Pisces

by Rachel Medhurst

  Chapter Three

  ‘When are you going to bed, Pisces?’ Aries called.

  He sat on the sofa with the boys. They were playing on one of their game consoles.

  ‘Not yet. Why? Do you want to play one of the dancing games?’ I laughed.

  He growled as he spun in his seat to look at me. I was at the kitchen table with my laptop. The combined kitchen and living area was big enough for twelve people to gather. Six men and six women living under the same roof made it hard to compromise sometimes.

  ‘No, we were thinking of inviting some friends over,’ he said.

  I glared at the back of his head as he turned away. His definition of friends actually meant girls. All six boys turned and looked at me.

  ‘Are you serious? Can’t you just go out and meet them at the pub?’

  The boys turned back to their game and I bit my lip as I watched them.

  The three men who had come to fetch me back were wearing nothing but jeans. The heating was high. They were getting worked up as they played a fighting game. The others had clothes on but were no less handsome.

  Swallowing a mouthful of water, I wondered whether to give in and go to bed. It didn’t look like the boys would leave me alone anytime soon.

  The phone rang. Everyone in the room froze. The only person that called was our mother. She had moved out two years ago.

  ‘Hello,’ I answered after a mad dash to grab the phone before the men did.

  ‘Pisces, it’s Mother. I need to let you know that he’s back…’

  The phone cut off and I swallowed hard.

  ‘He’s back,’ I announced, turning to the boys.

  They swore and jumped up from their seats, getting ready for a fight that hadn’t even started yet.

  ‘Did she say anymore?’ Aries said.

  I shook my head and came away from the phone. Father couldn’t find us; Mother had made sure of it but we needed to be on our guard. I didn’t believe Mother when she had said that he would harm us. When their relationship started to breakdown he left, leaving bad blood between them. After his departure her obsession with keeping us away from the rest of the world resulted in her installing cameras in every room. When she eventually left two years ago, we tried to get rid of them but she claimed that she was protecting us. We felt liberated after she’d left to some degree but being watched 24/7 was a constant strain. We all hated it.

  ‘It’s been five years. Why is he back?’ Leo came over to me.

  I shrugged as he grabbed me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. The hug was reassuring. I hadn’t even been aware that I needed one.

  Father was married to Mother when they had collected us from our birth parents and brought us to live together in the townhouse. As we grew older, Father had tried to persuade Mother to give us some space so we could get on with our lives and live more independently. Mother would have none of it; it was one of the reasons why their relationship fractured. We’d begged her to let us lead a more liberated lifestyle but she constantly told us that she had been entrusted with our care by the universe. She felt that it was her duty to safeguard us. She was also protecting us from the Dysfunctionals, who were out to destroy any goodness and love our mission enforced. Their aim was to create hatred and fear; ours was to bring love and unity back to mankind.

  When I had questioned her about the universe and who had entrusted her, she avoided the answer, which made me even more curious.

  We all rebelled in our teenage years but she still wouldn’t grant us freedom. I would cry at night, wishing I could go out and meet new friends. She tried to get us to see that our lives were bigger than ourselves. We were not on Earth to be free. We were home schooled and were never allowed out on our own. Of course, when we reached eighteen, we had limited time out and about to go to libraries and parks. When Mother left, the pub opened the boys’ eyes. And the women…

  ‘Do you think he’ll try to destroy us?’ Aries stepped forward and picked up the phone.

  ‘That’s only what Mother said. I don’t think he would. Not in a million years. She harbours a grudge since Father left. What are you doing?’ I snatched the phone from him.

  Aries’ face darkened. ‘Things have got to change,’ he said, holding out his hand.

  I looked between the men as they stepped forward. Something felt different somehow. I had always followed the rules, in spite of yearning to be free. We all had. It looked like the boys were about to go against the grain.

  ‘Pisces, we need to take charge of our own destiny but we need to stick together to do that.’ Handing him the phone, I took a step back. I couldn’t stop them. He was right. I had been dreaming of the day that I could leave the house and be on my own for good.

