by Leon Logos
“Hey, Serenity!” Amara waved, running up to her.
“Oh, hi,” she replied, smiling, continuing to walk.
“You heading home?” Amara asked casually.
“Yep,” Serenity responded, slowing down her pace. The student parking lot was in sight now, and she didn’t want Amara to follow her this far. Worst case scenario, Amara met the brothers (Cackle in particular), or she learned who her siblings were.
“So, I was wondering. What’re you doing for Thanksgiving coming up?” Amara asked briskly.
“Oh, well—I never gave it much thought,” she said truthfully.
The van was now in sight, occupied by all the others (Agno included).
“You don’t have any family around town?”
“No, not really,” Serenity replied, again stating the truth.
Amara wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. Serenity decided to stop in her tracks completely, coming to a halt. As much as she enjoyed Amara’s company, she needed to get her to leave. Desmos was probably watching her with murderous eyes from the driver’s seat of the van.
“So, I was thinking—maybe you can come over to my place for Thanksgiving!” Amara blurted out.
“Huh?” Serenity said blankly. Her anxiety immediately extinguished for a moment.
“Yeah, I know it’s a bit early…we haven’t exactly known each other for that long, but I’m sure my mother would love to meet you! And I’m also sure you’d want to spend some time away from your siblings.”
She was a loss for words; this was certainly out of the blue.
“W-well—” she stuttered, giving the van a fleeting glance.
“Yes?” Amara prompted.
“I’ll think about it,” Serenity said ultimately. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, but I have to go right now. Okay?”
“All right, then,” Amara shrugged.
“Bye,” Serenity waved.
As soon as Amara turned to leave, Serenity did the same. The van honked in the distance, signaling her to break into a run. Some kids stared as she ran past, laughing in bewilderment. The door opened as she reached it. Serenity hopped into the van, sidling into her designated back seat. As soon as the van door shut, it began.
“WE’VE GOT A LATECOMER!” Cackle yelled obnoxiously.
“I’m sorry,” Serenity apologized to Desmos. “I came as quickly as I could. There was a bit of a delay.”
“First Agno, now you,” Desmos exhaled sourly.
“At least I was still earlier than Agno,” she murmured icily, loud enough for them to hear.
“Sassy Serenity strikes again,” Agno scoffed. “Do us all a favor and cut off your tongue?”
The shift in his tone was incredibly instant.
When they reached the house, they were welcomed by a surprise. For Serenity, it wasn’t a pleasant one. Gunther’s boots were sitting on the porch, wet and muddy, drying under the sun. Evidently, he had been traveling somewhere with soggy climate; it was almost four days since he was last home. Four days were nowhere near a long time. Gunther could be absent for even months at a time (though, he usually shared with them his business and reasoning for the lengthy trips), leaving them alone.
“Finally,” Desmos scowled, noticing the boots. He turned off the van engine, removed the keys from the ignition, and exited the car.
Serenity made sure to be the last in line as they crossed over to the porch. Kyler crouched down, observing the boots meticulously. Through deduction, details could be revealed clarifying Gunther’s past location.
“Where was he this time?” Garen asked, standing over the boots.
“Seattle?” Kyler inferred.
“Too close,” Desmos said shrewdly, walking past them. “He likely traveled interstate."
Desmos fumbled into his pocket, taking out the keys. He unlocked and opened the door quickly. They all stepped inside one after another. The house was still quiet, occupied by silence. Serenity waited a few moments before heading directly to her room upstairs; Gunther often called them to him right after they came back from school. But no call came. She only took one step up the polished-wooden staircase when she was interrupted.
“Wait,” Desmos signaled, right hand raised. “He’s here. Come on.”
Serenity stared as the brothers followed Desmos into the hall. She caught up with them grudgingly. How Desmos arrived at the conclusion that Gunther was present slipped past her. But sure enough, as they entered the conference room, Gunther was seated in his usual chair. He was busy writing a letter, seemingly oblivious to their presence. They all simultaneously took notice of a new scar which emerged under Gunther’s right eye, which he clearly received recently during his absence.
