"One is the wind that blinds you, creating a storm. What finds you? I looked at her with lucid vigor, she grinned at me, a constant figure. She was an avid magician, making me enthralled. I was but a mere transition, guiding her way to exctinction."- Peter Zahn
The both of them chose the next day suitable for working on the project. Vivien had organized all her books on her personalized shelf, she had wiped the dust off of every single spot and she had vacuumed around the house.
Luis knew that when she got like this, there was no point in salvaging her. She needed all the spots to be clean no matter what, and so he let hear clean every single room and every little object she could get her hands on.
While she was cleaning off the dust in the living room, Luis was watching a show on his laptop. She moved further to the bathroom and cleaned off the mirror there.
It was about 5 p.m. and Sylas was going to arrive any minute. He was usually late for school and many other activities, making it very clear for Vivien that he would be late this time. Well, that didn't appear to come about as she was thinking.
After half an hour of cleaning, she heard the sound of a knock at the door. Luis immediately paused his show and got up from the sofa.
„Who is that? One of your friends?"
„It's a boy."
Sylas was exactly on time. The girl didn't imagine he would care as much as to be punctual when it came to meeting up with her to work for a project.
He exchanged seats just to get to work together with her. He was indeed really curious and excited to learn more about her. She figured it was more than certain going to be an interesting day ahead.
„A boy? Who are you having over?"
„For what purpose do you presume I've been cleaning?"
„Who is he?", Luis asked.
„You'll see, Luis, you'll see...", is what she thought. She walked forward, hands clenched tightly to her sides. She didn't feel the usual tingle she had gotten used to in her palms, taking it as a sign to safely open the door without teleporting two years into the future.
She reached for the doorknob and there was Sylas, standing with his hands in his pockets, wearing a brown sweater. The boy walked forward and shook her hand repeatedly while talking to her. He hadn't forgotten about how upset she was when he accidentally touched her during the bus drive when she lost her balance and he tried to steady her, but right then, he was so happy he didn't remember the moment that occured.
„Heeeey, what's up, shortie? I'm pleased to meet you here at your house. Might I just add that it's an honor to be here and to bask into all of these majestic Vivien-like views! I am so excited to be here. Have I already told you that? Whatever. I'll say it again."
He walked inside the house without even acknowledging Luis standing there. He looked around the living room.
His eyes went to the pictures on the walls and the numerous medals and diplommas for free-speech shows and acting contests Vivien had went to in the past. He wanted to ask about it, but kept his mouth shut.
„What's this?", he pointed to a painting made by her mother and almost touched it.
„Don't touch that, it belongs to my mom!
„It holds a very interesting brush style that exceeds my expectations. I have never seen such a minimalist and sensible show of colors on a canvas. This is pure perfection. Paintings of bombs have many additions besides regular ones and I LOVE BOMBS. Would a kind soul like you let me buy this piece of art?"
Vivien looked at his puppy dog eyes and didn't know what to say exactly.
„Um... yes?"
„Really? You'd do that, for pesky little me? Really? Yipee, I'll have a painting of a bomb in my house! OOO, VIVIEN YOU'RE AN ANGEL! But oh, I need to analyze it further, there must be more to see in it... there are so many people after all moving around doing their own thing in it. We can't miss anything important."
Luis took a couple of strides and closed the distance between the two. He cleared his throat as to gain his attention.
„Excuse me-"
„Not now, please! Give me a second, I have to finish analyzing everything."
Luis stood by with annoyance etched on his face. So Vivien wasn't the only person who felt the same way.
Sylas shot the girl a side eye and a smirk. She knew he was probably acting like this on purpose and she wanted to let Luis also see that awful look on his face, but she kept quiet for the moment, letting him continue his act.
„THERE'S A SINGLE WHITE DOT THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE! NOOO!", Sylas pointed to the dot.
„Oh no... what a shame...", Vivien said, lacking any emotion.
