Chapter Twenty-One : Let Chaos Reign
Corinne
Having Brenna and Marie in my new home was like being in Summer Camp all over again. The two of them sniped at each other constantly, but when I suggested we go for a swim, they also got ready together - as only sisters could.
As usual, the water welcomed me, opening it’s warmth as I slid into her. If I listened carefully, I could almost hear her sigh in contentment as I allowed myself to lean back and be carried - be held by the element herself.
Brenna moved through the water as if it were some sort of expectation and not an experience. I knew she didn’t have the same connection with this element as I did, and she showed that through an expression of high indifference.
I studied the way in which she seemed to execute each movement, and where I thought that Dimitri did not show any form of expression - contained his joy in an air tight manner - I realized that compared to Brenna, Dimitri may be the most expressive person I knew.
Her skin still glowed beneath the warm rays, bronzing even more beneath my eyes. Her auburn hair shone bright, and it was easy to see that Brenna truly was The Sun personified.
Marie’s pale luminescent skin slid beneath the water as she twisted and turned her body at an angle that seemed wholly unnatural and starkly uncomfortable. I knew from our late night talks around the campfire that she too boasted a relationship with water, but it was starkly different to mine. Whereas I was welcomed into the pool, Marie looked as if she had been stung - and worse still, she seemed to accept it as if such a retaliation was deserved somehow.
It hadn't always been like this. I had dive bombed in the lake with her, had canooed across her glorious surface with Marie rowing one way, while I rowed the other. And yet, something had changed between her and the element. Marie had always been cagey and aloof about her upbringing, but when anyone in the Club questioned her about her strained relationship with the element, that same strain could be felt between Marie and whomever prodded her with questions.
It was easier to turn a blind eye - to pretend that a deep hurt wasn’t starkly apparent between her and the water that seemed to thrash in protest at her feet. Brenna’s warm gaze met mine across the pool, and I saw nothing but concern there. We were both worried about Marie.
I knew her relationship was strained, but I didn’t think any of us had realized exactly how bad it was. Imagine needing to use the element that seemed to absolutely despise you to shower each day.
“I think I’ve had enough of the pool for one day.” Brenna wrinkled her nose in disdain, her haughty tone carrying across the pool. This was the part of Brenna that most didn’t see, or if they did, they didn’t understand. Because I knew Brenna - knew that she could bask under the beating rays of the sun for the entirety of a day if we allowed it, and this was her way of looking out for her friend - even if she was unable to show she cared in any other form.
“Yes.” I allowed my body to dip back into the water - a final farewell. “I think it’s time for lunch anyway.”
“I’ll cook.” Marie bit out, the desperation to flee so painfully evident in her voice that I wanted to wrap my arms around her tiny frame and hug her - soothe away the hurt. But I did none of that, because to do so would bring attention to Marie’s problem, and that would only make it worse. Instead, I lifted my body out of the pool and headed towards the house.
None of us spoke about our time in the pool, and when Marie pulled a wooden chopping board from the kitchen, my chest heaved in relief.
Brenna didn’t even argue as she veered off course, setting the lunch table with the kind of attention to detail that my mother applauded. We all had our talents, and Hearth Witchery had always been where Marie had excelled. She chopped and diced and turned the items beneath her fingers, pressing them into the wooden cutting board as she whispered words of thanks and praise over each item. She even managed to toss the contents of the salad in a clockwise direction, and I did not miss the sprinkling of salt and pepper that seemed to form sigils between the greenery in the bowl.
As she added the sliced pieces of chicken into the bowl - her final ingredient - she seemed to utter a prayer-like spell before finally settling the large dish down before us.
With Brenna setting the table, and Marie preparing the lunch, there was little left for me to do, so I contented myself by toasting some of the french loaf that Henla had picked up this morning.
We all settled into our seats, allowing the quiet solace of the day to wrap around each of us, and when I speared the salad onto my fork and brought its contents to my lips, it was akin to a religious experience. Marie had a knack for ensuring that her food made you feel warm, welcome, content, and comfortable. I knew that she had probably whispered words of health and prosperity over the meal, but all I could feel was the ebb and flow of belonging.
It had always been this way when it came to Marie and cooking, and I wondered if it was due to the fact that she grew up around women who practiced Magick as if it were as normal as breathing, or if it was an inherent talent all her own.
Brenna’s tanned arms stretched above her head as she yawned unabashedly.
“I’m going to take a nap.” Her announcement was completely unnecessary - we all knew Brenna’s habits, and chances are she simply required some solace while she read her cards. Still, I smiled and nodded - ever graceful in the way that Emily Rand had taught me to be.
“And then there were two.” Marie lifted her glass filled with chilled wine in my direction. In all the time I had known her, I had never seen her drunk. She drank wine almost exclusively, arguing that she was raised on the liquid, but as her blue gaze bore into mine, I wondered what secrets Marie held.
“I’m not sure how long that will last, knowing the girls, we will be inundated by the weekend.”
“As it should be.” Marie shrugged, the curve of her shoulder softly elegant.
“Come.” She stood up abruptly, her wine glass in tow. “Show me your home.”
That is how I spent the afternoon, dragging Marie from room to room. She walked around the large house as she occasionally tilted her head, examining the way the furniture was positioned only for her to reposition items in a way that seemed to make far more sense, leaving me wondering why it hadn’t been positioned that way in the first place. She traced sigils with salt water beneath the rugs, her fingertips dancing along the curtains as she splashed her own form of protective droplets in their folds, and by the time she was finished, the house seemed vastly different. The air seemed lighter after her movements, the energy shifting interceptably, and I was left marvelling at how much Marie’s Hearth Witch abilities truly impacted a space - a home.
I wondered if Dimitri would notice.
I was listening to Marie’s promise to make a honey jar for my new home when the buzzer sounded throughout the house. It was jarring in the way that only a sudden sound in an otherwise peaceful environment could be. Dread pooled in my stomach as my hands grew clammy, but before I could offer a polite explanation to Marie, it sounded again. And again. And again. The sounds of a struggle could be heard faintly through the windows, and it seemed such an odd thing to experience on such a warm summer’s day. But that was the thing about curses, the consequences never waited to arise when it was solely convenient for you.
Brenna’s footsteps thundered down the stairs, as if I needed more proof that the pied piper had come to collect his dues.