Chapter 4: The Cousin

The diary, the photos, and a couple clothes. That's all she needed in her bag. And money of course. She had less than ten minutes to catch the flight, not her fault it was a last minute decision.

With that, she rushed off and called an Uber.

"I'll pay you quadruple if you go past the speed limit", Warona eyed the driver from the rear-view mirror.

She didn't need to say it twice because he was already racing through the boulevard.

She blew him a kiss after paying him.

One minute away, she ran as fast as she could, disminding all the odd glances people at the airport shot her.

Never gonna happen? Didn't care?

She couldn't believe it either. She'd have to swallow all of her pride to take her words back. It happened, and she cared. The far cry for help? She was meant to hear it, no matter how low it was. She wanted answers, so she was to unravel them. All it took was one sleepless night for her to change her mind. Everybody had a purpose, maybe this was hers.

Warona apologized to the annoyed looking flight attendant who didn't look pleased with Warona's time management issues.

"Trust me, I never thought I'd be here either", Warona shrugged at her. "But well ... I guess never say never.

___________________________________

Never in a million years did Warona ever thought she'd be away from home without telling anyone. Even Celine?

Not like she didn't trust her best friend, it's just that she knew Celine would be against her decision. I mean, isn't that what good friends did? Get protective?

Her breath hitched when she finally stood before the door.

She knocked. Her heart on her throat.

A minute flied. Then two.

The image of two smiley twins started blurrying her vision and then-

"I almost thought you wouldn't come", a boy who looked like her age appeared. A few inches taller than her, locs hanging from the top of his head, and skin darker than hers. Dressed in a T-shirt, jersey shorts, and a familiar face, she was sure she could remember him from somewhere in the past but her memory span wasn't very good.

He quickly checked behind her as if to confirm that there was no one else with her before letting her in.

It was at that particular moment when she almost reconsidered dragging Celine along. You know, just to ease herself out from the pressure. But again, no.

If it weren't for the newspapers and clothes littering the confined apartment, Warona would sure have considered it a cozy nook instead of assuming a meteor blowed the place up.

Was it the right place? Was he the anonymous sender behind those unsigned envelopes? Her mind bombarded her with endless questions and she couldn't wait to interrogate him to the brim of her satisfaction. Hopefully the guy knew something about her sisters. Something she ought to discover.

"Have a sit", the boy invited her while he checked the door lock for almost a dozen times. God knows what he was fearing. Was there a bad guy Warona had to be enlightened about? Come to think of it, she had no defense mechanism with her.

Was it too late to think that?

No gun, no knife. She couldn't even throw a punch to save a life yet here she was, in a stranger's apartment with locked doors and windows. It took her almost five minutes to locate the couch, that's how disarrayed the place was. Random stuff thrown around, leaving no sight of the floor or any furniture in particular.

He disappeared behind a door and came back with a mug of tea - Where was he going to put that? He pushed some news papers with his foot and revealed, alas, as much to the Warona's surprise, a small coffee table.

"Oh", let boys be boys, she swallowed.

"Warm up", he said.

It could be poisoned for all she knew but who cared about that when it was freezing outside. Not Warona.

The boy didn't talk again until she was half way down with her tea.

Turns out it wasn't poisoned.

"I know your Mom warned you about me", he muttered.

He was sitting on the floor next to the table, sketching something on a notepad.

"Not to kill your vibe but- for starters, I don't even know who you are yet for my mom to give me such a warning"

His eyes widened in surprise at her words.

"Oh, should've guessed. There was no way you could remember me", he mumbled, more to himself than to the girl.

She had no idea what he meant by that.

"Who are the girls in the photos?", she put down her mug.

The guy shot her a 'are you kidding me?' look, leaving her perturbed. Was there something she ought to know?

"Shit- ", he threw the unfinished drawing into the bin before facing her. His empty expression summoned a certain fear from beneath her skin.

"Sorry for overestimating your intelligence, my bad. I can't believe I thought that would be a no brainer."

"What?", everything that came out of his mouth frustrated her even further.

The whole meeting was exactly the opposite of her expectations. Wasn't he supposed to be the epiphany behind her conundrum?

"A minute", he murmured before rushing out to what she assumed was his bedroom.

Warona's eyes began to wander around the moment he disappeared, curious to find something that might trigger her memory and make things easier.

She was pretty sure her Mom had already called the police by this time.

"I wish I hadn't met Hans and Riegel in the first place, all this wouldn't have happened... If only I wasn't related to them."

She watched him as he came back into the room, taking his seat again.

She didn't know what to say because she couldn't believe what she just heard, so she listened.

"Born in June 28, 1995 ...", he began. "Ren was four years older than me. Heck, she was three inches taller than me but I still shamelessly fell in love with her'

The last part of his statement made her eyes widen. She kept listening, stout-hearted.

"She was ... well, the first girl who ever made me feel like getting married. I was never the committed type, trust me. I slept with every girl and guy back in school, even the teachers. But she was there through it all, just watching. Like a spectator behind the scene."

A love story was something Warona wasn't prepared for.

"Sometimes I think, maybe she knew all along that I'll be on her knees in the end. We belonged together, as cheesy as it sounds", Calvin folded his legs on the couch and leaned back. "We were cousins."

The last part did trigger something inside Warona. In a quick second, she could swear she had a flashback seeing a younger version of this boy next to her.

Had they known each other before? Had she seen him somewhere? She was sure it was him.

He was her cousin.

The realization hit her heavy.

She had a relative all along and she didn't know it. And here she thought she was and always will be alone.

She had a cousin and, wow, two sisters older than her. But if they existed, where were they all this time?