“Father,” Desmos said loudly.
Gunther did not respond, immersed in his task.
“Father,” Desmos repeated. The same reaction. The younger siblings exchanged looks with each other expressionlessly. Instances of Gunther ignoring them weren’t nonexistent, but it was rare.
“Father, I need to—”
“This recent trip of mine has been fruitful,” Gunther began, speaking suddenly in his guttural voice. “Your return is timely.”
“Likewise,” Desmos replied. “I—”
“I was investigating a report concerning an Aurelian hideout in Oregon. There, I found no hideout, but I did find myself an Aurelian. To be exact, Penelope Aurelian.”
All five brothers gaped at Gunther, speechless. Serenity watched them, baffled, unaware of who “Penelope” was. Was she a family head? Or perhaps just a key figure in the family? It frustrated her how her family didn’t tell her these things. Not that she really cared, though.
“Ridiculous. Penelope in the States?” Desmos said incredulously.
“I understand the skepticism behind it,” Gunther nodded. “Which is why, before I disposed of her permanently, I extracted the necessary information. It turns out, she came here to facilitate in the mobilization and expansion of her family. And I’ve learned the location of their residence in the globe.”
“Where?!” Garen asked automatically. “We can finally go and eliminate them!”
“Don’t be so hasty, Garen,” Gunther patiently replied. “Even for us, ambushing a heavily-guarded fortress with just a measly number of seven is impossible. And requesting allies is not an option; we’re in this alone.”
Nobody questioned Gunther’s refusal to call for aid. For one, they were usually independent overall and did not have many allies. Secondly, they barely questioned Gunther in general. His word was absolute.
“We need to be prepared,” Gunther affirmed. “I’m currently devising a plan to infiltrate their residence, but I’ll need assistance. Kyler and Desmos, stay here with me. And I also don’t need to tell you that our stay here in Washington will be abbreviated, considering what has come into fruition.”
Serenity looked up in disappointment.
“Does that mean we’re no longer staying for three months?” she questioned, before she could stop herself.
Serenity always refrained from speaking in Gunther’s presence when she didn’t have to. Therefore, instances of her opening her mouth were quite rare. Everybody in the room looked at her. Desmos, his back facing Gunther, flashed a warning glare at her. He was well aware that nothing beneficial came out her mouth when addressing their father.
“S-sir…” Serenity added weakly.
Gunther relaxed his posture, his attention directed solely towards her. She did not lower her gaze, as much as she was tempted to. Any time Gunther laid his eyes on her, fear enveloped. Gunther saw it as disrespectful when they did not meet eye contact with him while speaking, and she had learned the hard way to habituate herself to do so.
“By early December, we will be moving again. Whether I accompany you guys is unknown for now. Any more questions?”
There were none.
“You’re all dismissed—”
“What are you writing?” Kyler interjected, out of the blue.
; Even Gunther was slightly surprised at his youngest son speaking.
“That does not concern you; if it did, I’d tell you. Now, the rest of you, go!” Gunther said peremptorily.
Excluding Kyler and Desmos, they all filed out of the room. Serenity was upset; she had already gotten acclimated to living in Sequim and had even successfully made a friend at school. Now they wouldn’t even be staying until Christmas. This feeling of depression was familiar; it manifested itself nearly every time she left a home that she had grown fond of.
“Where are we going next?” Cackle wondered.
“Somewhere out of the States, I hope. I’m feeling Paris,” Agno said.
“Screw Europe. It’s been a minute since we were in Vegas,” Garen remarked. “The last time we were in the East, I contracted every disease known to man.”
Garen was referring to their stay in London, when he had gotten severely ill. He had been confined to his bed for a long time.
“Such a damn shame we never got to Penelope. I was itching to merk her for years,” Cackle groaned.
This prompted the essential question.
“Who is Penelope?” she asked inquisitively.
