‘That'll do,' Aries chastised as I went to open my mouth.
Downing my vodka, I poured another one. I might as well do what they expected me to. With my crisps cradled in one hand and my drink in the other, I made my way towards the hall.
‘Taurus,' Aries called as I was about to leave the room.
I paused but didn't turn around.
‘Good luck with Cancer's friend tomorrow. I mean that.'
I swallowed as I nodded once and left them to their game.
Chapter Three
The show had started. Aries stood up as Father sat at the head of the table.
‘Father, something happened when you were with Nick,' he announced.
///
My buzz had plummeted as soon as I had taken my seat at the kitchen table. They had cooked a lavish roast for dinner. I couldn't be bothered with it.
‘What is it?' Father asked, eyeing up the steaming joint of beef.
Reaching forward, I picked up the carving knife. A dark skinned hand reached out and took it from me. Glancing at Aquarius, I had to squint my eyes to try and focus on him.
‘There was an accident at work.'
Aries lifted his trouser legs to reveal his metal prosthetics. They were connected above the knee. He was smirking as Father choked on his wine.
‘Aries reckons that the only reason you weren't rescued earlier was because he was out of action for so long.'
Everyone turned to me. Father raised his eyebrows as Aries returned to the table. The silence made a welcome change.
‘Firstly, I want to thank you all for going to so much effort to rescue me. I knew you could do it. Being with Nick was interesting. Aries, I'm sorry to see that you've gone through such an ordeal, I … ' he put a hand to his mouth. ‘I should have been there for you.'
‘You were locked up, how could you be?' I said.
‘Taurus, I see you've … changed … '
Father didn't need to disguise his disgust. They all showed it whenever they saw me. They had forgotten how much-
‘Actually, Taurus and Gemini were very active when I was recovering. Taurus stalked mother,' Aries said, glaring at me when I glanced over.
Father put down his glass of red wine and shook out his napkin. Laying it over his lap, he proceeded to pull up the arms of his suit jacket. ‘I'm hungry,' he announced.
Had enough time passed for me to go back to my room? I had to be up early. One more joint before bed would be okay.
‘Nick will never stop, but he is tired. I could see it in his eyes. He's waited twenty years for the chance to keep you apart from your twin flames. It's taken its toll.' Father thanked Aquarius as he put the carved meat on his plate.
When I picked up my fork, my hand was shaking. I let it drop to the plate. The loud clash made everyone look at me. I tried to smile, but it was too much effort.
‘What if we moved away? Not just up the road but to another part of the world?' Scorpio said, shoving a Yorkshire pudding in his mouth.
‘He will find you wherever you go. I heard him talking to another man called Matt … '
My gaze shot to Cancer as she looked at Father.
‘He said that he might hand over some control to him. He wants him to stop the next couple from uniting. He said that if Taurus finds his twin, he has to kill her.'
I was still staring at Cancer, so I didn't notice them watching me. Father's words slowly sank in.
‘Why is he worried? It's not like I'm going to-'
‘You never know when you're going to meet someone,' Father interrupted.
I shrugged. Even if I did meet someone, I wouldn't be with them. No one would want to be with a junkie. There was no point worrying about it.
‘Matt said the Dysfunctionals are getting weaker. The other twin flames are awakening to why they are here. Nick's worried because the energy on earth is changing. There's still a lot of confusion to the real purpose and mission of a twin flame. Even in this room. But things are different this time round.'
Father's speech made me want to slink down in my chair and under the table. It was a load of rubbish. There was no such thing as a mission. We came to the planet to live. Why did they think we were special?
‘Can we kill Matt? Would that make it harder for Nick?' Aries asked.
Cancer let out a squeak. Aries frowned at her. As realisation struck, he rolled his eyes.
‘You've got to be kidding me? Matt is your man?'
Father sat up straight. The others burst into noise as they all spoke at once. I closed my eyes and leant back in my chair. The food on the table was being devoured. I wasn't that hungry. There was only one thing I wanted to do.
