"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" The voice sounded rather threatening.
Nalda couldn't exactly answer honestly to this question, now could she? She'd get in real trouble with her parents if this guy went and told them.
Though unfortunately for her, the guy, who she assumed was the serial killer, already figured out who she was. "No, wait, I think I know who you are… Solace?"
'No, why does this guy know my family name? I'm gonna get eaten alive by… huh?'
Contrary to what she believed, the serial killer went silent. She heard the man step backwards a few times. "Look, I can't change anything now. I realised my mistake too late."
'What is he talking about? Why is he so scared?'
Nalda slowly turned to look at the serial killer who looked even paler than a ghost. If she hadn't known any better she would've assumed he was having a 'who's the palest' competition with a ghost. So far he was taking the lead.
"I won't touch your family again. Just know that I can't- can't change anything…" The more he spoke, the worse his articulation became.
This made her wonder, just how infamous was Mave? Just how known was the Solace family name?
Nalda let the man beg while she thought. She was hesitating between bluffing her way out of this or just saying 'screw it' and running as fast as she could.
She had more confidence in running away than in acting like something she's not but then a thought came to her. The letters had once said that her body couldn't handle a superpower, doesn't that mean that people with superpowers have a stronger body?
Yeah, she'll definitely get caught if she runs, assuming that this man is the serial killer.
Yep, bluffing was her only way out.
She released a deep breath she didn't even realise she was holding and loosened her grip on Mia. She turned towards her supposed future murderer with a glare.
The man instantly shut up but when he saw the kitten in her hands he looked confused. It looked like he already began to question her.
She had to grab his attention and make him fear her more. "You know what you did yet you're begging for me to go easy on you?"
The man's attention was grabbed. He wasn't focusing on the gray kitten anymore.
'Good.'
The man frowned for a moment when he looked at Nalda and his face showed that he recognised her. His eyes widened but he seemed to grow more confident.
'Not good. What now?'
Nalda intensified her glare. "Do you have a death wish?" She suddenly asked. The man looked confused by her sudden question but before he could answer, Nalda stepped closer. "You- you wasted my time! Because of you I had to put on a whole act in front of those idiots! Do you want to know what will happen if you decide to ruin my perfectly peaceful life, do you, hmm?"
The man stepped backwards again. "I-"
That was a good sign. That meant he wasn't confident and that he was confused. All she needed was for him to get so confused that he wouldn't even realise she was running away.
"You wanted to pay a visit in a few weeks, right?" Nalda's tone suddenly became sweet. "Why don't we push that deadline a little closer, no? Why don't you come visit this Friday?" She had a sweet smile on her face.
Nalda wasn't sure if she was doing this right but seeing the frozen expression of the man, she believed that it was believable enough.
"Come if you don't want me to come hunt you down instead." She said in that sweet tone as she walked past him to the front door.
She had made it to the front door but then the man suddenly turned towards her. "P- please go easy on me… If I knew who you were I wouldn't have-"
"I don't want to hear any excuses!" She glared at the man. As she continued to head outside. She looked at the name that was written on the door bell and turned to him with a smile. "Have fun, Max Davenport."
With that she left. She felt relief flood through her when the man didn't follow her.
When she thought she was far enough she crouched and put Mia down. "Mia, you almost got me killed." She muttered quietly.
If Nalda hadn't forcefully kept the attention on her words then Max Davenport would've realised that something was wrong. He would've realised that she was just bluffing.
She sighed. She really wanted to just lay down and not get up for a long time.
It was hitting her that she just spoke to someone who could and would've killed her if he got the chance.
She gently patted Mia. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into this though. I'll leave you alone. Like I promised, I'll take at least one serial killer down on Friday." She smiled softly while she spoke.
She already had a vague idea of what kind of present to prepare for the man.
***
Cursing in one language wasn't enough.
He has been caught by the worst possible people.
"I barely have a week…" He muttered as he replayed what that Solace had said earlier.
Max Davenport didn't mean to drag the Solace family of all people into his whole serial killings. He couldn't even help it considering it was his curse. He really couldn't do anything about it.
He grabbed his phone, almost falling over in the process. He looked through his contact for his nephew's name.
His Nephew who he recently dragged into his own mess as well. "Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the wall.
Max will get both of them killed at this rate.
He pressed the call button and the phone rang a few times. "Moshe… Moshe don't come home, stay away."
"Huh? Uncle, what are you talking about? I just bought the groceries you asked of me though?" He heard the voice of his nephew on the other side of the phone.
Max felt like he could break from the frustration. How did he even make such a stupid mistake? Why didn't he even research the world he was stepping in properly? His curse was unfair. It was too unfair.
"Moshe, my next target is a Solace." Maxe replied in a grave tone.
