“You have the prettiest hair among us all, I can’t help but be jealous,” Natalie said, running her hands through Sophia’s hair messily twisting it into a braid “I think your hair’s lovely too. You’ve got father’s hair.”
She wished she had her father’s thick blonde hair too.
Natalie rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated breath. “Yes, but so do Sephora, Kate, and Marilyn.”
“And that’s why he probably likes me the least,” she whispered to herself.
“What?” Natalie asked, peering down at her, her blue eyes glinting.
Sophia smiled and shook her head choosing to say nothing, her sister wouldn’t understand, she didn’t either and it made no sense to her but that was what she felt, the searing lack of warmth for her, unlike the affection he held for her sisters. Her childish mind was still able to comprehend this and so she chose to stay away from him and everyone else entirely, hiding under the shadows of her sisters where she had the comfort of being unseen compared to her sisters' boisterous and exuberant existence. Sometimes, she was jealous of them.
“Natalieeeee!” She heard screeching from farther outside the room, a high-pitched voice that could only belong to Kate.
“She won't let me be!” Natalie groaned, burying her face in Sophia’s hair.
Sophia would've loved it if Kate wouldn't let her be either, but it was evident that Catherine loved Natalie the most; they were never apart for more than a few minutes. The eldest of the sisters, Sephora, was in a league of her own, but even she had a favorite and that was Marilyn, the youngest of the five girls.
Natalie appeared in the room soon enough, almost bouncing from excitement. Her chubby cheeks pulled in a wide grin, Sephora was right behind her, her eyes bright with the same enthusiasm that Natalie exuded.
“Oh, Natalie,” Kate moaned in an overly dramatic way, falling over Natalie and causing the latter to have to catch her, pushing her to let go of Sophia’s hair, and as soon as she did, Sophia missed the feeling of her fingers. This was one of the rare moments Natalie bothered herself with her and Sophia relished it for however briefly it lasted.
“Now what has happened? And it better be something good if Sephora is here and not with her friends feeling too good to hang out with us,” Natalie said, eyeing her.
Sephora shook her head, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. “You really should get over yourself, Natalie.”
“Easy for you to say,” she retorted. “You’re not the one who got left at the waterfalls because someone forgot.”
“Aish, Natalie! You never forget anything, I said I was sorry.”
“I got drenched too, I was cold and shivering and you never apologized to me, Sephora.” Kate cut in, twisting her fingers around Natalie’s hair.
Sophia watched their bickering with a faint smile on her face just as Natalie turned to her sharply.
“What do you say, Sophia? Is an apology enough to cover what Sephora did?” she asked, her eyes patiently on Sophia’s waiting for her answer, and simultaneously four pairs of eyes belonging to Sephora and Kate fixed on her. Her heart thumped faster in her chest, her mind running wild trying to figure out what exactly to say. She wondered how it was easy for Kate to slip her way into the clique her elder sisters were seeing as Kate was only a few months younger than her while Sephora and Natalie had years of age ahead of her and Kate. “Uh, I think…”
Kate cut her off. “Who cares what Sophia thinks? She never wants to indulge in conversations like this and anyway, that's not what we’re here to say. Father has visitors from the Dark Wood Pack and they've got two boys our age.”
“No, no, none of them are your age. That's what I said, you're meant to be excited for me because Edith said if the packs come to a peace treaty, one of us could end up mated to one of them.” Sephora argued.
“Ugh, don't say words like mated, Sephora, that's disgusting,” Natalie mumbled, scrunching up her nose. “Also, there's no way you would be ‘mated’ to just anyone, you're supposed to be the Alpha female of our pack.”
“Well, Uncle Silviu said I could renounce my rights to that because it's too tasking for a female and I think I agree with him.” she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I rather much enjoy my femininity.”
“You would be a great leader,” Sophia said in a low voice wishing her sister wouldn't listen to anyone.
Her words went unheard in the blustering of Natalie and Kate trying to speak at once “Well, Edith also said Uncle Silviu says the strangest of things and we shouldn't listen to him,” Natalie responded with much sassiness in her tone.
“I for one think Alexander is a very wonderful name,” Kate announced, reverting to the earlier discussion.
“Well I for one do not care about some silly boy from the Dark Wood Pack, boys are gross and Sophia agrees with me.” Natalie declared, her voice increasing in pitch.
Sophia’s eyes moved from each of her sisters to the other as they kept up with the bickering just as she felt her tongue begin to moisture, liquid trailing down her throat.
The scene switched immediately and she was no longer in her bedroom with her sisters, their bickering voices fading into nothingness. Darkness stared right back at her, silence dripping through her nerves.
She blinked once, twice, and a trickle of light reflected at the far end of her vision, a soft voice hummed in the background, giving her goosebumps.
“There, there,” the voice said soothingly.
Sophia’s eyes fluttered open to see a foreign face bent over her, concentration on her countenance.
She smiled at her. “You must have been having a pleasant dream,” she said, pulling back. Sophia watched her place a cup on the bedside table. “You had a beautiful smile on your face and you kept whispering some names. Friends?”
The bits and pieces of her dream returned to her, a long-forgotten memory buried deep where before now she hadn’t been able to relive. The feeling of melancholy lay heavy on her chest as she replayed it.
Sephora with her pride and feminine beauty.
Natalie with her sassiness and independence.
Kate with her fervor and there was Marilyn, the one she remembered the least about.
Sophia wondered if she would ever see her sisters again and if so, how much would they have changed? Would they still hold on to their childish persona and have over the years developed it or would they have changed entirely into women she wouldn't recognize?
And what about Sephora? Would she have changed her mind about leading the pack, or have by now recognized she was the best fit for it? All her questions went unfortunately unanswered, they had all grown up with her and likely didn't recall they had a sister, she had never been known to leave a lasting impression.
The woman who her brain finally identified as Isla settled down on the seat next to her with an anticipating look on her face reminding Sophia she’d asked a question.
“Sisters,” Sophia whispered in a forlorn voice.
Isla looked genuinely surprised. “Oh, I didn't know you had sisters. Well, I barely know anything about you, you're like this hardened shell on the surface.” her eyes had a brief indiscernible look on them before she said. “I hope to find out what the inside is like.“
And the door burst open with Radley matching inside. “Good, you're awake!”
Isla shot up from her seat. “Radley? What is this?” she asked, a hint of anger in her tone at his rude entrance.
Radley paused, his steps coming to a halt in the middle of the room as he bowed down in respect to Isla. “Luna,” he acknowledged.
“Rise and tell me what has happened,” Isla commanded, her voice dripping of authority.
Radley’s burning gaze settled on Sophia. “Innocent lives are going to be lost because of you today so you must come forward and tell the truth about what happened at the tavern.”
The tavern!
Isla spoke before Sophia could properly comprehend Radley’s words. “What is going on?”
His eyes were still on Sophia as he responded to Isla’s question in a cold tone. “Callan has ordered the public execution of all three servants who’d been at the tavern with Sophia.”