Ethereal

22- Getting Settled

"These are your rooms." Grady said, gesturing towards two identical doors sitting next to each other. Stepping forward, (Y/N) placed her hand on the knob of the door to the right, twisting it. The door swung open, revealing something that nearly made (Y/N)'s eyes pop out of their sockets.

Crystals of all shapes and colors dangled from the ceiling in glittery cords, and flowers of different shades of blue were woven into the carpet, filling the air with their sweet scent. A huge canopy bed was placed near the middle-end of the room, and an entire closet and dressing area took up an entire wall. Built in bookshelves full of colorful volumes filled the wall beside the bed, and the door to a grand bathroom filled the last wall, complete with a waterfall shower and a bathtub the size of a swimming pool. This one room took up half of the entire third floor.

"I hope it's okay," Edaline said, biting her lip.

"Are you kidding? This is amazing!" (Y/N) said with a grin as she ran inside, face planting into her bed with a blissful sigh.

Half of the second floor was Grady and Edaline's bedroom, and the other half was a long hall with three closed doors. Two were their personal offices. The last one they didn't explain, but (Y/N) could assume that it was Jolie's. They didn't forbid her from going to that part of the house, but with the way their voices were strained, (Y/N) and Sophie decided it was best to not do any snooping there.

After a delicious but awkwardly quiet dinner of a soupy, green substance that tasted like pizza, (Y/N) and Sophie were left alone to unpack.

(Y/N) grabbed her backpack, sitting on the bed as she dumped out its contents, sorting through the objects she had brought.

A pair of human clothes, a charm bracelet, a hand-sized box, her phone, earbuds, and a few books.

(Y/N) grabbed the clothing, walking over to the walk-in closet and shoving them into the farthest shelf, never to see the light of day again.

Next, she placed the books in their place, keeping them on a separate shelf than the other books, and placing her phone and earbuds on a table next to her bed.

Looking at the last two items on the bed, (Y/N) heaved a sigh, not ready to be any more emotionally exhausted after the hectic day she just had. Bit then she heard Sophie's faint sobs from the room over, and (Y/N)'s form visibly slouch over, feeling sad for the blonde female next door.

Pulling in another breath to steel her nerves, she quickly grabbed the items off the bed, before marching over to Sophie's room.

Raising a fist up to the door, (Y/N) hesitated, before rapping it against the wood. Sophie's sobs dampered out.

Opening the door, (Y/N) stuck her head in, a weak smile on her face. "It's (Y/N). I wanted to see how you were doing."

Sophie stared at her with a blank face. "I think it's obvious."

(Y/N) let out a low chuckle, before sitting on the bed beside Sophie. "So do you want to talk about it, or be distracted from it?"

Sophie sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "Talk about it, I guess? I feel like I've been trying to push away the problem until later this entire day."

Sophie took in a deep breath, her eyes closing. "I guess unpacking just made everything seem so real. And now we're living in this too perfect world where everything we know is wrong," She let out a sigh. "At least my family isn't missing me the way I'm them. They'll have a better life without me."

A sorrowful smile crossed Sophie's lips, before another sob came. Tears escaped her eyes as she broke down, burying her face in her hands. (Y/N) scooched closer to Sophie, wrapping her in a hug. The two of them sat there, with only Sophie's sobs to break the silence. Eventually, even her tears faded away, having cried herself dry.

"Are you feeling any better?" (Y/n) murmured, rubbing her back.

Sophie sniffed. "Yeah. I have to get over it eventually..."

As she was speaking, her eyes drifted towards the object in (Y/N)'s hands. "What's that?"

"Hmm?" (Y/N) hummed, following Sophie's gaze. "Oh. These are just a few things I brought here from my... human life."

Setting the charm bracelet on the covers of Sophie's bed, (Y/N) opened the box, pulling out a stack of vivid pictures.

Going through them, (Y/N) smiled fondly at the old memories. "When I was 7, I got a camera for christmas. It was already used and everything, but I still thought it was the coolest thing in the world. As you can tell, I kinda want photo crazy."

Sophie chuckled at (Y/N)'s comment as she was inspecting the photos, but paused when one in particular caught her eye. "Who are they?"

(Y/N) turned towards Sophie, her eyes saddening when she saw the photo. She picked it up, brushing her thumb over the faces in the photo. She still remembered that day. The orphanage had taken everyone to the beach, and the whole day had been filled with sandcastles, swimming and fun.

"You could say they're people from a better time." (Y/N) whispered.