Vera was sitting in Illy's bedroom, her knees drawn to her chest. She'd chewed through three fingernails and was working on her index finger now. She didn't know what was going on at home, but she'd heard Mama and Papa muttering to each other about Feofil and some party, and using words that she didn't know the meaning of. She wished someone had taught her more Russian.
They'd dropped her off at Illy's house and for the first time in her life, she didn't want to be there. She'd much rather be at home, or wherever the rest of her family was. It wasn't fair that they wouldn't let her get involved.
plum — 04/17/2021 12:48 AM
Illy had been confused when one of Vera's uncles had pulled up to the house in the wee hours of the morning with her best friend in tow, exchanging hushed conversation with her mom. She didn't know what was going on, but the vibe was weird, and not in a good way. Gal had made them some hot chocolate and for the first time ever let them take it upstairs into her room. She'd already drained her mug dry, and held the thing between her hands as she lightly kicked her feet against the side of the bed. "Uhhh... well, I could braid your hair for you if you waaaant... or I was gonna say we could paint our nails, but you're eating yours, soo..."
peach — 04/17/2021 12:49 AM
"Do you have that gross nailpolish that makes your nails taste bad so I won't eat them anymore?" Vera asked miserably, her finger in her mouth.
plum — 04/17/2021 12:55 AM
Illy's eyes twinkled. "The one that was supposed to be pineapple-flavored but tastes like licking vomit off a shoe?"
peach — 04/17/2021 12:55 AM
"Yeah," she looked even more beaten-down. "That one. I'll... put it on."
plum — 04/17/2021 12:57 AM
She hopped up and went to grab her nail polish box from its spot on the closet shelf, dropping the mug off on the nightstand along the way. "It's gross but it is super shimmery at least."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:02 AM
"I do like shimmers..." Vera reached out to grab it, but her voice was still melancholy. "I think something's wrong with Feo."
plum — 04/17/2021 1:03 AM
"I was wonderin' why you showed up at like four in the morning."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:04 AM
"Yeah, Ma and Papa ran off somewhere and they were talking about him..." she frowned at her feet. "I think he's in trouble."
plum — 04/17/2021 1:08 AM
"Well where was he?" She deposited the box at the foot of the bed and picked out the aforementioned pineapple polish. "Also, I'm gonna give you braids while you paint your nails so your hair'll be curly tomorrow, cool?"
peach — 04/17/2021 1:10 AM
"He was at some party." she said, nodding her assent to Illy's latter request. "He went with Kyros and Pari and them. Can you do a fishtail?" (edited)
plum — 04/17/2021 1:12 AM
"Sure, I've been practicing." Illy fetched her little spray water bottle and hair bands from her bathroom and settled down behind her friend. "D'you think he got arrested? Like maybe they got busted for something?"
peach — 04/17/2021 1:13 AM
"Busted for what, though?"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:14 AM
"Uh... punching another important guy?" She guessed.
peach — 04/17/2021 1:14 AM
"You know, maybe he did. There were lots of important people at the party, I think." Vera ruminated. "... do you know why he punched the last guy?"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:18 AM
"Not really, none of them seemed to want to talk about it. Did he tell you why?" Illy spritzed Vera's hair to dampen it up so it would form lovely, curly waves whenever it was released, combing through it afterwards with her fingers.
peach — 04/17/2021 1:21 AM
"Nope, but Papa gave me a really long talk after I punched Bobby and he was like, 'Vera, you can't go punching people for no reason, you can only use fruit borscht if you're trying to protect yourself or your friends.' And I was like, what's fruit borscht gotta do with it? Can you even make borscht like that?"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:22 AM
Her brow furrowed. "Huh?? That makes no sense."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:24 AM
"Right? That's what I thought, but Papa just goes on and on so I just said, 'okay papa. Okay papa. Okay papa.' I even tried asking Feo, but he said he didn't wanna talk about it!"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:31 AM
"Your dad does talk a lot," was all Illy gleaned from that. "I feel like my dad doesn't talk as much, but he does talk loud."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:35 AM
"Your dad talks to your mom a lot." Vera objected. "And to Furfur. But he doesn't really talk to me a lot. I have tons of questions for him, actually. Do you think I could do my Parent Jobs Interview paper with him? 'Cause Ma and Papa aren't allowed to talk 'bout their jobs..."
plum — 04/17/2021 1:36 AM
She sulked, "Nooo... Gal told me I can't talk about his job either."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:37 AM
"Huh? But his job is so cool!"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:39 AM
"I know!" Her fingers weaved carefully between the sections of Vera's hair. "I think it's a dumb rule. I guess she doesn't want him to get in trouble for punching people like Feo did."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:40 AM
"Yeah, that makes sense. Hey, what about Uncle Seir? Can we interview him?" (edited)
plum — 04/17/2021 1:41 AM
"Well she didn't say anything about him."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:41 AM
Vera's eyes lit up. "I still need someone for my report. And it's due tomorrow!"
