Misfits

7.1 | eavesdropper

❝thinking of you is a poison I drink often❞
ａｔｔｉｃｕｓ

___

   "ＷＨＡＴ time are you having that 'talk' with my mom?"

Being the master of subtlety that I am, I wait precisely five minutes after Mom leaves Emma's room before I knock on her door to ask a question I already know the answer to.

Emma is staring out the window when I come in. There is a fleeting look of surprise that crosses her expression when our eyes meet, as if she hadn't expected me to be the one on the other side. That's probably a good thing. It means she didn't hear me tumble over the pot of peace lilies in the hallway while trying to listen in to her conversation with my mother.

I try not to make a habit of eavesdropping often, but this morning my curiosity got the better of me. Maybe it had something to do with my most recent vision, but the idea of this 'talk' puts me on edge. It feels like an itch I can't scratch, an indistinct feeling that something disastrously wrong is going to happen soon.

And yet to the dismay of my now bruising shin, Mom and Emma's conversation turns out to be rather bland: a courteous greeting followed by a reminder to visit her study downstairs later this afternoon. Nowhere near as ominous as the vision I had last night had me fearing.

"She said around four, I think," Emma now replies to me.

I nod in response.

I take a glance around Emma's room before I step in, pacing across the boarded floor to the window where she stands. There's no doubt about it: my grandparents' house is meant to be inhabited by more than four people. Even with Emma now occupying the upstairs guest room and Cole, the one on the ground floor, we still have two spare rooms not in use by anyone in my family. It's easy to understand why Grandad appreciates having the extra company around. It makes the house feel a little less haunted.

In just one night, Emma has already settled into the room. The minimal luggage she brought with her is unpacked and the room is brimming with small knickknacks and memorabilia that have been carefully sorted into designated corners, breathing life into the once derelict space.

It surprises me a little — I assumed that as soon as she had her conversation with Morgana, she would be demanding to return to her uncle's and aunt's. Her room gives me the impression she plans on staying in Midas Creek for a while.

That reminds me—

"Emma, by the way..." I come to a stop when I am right beside her and hold up my phone. "Your aunt, Vic, she reached out to me a few weeks back asking for updates about you. Everything was so hectic back in Lucerne, I forgot to mention it then... What do you want me to say?"

Emma stares at my phone with an unreadable expression before she averts her gaze, returning to looking out the window.

"Don't... reply. For now," she says. "Just leave it as it is."

My brows knit together. "Are you sure?"

Emma hesitates for a moment before allowing her chin to dip up then down again. "Yes."

I don't try to hide my frown as I put my phone away. "Okay then."

I wait in silence for Emma to explain why, but instead she says, "It's really pretty here. Both the house, the trees, the view... Everything just looks so peaceful." She props an elbow on the window ledge and lets out a sigh. "It's the kind of thing Aunt Vic and Uncle Ted like."