Emma stood, watching the car drive off until it was out of sight. She hesitated before going into the house, not really wanting to be home.
She loved her family, truly, but with the way she was feeling, being home wasn’t going to be helpful for her, or anyone. If school was frustrating, being at home was about twice as much. She wondered if she could call Chase back and do something with him that evening instead. Another reason she'd stuck with school so long, it was another reason to stay away from the usually oppressive atmosphere at home. But she knew she couldn’t just turn back around and leave, knew she had responsibilities to attend to. It wouldn’t be fair to escape, thinking only of herself.
She sighed and entered the house.
Almost immediately, she wanted to step outside and pretend to be peaceful a moment longer. The grocery delivery bags were strewn in the hallway, probably from when they were dropped off hours ago. Since she didn’t have the time and no one else left the house, it was necessary. But it was becoming a common occurrence to walk home to find unattended deliveries, and it never grew less annoying.
Her grandmother, Janice was dozing on the couch. She slept more than anything these, but usually she was in her room. Emma didn’t like her being by herself. Even if something happened and she was awake, the possibility that she defend herself was low, but Emma didn’t care about the logistics when it was dangerous either way.
Emma wondered where her sister could be. She knew Merry would never leave the house alone because of her phobias, though, so she decided it was likely she was in her 'den.' She rolled her eyes, set her things aside to lighten her load. Sure enough, when she went upstairs, she found her sister in her bedroom.
She was meditating, surrounded by scented candles that made Emma's nose twitch, and her tarot cards laid out in front of her. It was another common sight that never grew less annoying, and she couldn’t help the loud sigh that ruined her sister's concentration, eyes snapping open. She shot a glare at Emma that was returned in kind, only fiercer. She was used to her sister's moods already. If only they would stop.
Dark eyes glared at her under a dark mane of unkempt hair, bags underlining them. They looked a lot alike, but Merry wasn’t big on looking after herself. Emma had to look in a mirror, make herself presentable for her job, but her sister didn’t have that need and she rarely bothered. Emma considered it a small miracle she occasionally remembered to at least shower on her own. Though Emma would have been glad if Merry looked after their aging grandmother some more, she knew the dynamics when she left home were usually the reverse.
"You ruined my meditative state."
Emma just rolled her eyes at the bland accusation, not even the least bit guilty.
"You've had all day to meditate," she snapped back, a little more harshly than intended, but she wouldn’t take it back. "But since you've stopped for now, anyway, you should come and help with unpacking the groceries."
Merry crossed her arms over her chest, scowling sullenly as she huffed. "I don’t want to right now, just let me finish what I was doing."
"No excuses," she narrowed her eyes threateningly.
"But I was doing something important," she insisted, and Emma rolled her eyes.
"You can come back after you help me."
But of course, it couldn’t just be that easy. Merry was hard to deal with. She hadn't always been that way, but after their parents died and she grew older, she grew a fascination with weird things. Emma blamed herself, she had let it foster, thinking it was her sibling's way of coping with what had happened. She had responsibilities falling on her she didn’t have before, either, but Emma still took the bulk. She didn’t blame her sister, but she would have appreciated some cooperation, at least.
Merry was acting childishly, protesting as they bickered back and forth like they were both years younger than their actual ages. Times like this, it was hard to remember Merry was actually older, twenty nine to Emma's twenty five years. But they had been living together long enough to know how to deal with each other, since they'd pretty much always stuck at home. Eventually, she agreed, getting up grudgingly and slinking out of her room.
It startled Emma, like it always did, how thin her sister was. She was four years older and an inch taller, but she always looked so frail, like a light breeze could blow her away. Emma calmed down as she followed her downstairs and they picked the grocery bags, taking them over to the kitchen and started unpacking.
"So, how was your day," she started conversationally, glancing over at Merry as she arranged things in the fridge.
"I had a premonition."
She wasn’t even fazed by that statement, it no longer threw her. She was always skeptical of her sister's predictions, and found it hard not to roll her eyes. That was something else that had changed after their parents' death. Since Merry had felt uneasy just before it happened, she'd convinced herself she could see the future.
"Whatever you say, Merry," she answered calmly, putting away some cans in a cupboard.
She wouldn’t consider her sister crazy, but she did get tired of the topic. She couldn’t fight against it because it would only start another argument. They were both stubborn and a fight meant being at home would be unbearable for as long as they kept up the argument. More often than not, Emma was the one backing down, more for the sake of her own sanity than anything else.
When the sounds behind her suddenly stopped, she turned around to see her sister standing still with her back to Emma. She was about to ask if there was a problem, when the other woman suddenly spoke.
"A terrible event is coming our way, and we should prepare for the world's end."
Her voice, her words, were serious. She didn’t turn around, and in that moment, Emma was so glad, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to see what expression her sister had on just then. She felt a shiver work its way down her back, feeling uneasy.
Cut it out.
She shook her head, shook away the uneasiness. It was foolish to take something so paranoid so seriously. Her sister was wrong. Even though she didn’t feel as calm as before, she ignored her sister and the light churning in her stomach.
Putting the rest of the groceries away, sans what they'd need for their dinner, she moved to the cooker, setting out a couple of pots but not turning anything on at the moment. She just suddenly needed to be out of that room, by herself. She told herself sternly that she was, in no uncertain terms, running away.
"Would you cut the vegetables for dinner? I'm going to go check on grandmother."
Merry didn’t argue, just moved to do as told. As Emma left the room, she heard what her sister muttered to herself but ignored it as well.
"You'll be sorry when my predictions come true.