plum — 04/17/2021 1:44 AM
"Tomorrow's Sunday though. But I don't know when he works, it's pretty random, so we should get him when he's free."
peach — 04/17/2021 1:48 AM
"Oh. It's due after tomorrow. Is he free right now? Can we go? It'd make me feeeeel betterrrrr..." she sang, then realized that it was true. It did make her feel better. If she was off on an adventure, at least she wouldn't be sitting around here waiting for someone to tell her what was going on with Feo.
plum — 04/17/2021 2:24 AM
"Yeah, I guess we could try the door in the basement, even though my mom keeps it locked."
peach — 04/17/2021 2:29 AM
"Ah, what's a piddly little lock to the greatest detectives on the earth?" Vera sprang up.
April 18, 2021
plum — 04/18/2021 2:24 AM
"Truuuue, besides I'm pretty sure she just keeps the key in their room somewhere. Do you want a hair clip?"
peach — 04/18/2021 2:25 AM
"Ooh, do you have a cat one?"
plum — 04/18/2021 2:26 AM
"Uhh, I think I might've left that one at your house." She hopped off the bed and bounded over to the bathroom to retrieve her little box of hair clips. "The blue one?"
peach — 04/18/2021 2:26 AM
"Oh yeah... maybe. Do you have a smiley-face one?"
plum — 04/18/2021 2:28 AM
"Yeah, here," she picked out a little orange smiley face and handed it over.
peach — 04/18/2021 2:28 AM
"Thanks!" Vera tucked it into her hair. "How are we gonna get the key from your mom's room?"
plum — 04/18/2021 2:29 AM
"I don't know, especially if she's sleeping..."
peach — 04/18/2021 2:29 AM
"Do you think Iezabel could get it for us?" she wondered, "We can just ask nicely."
plum — 04/18/2021 3:17 AM
"Yeah..." Illy scratched at her head. "It depends what kinda mood she's in, but she might. Let's try it."
peach — 04/18/2021 3:41 AM
Vera followed her out the door and down the stairs. The house was warmly lit, soft orange lamps glowing amidst the darkness. She could hear dark whispers emanating from the shadows and then the echo of footsteps behind them, but it had never bothered her. The lesser demons were bored, too. They had to entertain themselves somehow.
April 21, 2021
plum — 04/21/2021 12:56 PM
"Iezebeeeeel," Illy whisper-called, not wanting to alert her mother, whose location was unknown. "Geez, she's never around when you need her to be."
peach — 04/21/2021 1:10 PM
Vera made a face at a small, squat demon that tried to bite at her ankles and shooed it away. It was called the Harbinger, and Gal like to keep it around because it ate bugs that came in from the forest, but Vera thought it was just a little too keen on nibbling anything in its path. "You think she's sleeping?"
plum — 04/21/2021 5:56 PM
"She might be reading in her room or something..." Illy guessed, banking a left in the direction of the basement. "I dunno."
peach — 04/21/2021 5:58 PM
"How does Iezabel read if she doesn't have eyes?"
plum — 04/21/2021 5:59 PM
"Not Iezebel, dingus. My mom."
peach — 04/21/2021 6:01 PM
"Oh." Vera blinked. "That makes more sense."
plum — 04/21/2021 6:06 PM
Before they knew it they were standing in front of the warped basement door, protected by an unassuming keyhole with no matching key in sight. Aside from wear and tear over the ages the door had stood here, it also housed a tangle of crosshatching scratches all down the bottom... the dogs got excited whenever they anticipated Dad coming home. He liked to believe it was because they loved him, but Illy suspected it had more to do with the assortment of outlandish treats he often brought back for them to gnaw on. "We could pick it." she suggested.
peach — 04/21/2021 6:10 PM
"Do you have a bobby pin?" She asked. She didn't know how to pick locks with one, but it seemed prudent to ask.
May 11, 2021
plum — 05/11/2021 12:04 AM
The ghastly, wheezing susurration that emanated from between the two girls murmured, "I have a fingernail."
Illy couldn't help but jump at Iezebel's sudden appearance, turning to fix the gangly mass of black hair and paper skin with a scowl. "Bel! It's rude to sneak up on guests."
"You do it all the time," the woman hummed in her peacefully melancholic manner, jarringly at odd with her death rattle of a voice. (edited)
peach — 05/11/2021 7:20 AM
"You didn't sneak up on me, Iezabel." Vera said, patting her head where she'd thumped it into the wall upon startling. "I knew you were there the whole time."
June 14, 2021
plum — 06/14/2021 6:00 PM
"Why are you girls trying to break into the basement?" She glossed over the obvious lie to inquire.
peach — 06/14/2021 8:06 PM
"We're trying to get to Hell so that I can finish my school project." Vera said, holding up her phone. "I'm gonna interview Mr. Seir!"