"Yeah, I know that much. The entire neighborhood heard you curse when you found out."
"They found us. My target showed up and told me that I have until Friday."
Max heard something being dropped on the other side of the line. It was silent for a moment. "What…?"
"But they haven't found you yet. You can still run. Just don't come back here." Max quickly spoke lest his nephew came running home.
"You- you-" he heard Moshe stumble over his own words. "Are you stupid?" Max flinched when his nephew insulted him. "Do you think they won't catch me just because they didn't see me? What are the chances that the person that came by didn't already know that there were two people involved in the serial killings?"
Max heard the sound of the wind coming from his phone. "Moshe? Moshe! Don't you dare come here!"
"What, are you going to lock out your nephew now too? Was killing people without any guilt or conscience not enough to make you a horrible human being?"
"Moshe this- this is different-"
"You clearly only feel sorry because you got caught. I bet you pissed off that person even more because you were apologising for getting the wrong person."
Max went to his front door and locked it. "Moshe! Shut up, that's enough! I'm trying to look out for you!"
He heard his nephew's voice from both the phone and from outside the house. Though his voice outside the house was still quite far.
"Shouldn't have involved me in the first place." It sounded bitter with a few traces of hatred.
The silence settled in between them.
"Why? Moshe why?"
"Why do you think?" It sounded harsh and filled with anger. "Do you think I want to see my uncle die without a fight? I know you're worse than horrible but you're still my only family. I still need you."
Max didn't know how to react to this. Really, Moshe was far too good of a nephew for him. He really doesn't know how he ended up taking care of someone like Moshe in the first place.
Moshe didn't deserve to die after only living in the moldy house that belonged to his uncle. Moshe didn't deserve to die for wanting his uncle to live painlessly.
Max Davenport let out a shaky breath. "This damn curse…"
At the end of the day there was only one thing he could blame.
His curse.
Just then there were hard knocks on the front door. "Uncle open the door or I'm breaking it down."
Max heard the sound of his nephew from both his phone and outside the door.
He didn't have any choice but to open the door and let his nephew in.
His Nephew stood in front of him. He was sweating and out of breath but he still looked angry. His hand was stretched out and ready to knock on the front door again.
Moshe looked him up and down before entering and closing the door behind him. He locked the door and the angry look on his face seemed to soften into something more like guilt. "I'm sorry for getting angry. I was panicking earlier." He then held up his other hand that was carrying a bag. "But I brought the groceries with me. We should eat first before figuring things out." He said with a calm smile.
Moshe seemed to have calmed down and was trying to calm his uncle down but Max had raised this young man. He didn't miss the way Moshe's hand trembled while he reached for his uncle with the free hand.
He didn't miss it. He couldn't miss it. He was the reason why Moshe was trembling and fearing for his life.
And Max? He wasn't sure he could handle the guilt of ruining his nephew's life.
***
"Nalda." Mave's warning tone could be heard from the front.
Yep, Nalda was screwed. At least it wasn't her mother that caught her.
"Haha… Mave… You can keep a secret right?" Nalda said while looking everywhere except for at her sister's face.
"Can? Sure. Want? Nope, don't feel like it."
"Mave!" Nalda's panicked reply came.
Mave shook her head and sighed. "Are you trying to give dad a heart attack?"
"He found out?"
"No, I distracted him." Mave said while stepping aside. "Get in now, I can't distract mom if she gets up."
Nalda couldn't express how grateful she was for Mave's protection. "Mave… You're truly a hero…"
Mave raised an eyebrow at her sister's comment. "Don't get your hopes up yet."
Nalda didn't get to figure out what that meant before she was dragged to the living room and sat down in front of her father. He looked like he was mourning something.
He looked up at Nalda with a pained expression and now Nalda could see what he had in his hands. It was the time Mave broke a few days ago.
"Nalda, how could you…"
Now Nalda understood how Mave distracted him. She had given him the remains of his broken timer.
She glared at Mave who was looking elsewhere. Too distracted with a gray kitten. The gray kitten instantly got comfortable with Mave…
'Wait a second isn't that Mia? Mia betrayed me too? What?'
Nalda could only stare with stunned silence. She didn't even know how to react to a double betrayal.
Her father was still looking at her with pain in his eyes and Mia was still getting close to Mave.
Nalda really, really wanted to pull her hair again. Everything was working against her today.
"Dad it wasn't me. Mave broke it." Nalda didn't even think twice before snitching.
"After Nalda tried to use it to scare me awake." Mave replied while smiling at Mia.
Her father shook his head and took a deep breath. "Nalda I want you to be honest with me. Tell me the full story. I already heard Mave's side."
Yep, Nalda is actually screwed and it was all Mave's fault. Mave went from savoir to demon from hell in five minutes.
This was going to be a long Saturday afternoon.