34

Mia
The weekend holiday came to an end. I woke up – I snorted – I didn’t sleep a wink. Who was I kidding? I hadn’t been able to sleep a wink after the triplets had left. I had been busy thinking of them, how I felt about them, what my thoughts were of the whole situation and more importantly, I hadn’t been able to keep my mind off the sorceress.
What had Quinn called her? I sighed. I didn’t even know what to call the sorceress. He had said that she was a genderless dark wizard who could switch forms. It sent a shudder to me to know that someone could be a male or a female anytime they wished without going through an operation.
I was going to stick to calling her a female. That was the form I had seen her in, the form I had known of her and what I was going to stick to. I wasn’t about to drive myself crazy wondering what gender it initially was. The witch or wizard or whatever it was wasn’t worth losing my sanity over.
I prayed that she didn’t get free. I had a huge chunk of fear streaming through my body all through midnight till dawn, thinking about the sorceress getting free.
She seemed like someone who was good at holding grudges – like me. I snorted and rolled my eyes at myself. I really needed to stop comparing myself to that woman.
I hoped that I hadn’t messed up with the woman’s cage and given her an opportunity to set herself free. I was sure that I hadn’t and I heaved out a sigh of relief.
If the woman got free, I had no doubt that she was coming for me. After all, I had been the reason that Quinn had attacked her and cut her hand with a dagger. She was going to for me for that to avenge the pain she had felt.
How would I learn to avoid her if she got free and came for me when she could change her appearance and I wouldn’t be able to recognize her? I couldn’t protect myself from someone like that and I doubted that the triplets could as well, despite them being stronger than I was.
I just couldn’t close my eyes to sleep, regardless of how hard I tried. I was afraid I would have nightmares of the wizard though it was almost morning. I couldn’t get the image of her hand growing back after it was cut from my head
Dang, that was creepy. A whole lot of it.
I started packing my clothes immediately it was morning, even though it was still too early to do that. What was the point of wasting time when I didn’t have much better things to do? I needed a distraction as well and packing my bags was the only thing I could think of to do.
I was already prepared for work before breakfast time and as I checked my reflection in the mirror, after I was done dressing up, I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped from my lips. I looked haggard despite my make-up.
It was obvious that I hadn’t had a good night’s rest and that was what I was trying to show with the make-up I had applied on my face. I wanted my face to look rosy but it seemed like my body was too tired for my skin to comply with what I wanted to achieve with the cosmetics.
Mum was going to ask questions and I didn’t want that. I decided to apply another touch of make-up quickly to my face before I had to go out. I hoped that it wouldn’t be too much though and winced at the thought of that. I hated heavy make-up and rarely used it. Having a heavy splash of it on my face was going to cause mum to ask questions and I was trying to avoid that, at all costs.
I was about to get my brush when mum called me for breakfast. I let out a groan as I rolled my eyes and returned the brush, back to the bag it was. It seemed like there wouldn’t be any more make-up sessions for me. Mum would come back to get me if I wasn’t at the table in the next two minutes and the last thing I needed was mum barging in on me while I was applying make-up and asking me right there in my room why I was bothering with heavy dose of it.
I walked out of the room and as usual, everyone else was already seated. I was the last to get to the dining table. I really needed to get an award for being consistent.
The three brothers were already seated. They murmured their greetings to me in an indifferent manner as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t saved me from death and told me of how their mother had died, as if they weren’t the ones telling me of how much they missed me just few hours ago.
I shook my head at them. They were really an unstable bunch of people.
Albert looked at them and shook his head. “Is that how you greet the sister you haven’t seen in months?” He grunted at them with disapproval.
“You boys should behave.” He told them.
“Yes, daddy.” The boys echoed.
“You look tired, my dear.” Mum said and I sighed. I should have known that she would eventually notice.
“I couldn’t sleep well last night.” I replied with a glance at the boys, daring them to snicker or do anything.
They ignored me and I was relieved.
“You are already missing us.” Albert said, his tone softening.
“I think so.” I smiled at him, going along with the excuse.
I wanted to blow him a kiss for throwing me a lifeline. He was an angel and I blamed myself for believing what the sorceress had said about him, even for just a moment.
“You have make-up on.”
I groaned at my mother’s words. Oh, mum, can we just stop with the embarrassment already?
Albert chuckled. “Maybe she has a boyfriend that she wants to impress when she gets back there.”
The boys all raised their heads up and glared at me at their father’s words and I scowled at them, wondering what their problem was. They averted their eyes and focused on their meals.
I noticed how he hadn’t said when I got back home as if he had concluded that where I was at the moment with all of them was home and nothing else could beat it. I was always stunned at his acceptance of me and that had never ceased to bring tears to my eyes.
I couldn’t cry now though at the table and behaved myself. I sat at the dining table like a pin cushion, acting like a proper sister as Jack offered me seafood and John offered me vegetables.
Our parents smiled as they watched the interaction among the four of us, and I dared not resist. Mum was certainly going to call me in for a long talk and ask me what my problem was if I rejected the boys’ offer. I could only lower my head and accept their gestures, eager to quickly finish the breakfast.
After I was done with breakfast, I said my goodbyes to everyone and was about to go back to my room to get my bag when the brothers offered to drive me to work.
I hid my snort and wondered what they were up to. Had they planned to frustrate me when they had left my room? Under the watchful eye of their stepfather, they were considerate to me, making me feel cherished. I also knew that they were using that against me as well. They knew that I couldn’t say no to their nicely said demands if Albert and my mum were there.
I sighed. Those conniving three little bastards. I thought of their build and reminded myself that they weren’t little and I would be a fool to think that they were.
In the car, I sat in the front passenger seat, tucking myself in neatly without a word to them. They acted like the perfect gentlemen and were the ones who put my bags into the trunk of the car.
The boys got into the car some minutes later and we were all ready to move. Quinn drove while Jack and John sat in the back, chatting away like they didn’t have any concerns in the world.
I remained silent as they asked about my job in great detail, which began to annoy me.
“Would you just keep quiet?” I snapped at them.
I hoped that would tell them I wasn’t in a good mood to talk to them and we would all have a peaceful and silent ride to the city but they didn’t get the drift. I wondered why they had decided to drive me at all. I could have gone back with the driver and I wouldn’t have to endure this awkward atmosphere.
It was bad that I was manipulated into riding with them, I didn’t want to pretend like I was fine with it and start chatting about what I believed was none of their business.
They laughed at me. “We only want to fulfill our brotherly duties, sister.”
I gave them an irritated look, wishing that they would stop laughing. No, I wished that we would get to the city soon and I could get rid of them.