6 - Family Secrets

     I wanted to die. Death was honestly preferable to helping Seraphina. Death by embarrassment. I could see the headlines now. Son of Mythril Mines Manifest’s owner, casualty of local mean girl’s love life.

     “Stop fussing,” Eva grumbled. “You don’t have it as nearly as bad as I do.”

     That was debatable. Somehow, Sera had convinced us to dress up as her boyfriend so we can better brainstorm what’s going on in their relationship. So here we were, dressed up in the same raggedy clothes and vest Silas was wearing. Eva even had her hair pulled up in an elaborate bun to imitate the man’s messy shorter hair style. Overall, we looked disheveled, humiliated, and every bit the fool. Well, except for the broken nose, but neither of us were willing to commit to that…

     She’s an animal expert, I had to remind myself. She’s our best bet on trying to figure out if whatever was in the cave was natural or not.

     “Not gonna lie,” Sera replied, observing us thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m more attracted to dirt than I thought. The both of you are looking pretty hot right now.”

     “Get me out of this,” Eva demanded. “I don’t want to be the subject of your nasty thoughts.”

     “Keep it in your pants,” I agreed. “We’re just doing this to help you with Silas. Not to turn you on.”

     “Party pooper,” She grumbled, but didn’t protest any further.

     “Alright, so when did your boyfriend start getting distant?” I asked. Sera coughed, and I sighed. “Ugh, fine. So when did I start being distant?”

     Sera’s mood brightened immediately when I started roleplaying as Silas. “Well, let me think,” She said, a giggle coming into her voice and a warmth I wasn’t expecting in her demeanor. “I think it started a couple weeks ago? His dad had gotten into an accident around the same time.”

     Eva put her hands on the table. “Well there you go,” she exclaimed. “He has to step up around the house while his dad is recovering. Problem solved.”

     “Do you have any idea how little Silas cares about his dad?” Sera asked. “They argue constantly, fight daily. The only peace and quiet he ever gets has been when I’m over or his dad isn’t around.”

     “Oh please, like you are ever peaceful or quiet when you two are alone,” Eva snapped.

     Sera simply smiled.

     Silas never did have a regular relationship with his family. His mom, Nova, used to work at a tavern before marrying Alex Stone, one of the superintendents in charge of discovering ore veins for Mythril Mines Manifest. There were some rumors that Nova never gave up the job though, and was more than just a barmaid who served drinks and waited tables. It was common knowledge that Alex was a hard man to get along with, even if he did produce fantastic results. Apparently their marriage came as a bit of a surprise to the town. It was even more surprising when they announced a child on the way only a month later. Sadly, tragedy struck the Stones when Nova died when Silas was only six years old.

     After the funeral, Alex always seemed to have a flask on hand, yet his work ethic never dipped even if he became more volatile as a drunk. If anything, it intensified. And that bled over into his relationship with his son. Something neither I or Eva have really experienced.

     “How about we investigate wherever Silas lives instead of playing dress up?” I asked abruptly.

     My suggestion elicited a relieved smile from Eva and a pouting face from Sera. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” She admitted, seeming resistant to the idea.

     “Why not? We’re helping you help him so you can help us.” I replied. “Sounds harmless enough. I mean, sure we don’t like the guy, but that isn’t any justification to not help.”

     After a moment she relented, and my friend and I changed back into our normal clothes.

     As we followed Sera out of the shack, I made sure to check that no one was watching us. Thankfully it looked like no one was around. As Sera began to direct us on where to go, I lagged behind a little bit, pulling Eva to my speed. She looked at me quizzically.

     “Why are you being so antagonistic towards Sera?” I asked her.

     She shrugged. “You ever feel like you just hate someone on instinct?”

     “Well, probably not yet. I mean, we’re only sixteen, and I’ve tried not to–”

     Eva mowed over my reasoning. “Well that’s how I am with pretty ms. perfect,” she said bluntly.

     A chattering noise caused the three of us to pause. After a moment, a green remis oozed onto the path from the bushes. Eva and I released a sigh we didn’t expect to be holding as the slime bounced up to us, then pounced towards something unseen back in the undergrowth.

     Sera led us over to the coach house on the northeastern edge of town, where in its lobby she revealed a hidden alcove that we slipped into. Inside, a rudimentary home was set up, almost like the shack at Spotter’s Landing, only, a lot dirtier. The smell hit us before we saw anything, and we, aside from Sera, gagged at Silas's place in all its glory. On one end was a dingy couch that looked like it had survived being at ground zero of an explosion, with a staircase leading up to a window overlooking the station with a door with a tower of clothes barring us from entry.

