We Faced a Goddess

I had finally gone to the car and gotten my stuff so I could finally take a shower. I spent almost two hours in the restroom. Most of the shower was spent crying, then part of it was spent psyching myself up to leave the shower. It was nice and warm almost like a new beginning.

Aunt Paige was in the living room when I went downstairs. She was watching some reality show and drinking coffee. It only registered then how much she looked like my dad. They had the same brown eyes and the same light hair. I was always secretly jealous of my dad’s hair. It was a lot prettier than my brunette mop. I was also jealous of my mom’s green eyes since I got my dad’s brown ones. Both of my parents were so stunning and I was just average.

“Sleep well, kiddo?” Aunt Paige asked. I just nodded and made my way to the kitchen. I kind of remembered where everything was from when I visited Aunt Paige four years ago during the Fourth of July. She had moved some things but it’s mostly all been the same.

I just made myself some cereal and ate it in the kitchen. It’s strange how things just go back to normal after a tragedy. I mean it isn’t completely normal, but it’s calm.

After I had a small existential crisis in the kitchen, I went back to the living room with Aunt Paige. She was still watching her reality show so I just sat down and watched with her. It was awkward to say the least.

Once the show was over Aunt Paige took me on a walking tour of the neighborhood. She showed me places that the neighborhood kids usually hang out at and she showed me the high school I’d be going to. The place actually seemed really nice. I thought I would hate it all considering what happened but really it was a breath of fresh air. I liked being in a new place. Had I just stayed in the same place I was I would have just been constantly reminded of what happened. Here, however, I could let all of that go.

Aunt Paige had to run back to the house because she had to pee so I told her I’d meet her back there. I took my time getting back because it was a beautiful day. Despite the usual sweltering July weather, it was nice outside.

When I got back to the house I noticed Keres’ father was outside. I rushed to meet him in his driveway so I could introduce myself.

“Oh, hello sir,” I managed to awkwardly get out, “I’m Bonnibelle, Paige’s niece. I wanted to introduce myself and apologize if I stepped over any boundaries this morning by talking to Keres.”

“Right…” he spoke sounding irritated with my very existence. “I’m Ambrus Nicolau. I’m Keres’ father. I would appreciate it greatly if you wouldn’t bother her. Keres is very busy in her studies.”

“Oh, will I be seeing her at school this fall?” I asked.

“No, she’s homeschooled. I would appreciate it if you didn’t make contact with her. Now, I must be on my way.” With that Mr. Nicolau got in his car. He waited for me to get away from the car so he could carefully leave. I couldn’t tell if he was just rude or if he was just very serious about Keres’ future. Either way, I didn’t want to make him angry so I decided to steer clear of Keres… when he was around at least.

I went inside to find Aunt Paige standing at the French windows looking outside.

“Did you talk to Mr. Nicolau?” She asked as if shocked.

“Yeah…” I said, “he’s your neighbor. Don’t you talk to your neighbors?”

“No. Well, I do but not Nicolau. The guy is insane. He’s super into voodoo and witchcraft. Rumor has it he killed his wife and used her corpse to make his daughter.” Aunt Paige’s story was obviously just ridiculous neighborhood gossip. However, it would explain his strange and reclusive nature. “You know,” Aunt Paige continued, “he used to live in the French Quarter. His wife was a psychic at Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo. He had to move when he killed her.”

“How do you know this?” I asked skeptically.

“News stories tied together,” she explained, “and his daughter appeared out of nowhere one day. The neighbors across the street told me about everything.” Just as I guessed, it was neighborhood gossip. Keres was just a hard-working teenage girl and her father was just overprotective. His wife either left him or she passed. It was nothing unusual. If I could, I’d probably stay inside all day too since my parents passed. It’s hard to get over and I may have seemed fine but it was just a cover up. I couldn’t be sad the rest of my life so I had to fake being happy until it happened.