It was a sunny Saturday in the winter. That meant quite a few people were out and about with their friends or family.
Nalda wished the same could be said about her. She sat by the window staring at the beautiful sun outside and the people walking down the street. She was very jealous.
She was in her bedroom sitting by her desk and staring at her homework for about 15 minutes before the sun blinded her and took all her attention. Since then she had been looking out of the window.
Normally she would've been able to do her homework without a problem but she has been very distracted because of the serial killer. Especially now that the answer was so close. All she needed to do was observe her neighbours and…
Wait, that was it! She could just stare out of her window for hours with a perfect excuse. If any of her neighbours was acting suspicious she could pin them as a suspect! She pushed everything on her desk aside and climbed on top of it to have a clearer look of what was happening outside.
A bunch of her neighbours were standing together and talking on the opposite side of the street and on Nalda's left. Most of the neighbours were a bit on the older side and were mostly dressed up to go out. A few only wore a jacket over their pajamas, these were most likely people who came after they saw the other neighbours talking.
There was a family of six walking down the street. The woman was pushing a stroller with one kid inside and the man was running after one of his children while the other child was walking besides the mother. That child seemed to be around Nalda's age and also the oldest one. The fourth child was holding onto the mother's sleeve while staring at something on the phone.
Nalda continued to watch people through the window but she just couldn't find anything out of place. She felt like she was horrible at catching onto things.
While feeling hopeless, a movement in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. It was one of the people living in the neighborhood leaving his house in a hurry.
From the outside he seemed to be around forty but Nalda felt very confused looking at him. Something about his appearance wasn't right and was causing her a headache the more she stared.
When the man reached the group of the other neighbours, he greeted everyone and joined in on the conversation.
'Uhm… is that a superpower? Is that why he's causing me so much confusion?'
Once more she believed that the letters were the last… person? People? Thing? She could ask questions to.
She leaned her head against the window and continued to look at that neighbour. She'll need to watch him a bit more. He seemed very suspicious.
***
Nalda was poking her egg when Mave suddenly entered through the front door. She looked tired as she took off her jacket and…
"Huh? Mave didn't you come back home yesterday?" Nalda asked because why was her elder sister wearing her pajamas under her jacket? And why did she look like instead of sleeping she fought a bunch of oversized mosquitos on the subway?
Mave rubbed her eyes and took the plate with the egg Nalda was poking. "If you're not eating it then I will." She yawned and looked at the time. "Ugh, work."
Nalda was very confused. "Mave, you didn't sleep, did you?"
Mave didn't reply and instead stuffed the egg in her mouth. Probably an excuse to not have to open her mouth.
Well, Nalda could play dirty too. "Hey, I'll tell mom that you went partying all night yesterday if you don't tell me."
Mave's head snapped in Nalda's direction. "She wouldn't believe you…"
"Says who?"
Mave slammed the plate on the table, startling Nalda. "I'm too sleepy to talk to you."
"Why?" Nalda asked in return because genuinely, what did she even do wrong? She was worried about her older sister.
Mave didn't seem to appreciate that question. "Nalda."
"Yes?"
"Why?" Mave's tone was very annoying. The question wasn't even the issue, it was genuinely just the tone.
Suddenly Nalda thought that Mave's face looked very punchable. "Wow, Mave, I didn't know you were so punchable."
Mave gave her a look. "You know that that's exactly what you sound like when you ask certain questions?"
Nalda seemed surprised and sat a little straighter. She knew that she sounded annoying sometimes, in fact she actively tried to be annoying at times but if she sounded so insufferable then she might need to change her tone.
Nalda heard Mave sigh and looked up. "Hey, I don't do it on purpose."
"Yeah and I fought against the three headed plastic dragon in the basement of your school." Mave sounded unimpressed as she spouted some random nonsense.
"I'm not lying though."
"Come tell me that again after you change that look in your eyes when someone gets annoyed at what you said."
'Huh?'
Mave didn't bother listening to Nalda's reply and walked away.
"Ugh, she has a horrible personality…" Nalda muttered to herself. "She stole my egg and insulted me…"
It was a very tragic day for her. First she gets grounded by her parents and now her breakfast was stolen by the wild beast she's supposed to call sister.
While Nalda was complaining in her head about her situation, she suddenly heard something shatter. She immediately stood up and ran in the direction the sound came from.
When she got there she saw Mave glaring at the plate that previously had an egg.
"Mave?" She said as she looked at her sister with genuine concern.
Mave wasn't the type to let things fall and break. She usually took good care of her stuff.
Mave looked at Nalda but her glare didn't disappear. "Go away."
Nalda felt like something was off. "What do you mean go away? What's going on?" She said while getting closer to the broken plate. However, before she could get too close, a hand landed on her shoulder.
Nalda froze and turned around to find her dad smiling gently at Nalda. "Go to your room. I'll talk with Mave." He said while patting Nalda's shoulder.
Nalda looked between her sister and father and frowned but then she slowly walked past her dad. Just a second later she paused though. "Call me when I can help." She said firmly before running off.