     “Yuck,” Eva held a hand to her nose as she picked up some dirty clothes off the floor with a stick. “Silas needs to work on his hygiene.”

     “You get used to it pretty quickly,” Sera said, though it was obvious her cheeks were blushing furiously at second hand embarrassment. “But to be honest, I haven’t been over here a lot. We normally hang out anywhere else.”

     “A likely story, but I’m not buying it.” Eva replied, now holding up something lacy that looked like it definitely belonged to Seraphina. Her smile was knowing and devilish.

     Sera’s cheeks grew even redder. “Maybe this was a mistake,” she said with a hint of self deprecating humor. “I’m not sure we’ll find any clues in this mess.”

     “Relax Fifi,” I assured her, but also injecting just a little sarcasm into it. “I think it’s cute you dress up for your boyfriend. Shows the level of commitment you have.”

     Eva snorted. “No need to be diplomatic, Adan.” She called out, tossing the underwear at Sera. “I’m pretty sure Silas and Sera have left their DNA all over town.”

     “Like you two haven’t done the same.” Sera scoffed. “I’ve seen how attached at the hip you are.”

     “How many times do we have to repeat ourselves?” Eva automatically said all too quickly, irritated. “Adan and I aren’t dating. He’s not the kind of guy I can see myself with anyway.”

     “So he’s available?” Sera glanced over at me, a wry grin on her face.

     I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment to what they both said. “How about we focus on the task at hand?” I suggested, coughing a bit to catch their attention.

     Sera and Eva ended their bickering, but what they said still floated in my head. It got hard to focus on the task at hand.

     He’s not the kind of guy I can see myself with anyway.

     So he’s available?

     He’s not the kind of guy I can see myself with…

     He’s available?

     Not the kind of guy I can see myself with…

     I guess I never considered if Eva wasn’t interested in me at all. I felt my enthusiasm wane for the task at hand. Even trying to remind myself why we’re doing this, to learn more about the monster, felt unappealing. Life just… felt more gray.

     “Hey, check this out,” Eva called out, producing a dirty handmade booklet from the musty old sofa. On the cover it read, “Mom’s clients?”.

     “Didn’t Nova work as a waitress?” I asked, trying to keep myself involved.

     “That was her official job description,” Sera chimed in. Eva and I glanced at her in confusion and she sheepishly added, “What? A girlfriend isn’t allowed to ask about her boyfriend’s family life?

     “I don’t remember seeing this here before,” She continued. “It looks like a list of clients. Nova would do some work under the table. Adult stuff. Alex was a regular of hers.”

     “Sounds romantic,” Eva said sarcastically. “I think I heard some rumors about this. Nova was Havenwood’s community play thing before you came along; Everyone gets a turn” She directed that last statement to Seraphina.

     Sera bristled, but didn’t let the jab get to her. Eva handed over the booklet to me.

     “If Silas has a list of his mom’s clients,” I asked, perusing the booklet. A couple pages were torn from the seams, but what was left remained pretty legible. There were so many names; most of them residents of Havenwood, a good chunk of them already married, the rest, errant travelers. Each name had a tally mark and number assigned. “Then maybe he isn’t convinced he’s Alex’s kid?”

     “Hey, check out Mr. Repeat Customer,” Eva noticed, pointing at a circled name with numerous tallies.

     I half expected to see Alex’s name, but was surprised to find a “Robin Sparrows” instead, along with the same handwriting as on the front saying “last visit, the twelfth of Saphron. Dad?”

     “That’s nine months before Silas’ birthday!” Sera exclaimed.

     “Well, there we go,” I declared matter-of-factly. “Silas isn’t convinced Alex is his dad, and is going through his late mom’s clients to find out who his biological father is.”

     “Wait a sec,” Eva snatched the booklet out of my hands. Her expression was grim. “Albert Edison, Robert Cruise, Linda Weaver; Some of the married clients, they paid for it after being married.”

     Seraphina arched an eyebrow. “So?” She said rather nastily. Her cheeks flushed and she repeated herself in a less rude manner. “What are you getting at?”

     “We have evidence of infidelity,” Eva went on. “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t we do something about that?”

     The three of us exchanged glances. “I don’t see how that’s our problem,” Sera commented. “It’s their sex lives. And we don’t even know the full context outside of these people getting woopy from Nova.”

     “It’s a breach of trust,” Eva countered. “Marriage is a bond and Nova’s job has gotten in the way of that.”