"She was my designated driver when I got intoxicated, she was on my back on every fight. She was my shield and I was too stupid not to realize it until she .... Until ... She wasn't there anymore."

His words went straight into her heart, stabbing. Maybe it was the blood tie or something, but she could feel his pain seep into her. Or maybe she was just an emotional person? Warona was mentally lost.

"What do you mean?"

She knew exactly what he meant.

Ren was dead too, right? Just like her other sister.

"Aunt Riegel and Uncle Hans took me in when my parents died in a forged car crash"

"Forged?", she questioned.

"A fraud made up to feed my childish brain and I sipped on it like wine for years before I dicovered that they were executed as a sacrifice."

"Where is she now?"

He didn't need to ask who. He needed to give more clarification on Ren's end.

"They took her to the cult, just like what they did to my parents. The fucking pricks-"

"Cult?"

If she thought the previous information was overwhelming then he wanted to warn her to buckle up for the brutal.

"Alexandria Alexis Draver"

"Who is-"

"The devil in a black cloak", he answered before she could finish. "That's who he is. On his back, a pack of gargoyled faced 8 feet heighted creatures. The true definition of the word terrifying. All in the shadows of a Catholic church, feeding on your fear and human sacrifices."

Now she wasn't only thrown off balance, but also horrified. She didn't know such things existed. It was more arduous than she gave it credit for. She wasn't prepared for this kind of battle. Talk about carrying a knife to a gun fight.

Worse, her parents were the biggest Catholics she knew.

"Yes, they are part of it. And yes, they wiped out all their family members", he answered the questions in her head. "We're the only ones left because, well, I was lucky to figure it out and run away before they could harm me. They have a bunch of absurd decrees and a motto that nobody else but the members know of. And as for you, you're not on the blacklist."

"Blacklist?", nonplussed.

"My parents, Rin, Ren, Me ... we're all declared to die. It's our fate"

"No-", she had no idea what she was saying.

"You won't understand, but it's been decided already. 'What the Lord desires, the congress fulfills', that's their secret mantra."

He had whispered that last part. She froze, mortified.

Who was this guy? Was it really safe to be in the same room with him? Was it too late to leave? Was she going to die too?

"You are part of them, aren't you?", her eyebrows furrowed.

"Was", he corrected the tense.

"If you were so against all of it then why didn't you stop this? Why didn't you do something?"

"I am now"

"After loosing the girl you love?", glassy-eyed, agitated.

"I haven't lost her", his eyes were downcast. "... yet."

"Wh-what?", more turbulence set in. "What do you mean by that? What am I doing here, you nameless long lost cousin?"

She felt like she was being pulled up for air for a second only to be drowned down all over again.

"You were taken out of the blacklist so you could be the new successor and lead the church. They usually don't pick women but the Sylvesters are now on the highest rank of being the master's pets so they won the privilege. They still have Ren shackled down in their quarters and I believe even if you can't save her, you can save a lot of other innocent lives of lost catholic children. And the name is Calvin by the way, so please don't call me that again.

"And why me?", she almost banged the table for clarity. "Why me, Calvin?"

It was taking all of her to fight the urge to strangle him so he could spit it all out.

"I just told you that"

"Do you mean to say Ren's still alive?"

"I wouldn't be here if she was dead", he gave a nod. "Ren's end is my end, my life is nothing without her."

Warona stared him down, pity dilating her pupils. She didn't know shit about love so she had no idea what to say about that. Albeit, a part of her ached for the cousin.

She just hoped this wouldn't end up like Romeo and Juliet, those two were pathetic.

She could feel his agony pierce through her skin and for a second, it occurred to her that he was the brother she never had after all.

"What do I do?", her lips had moved on their own, surprising herself.

Her response released a faint smile from him, making him glad.

The boy was shuffled through some papers on the table and no, he didn't retrieve another note or anything a normal person would carry around with them. No, he retrieved a dagger.

"You might need this", he placed the blade in front of her and she retreated back as if she got confronted by a snake, her eyes widening at the sight of it. He couldn't blame her , not everyday a stranger pulls out a spear before you with a smile.

"Just in case", he reassured her. "Trust me"

She stared at it for a while before taking it. Just in case, yes. But trust him? Wasn't it too early for that?

"Can demons really die from being stabbed by a mere dagger?", she decided to ask.

"No, but our target right now is the devil's son so ..."

She shot him an unbelievable look.

He wasn't serious, was he?

"And he comes in form of a human.", he grinned.

Warona's skin shivered as she pondered the thought of killing another human. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with the idea.

"You really never say anything to the end of it, do you?", slightly irritated at the fact that the more he pulled something out of his sleeve, there was always more to come.

"I saved the best for last"

"Spit it out", she ordered while he was still wearing that grin. She wasn't comfortable one bit.

"He is Rin's murderer", he mumbled. "He might be deadly but something tells me he can't do a thing to you-"

"What? If you think I might be immune to demons then you must be completely deranged"

"You are", yes he said it. As porcelain and as clear as it could be.

"You're crazy"

"C'mon, you're literally the chosen one, of course you'd be immune", he rolled his eyes. "I've got a demon's tooth in my cupboard, we could give it a try if you wish. They got a venom though, it's deadly."

He was smiling, introducing her to the other side of him, the cheery one.

"Ew, so funny"

"So ... mission to woo the devil executed?"

She looked at him, holding back a chuckle.

As if all this was a matter to joke about. Before she could think, they exchanged a laugh.

Warona took the dagger and ran her fingers through the glinting of its metal.

"Mission executed"

She wished she would've met him sooner.