25. Anevae

As I tried to clear my mind, I stared at my glass of water until I heard a knock at the front door. Nearly falling out of my chair, I regained my composure. Chances were it was my sister. Still, I crept to the window to confirm. Sure enough, she stood there wearing a garlic necklace, just as she had joked about in her text. I rushed to the door and threw it open. Reaching out, I yanked her inside and slammed the door shut, locking the deadbolt and slide lock I hadn't used since I moved in.

"Thank goodness you're here. I was so worried the vampire would get you," I said.

Eiri reached out and held me for a while as I gripped her tightly, never wanting to let her go. She grounded me at that moment. Out of everyone, my sister understood me the most; she'd been through everything with me. While I worried I may have sounded crazy, we grew up listening to our mom"s stories about Caellaias and the beings that inhabited the kingdom.

Finally, Eiri shuffled me over to the couch. When I was settled, she retreated to the kitchen to make some tea. Our mom always did this when we were upset or not feeling well, and my sister and I kept the tradition.

When she returned, she sat and handed me my tea before calmly saying, "Start from the beginning."

We spent the rest of the day discussing what happened over the previous week; I divulged information that I wouldn't have told anyone else about the relationship I developed with Maeyve, what I learned about her, and how that affected me. Then, I told her what had happened with the vampire earlier in the day and how Maeyve had saved me. I explained that Maeyve was actually the black fox I had been seeing in the area. She stopped me multiple times to ask questions, making sure that I could trust what Maeyve had told me, but when I explained Maeyve's transformation into her fox form, Eiri finally understood.

"As concerned and suspicious as I am, I will always believe what you tell me. I would say that I think we should talk to Momma about this encounter you had with the vampire, but then she'll feel obligated to tell Poppa. We wouldn't be in this situation if they had prepared us in the first place. They've kept so much from us, and I don't feel like I can trust them anymore," Eiri said.

"Exactly. I'm just so angry at them! I don't want to be brought home and never be told I can leave again. I don't want them to fight our battles anymore. I'm sure there's a reason they never told us, but I don't understand why," I said.

Eiri nodded in agreement. "They need to realize and remember that we are grown women; we can make our own decisions, and if that means we don't want to go home, then we shouldn't have to. I wish they would have told us about Caellaias."

"I wish Momma could help and explain things without involving Poppa. She's always been the level-headed one. No wonder Poppa was always so defensive when Momma told us stories about Caellaias; who knows what else he's hiding from us? If we go home, who's to say they won't continue to keep things from us even though we deserve the truth?"

Eiri thought about it and agreed. "We will get this figured out. We need to do some investigating outside at some point, though."

As I looked at Eiri and processed what she said, terror took over, and I began to hyperventilate. What if the vampire was still out there, waiting for me? What if he took Eiri? There was no way that Eiri and I would be prepared to fend off a vampire. It was stupid to make Maeyve leave the way I did, but I needed space to breathe and my sister to talk things through with me. She was the only one who could understand why I was so upset. I'd have to reach out to her the next day so we could talk about things.

Eiri attempted to comfort me again. "Shh. Shh. One step at a time. We can do this."

She'd helped me through numerous panic attacks in the past, so we knew the best ways to calm them together. We used every technique we had developed over the years, but each one only seemed to help for a few minutes at a time.

When nothing was helping, I got up and began pacing until I got dizzy. Then I stopped and sat on the floor, pulling my knees as close to my chest as possible. Eiri joined me and rubbed my back to help ground me while I tried to talk myself out of my spiral.

"We'll work on getting out of this cabin one day at a time, but I cannot constantly bring you things, and I don't think things can be delivered here. It's worth a shot, but I highly doubt it will work," Eiri said quietly.

I was grateful to have her as my sister; she would do anything for me. But she deserved to live a life where she wasn't constantly caring for or worrying about me. Tears welled in my eyes. I have to do something to fix this.

"Let's do something to distract you for now. How about some movies or TV shows? We could watch some comedies to get you laughing," Eiri suggested.

I nodded. Eiri stood and headed to the kitchen to get some comfort foods while I found something to watch. I queued up a comedy I'd wanted to see, then went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face.

My reflection stared back at me; I looked awful. My long, crimson hair was a tangled mess. My eyes were bloodshot, and the skin around my eyes, cheeks, and nose was bright cherry red. Turning on the faucet, I collected some water and rubbed it onto my warm face.

When I was done, I returned to the living area, where Eiri waited. She had pulled some of my blankets out of their cubby and brought some pillows from my bed, which she arranged to allow for maximum comfort. I knew she hadn't planned to spend the night with me, but I also knew she'd do anything for me. She was more than happy to oblige if that meant an unexpected sleepover.

We watched a few movies, and halfway into the third, Eiri fell fast asleep. I quietly snuck off the couch to get some water and stretch. I was still overly tense but had calmed down some. I peered out the window as I stood at the sink to get my water. Just inside the tree line, the black fox was lying down on the floor of the woods, staring directly at me. Knowing Maeyve was still looking over me was comforting.

After drinking my water, I returned to the couch where my sister still slept. I turned the TV off, covered her with a blanket, and grabbed my pillow to take upstairs. Eiri didn't stir once.

I quietly climbed the stairs so I didn't wake her, heading for the bathroom to shower and prepare for bed. The shower felt amazing, with the hot water running over my sore body. Once I was dried off, I put on some pajamas, did my bedtime routine, and crawled into bed. I lay there awake for a while, tossing and turning. I still couldn't get my mind clear. Once I was comfortable enough, I drifted off to sleep.