„I'm Luis Torres. You are..?", Luis stepped forward and wanted to shake his hand, trying to catch his attention in some way.
Sylas broke from his picture analyzing obssesion and stepped away from the painting. He reached forward and greeted her brother with a firm handshake.
„I'm Sylas Jackson, her classmate."
„Ouch...", Luis retreated his hand back as if he was about to lose it.
„Let's check more of this place now, shall we? I want to see the rooms you have a mental breakdown in every single day.", he said while almost touching everything around him.
„Oh good heavens... Sylas don't touch that!", Vivien kept saying while trying to follow him around.
He reached everywhere for every object he could find, trying to make her as distressed as possible.
He walked around the hallway to her room and it was nothing like he had visioned it. He stepped inside and noticed the decor.
On the left side was the bed, the soft and peach color matress looking very smooth . Next to the bed was the wooden table, a dark orange color that seemed to bring new mysteries each time Vivien sat down to begin writing. Right above the table and to the right were all her posters taped on the walls to concerts she had went to. Looking to the right, the window was placed right next to some posters. It had a beautiful view of the outside and to the neighbouring houses.
The wardrobe and the bookshelf were propped on the left side of the room.
Sylas was more amazed by the bookshelf than about anything he had ever seen in his entire life.
He strode in and sat down on the bed, sinking into the soft matress. He closed his eyes as he lay down, almost like he found his way home.
Vivien smiled at the sight and tried not to let her happiness show. „This doesn't mean anything!", she thought to herself while trying to find something to say.
„Feeling like home?", she asked with her arms crossed, standing in the threshold of the doorway.
„You could say."
The girl left him there and sat down at her seat. She pulled up her sleeves and started writing about self-love while Sylas picked up a magazine from the bookshelf and read.
A while later, Sylas had read a quarter of her magazines about superheroes and he got bored.
He had a mountain of magazines all around himself on the bed, and he wasn't going to clean it up.
He got bored and watched as she wrote. He looked at her focused expression and the dedication she had for her work astounded him. His voice ringed out.
„Do you want to hear me sing while you keep working on whatever it is you're working on?"
„You don't even know what I'm losing my mind over?"
„Come ooon, shortie, I've got the voice of Jessie J, it's a rare occasion to hear someone with such a clear and crisp voice serenade you. You could sing together with me if you want. How about that?"
„Nudnik."
„Tsk, whatever."
He looked around, seemingly disheartened by the one word she used. It had an effect on him.
„Your highness could pick up his butt from that chair and try helping me out."
„I offered to help with my singing and you didn't like the idea! It hurt my feelings because I thought it was a great way to spend time together, and I have an amazing voice. Well, now that you refused, I'll be making another proposition to help you out by giving you moral support! Do you accept it?"
„I don't accept your moral support, Sylas."
„See? You don't need teamwork, you've got yourself."
„Teamwork is essential for making the dream work."
„I suppose so. Ughhh, what do you need help with?"
Sylas finally decided to make a contribution to the project. He looked over all the papers she had on the desk and they both chose together the best themes for their project.
They haven't talked about the time traveling yet and the fact that they may have been cursed. She wanted to keep that information away for a while, thus... while Sylas was explaining something with pure excitment, she couldn't help but to keep thinking about that book she had gotten and about what Jude had told her.
„The Curse of Althemia", was about a girl who also stood outside one day and watched a blood moon. Her hands started feeling weird, just like Vivien's did, and Althemia changed every object she had in her home when touching it. Everything in her house became something futuristic and the character chose to use the superpower to her advantage. Though, her superpowers came with a price. Althemia's future looked mortifying, and it was said that nothing she could do would ever break the curse. Vivien hadn't read further, she stopped when taking in the information that nothing could break the curse.
After finishing their project, Vivien having done about half the work and making sure to leave enough tasks for him as well, the boy said his goodbyes to Vivien and Luis.