Æmilia's Ashes: One
Isaac walked nonchalantly towards the old building where his friend lived. glanced into the uninhabited front flat, the creeping ivy and crumbling bricks, wondering to himself why on earth Victor was living here. The man had plenty of scholarships with which to find some more appropriate accommodation... He supposed his friend was used to it, considering where he had grown up.
He probably didn't like change. All the furniture in his parents' house was old and worn. Likely second hand. But not Isaac - Isaac was never afraid of new things, of change. In fact, he rather liked the notion.
The staircase's rail was cold to the touch - almost slimy. The damp seemed to get in here; it wasn't build to withstand the area's weather.
Victor looked up at the intruder. A flash of surprise flew across his face before he recognised the man, then resignation.
Isaac strolled across the little flat, sat himself down opposite his friend and lit a cigarette. "Afternoon, Vic."
Victor coughed at the smell of the smoke. "Hey, Isaac." After a few moments' pause, he added, "Would you like a drink? I was just about to get myself some-"
"Yeah, a beer."
When Victor came back, he peered at his friend's eyes - or more precisely, the purple shadows beneath them. "Are you alright? You look a bit rough."
Isaac initially responded with a grunt and a drag of his cigarette.
Then he grinned. "I was out at a party last night. At that Landgraab boy's."
Victor nodded slowly before Isaac continued. "Yeah, I met a girl." He chuckled to himself. "Weird clothes, but she was hot. Really keen, too. She wanted to see me tonight, but I had to decline. A guy needs a day off. So it's tomorrow." He laughed and twiddled with his cigarette.
Victor laughed along, but he felt suddenly awkward. He had suspected his friend before, but hadn't wanted to ask because he might have been accused of disloyalty - he knew how Isaac was - but this was different. The man had explicitly stated his intentions. "Ahh..." he started awkwardly, fumbling for words.
"What?"
"Nothing."
For a while, he sat uncomfortably whilst Isaac smoked, gingerly holding onto the now-forgotten beer. His hand was tingling from the cold, and it was becoming difficult to keep a grip on the bottle, before a loud knock came at the door.
Victor sat up straight, ears pricked up to hear if it was whom he'd expected. Isaac had given him a fright earlier, and he now suspected there might be more unforeseen arrivals.
A woman's voice came belting through the flat's thin walls. "Open up, you buffoon! Would you leave a girl stranded out here waiting in the cold?"
Victor hurriedly placed the bottle on the floor, edging it as far out of sight as possible without spilling it, leapt from his seat and made for the door, while his guest thumped at it with a balled fist and shouted through.
"Are you pissing, or something? Right, whatever, I'm coming in in thirty seconds."
When he opened the door, the woman almost fell into his arms, dropping her luggage on the floor: she had been leaning on the door, battering with her shoulders and fists. Victor gave her a tight, friendly hug, nearly lifting her off her feet, laughing, yet still aware of the eyes on his back. He let go, and quickly picked up her fallen suitcase.
"It's so good to see you! How was your trip?"
She began to animatedly recount her stories: "It was bloody tiring was what it was! Worth it, though. There were so many amazing museums. I didn't even get to go to them all, but I think I got round most of the ones I really wanted to see. My absolute favourite was-"
Isaac cut her off. "Alright, Sofa, enough of that. I doubt any of it's true anyway. Did you visit the fairy museum?" He guffawed at his own joke, and Victor halfheartedly joined in, until he saw the look on Siofra's face.
He gave her an apologetic smile, and another hug, whispering in her ear, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know he'd come. I know what you two are like... I would never have invited him. Go sit and I'll sort your bags."
Siofra stiffly stalked towards the settee, unappeased.
"So, tell us more about your great trip. There wasn't a werewolf, was there?"
Siofra just scowled at him.
Give me strength.
While Victor was away, Isaac tried to tease Siofra a bit more, but gave up when she offered no response. After a while, another knock came at the door. Victor was showing no signs of returning, and Isaac was showing no signs of answering it.
She tutted as she passed the television, in the hope it might let Isaac know he wouldn't get away with treating her like that, but still she knew he would never learn, and would always be allowed to trample over others.
She opened the door, and her mood soured further when she saw who was on the other side.
The beautiful, willowy woman wasn't quite thrilled at who greeted her either. She sneered at Siofra a moment before looking away, and walked in, heels clacking on the cold wooden floor.
Saying not a word, she opened the door the rest of the way herself, knocking it into the other woman, who nearly lost her balance. She floated across the room, leaving Siofra to close the door behind her.
When she sat down, Isaac pulled her over and kissed her cheek.
"Evening, Nelly," he said.
The woman pulled away with an aloof scowl. "Don't call me that; I'm not an elephant."
Isaac's barked laugh suggested that he would dispute that claim. "I was at Landgraab's party last night. Shame you couldn't come."
"Yes, a shame." She could see where this conversation was going.
Relations should be allowed at these things. How many cousins away are you, again?"
"Quite a few."
"Well, it depends on how you define cousins, doesn't it? Does that count?"
"I don't know."
The evening progressed much in that manner. Isaac continued churning out smoke and anecdotes, and Cornelia added the occasional remark so as not to let him be left talking to himself. She spoke with the fervour of an enthusiastic gossip, yet when she was silent, her eyes seemed to glaze over with the sort of weary ennui which befalls those who find themselves alone in crowds.
Victor stared stoically at the television, hiding the bottle with his leg and halfheartedly laughing on occasion (although he was likely forgotten by now), wishing not to look at the couple lest Cornelia somehow see in his eyes his newfound knowledge and be rudely awoken from her bliss.
The other woman sat in stony silence, eyes boring a hole into the floor, tongue itching to be wet.
Siofra sighed as she finally entered her own flat for the first time since arriving home. The flat was dimly lit: it seemed that, in her hurry, she had forgotten to turn off the light when she left a week ago. She had hoped to spend an evening joking and telling stories with her friend, but that plan had been foiled when she had seen that oaf Isaac lounging in her usual seat.
She stood with a groan, deciding that she would unpack in the morning. She was too tired to bother now, late as it was.
The light flickered out, and Siofra remembered that that had been her last bulb. She fumbled for the switch, and turned it off, then went and lit the candle in the corner of her small kitchen.
The local news was on. She had missed a lot while she was away and was glad for the opportunity to see what had happened in her absence. An image flashed up of a girl wearing pink, "as seen a few hours before her disappearance." The picture was blurred, they had enlarged shot which caught her in the background, stumbling around with a drink in her hand. Stupid drunk kids.
She reached down to her boots. She was going to bed after she had finished watching this.
"Miss Carmichael was last seen at a party hosted by the heir of the businessman John Carr at ten o'clock last night. Students at the university have posted notices online asking for information, stating that 'Holly is a shy, sweet girl who takes part in many societies at uni and has made many good friends in her first year.' The university has not released a formal statement yet, but many..."
The mention of Landgraab reminded Siofra of her evening listening to Cornelia gossip about the party to which she had not been invited, and "some fat girl" who had been invited as a joke by some of the more malicious students moving in those circles.
Cornelia's cutting voice echoed through Siofra's mind.
"You can hardly be surprised; there are consequences for wearing some ugly jumper to one of Carr's parties. I mean, it's the start of summer. What was she thinking?"
Siofra's mood had soured at the reminder of her evening and the company kept by Victor. She was sick of hearing about student dramas and Chinese whispers. She switched off her television and stalked off to her fridge.
That night she added a few more bottles to her pile.
