Alejo

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I had dropped off Morana at her job and was on my way home. Since I got money and all from the coven, I had never myself gotten a job. That had, if truth be told, made all my days pretty boring. No place to be, nothing to do, no one who expected anything from me. It definitely wasn't a nice way of living, though many seemed to yearn for it.

But with Morana around, I knew exactly what I would spend the whole day doing. I would be planning more precisely what I would be teaching her that evening.

I already began the planning as I drove home and had in my mind made a list of the different books I needed to check during the day.

I opened the door to the apartment and kicked off my shoes and such with my mind still on what I would teach her. It wasn't until I took a step forward and to the side to head to my room that I noticed something was off. The light in Morana's room was on, but I was certain they had been turned off when we'd left.

I took slow and careful steps forward, and, for each step, my mouth became drier and drier. As I looked into the room, my heart stopped, my insides went cold.

What the hell is she doing here?

The question echoed in my mind as I watched Marianela on Morana's bed. She laid on her back, holding a book to read. She stayed in that position for a moment before closing the book with a thud and putting it aside.

"That's quite an interesting read," she said as she sat up. "I'm actually impressed, brother."

She got off the bed and walked over to the aquarium. She bent down a bit to look at Leramidon even closer.

"What's the matter? Not going to greet me? How very rude," she went on while still having her eyes on the turtle.

"What... What are you doing here?" I asked as I unfroze from my shock. I took a step forward with a vague idea of needing to get her out of there, away from anything and everything that belonged to Morana. But she straightened and a simple, haughty glance from her was all it took to stop me in my tracks.

"May a sister not visit her brother?" she sneered.

"When have you ever before?" I countered.

"Maybe I think it's time to change that." She took steps forward. Steps towards me. "Or maybe I got curious about what could have caused such a drastic change in you. What that could have made you seem happy as blood drained out of you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped. My pulse pounded in my ears.

She stood right before me, but turned around and to the wardrobe in the room. She opened it and ran her fingers over its content. Stopped and looked at some of the clothes more carefully.

"Those ceremonies are dreadfully boring. Watching you is much more interesting. But it was very odd during Mabon. You were smiling. First, I thought you had finally gone insane, but then I figured there had to be a reason."

She took a top out and held it against her own body. It was a blue top with a low cleavage.

"A woman." She threw the top onto the bed. "And a witch at that. To think that my brother has fallen in love and not told the family."

"She's just a friend," I hurried with saying. She gave me a condescending leer.

"Please. You are as bad a liar as you're bad at all else in life."

She walked past me and into the hallway. Straight towards the door out of the apartment.

"Will you tell the others?" I asked and hated how desperate my voice sounded, but I couldn't have her tell the rest. Marianela was somewhat different than the others. She had always treated me poorly and with disdain, but she'd never been cruel. So, though I didn't like that she now knew about Morana, she wouldn't actively use that against me somehow, except for hurtful comments here and there. But if she told the others...

"Maybe, maybe not. It'll all depends on my mood and my need for entertainment." After having said that, she opened the door and left the apartment.

It wasn't the best answer, but it at least meant she had no immediate plans of telling anyone. It was as good as I could hope for.

I went into Morana's room. Placed the top back into its place and then checked the rest to see if it looked like Marianela had touched anything more. When I felt certain she hadn't, I grabbed the book she had been reading to see where it belonged and return it.

My eyes landed on the cover and stayed there. Once again, I was frozen to the spot because how in the name of the Goddess had Marianela managed to get this book?

It was a notebook, one in which I kept notes of spells I created myself and I kept it on the other side of the poster. I always had it there. How could Marianela have gotten to it? She definitely could not open that poster.

Or could she?

I took the book and went over to the poster. As the outside melted away to show the inside, everything looked just like it should. All was ordered, nothing out of place.

It was a ridiculous thought that Marianela could open it. There was no way. She was always nasty to me. Always rude and mean and condescending. She had never done anything that would make her trustworthy. Even Maya, who was my friend, who obviously cared for me, couldn't always open it. And it had taken Rick a long time to be able to. There was no way in hell Marianela could.

I had to have left the notebook out and forgotten about it. That was a much more logical explanation.