  ‘But…’ I stuttered.

  ‘Don’t you think we would make better partners for our soulmates if we experienced life more? You of all people know that.’ Scorpio said.

  Admitting he was right, even to myself, was hard. None of us were ready for love. The boys usually went to flirt with women, no commitment was ever involved. We had no experience of socialising with the opposite sex on a one to one basis, never mind leading an independent lifestyle. Finding our soulmate was our lifetime purpose. We needed to be ready for that. It seemed that the more I thought about being a soulmate, the less I wanted to carry out my mission.

  ‘We need to stick together but we promise to give you more freedom. We really do know how you’ve been feeling, it’s time for a change. Our lives can’t be governed by Mother any longer. We need to grow.’ Aries pressed the buttons on the phone.

  The distant sound of ringing filtered to my ears. He frowned when someone answered.

  After some awkward banter, Aries went straight to the point. ‘Mother…it’s time for us to become independent. It’s time to let us go. We need to start living a normal life, so we can find our soulmate naturally in a natural environment. We’re moving on.’ After a long silence, she spoke, leaving Aries hanging up the phone. ‘We should have done this years ago.’

  I was relieved that he had finally told her. The others reacted in different ways. Leo high-fived Aries. Scorpio just grinned.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ I asked.

  They became silent and avoided looking at me. I knew they had been hiding something. I had suspected for months. It was another reason why I had wanted to get out.

  ‘We have another house set up. We’re all going to live there.’ Scorpio took my hand.

  I blinked as I tried to wrap my head around what they were saying. They had obviously been thinking about defying Mother for a while.

  ‘We need to see the world without someone breathing down our necks,’ Aquarius said.

  I nodded, because I agreed. The house we lived in was more like a prison. ‘Great. When do we move?’

  ‘As soon as we’re all ready. Here, take this.’

  I looked at the address in Clapham on the card Aquarius gave me.

  He smiled and shrugged. ‘A good place to keep a low profile.’

  I shook my head. The boys could never be discreet. They always found themselves in trouble. I couldn’t help the small smile that came to my lips when I thought of their escapades.

  ‘We’ve set up a pretty amazing place. You’d have your freedom there.’

  I stilled as I looked at the card. I wanted my freedom but if I was honest, I was still scared. Okay, I had a couple of weeks living with Kat but it was scary at first. Also each one of us had an ability that we had to keep hidden. We always looked out for each other. If anyone outside our family discovered that I could breathe underwater, like Kat almost did, I would be turned into a science project.

  ‘Come with us. Everyone’s packing. If we go there now, we can be the first in. If you don’t like it, you can leave. We’ll come back tomorrow to pack our remaining belongings. Okay?’ Leo tried to take my hand.

  I gave a weak smile.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Cancer said, coming out of our room with Aries.

>   I nodded, defeated.

  They stared at me. They were probably trying to predict whether I was going to melt down in tears or just get on with it. They wouldn’t get any tears from me. I was ready for this, although a small part of me still felt trapped.

  ‘Let’s go!’ Scorpio called from the end of the hallway.

  We were leaving the safety of the nest. This time I wasn’t attempting to make it on my own. Leaving with the others made it more real somehow. Although we were still going to live together, it would be different. We would finally be free from our parents.

  ‘Let’s hope neither of them will find us now,’ Leo said, picking up my suitcase and throwing it on his shoulder. We went to his room where he put on a coat and grabbed his own suitcase. I took his much loved guitar and slung it over my back. He was right. If we wanted to be free to live our lives, we had to hide from them both. Father allegedly wanted to harm us and Mother just wanted to control us. It was time to leave.

  Everyone met in the hallway, before the boys shepherded the rest of us into the living area. Aries droned on as he explained the new plan. Now that Father had reappeared, we were all going to move to the new place. I looked around the room we had called home for most of our lives but didn’t feel anything. I was ready to leave the past behind. I had held on for too long.

  It was time to start again.