White Rabbit

Chapter 41: Cognition

JACE

Upon arriving at Rai's apartment complex, the eight of us follow her up the giant pathway made of cement that has railing running along the side and resembles a stairway, but there are giant slabs of cement that stretch several feet instead of simple stairs. At the very top resides two lamp posts with round lights at the top of the posts and Rai grabs her keys out of her pocket before putting them in the door and unlocking it.

"Wow," Essence breathes out as she peers out around Reece's shoulder and into the apartment complex.

"Thanks," Rai laughs out as we enter her apartment and right away step foot on the dark grey tile floor that has splotches of black mixed in the stone here and there and several wooden bookshelves lining the dark grey walls with white trim.

She has a small table by the front door that she tosses her keys and mail on, and there's also a coat rack on the other side of the door. A few feet in the tile gets separated by a thin line of silver metal that marks the barrier between the entryway and the kitchen's light, tan, linoleum floor. Her kitchen consists of white walls, a bar with black marble for a countertop and three stools visible from the doorway, as well as counters that surround the bar that are made of black marble and cabinets that match the white wood, and a stainless steel sink. She also has a dark grey stove with black accents and a black microwave resting on one of the back counters close to the stove and her stainless steel fridge. She also has three lights hanging above the bar and a thin, see-through vase with a single rose in the center of the bar.

"I have three bedrooms and two bathrooms," Rai says, "There are two bedrooms and a bathroom to the left and the other bedroom and bathroom are over to the right. You can take your pick, but I usually stay in the one that's on the right."

"But that means there are three of us without a bed," I say.

"We can take turns sleeping," Clattonia says, "it's no big deal."

"Alright, fair enough," I say.

"I'm gonna go pick a room..." Lucian mumbles as he walks off to the left and Rai goes to the bar and stands on the side opposite to the stools so that she's facing us and she leans her elbows on the counter and rests her face in her hands.

"He really needs to lighten up," Rai sighs, "oh, and you guys can help yourselves to anything."

"I don't mean to pry," I start as I watch Rai's expression carefully, "but what's up with him?"

"He's just bummed out. I presume you know who Nightshade is? Well, Lucian wanted to become an ace detective like our father and he was well on his way to doing so, but he ended up falling for Nightshade. Obviously, Father didn't take well to it seeing as Lucian was his favorite prodigy and that Nightshade is a master thief and poison mistress. Therefore, our father disowned him. In the end, Nightshade ended up using him and left him heartbroken. He was left without a girlfriend and without a father," Rai explains, "but I'm still here for him."

"What about your mother?" I ask cautiously, fearing that it might be a sensitive topic.

"Oh," Rai waves her right hand before leaning more into her left hand and smiling lopsidedly, "she remarried whenever Lucian was five and I was eight. She really doesn't keep in contact with us, but she sends us cards every so often and presents on our birthdays. Our father was too immersed with his work and she felt neglected and stressed because she was the only one who was taking care of us, so she left him. I suppose there's a difference between being passionate about your work and living in it. Granted, he was never a bad father to us whenever we were young. I don't know if I can say the same now, but he just wants what's best in his eyes. Sadly, what he thinks is best isn't always the best. After all, he disowned his own son."