     “What do you even suggest we do?” Seraphina asked. “Walk up to the Havenwood Tribune and show off the booklet? You saw the client list. No one will want this to get out anyway. And this isn’t what we’re even here for!”

     I took back the booklet. “It might not have been what we came for, but now we’re in this mess whether we like it or not.” I said. “I don’t know what Silas was planning to do with this book after he was done looking for daddy, but that doesn’t matter now that we have it” I locked eyes with Sera. “You asked us to help understand why he’s been acting distant. Well we did, and now we have an ethically delicate situation for the entire town.”

     “Even if it is, we can’t just take Silas's last link he has to his mom!” Sera insisted.

     “Let’s look at it another way,” Eva stepped in. “It is an important keepsake belonging to Silas. But it's also a literal butt ton of ammunition he could use to blackmail the entire town if he wanted.”

     “He would never do that!” she replied as Eva stepped away. Sera whirled towards me, pleading. “Silas is rough around the edges, but he’s a good guy, I swear!”

     “Hey, Sera, what’s behind this room?” Eva asked out of nowhere, eyeing the door upstairs.

     “I don’t know, he doesn’t let me; why? Isn’t breaking and entering one room enough for you two?”

     “Okay, we probably are the last people in the entire town to judge, but the fact that he isn’t sharing everything with you is a serious red flag,” I commented.

     “Yeah, you’re right?” Sera said suddenly, eyes narrowing.

     “I am?”

     “You are the last people in the entire town to judge my relationship,” she snapped back, retaking the booklet from me. “I love him. And he loves me! We’d never hurt each other.”

     “Holy mother of the Divines!” Eva exclaimed. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

     In the heat of the moment, the both of us had forgotten about Eva, who had made her way upstairs and pushed aside the clothing barricading it from entry. With the door now open, Eva looked stricken. I wondered what she had found there that elicited her reaction.

     My curiosity was quickly rewarded as Sera and I joined her upstairs. Honestly, I thought Eva’s reaction was underselling how disturbing the contents were. Seraphina put a hand to her mouth as she gasped in disbelief.

     “He’s already been using them,” Eva whispered.

     The wall was littered with papers from the booklet, hand drawn pictures affixed to the wall with strings attaching them together. Names like Albert Edison subtitled with “constabulary protection”, Robin Sparrows with a big fat exclamation of “free money” and various other portrait drawings to identify each of the clients Nova Stone had serviced.

     But what was worse, was that off to the side, were drawings of Sera and her mother. Oh, by the Divines, the drawings. As skillful as they were, as tasteful, as talented as Silas has shown himself artistically, it was undeniable evidence that the man was not at all what any of us had thought he was.

     “Why is my mom here? Why am I on this…” Seraphina squeaked, and I wasn’t sure if she was about to burst into tears or anger. “On this thing?!” she finally choked out.

     “Allyson Hawthorne met and paid for Nova’s services soon after Enrico returned to sailing after their wedding.” Eva read aloud the script written above the portrait of Seraphina and her mom. “Perfect leverage.”

     “It says the same thing with some of the other parents of these other girls!” I observed, trying not to acknowledge the illicit drawings tagged alongside them.

     “He’s got his fist wrapped around half the town!” Eva concluded.

     “No!” Sera shouted, her knees threatening to give out from under her. “No, no, no! This is wrong! This is…” Tears finally trailed her cheeks as she sat down from the enormity of it all.

     “I loved him…” She moaned. “I loved him! And all I was… was a piece of meat?”

     Eva and I glanced at each other, a silent conversation going on entirely through that brief moment of contact. We were in total agreement.

     “I’m sorry,” I consoled her, kneeling beside her. “This… this isn’t at all what I was expecting would happen.”

     Sera threw herself into my shoulders, crying something incomprehensible. I nodded to Eva, and she pressed a palm against the wall. In an instant, the surface glowed bright, then burst into flame. The inferno consumed it eagerly, erasing all the evidence from existence.

     Countless sparks of passion and lust built up over the years finally burning away, withering in the presence of an earnest woman’s broken heart.

     I don’t remember how long I sat there as Sera wept. Eva even put aside her natural disdain for Sera to join me in comforting her. The three of us sat before the falling embers long after the fire had faded, but the tears continued.

     When the crying finally stopped, Seraphina unsteadily rose to her feet and thrust the book into my arms.

     “Take it,” She said. Her voice was hoarse, but some strength still remained. All the strength she had left.

     “Are you sure?” I asked, eyeing it. Now knowing what Silas had been doing, it felt heavier, dirtier than before.

     “You held up your end of the bargain, and then some.” Sera replied. “So the least I can do is tell you what you wanted to know.”