Neither Garen, Cackle, or Agno gave an answer. They merely burst into laughter, Cackle hysterically cachinnating in her face. Serenity stopped at the steps, annoyed. She should’ve known better than to ask them…
Serenity stayed up in her room until dinner time. She reposed on her bed, responding to Amara’s text messages. The subject concerning Thanksgiving was brought up again. She had completely forgotten about Amara’s unexpected entreaty. Whether she would accept the invitation was what troubled her. Serenity knew her family didn’t celebrate any holidays; they didn’t partake in any of the regular festivities that society did. Well—not conventionally. There were some years where Gunther had given them time off for the holidays.
She beat around the bush, not giving Amara a definite answer. Though, the answer was an obvious “no.” There was no way Desmos or any of the others would allow her to do it. They didn’t trust her enough. Frankly, they had good reason not to. Several years ago, she had foolishly brought a friend she met at school to their home at the time. As punishment she was subjected to a full day in the “Dungeon,” which was actually a dark basement made into an inhospitable prison. She had spent many times in the “Dungeon,” which they had in each house (including this one).
The hours dragged on until the clock hit half-past eight, the moon luminously stationed in the sky. She opened her door and stepped into the hallway. There was a banging sound that was coming from outside. Hands on the rail, she gazed down from the second floor. It was dinner time but something seemed to be occurring at the moment.
“Don’t go down yet,” Kyler said, out of nowhere.
She turned around to find Kyler leaning against the wall in the corner; he was stealthily invisible by the window, arms folded, eyes sharp. Serenity hadn’t noticed him.
“Aren’t we eating dinner—”
“Father and Desmos are still talking,” Kyler explained. “I got bored, so I decided to leave. We’ll be called down to eat when they’re finished.”
“‘Discussing’?” she repeated doubtfully. “What’s that sound?”
“I can only assume Garen and Cackle are letting off steam, since Penelope’s death was kind of a bummer,” Kyler said dryly.
“Could you please tell me who Penelope was?” Serenity pleaded. “I’m getting really annoyed at being kept in the dark.”
“She’s been an important target for a while now; because of her significance, the kill was twice as worthwhile,” Kyler answered, but not to the right question.
She easily figured that out for herself already.
“If she’s so important, why haven’t I heard of her?” Serenity said skeptically. “Or did you all just refuse to tell me.”
“You seem flustered,” Kyler said bluntly. This was yet another occurrence of Kyler stating the obvious. He usually pointed things out matter-of-factly that were clear as glass… It was one of the aspects of his peculiar character. One of his idiosyncrasies.
“You think?” she said caustically. “Quit dodging the question…”
“It’s not like we all came to a consensus to keep you uninformed. We just subconsciously felt you didn’t need to know unless we got a lead. We got an update on her status, and now you know,” Kyler explained simply.
“Great. Is there anything else you guys have failed to tell me?” Serenity said crossly. “Anything at all?”
“Too much to list,” Kyler said blatantly, his tone humorous.
It was one of those rare occasions when Kyler expressed emotion.
“Fantastic. But why should I be surprised?” she said grumpily. “I’ve been neglected by you guys my whole life. If not neglected, harassed, humiliated, and tortur—”
“Everybody come down for dinner!” Desmos called from downstairs.
It wasn’t often that they ate together at home. Only when Gunther was present did they do so, as he was surprisingly family-oriented. The food was arbitrarily almost never prepared at home. When it was, she herself was ordered to cook for the whole family. But most of the time, it was fancy takeout from any sort of extravagant restaurant. Gunther was surprisingly a sophisticated person, with eloquent taste; though a savage for the most part, he was quite civilized when he wasn’t shedding blood.
Today, as she walked into the dining room, the aroma of a Caribbean kitchen pervaded the air. It was seafood; a feast of shrimp, lobster, salmon, cocktails, crab, etc. Garen was seated at the table looking sour; he hated seafood, averse to mostly anything that wasn’t meat or protein.
They ate quietly, Desmos conversing with Gunther regarding school.
