The sun shone in brightly through the large windows of Lela’s lounge, flooding the room with a warm, bright light. The faint sound of Bella’s tail tapped softly on the carpet from where she sat, her head tilted slightly, watching us with big brown eyes. The sharp, clinical ammonia of the textile paint hung in the air, drowning out the subtle scent of Lela’s perfume.
Lela knelt so close that I could feel the warmth of her skin. Her long, elegant fingers wrapped around a black paintbrush as, with small, precise strokes, she carefully filled in the letters that I had outlined for her. The delicate gold ring on her forefinger glinted, catching the sunlight and throwing jagged reflections across the wallpaper. She was entirely focused on what she was doing, her tongue caught between her teeth in concentration.
Dipping my brush into the jar of white paint, I lifted it up and watched the thick, heavy and viscous liquid cling stubbornly to the bristles. Scraping off the excess against the glass rim of the jar, I set to work. Starting on the wolf’s throat, my strokes were short and aggressive.
My hand worked back and forth, deliberately bringing the logo into existence. Its pure white form replacing the drab, plain mundanity of the fabric. Stroke by stroke, as my design began to emerge, I watched as the beast gradually came to life.
“You’ve got a steady hand, Lela,” I said as her final brush stroke completed the lettering. “It’s looking good.”
She looked up at me with a smile, dimples dotting her cheeks. “It’s certainly a lot better than that scrawl that Asmund and I hacked together.”
“This feels good, Lela,” I said, my voice barely a notch above the thudding of Bella’s tail. I kept my eyes fixed on the white fur of the wolf. But I could feel Lela’s attention shifting to me. “Just you and me. The way it’s supposed to be.”
“Hey, babe, don’t you go getting all sentimental on me. You’ll have me in tears and I’ll ruin the paint.” Lela said, letting out the soft titter of a laugh. “But you’re right, it does feel good. A little escape from the madness of the last few days. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year…” she said, her voice trailing off.
The words struck me like a cold weight, a dull, hollow ache forming in my stomach. The thoughts and memories of that past year spiralled through my mind once again.
“A year is a long time, Lela. A lot of people will have forgotten me. A lot of people will have forgotten how we used to be. How we were the perfect team, before… before everyone else got in the way.”
“Heidi!” Lela’s eyes suddenly snapped wide, her voice urgent. “What’s that?”
“What’s what, Lela?” My head jerked, eyes darting left and then right. “What is it?”
“Your nose!” Her voice quivered slightly, the light once again glinting in those eyes.
Before I knew what was happening, Lela’s hand snapped forward. An ice-cold twist lurched in my chest. Instinctively, my hands and feet scrabbled on the rough carpet, my nails digging in, trying to find purchase, struggling to escape.
Time slowed to a crawl. I watched her hand rise, my eyes fixed on the black switch held tightly in her grasp. The long, thin leather strip glinted black in the light.
The voices in the shadows hissed frantically at me. “Get out! Run!”
But I wasn’t fast enough. My muscles tensed, cramping into painful knots as my eyes screwed shut. My body trembled while I waited for the familiar whistle of leather cutting through the air and the searing white-hot crack of the strike.
But there was no crack, no searing pain. Instead, cold, wet bristles brushed my nose.
“Gotcha!” Lela’s voice giggled, cutting sharply through the void.
My eyes snapped open, but for a second, I didn’t see the living room. I was back on the cold, concrete floor, surrounded by damp, grey walls. My lungs snatched for air in short, desperate pants. With tremors rippling through my body, a shrill scream tore from my throat.
The steady drip, drip, drip of that tap resonated around my head.
The smile on Lela’s face vanished, her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.
“Oh my God, Heidi! I didn’t think! I’m so sorry!”
The brush slipped from her paint flecked hands, landing with a wet thud on the green carpet. In an instant she was there, crouched at my side. Wrapping her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace that chased away the icy chill of the basement. She held on so tightly that I could feel the persistent rhythm of her heart through her clothes.
The oppressive walls of the basement didn’t vanish immediately. They slowly softened, their damp, mildewed surface gradually giving way to light pine panels. The cloying reek of damp and decay was slowly replaced with the sharp, clean sting of the textile paints, and the rough floor beneath me softened too. Losing its gritty chill and becoming warm and soft once again.
“I was just playing. I’m so stupid, Heidi, I didn’t think. Are you alright?”
Forcing a small and shaky nod, I looked up at her.
“I’m fine.” The words exhaled from my mouth. “I’m still a bit jumpy, I suppose.”
Lela’s arms tightened around me before she spoke again. “I think I know what you need,” she said, her grip on me loosening just enough for me to see the wet tracks of tears on her cheeks. “A good cup of tea. Dad sent me some Earl Grey that I haven’t opened yet. Sound good?”
I nodded slowly, and together we pushed ourselves up. My legs felt weak, wobbly and uncertain, but Lela held onto me firmly. Her arm wrapped around my waist in an unyielding support.
In the shadowy corners of the room, the creatures scuttled just out of view. Their rusty voices scraping and rasping as they hissed at me.
Drawing a deep, ragged breath, I straightened my back and, with my head resting on Lela’s shoulder, we walked to the kitchen. Our footsteps echoed, a hollow tap on the cold, smooth tiles.
Settling myself down at the table, Lela filled the kettle and switched it on with a click.
“If you need some space to yourself, I can always ask Ingrid not to come over this evening. I’m sure she would understand,” Lela said, glancing over her shoulder while picking two mugs out of a cupboard.
She would do that for me? The voices laughed, red eyes glinted in the black, inky depths of those kitchen cupboards.
“No! You can’t do that,” I said with a smile that barely touched my eyes. “She needs you too, Le-Le. The poor girl must be pulling her hair out over Asmund. She can’t be on her own at a time like this.”
“As long as you’re sure,” she said, placing the mugs down with a soft clink. “It’s been a rough few days for all of us. We all need to look out for each other.”
The kettle began to rumble, building to a deep, rolling boil and filling the kitchen with steam.
“I don’t know why Dad insists on sending me these. It’s not as if I live in the middle of nowhere,” Lela said absently as she tore open the small, yellow cardboard box. Dropping a tea bag into each cup, she lifted the kettle and poured in the steaming water, followed by a splash of milk in each.
Turning to face me, she leant against the counter. “But, honestly, babe, if you want a quiet evening, I can put Ingrid off? If you ever need any space to yourself, you only have to say.”
My heart ached to scream out yes. To take this chance to lock Ingrid out, even if for just one night. But the creatures screamed at me, no. They had other plans, darker plans.
“Seriously, Lela, I’m fine,” I said, reaching for my mug. “It was nothing, just a silly wobble.”
“You’re an amazing person. Truly, if I’d been through what you have, I would have crumbled.” Lela’s eyes were wide, shimmering with admiration.
With her elbows resting on the table and her chin in her hands, she looked at me with that same warm devotion that she had when we were children. We began to chat; we talked about old times together. We laughed at old jokes and reminisced about all the things that we had done. We reconnected in a way that, up to that point, we hadn’t had the chance to.
The bright spring sun, which poured in through the kitchen window, gradually turned a deep red before fading to grey. Our cups of tea sat cold, forgotten and empty, but we didn’t notice. We were too busy reforging a bond that I intended to make unbreakable.
“I’d almost forgotten how easy it is to talk to you,” Lela whispered, a soft smile playing on her lips.