessia wanting to give it a chance.


    Guess we must start from scratch, she thought.


    In the middle of the night, Alessia woke up to the floor creaking downstairs. She lit a candle and carried it around to look for what was causing the noise. Her father and Calien were fast asleep in their rooms, but her mother was not in her bed.


    She quietly checked out the living room, hearing more items being thrown onto the floor. Her skin felt clammy, and her heart was ready to burst out of her chest. Nobody could have broken in. With how dangerous it was to even go outside for a minute, there was no way someone wouldn’t run into one of the Sluagh.


    More jostling in the kitchen made her jump. A hand on her shoulder caused her to scream out loud. “It’s me,” her mother whispered, bringing a finger to her lips. “You hear it, too?”


    “Woke up to the noise. I really don’t like this.”


    Her mother was about to tread into the kitchen when Alessia gently grabbed her by the wrist. “Mother, be careful,” she said. “I should get Calien.”


    Her mother shook her head. “It’s probably a rat.” They moved down the staircase, finding not a single soul there except for the grandfather clock ticking. In the kitchen, it was completely silent. Maybe there wasn’t anything there. A few more steps in, the light from the candles lit up the room a bit, but it was still hard to see.


    “Nothing’s down here,” Alessia said to her.


    “I heard something. I know I did.”


    “A rat like you said.” She was now shivering as they moved further into the house like there was a draft. Did someone leave a door open? She thought. No, that’s impossible.


    They kept searching, no longer hearing any more noises. Alessia’s breathing became erratic at every turn, and she stayed next to her mother in the vicinity. Her mother took a firepit poker, which made Alessia raise an eyebrow. “What else will I use?” her mother asked.


    “Something with a sharp end to it!”


    Opening the pantry, they found nothing. They heard a squeak once or twice and something small running across the room. Alessia was relieved it was only a mouse and nothing but something worse. “I will lock up the pantry and make sure there’s no mice in there. You look around for any more that might be running around,” her mother said.


    But when Alessia turned around, she saw a silhouette at the end of the kitchen. At first, she thought it was Doireann, but when she recognized the smile, she realized it wasn’t.


    It was Fiona.


    Alessia screamed, almost dropping the candle in her hands. “Alessia?! What’s wrong?” her mother exclaimed. Alessia pointed to Fiona. She could see the color draining from her mother’s face. How the hell did she get in here? She thought.


    The back door was open, and it was not a moment ago. “Stay back!” Her mother aimed the fire poker at Fiona, who nonchalantly smacked it out of her hands.


    Fiona strode up to Alessia, her hands on her shoulders. “You ought to be more careful. Someone you don’t want to be here could walk right in,” Fiona said, grinning at Alessia. Her mother tried pushing Fiona away, only for her throat to be grabbed.


    “No!” Alessia screamed.


    Fiona gripped tightly on Enora’s throat before looking back, her grotesque smile as wide as ever. “You should never have touched that mound, Alessia.” In one fatal swoop, she ripped the flesh from her mother’s throat, letting her body crash to the ground.