The Death Of Romance

Chapter Six: Lament of the Canaries

Aroura had been devastated about the canaries. No canaries meant no exorcism, and Larry's ghost had been driving her up the wall for days now. I didn't much mind it though. The creaking sound the house made when he slid through its piping helped me relax.

"What am I to do now?" Aroura moaned in despair. "I cannot withstand Larry's constant racket! It infringes on my sleeping schedule!"

"Don't fret, sister, you look even more horrid without sleep than with it." I soothed.

"You really think so?" Aroura seemed to brighten up. She smiled (because she had never found smiling as strenuous as I had), and showed those brilliantly decayed teeth.

"Heavens, yes. You are already starting to develop bags under your eyes. It makes them look like two giant pits. Like Tartarus."

Aroura wailed like a dying Banshee and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, "Elvie, you are too good to me. Truly. I shall never despise anyone as much as I do you."

The walls screeched, almost as if in the throes of labour, then the television in the room opposite Aurora's flicked on. We could see it through the doorway - static, and if you narrowed your eyes, you could almost make out a face.

Aroura pushed me away so forcefully that I whacked my head against her wardrobe. It left a delightful aching in my skull. "Oh, Larry, will you desist?!"

"He is probably bored, perhaps we should call Lucy," I suggested, and I saw a glare in Aroura's eyes at the mere mention of her ex-boyfriend, "I am certain he could make Larry's death a little more...final."

"Absolutely not!" Aroura hissed, "I am not welcoming him into my house again!"

"Come now, sister, there is no need to be unkind," I replied, though I could see that no amount of convincing was going to change her mind, "you can stay in your room, if you like, while I summon him."

"No, I simply will not allow it!" Aurora snapped back, baring her pointed teeth like a hungry piranha.

"But Cousin Larry-" before I could get another word of protest passed my lips, there was a firm knock at the door.

Aurora jumped from her bed, as if she had been bitten squarely in the bottom by a snake. She hurried towards the window and squished her forehead against it, straining to make sense of the figure standing outside. "Oh, a visitor! Pretty thing she is, too...but that yellow dress truly is ghastly."

"Y-Yellow dress?" I stammered, mind reeling with the memory of Sabra's haunting features.

"Are you falling ill, sister?" Aurora's voice echoed in the back of my mind, along with another loud knock at the door. "You're turning pink... Did you go outside without an umbrella again? Elvira, dear, you know how sensitive your skin is!"

"I...I should welcome our guest," I tried to say with more confidence than I felt, "before they think poorly of us."

"I suppose-" Aurora started, but I was already hurrying out of the room. It should be noted that 'hurrying' was more like a brisk walk in my book rather than a sprint or a jog.

The stairs felt like large cubes of jell-o as I wobbled down them, but by some miracle, I managed to reach the door and open it without falling flat on my face. "Sabra! What a pleasant surprise! Did the pet shop send you about the canaries?"

"Canaries?" Sabra's face scrunched in obvious confusion. "I'm here because...well... I don't think I've been a very welcoming neighbour and-"

"Oh, I see. The officer sent you."

"Wh-What? No! I mean, how did you-"

I held a hand up, fingers inches away from her lips. The Glutton Killer had been the talk of the town for months now, and though they could not find substantial evidence for a search warrant, many within the police force suspected my family. It was quite flattering, actually.

"Do not fret, he has been sending people here for a while now. I have nothing to hide, of course, but I am not inclined to let strangers skulk around my home."

"Yeah, totally get that, I'll just leave then..." Sabra's gaze had fallen to the ground, embarrassment clear in the way she fiddled with her engagement ring.

"Why? You are no stranger," I said with a slight tilt of the head, "you may enter if you wish it."

Sabra hesitated. Her dark eyes finally met mine, and I could almost hear the inner debate firing in her head - was I really a serial killer? If I was, would I risk murdering someone that the police had sent to investigate?

The answer to both was no, and she seemed to come to that same conclusion herself because she soon stepped passed the threshold and into my home.

The door creaked as I closed it, but even that wasn't loud enough to conceal the thumping footsteps of Aurora as she entered the room.

"Wait a moment, she looks familiar," Aurora hummed, analysing every last inch of Sabra's face, "are you not the one that cursed my poor, darling sister?"

"Cursed?" Sabra questioned, brow furrowing.

"How could you do such a horrid thing?" Aurora continued without much concern for her bewilderment. "Why, Elvira has been singing to herself at night, singing to the sky! She is sure to lose her mind next. Though I admire your talent, you simply must undo your curse before she turns to mush!"

"Aurora, please, you are confusing our guest," I stepped in front of Sabra instinctively, and gestured towards the exit, "surely you have some errands to run... Why not do them now, while we are here to watch the house?"

"Very well, I know when I am unwanted," Aurora huffed, storming towards the door, "but beware, dear sister, do not be swayed by her enchantments."

She left with a graceful twirl that sent the ends of her dress in the air, they floated around her and gave the impression that she was floating above the ground. A phantom with black lipstick.

"I...don't think your sister likes me," Sabra finally spoke, but I could tell from the crease forming between her brows that her mind was racing with a dozen different questions at once.

"Not to worry, I am sure she will come to truly hate you," I reassured, watching her puzzled expression only intensify, "come, I will show you around."