The Cake

I walked around the city for hours, wondering what would be the best way out of this situation. I had mixed feelings, on the one hand, I blamed myself that I didn't need to wait back home, even though I wanted to, but I wasn't sure how they would receive me. Until I found out that everyone knew the truth, I didn't care what would happen when I returned. I knew I didn't have to be afraid of anything, and even knowing it, I still had some illusory hope for it. What did I expect? I assume so.

I clenched my fists over and over in anger, alternating with the rubbing of my tears as a result of sadness. On the other hand, I had a bit of a grudge against my family for being kicked out of their relatives list so easily. I thought about my parents and felt the urge to visit their grave, but after a while, I realized that this was where the whole thing started and I was scared that again someone might wait for me there and kidnap me back to the property.

However, I decided to call Aunt Bernadette. At first, she answered suspiciously, not knowing my new number, but when she recognized me she breathed a sigh of relief. I told her what I could, counting on some advice from her, but she couldn't find the right words for me. She could only assure me that she would always be on my side and that everything would work out in the end. I had no reason to disbelieve her, although I was not entirely convinced of it myself. But it was good to talk to her, somehow it helped me to calm down. I didn't know if it was a matter of her voice and tone with which she spoke, or if she was just so powerful.

Unconscious footsteps led me back to the apartment I shared with Victor. I wasn't as scared as before, but I didn't open the door with as light a heart as I would have liked. I was surprised by the atmosphere inside, which had stood as clear as a tear when I had been gone for a few hours.

"Lulu ..." Victor approached me with a worried look as I entered. "Dad called and said what happened. Are you okay?"

I nodded uncertainly and looked at Alex, who began to blame himself for making me visit my parents. He felt guilty for putting himself first, not others. I understood it all too well, so I grabbed the newspaper from the coffee table, rolled it up, and lightly hit him on the head.

"We all have to be selfish sometimes. I won't let you blame yourself. As long as I have both of you and Tetsu, I'll be fine," I said to him, smiling slightly. Victor appeared between us with his thumbs up, signaling that he completely agreed with my words. He also got a hit with the newspaper. "You were supposed to get it anyway, for you didn't notice what was going on with Alex."

"We're all right now," the bartender confirmed. "This conversation hurt a bit, but we cleared it all up."

"I'm glad," I replied honestly. "Such good news I wanted to hear today."

Victor wasn't entirely convinced that I could handle my emotions and watched me suspiciously until I disappeared into my bedroom. I heard that they discussed something for a long time, but I didn't listen, and I already knew too much, I should now respect their privacy even more. I was writing to Tetsu for a while and went to sleep. However, it was not a quiet night for me, I did not feel safe even though I was at home. I would wake up every now and then to make sure I wasn't back at the property. It happened less and less with each subsequent night. After a week, I was able to sleep without waking up.

Every other day I was seeing Tetsu and Kiba, the dog began to forgive me gradually when he saw that I did come back to him every now and then. But I always had to destroy his hope of staying. It wasn't easy for me, especially since my boyfriend didn't want to agree with it more and more. I knew it was not possessiveness, but more concern. I didn't want to rely on him all the time, I had to learn to deal with reality on my own as well.

After two weeks, I contacted the school, explained the reason for my absence, and asked to come back in some time. The director readily agreed and said he would give me as much time as needed to deal with the trauma after the kidnapping. I didn't mean that, but I didn't want to be in touch with the kids until I was in control of the power.

I decided that I could no longer live in eternal disguise, so I spent most of the day walking or hanging out in the park, trying to exercise. After two months, however, I still didn't feel like I was perfect at it. I was still scared, it seemed to me that as soon as I got there, I would suddenly become a reflection of my grandmother. My sense of power gives me some kind of incentive to do bad things. With the memories of David and Martha, about Mom and her outbursts, and remembering what I'd done to Ginny and Hyacinth and a few people before, I knew I wouldn't run away from my genes. It worried me.

Tetsu agreed to be the subject of the exercises as well, and he got used to my power relatively quickly, and he often used it against me to try to surprise or make me laugh. He would tease me at times, knowing it annoyed me, but still, it always ended up with laughter on my part. I couldn't be nervous about him for a long time.