Clearly, this was a conversation not prompted by Desmos as he certainly did not enjoy it. His eyebrows were furrowed more than usual, and he took small breaths before speaking to calm his temper. Furthermore, the shrimp he was roughly stabbing with his fork was disfiguring gradually.
“Concerning the investigative component of school attendance, any progress?” Gunther asked, taking a sip of wine.
He was referring to the pointless “data-gathering” part of school-season, which Serenity never partook in. Only once in her life did she remember encountering an Aurelian in one of the schools they attended. To her recollection, he was disposed of only minutes after being targeted by them. Agno was the one who had dealt the killing strike.
“No, the school seems clean for now, but we haven’t been there much,” said Desmos straightforwardly. Gunther turned away from Desmos to shift his attention to them.
“How has your training been progressing?” he asked.
“Fine,” they all said in unison. Gunther shook his head in disapproval.
“I don’t deny it, but I expect different responses,” he said calmly.
“We’ve been doing the same thing for years,” Garen spoke. “Me personally, I’m trying to get stronger. More built.”
“You always have,” said Gunther. “Garen, you’re the biggest and strongest of us all but not yet satisfied. Be content as you are now.”
“I try to experiment with new training regimens, but overall, it’s all redundant,” explained Desmos. “From a young age, we’ve been reinforcing our skills from head-to-toe, as you know. Cackle and Kyler are doing okay as well; especially Kyler, who’s excelling quickly.”
“Very well,” Gunther nodded approvingly. “And…dare I ask, what about Serenity?”
The question ensued silence. She looked up from her dinner plate, clarifying if she was being expected to speak or not. Serenity knew Desmos would answer on her behalf, however. Sure enough, he was quick to do so.
“Adequate,” Desmos replied. “She’s inferior, nothing’s changed.”
“Tell me, have you still been performing lousily, Serenity?” Gunther demanded, addressing Serenity directly.
Now was when Desmos could no longer answer for her. She had no choice bu
t to speak now. Gunther expected her to.
“No, sir,” she replied. “I’ve been keeping up with the others.”
Cackle snickered conspicuously at this statement, covering his mouth; his eyes locked onto his plate.
“Something amusing, Cackle?” Gunther asked.
“Not really,” said Cackle, a wicked smile etched upon his face.
Serenity wanted to shoot Cackle a surreptitious glower but refrained; she knew he was trying to get her into trouble, as usual. Her suffering was his blatant enjoyment. Gunther turned back to Serenity, sticking with the subject of her performance on the job.
“You know what happens to slackers in this family,” Gunther warned. “But what I find worse than slacking is incompetence. Weaklings.”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded quickly, concealing the stammer in her voice.
The next day, she didn’t feel motivated to go to school. In Chemistry, Amara started a normal conversation with her before quickly bringing up the Thanksgiving invitation. This time, Serenity was clear with her response. She brewed up a decent lie on the spot.
“About that… I have to go out of town to my aunt’s house in Salt Lake City for a holiday…so, I can’t go to your place,” she said, pretending to look devastated.
Amara looked taken aback for a split-second, but she then shrugged.
“It’s fine,” she said, waving it off. “Honestly, it was a bit stupid of me to ask. You have your own family, and I have mine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Cool,” said Serenity, relieved that she wasn’t offended.
They spoke no more of it and resumed their classwork; the answers were available online, inviting the entire class to cheat on it. Though Serenity chose to do her work manually without the assistance of the Internet, it wasn’t difficult work. Amara, on the other hand, proudly copied her work off Quizlet, despite ranting about cheaters only a few days before.
Serenity sat alone during lunch, as Amara had to see one of her teachers to make up an exam she had missed. She decided to sit inside the cafeteria for once. It was loud, packed, and noisy, and almost all the tables were fully occupied. She took a seat at the end of a half-full table and ate her lunch unbothered. A group of boys to her right were playing a heated game of “Fortnite” on their phones, ridiculously immersed into the game. After one more bite, she dropped the rancid pizza she was eating, discarding her lunch tray in the nearest trash can. The lunch staff didn’t put much effort in preparing their meals, especially on Fridays.