Well, whatever that was, she was sure that Mave would be fine with their father. He always took good care of both of them after all. Even if he was a little strange at times and always had to leave them behind for a while for work. He was their father after all.
With that, Nalda was about to go upstairs but then the front door bell rang. She hesitated for a moment before running to the door. She hadn't checked who was on the other side of the door but it should probably be fine, right?
Without a single thought of what to expect, she opened the door with a bright smile and immediately began her greeting. "Hello! My pare-" but she paused mid sentence when she saw who it was.
It was the strange man from earlier but looking at him didn't cause her any confusion any more. He looked at Nalda with a smile and spoke. "Ah, hello to you too. Can I talk to an adult?" Even though he said that, he was eyeing Nalda as if he found something he had lost.
Nalda shivered and stepped back a bit while pointing behind her. "I'll go get my dad…"
He kept looking at Nalda as if she was everything he needed. It was honestly creepy. "Actually, I think you can fulfill my request too."
Nalda froze and looked at the man with a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Oh, uhh, sir I…" her opinion was split between telling him to shut his creepy mouth or to politely decline. She chose the latter in the end. "...I'm not allowed to hang out with creepy old men."
Silence fell over the man and Nalda.
'Oops.'
She was about to apologise while being incredibly flustered but the man just started laughing like an actual creep. He just got insulted by a teen half his age and now he suddenly starts laughing, he definitely wasn't good in the head.
"Ah, okay, I see, tell your dad that Reynard is here." He said after having his fit of laughter.
Nalda didn't hesitate to take that opportunity to leave and immediately ran the moment she was out of sight, she immediately headed towards where she last saw her father and sister.
When she got there, the shards from the plate had already been cleaned and Mave was hugging their dad while he was comforting her. Nalda didn't know what happened but she didn't want to know either, it looked like it was a very precious father daughter moment.
"Dad!" Her dad turned to look at her, his eyes were clearly telling her to not bother him right now. As much as Nalda believed that Mave needed a moment, the man at the front door was very strange and Nalda did not believe for a moment that he would accept being rejected.
Mave didn't look in her direction. Actually it looked like she was trying to hide herself from Nalda.
"Dad! Dad! This weird old man is at the door! I'm pretty sure he's one of our neighbours but-"
Her father sighed loudly and let go of Mave. "What did you do this time?"
Nalda blinked in confusion. "I answered the door?"
"I feel like you did something else as well." He said in a very parental tone. It sounded like he was scolding a child in gentle parenting mode.
Nalda looked away, she felt wronged. She hadn't done anything except for accidentally insulting the man at their front door.
'Oh wait, is that what he meant?'
"Uhm, I called him a creep."
Her father paused for a moment and brought his hands to massage his temple. "I assume you had a reason for that?"
Nalda quickly nodded. If it were her mother that heard this then she would immediately scold Nalda and tell her to be careful with her words. Her father always asked her why she did the things she did first. "He was giving me a weird look, it made me uncomfortable."
Her father's brows frowned in concern and Mave's head snapped in Nalda's direction. Mave's eyes were red and she had tear streaks on her cheeks and snot under her nose. She looked quite tired.
Nalda didn't look away until her father tapped her shoulder. "Come with me." He said as he started to walk to the front door.
Nalda wasn't sure why he wanted her to go with her but she went with him anyway. "Oh, yeah he told me to tell you that Reynard is here."
She didn't see it well but her father had a shocked expression on his face. He didn't get shocked often so the creep outside must be some sort of big deal. He didn't tell her to stay back though so it probably wasn't anything that bad.
They got to the front door and the man outside immediately made eye-contact with Nalda first before looking at her dad. Nalda shivered and tried to stay back as much as possible.
Her father smiled. "Hello mister Reynard, what brings you here today?"
The man didn't seem to acknowledge her dad even though he was directly looking at him. "Hmm… what time is it?" He completely ignored her dad and asked a different question.
In return, her father frowned but still answered in a polite tone. "It's eleven a.m., almost lunch time."
The man nodded. "Indeed, almost lunch time." It almost sounded like he was trying to hint at something.
It was quiet for a moment, the lan didn't stop smiling.
Eventually her father's expression turned even more troubled. "I understand what you mean but…" He glanced at Nalda and gave the man an apologetic smile.
The man glanced at Nalda too but his expression didn't change at the clear rejection. "I see, I see but I still haven't gotten an answer."
'Answer? Huh? He didn't ask a question though? What's going on?'
Nalda wasn't following this conversation that was going on in another plane of existence.
Her father anxiously looked behind him before he turned back towards the man. "I'm sorry but I don't have an answer right now, however you'll know soon enough." His tone turned reassuring near the end.
The man looked like he had a comment but ended up not saying anything. Instead he looked at Nalda once more. He made direct eye-contact with her and his smile widened. "Well, that's fine I suppose. I found what I was looking for anyways."
Her father didn't seem to like that line so much and his reassuring gaze turned into a warning look. The man didn't seem bothered and instead turned around and left, leaving both Nalda and her father just standing there.