Single But Engaged ✔️

10: You're not ready, stupid!

“Aunt Tilly,” I heard Emma say.

“Aunt Tilly?” I echoed, feeling genuinely confused now. Why would she look this way because of her aunt? For heaven's sake, she looked like she just escaped a near-death experience. 

As if I wasn't confused enough, I caught the unadulterated horror in Aiden's eyes when he said, “Aunt Tilly? You mean she's here already?”

Emma could only nod. “I was on my way down when I saw her.”

“Did she see you?”

“I think she did. But I immediately ran back up before she could do anything.” 

However, that must not have been the answer Aiden hoped for, given how he massaged his temple in the manner of one who had just been informed they'd be sacrificing their liver.

When he finally spoke again, it was: “then we don't have much time. She must be on her way to look for you already.”

“Do you really think she'd do that?” Emma questioned, voice panicked.

“Do you really think she wouldn't?” He asked back, leaving her to facepalm herself.

Ok, seriously, who was this Aunt Tilly person?

“You're right. I'm sure she will.”

“Of course she will,” Aiden chimed. “Which is why you should go out and meet her before she does.”

“What?” She piped up – quite loudly if I might add. “I can't go out there and meet her.”

“If you don't, she'll come here, and then she'll find the three of us instead. Just think of it as taking the first shift.” 

“But the first shift is the worst. You take it, and I'll take the next one,” she declared, crossing her arms to emphasize her stance. 

“Listen, Em, I don't think it's much of a choice given that she's already seen you,” he reasoned, his hands gently reaching for her shoulders. “I promise I'll take the next shift, so please just take this one. I know it will be hard, but I believe in you. Do this for…humanity.”

“I don't know...” She trailed off unsurely. 

This time, I couldn't help from voicing the thought on my mind. “Who's this Aunt Tilly that's making you guys so freaked out?”

At that, they both turned to stare simultaneously at me as though I'd just asked the craziest thing possible.

“She's our mom's older sister and–”

“Our tormentor,” Emma finished for him, to which he nodded in agreement.

“It's not that she's bad. She's a nice person – a little over enthusiastic but nice. It's just that she has this laugh that haunts your dreams,” Aiden explained, seeming to shiver even as he said it.

“Her laugh can drive you crazy if you stay around it for longer than a second,” Emma chipped in. “And she is always talking and laughing over one thing or the other.”

“And she never gives you the chance to escape. So, you're stuck hearing that painful sound over and over while feeling yourself slowly lose your mind and wish for death,” Aiden chimed.

“And wish for death,” Emma repeated after him, shaking her head meaningfully. 

Now, I was beginning to feel myself grow scared of this Aunt Tilly person as well. If she was really anything like they'd described, I wasn't sure I was ready to be around her.