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Thea is dreaming of salty water and waves that break on the shore when something wakes her up. What was that? Is someone in here?
She doesn't dare to move, heart pounding fast. For a long time, nothing happens. Maybe it was part of her dream. Or some of the other renters just came home. But then-
Foot steps.
She can’t her them, of course, but she is trained on feeling their vibrations. If someone was just out on the hallway, she wouldn’t be able to tell, but right now… they’re inside her apartment.
Thea freezes. Then, as cautiously as humanly possible, she sits up, throws her blanket to the side and puts her naked feet onto the cold floor. Her hand slips under the pillow and searches for the knife. She always stores it there. Just in case.
Slowly, she tiptoes over to the door and waits. Now she can make out a shadow, shoes coming closer. Heavy boots on cheap wooden tiles. The stranger seems to be in no hurry, meandering as if they had all the time in the world. Then they reach the door and Thea acts without thinking.
She lounges forward, right at the dark figure, reaching for its shoulder. But she misses and only avoids the stranger’s punch by the length of a hair. Before she can strike a second time, she is shoved. Her back hits the wall hard and the breath is knocked out of her lung.
The stranger is at her throat, nailing her arms to her sides, making it impossible for her to move. The knife slips from her fingers, clattering to the floor. It’s useless now.
Thea still can’t see their face beneath the hood they’re wearing. But something about the person that pins her to the wall strikes her as familiar. And they aren't making any further move to hurt her…
She relaxes.
The person seems to notice and finally steps back. Then they remove their hood and Thea sighs, defeatedly.
“It’s you,” she signs, the movements of her hands sharp and angry.
“Of course it’s me!” With a wide grin, Alea grabs the knife from the floor and eyes it. Angrily, Thea snaps it back.
“You scared the shit out of me!”
“That’s because clearly, you’re out of practice.”
“And clearly, you are insane. Couldn’t you have video called me before? Or not shown up in the literal middle of the night - you know, like a normal person?”
Alea looks at her and raises her eyebrows. “Well, would you’ve picked up, if I called? Or opened the door for me?”
Thea doesn’t answer.
“Thought so.”
“What do you want?!”
Alea sighs. “We gotta talk, okay? It’s important, otherwise I would’ve taken care of it myself by now.”
“No doubt about that… But I’m not interested. You and Dad can do whatever you want, I’m no longer a part of it.”
Aleas shifts nervously, her eyes darting through the room. “Well…” she signs, “that… might be the problem.”
Thea looks at her, expectantly.
“Dad… hasn’t been home in a few days.”
“And that is my problem because…? He probably went to another bar and didn’t find his way back.”
“No, you don't understand!” Alea pinches the bridge of her nose. “He’s on another searching trip. And he promised to update me at least once a day. And the first few days he did, but after that… nothing.”
“You remember that clue in Amsterdam? Or the creature he had to kill in Cottbus? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine.”
“Not for this long! Are you even listening to what I’m telling you?!”
Thea stares at her in exasperated disbelief. “I do, I just don’t care!” she eventually signs, gestures hard and stubborn. “Dad can do whatever the fuck he wants. Like I said, I’m no longer a part of all that!”
“Please, Thea. I’m seriously worried. You need to help me find him.”
Thea scoffs. “You can’t actually expect me to, right? Alea, I finally got a life here. I have friends, a real bed and can actually study in one place for longer than a few months.”
At least, Alea has the decency to look guilty. “I know. I just… I can’t do it alone.”
“Course you can.”
“Yeah well, I don’t want to.”
“You don’t understand it, do you?”
“That you’re living a boring life, betraying your family? No.”
“I’m living a safe life. And for my own good I stopped caring about things that simply cannot be changed.”
Alea scoffs, but Thea isn’t finished.
“I see you talking to me, but it’s dad’s words I witness. You really are becoming so much like him.”
Alea glares at her, bullets shooting out of her eyes. “You’re exaggerating. Also, dad isn’t the villain you always make him out to be.”
“No? Alea, do you even remember anything from when we were kids? The time in Copenhagen, where he took you on a trip and left me alone in a hotel room with nothing but Swedish cash and a gun I could barely operate? I was eight, Alea.”
“Yeah well? So was I!”
“That makes it even worse! How can’t you see that?!”
Alea lifts her hands, preparing to sign an answer, but stops mid-gesture and sighs. It takes a few moments before she finally forms her signs. “He only wants to find mom. I can’t fault him for that.”
“Do you actually think Mom would’ve wanted this? For either of us?”
“Don’t talk about her as if she’s dead!”
“Then answer my question. Would she want us to experience all this? The road, the blood, the… the isolation?”
Reluctantly, Alea shakes her head. “No,” she admits. “But… it’s dad.”
Thea smiles in response. A sad smile. But a smile. “I know. But even though you don’t, I will fault him for the way he treated me. For the way he treated you. A just goal only brings you so far if you forget everything else because of it.”
When Alea looks at her again, she looks much younger and Thea once again realizes that her sister, her twin, might always play the rougher, older sister, but in truth she isn’t actually that much different to Thea herself.
“Why did you and Dad even separate in the first place? Doesn’t he take you on all his trips anymore?” Thea eventually asks.
“Dude, I’m literally an adult. I can do things on my own.”
Thea raises an eyebrow.
“Well maybe I was a bit hungover when he decided to check on some clue about mom, okay? Don’t fucking judge.” Alea does look a bit embarrassed, though, so Thea decides not to comment on the alcohol topic.
“Wouldn’t dream of it…”
“Whatever. I just know that he talked to some sketchy guy who swore he’d seen a mermaid. After that his tracks kinda… disappear.”
“So have you talked to that guy?”
“Nah, at first I only waited for him to get back.”
“And drank some more, I assume?”
Alea glares at her, neither denying nor agreeing to the statement. “But he didn't,” she then continues. “Get back, I mean. And then I kind of… panicked. So I came here.” She shrugs again, her gaze darting through the room. “Figured, why not visit my sister, you know.”
Thea can’t help but feel pity for her. “I understand,” she signs.
Alea’s eyes meet hers again. “Please, T. Please come with me. In the whole two years, I never bothered you; didn’t ask for anything. It’s just this one thing now.”
Thea looks away, then sighs and looks back. “I don’t have that much time. I have to be back on Monday. I have a super important job interview.”
A triumphant smile creeps its way onto Alea’s face as she slowly realizes that she’s won. “We have five days until Monday. I promise we’ll be back until then.”
Thea drops her hands in surrender. Then she nods.
“Five days to find dad.”
Triumphantly, Alea pumps her fist in the air. “Yesss, I knew you’d do the right thing!”
“Just so you know; I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing this for you. And for Mom.”
Gently, Alea takes her hand in hers and continues to sign one-handedly.
“Yes. For Mom. Wherever she might be.”