Page 21 of Where Crows Find Death
My aunt, Alyana, kept walking in front of me after we separated, allowing me to gather my wits for just a second, before telling me to follow her.
No words.
No explanations.
Just a quiet expectation to follow her.
But words weren't needed, and neither were explanations. Even through the fear clogging my veins, I knew I could trust her. I knew deep down she wasn't here because she wanted to do any harm, so I followed like an obedient puppy, dragging my poor excuse for a suitcase with me through the quiet little island, wincing ever so slightly at the sound it was creating as we passed.
She kept turning around, as if she was making sure I was still following, but her lips stayed firmly in that thin line. A line I knew far too well, because my mom wore the same expression whenever she wasn't happy with us. Whenever there were things she wanted to say but had to wait until we came back home. Whenever she wanted to guide me to do better, be better, be smarter, and maybe even kinder to myself.
My aunt was like the past living in the present, only with grayer hair and a couple more lines on her face, but she was identical to my mom, almost as if they were twins.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked as we passed what looked like a small restaurant, etched between two taller buildings. "Your home?"
"Yes," came from her. One simple yes and not a word more. "We will talk once we get there," she added, looking over her shoulder at me. "But not here. Not on the street."
It was only then I noticed her looking around while we walked, observing the dark corners as if something would suddenly come for us from those flickering shadows. Her eyes stayed glued a second too long on the passage between the twohouses on our left, her head slightly tilted, her fingers wrapped into a fist, but just as I looked at the passage she called out, "Hurry up, Kaira. We don't have much time."
Much time for what, exactly?
I lengthened my steps, catching up with her, and as we started walking side by side, I could feel her eyes on my profile. I could feel her scanning me, as if she was trying to get a read on me just as I was trying to get a read on her.
"The shape of your eyes," Alyana said. "You look like her, but you also don't."
"I know," I murmured, keeping my voice low. "I don't look like my father, though."
"Which one?" she asked, making me stop immediately. So, my mother's journals were true then. Alyana knew about my biological father. "Because you are a mix of both of them. Your hair." She looked at my tied silver hair. "It looks like his. The color of your eyes." She looked at them, narrowing her own. "It's the same as his. Even if I didn't know you were coming, I would've recognized you no matter where you went, Kaira."
"So you knew."
"I knew more than your mother wanted me to know. I knew because it was my business to know. And I knew because I loved your mother and I cursed destiny for putting her on his path." She turned her attention back on the road, her eyes sharp, calculating. "We shouldn't talk about this here. Let's wait until we're inside."
My lips parted, words ready to spill out even with her warning, but one stern look from her was all that was needed to shut me up. I didn't dare speak again until we reached a house not far from what looked like the local market, covered in green vines on the front, with massive wooden doors at the entrance.
"Wow," I breathed out, my eyes feasting on the architecture and the two columns perched right in front of the doors, carvedwith symbols I didn't recognize. "I've never been to Greece, but this looks?—"
"As if you're in Greece," Alyana finished for me, fishing out a pair of keys from her front pocket of her dress. "This is an old town, Kaira. Some…" She shook her head. "Some would say it's ancient."
It felt ancient, as if the houses themselves had the energy, like living, breathing things. My palm pressed against the column at the entrance as Alyana unlocked the doors, feeling the humming, the vibrations coming from within. I always believed everything around us had its own soul, its own purpose, and here I could feel it.
Here I could sense it even without touching anything, but with a touch, it felt almost otherworldly. Something you shouldn't touch, no matter how much you wanted to, and I wanted to explore every part of this island.
"Come on in, Kaira," Alyana called from the doors, looking at me, waiting.
So I did. I went after her inside, hoping she would be able to give me the answers I so desperately needed.
11
KAIRA
When I wasa little girl I had often wondered what my mom's childhood was like. What her home was like. What her parents were like. She so rarely spoke of her past, I was left only with glimpses whenever she would slip on those nights when the memories were too much for her to bear alone.
But she never spoke of this place. She never spoke of this house, of her sister, of my grandparents, and as I stepped inside what was once her sanctuary, I felt anger like no other. Anger at her. Anger at the world and all the decisions that led me to this point where I had to keep scratching at the surface to uncover the secrets they hid from me.
What was so wrong with this place that she never even spoke of it?
The hallway we passed through was covered in photos. Some black and white, others in color, and the more recent ones, judging by the color still lingering on them, were of my mom—smiling, happy as she stared at the camera. A man and a woman could be seen on some of them, standing behind her and Alyana, grinning from ear to ear as if they knew that these two girls were the beginning and the end of their lives.
