Maximus:
"You know you can speak with , brother," I said to Norman, who was standing in the backyard with .
I had seen him co out and stand there, looking at the empty area where Helanie had once run away with her mother. It was just empty now. Everyone was, all of us, our hearts, our emotions. There were no dreams left. But we had to remind ourselves that she could co back any day. We could go and see her.
Last night, even though I was upset that she had decided to leave, I realized it was necessary for her to go for her own safety. I could not be selfish enough to ask her to stay sowhere she no longer wanted to be.
"What if Emt was on her side? What if Kaye believed that her mother was the victim? Would she have stayed then?" Norman asked, pouting and frowning.
I had not thought of it that way.
"I’m pretty sure she left because they were pretty much under attack, and everyone wanted them dead," I said, staring at my brother, who probably had deeper thoughts than I did.
"Why do I feel like my two brothers not standing beside her made her feel weak? Maybe she was wondering if we would also turn on her one day," he asked, turning to . His eyes were red. He was restless, just like the rest of us.
But it was also true that I was extrely angry with Kaye and Emt. Then again, I wasn’t sure if they were truly to bla.
"Norman, I’ve been aning to talk with you, but I never got the ti for it," I said, gesturing at the benches in the backyard so we could talk in peace.
"What is it?" he asked, steadily walking to the bench and sitting down.
I joined him, sitting across the table.
"I’ve been noticing Emt’s behavior, and so things don’t make sense to . There are too many inconsistencies in the stories being told about him."
I watched Norman slowly straighten up in his seat. I knew he loved all of us deeply, but he had always had a stronger connection with Emt than with the rest of us younger siblings. That was also because we were a ss, and Emt had always been his support and shoulder to rely on.
"Tell more," Norman insisted.
"So Emt is supposed to forget things, but he rembers Azura. Fine. That’s okay. It’s a curse, I understand, and she also cursed him on top of it. But the way he flip-flops, it seems like there’s more. And why didn’t he rember that he pushed Helanie in the well?" I asked.
"And before you say that was guilt, I don’t believe it. I heard when Helanie told him he was the one who had asked her to et him at the well. But Emt looked so clueless. I know others thought he was lying, that he forgot. But to , it sounded like he was genuinely confused. He was supposed to forget and then rember once his mories ca back. But that part never ca back." As I kept talking, I could tell Norman was losing interest. I wasn’t saying anything aningful anymore. I was repeating myself. I wasn’t good like the rest of them. It was hard for to explain myself to anyone.
"Okay, please hear out. I went back to the tiline, step by step. I thought about our interactions with Emt and tried to focus on when he started to change, when he began abandoning Helanie, which began on the wedding night. But before that, there was one incident we had all forgotten," I picked up my phone to read from the notes I had written.
"That one day when Emt ca to the academy and he had bloodstains on his shirt, he said he had fought the Zharns in the woods. Do you rember that day?" I asked Norman and watched him zone out before nodding his head.
"Oh yeah, that sa day—" He suddenly paused, and his eyes widened.
"What?" I asked, watching his face with interest.
"He was in the woods, right?" he asked and I nodded to confirm.
"Oh no," he uttered. "Helanie and I— we were in the woods together," He said quietly, and I stared at his face, rembering how her touch felt. I got distracted for a mont, afraid I might never be able to touch her again.
"Right. No, but I’m not sure if he saw you or not. But he did have an encounter with the Zharns. So I checked the cara footage, and I’m downloading the material to see if I can spot anything from that day, when he ca out of the woods with the bloodstains towards the academy. So while I am getting the footage of the front cara of the academy’s building, I tried to do sothing esle as well. Do you rember the tis he was found in the bar, both tis after abandoning Helanie. Do you rember that?" I asked.
Norman nodded again.
"So I went to the bar to ask for the footage from those two specific nights, and guess what they told ?" I could already tell Norman was expecting to say I didn’t get them.
"They told they accidentally deleted those footage. All the other nights were still there. I asked for one more night, just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. And guess what? The night before those two, the nights after, even the ones in between, they were all there, except for those two. Do you not see that there’s sothing else going on? Soone else is involved in whatever is happening to Emt," I concluded.
I saw a kind of relief wash over Norman, probably because he wanted to believe soone else was interfering rather than believe that Emt was becoming sothing truly evil.
"One of the nights you’re ntioning is the night Helanie was pushed into the well, isn’t it?" Norman asked, watching nod and tap at my phone.
"Exactly. One of those nights—Wait, wait, wait—" I groaned when I noticed him losing the path again.
"Maximus—we saw the scribbling on the papers in his bedroom," Norman said, cutting in before I could respond.
That was when I decided to share my thoughts on those scribbles as well.
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