‘That could work to our advantage,' Aries shouted over everyone.
The room fell silent, so I opened my eyes.
‘What are you talking about?' Father's voice was cold as he stared at Cancer.
She shrunk in her chair, balling up a napkin in her hand. It was a habit she had developed more recently.
‘Cancer has a thing for Matt. We captured him a few months ago, but he got away … ' Aries trailed off.
‘He got away?' Father glanced at each of us as we avoided his gaze. The sound of knives scraping against plates was the only noise in the room.
‘I let him go.'
Cancer's confession drew a gasp from almost everyone in the room. She hadn't admitted it before, but her guilt obviously weighed too heavy on her.
///
‘I got butchered in the process,' Leo announced, standing up and shoving his jeans down to show our father the scar on his thigh.
‘I'm assuming you have a good explanation for letting him go?' Father addressed Cancer.
I started to drum the surface of the table with my palms. I was getting bored of the business talk. Not all of us were fascinated with Nick and the stupid twin flame rubbish.
‘Taurus … ' Father warned.
I pushed my plate out of the way and leant my head against the table.
‘I thought he was my soulmate. I was mistaken,' Cancer answered.
From my vantage point on the table, I could see Father. He rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair, abandoning his roast dinner.
‘Why did your mother have to keep you so sheltered?' He sighed.
‘Actually, about that. She was the one that found out where you were … technically. She helped us with the layout of the house. That's why we knew what bedroom you were in.' Aries looked our father in the eye, daring him to say something.
‘Why did she do that?'
Father had gone pale. I'd never seen him swallow so hard before. It was like Mother had some sort of power over him. Aries and Antony acted the same ever since they had got into relationships with their girlfriends. I would never let a woman change me.
‘She's left Nick. She lives in a flat in London. We know where she is, but we can't tell anyone. Nick will more than likely go after her, so she's changed her appearance.'
I blinked. It was getting hard to stay awake. My bones pulled me to the ground. The conversation was boring.
‘Why did she leave him?' Father asked.
Aries coughed.
‘Because she's realised that what she did was wrong.' Pisces spoke from the other end of the table. It sounded like she was miles away.
‘Taurus, are we boring you?' Sagi asked.
The sound of my name brought my attention back to the room. I sat up quickly, knocking over my glass of water. It flew everywhere. They moaned my name as I attempted to mop it up.
‘You're so useless!' one of them announced.
I thrust my seat back and stood.
‘Sit down,' Father said kindly.
I ignored him and sprinted out of the room. I wouldn't sit there and allow them to-
‘Taurus!'
My bedroom door was directly in front of me. Cancer had followed me. I didn't want to talk to her. She had her life. I had mine. I ignored her and threw open my door, slamming it shut behind me.
Chapter Four
My leg muscles were tight as I reached down to touch my toes. It had been a long time since I had trained properly.
‘Nice arse.'
I stood up and leant back when Sophie stepped right up to me. Her head came to my chin. Her boobs almost touched my chest.
‘Errr … morning.' I didn't know what else to say.
She smiled as she put her arms around me. I stayed still, not sure why she was hugging me.
‘Good morning! I'm looking forward to getting fit!'
I fiddled with my cap as she stepped back and did a few star jumps. Her tight leggings stretched and her jumper rose to reveal her rounded stomach. It was summertime but it was cool first thing.
‘You might want to put your hair up,' I said. The blonde mass was beautifully styled.
‘I've just blow dried it.'
She pouted so I shrugged. What did I care if she got sweaty around her neck?
‘Okay, it's been a while since I dropped out. We need to do a-'
‘I already have an assessment by a professional trainer,' she said, pulling out a pile of paper from her drawstring bag.
I stopped moving.
‘Why are you bothering with me, then?'
She giggled as she waved the paper under my nose. ‘Because I can't afford the one I had.'