Desert Umbra

Doorway of Sins

The apartment seemed warmer with Rick's presence here again. Although, I would miss my little fortress of solitude. He was a grumpy grumbling mess and making me more miserable by the minute with his whining. On the happier side, my brother was alive. At this particular moment in time, I was wishing he was back in prison. When we walked through the door he immediately went to the shower to get all the dirt off his body from being in the dank yet arid prison. I didn't blame him, we made very little small talk on the way home, and when we did talk it was a snarky comment here and there. I could tell he wanted to feel like himself again, not the scruffy impolite asshole we found in prison.

I sighed knowing that I would have to change and pack to get ready for the boat ride in the morning. However, that could wait, right now I wanted some food and bonding time with my brother. I went to the kitchen turned on the stove and grabbed a pan. The entire excursion with the prison took way longer than I had expected. The paperwork itself was a bitch to go through. I threw the pan on the stove and went to the fridge to grab the butter and eggs. It was the only thing I had, it had been a while since I had gone to the store. Other important things plagued my mind, however, I pushed them away and tried to focus on the present. I took some butter and put it in the pan waiting for it to melt. Then I watched the eggs fall onto the hot pan, the sizzle was one of the best noises I'd heard today. I made them sunny side up putting them on the plate once they were crisp at the edges. I set one plate to the side for Rick when he got out of the shower. I went over to the couch sitting down and turning on the radio. As I listened to the music coming through the little box, I salted and peppered my eggs. My stomach rumbled and my mouth started to water. Just as I was about to take a bite I heard Rick's voice pipe up from around the corner of our hallway bathroom.

"Eris?" He asked. I knew he could smell the aroma that the stove and food gave off.

"Yes Rick, I made you food," I told him anticipating his question.

"Thank you." He said. I smiled just before I shoveled my bite into my mouth. I waited until I saw his figure slink out of the bathroom, his brown hair was tamed and cut, and he was clean-shaven. He looked like a civilized human again. I pointed towards the kitchen as his eyes met mine. He nodded understanding what I meant. He sighed as he came back out plate in his hands.

"So how have you been? Seen your alter ego lately?" He asked, he knew what was in the mirror when I looked into it. When we were kids I knew he didn't believe me, but as we aged and the problem didn't diminish he knew that it was something more. I just about spat my food back out. It wasn't like I wasn't expecting the question, but it surprised me that he got straight into the nitty gritty aspects of our brother-sister bond.

"Um. Yes, it seems like she's getting more and more frequent" I said to him. I didn't want to upset him further. So I decided not to say anything else.

"You're not telling me something," He said, food practically falling out of his mouth. He may look civilized now, but he also looked like he hadn't eaten good food in years. He could always tell when I was keeping things from him, I'm not sure why I tried. He was overly protective of my well-being and he made it his job to know when things were not right when it came to my affairs.

"I saw her," I muttered.

"In the mirror, yeah, that's where you normally see her" He assumed. I stayed quiet just watching him finish his eggs as I had already finished mine.

"Eris." He said sternly, looking at me with his hair falling to the side of his face. He set his plate down on the coffee table, and straightened against the chair he was sitting in. I could see he was waiting for my response, but the words weren't coming out of my mouth.

"It... It was like an apparition." I told him.

"A ghost?" He dumbed my words down, I hated when he did this. Rick was well-educated though it might not seem like it. He may not be an exquisite scholar, but he was always in tune with my emotions and those around him. His intellect with himself, however, was subpar. I rolled my eyes at him.