The school year was ending, so I agreed with the headmaster that I would slowly return to work as part of the summer school and take up my duties as a teacher again in the new school year. I was pleased with this solution. I wanted to get back to work now, despite so many fears.

Victor's birthday was approaching and when I asked if he needed anything I could buy for him, he said that instead of a present I could bake a birthday cake. I would have done it anyway, so I was surprised at the request and finally admitted what he and Alex had been up to for some time. Their grand plan was to have his birthday as a family picnic in the park, but that was just a cover to try to reunite our family.

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, even David didn't contact me directly, he just found out through Victor. Martha and Hyacinth did not want to contact me. Even though my older brother's wedding had been postponed to fall, Ginny figured that since there was no threat from me now, she could plan the wedding with more panache and detail than she initially assumed.

Anyway, I also made myself responsible for the food for this little celebration, and doing it allowed me to think a little less about what might happen there. I was grateful to my brother that he invited Tetsu as well, he must have been at work that day, but he promised to come over as soon as he finished it. And so I bought Victor a present, pulled out a couple of their photos from Alex, and put them in a collective frame. Sometimes he thought about missing it but wondered if it would bother me since there were actually three of us in the apartment. I also wanted to convey to him that I have no problem with it and that their happiness is also mine. Choosing the right place for the gift had to wait for us to get everything ready in the park.

All three of us were nervous, waiting for guests, afraid of how it would all turn out. Alex was even more stressed because he was going to meet the rest of the family for the first time. He only saw David briefly and they didn't talk much to each other, he only saw Hyacinth on my birthday. It didn't help him much. I tried to cheer him up a bit by offering a handshake, and he returned the gesture. It lifted us a little as we watched Victor in a fighting mood as he waited for his guests.

Ginny and Hyacinth were the first to arrive, politely greeted the birthday boy, and handed over a gift. Only then did they pay attention to us, and he greeted Alex and wanted to say something to me, but his fiancée interrupted.

"What is she doing here?!" she finally vented her anger. "I told you I don't want to see her, she's dangerous. Baby, I told you what she did to me lately!" she told Hyacinth, who apparently chose not to react until he saw what I was going to do.

"I don't regret doing it," I said. "You were asleep and at least you weren't disturbing," I added. Victor stood next to me, ready to help me. "I'd like to apologize to you," I said to my older brother. "I will never forgive myself for this, I apologize with all my heart."

I certainly did not expect that after a while, together with Victor, we would be in the embrace of my brother. Surprised, we returned the gesture and the three of us stood for a moment.

"You are my really annoying younger siblings, but I love you and I don't want to lose you. Sorry to fail as a big brother at times."

"We've been a nuisance too," I said gratefully and relieved.

"Who are you and what did you do with our brother? Victor signed as we moved away from each other.

"It's not over yet," said David in a shaky voice, and made us join the group again this time, joining himself. "My children, how good it is to see you at such a moment."

We didn't notice when our parents showed up, but in the end, Martha kept me at distance, so Victor only felt half-victory. The atmosphere was still a little tense, especially when Ginny was making some comments in my direction, and some of us were getting bored of their repetition. I tried not to get nervous when I was calm, I was controlling the power, but under the influence of emotions it was harder for me, and I didn't want to give Ginny and Martha another argument against me.

I didn't say much later, but I was glad Alex had found himself quite well and got along with the rest. This day was despite all quite a good one, partial success of Victor's plan should be enough for us to be happy. What would happen next, I didn't know, but it was okay. I wished Tetsu had time to come to the cake, but I couldn't wait any longer, the cake could lose its form, and the cream could melt. Carrying the delicacy and quietly singing Happy Birthday, I suddenly felt the cake fall from my hands and something suddenly pulled me back. That something turned out to be someone, the same man, employed by my grandmother, who accosted me that day during the kidnapping. I turned to see her standing next to me with her sinister smile.

"I am not sorry to interrupt this family idyll, but my granddaughter should not take part in it, since she is not a part of your family," she said in a voice that could not bear any objections.