Akira could barely contain her excitement. Grandpa Mavi was actually here. HE would be the best resource for her to use. He’d been there the day the Bloodshed sank. He could tell her where it sank. Hell, he could tell her all about the Bloodshed. Grandpa Mavi was now the only reason she wanted to go home, though the house felt empty without them there.

“Grandpa Mavi is probably asleep, Kira,” her brother called.

She poked her head around the shelving unit she was standing in front of.

“If I remember correctly, Grandpa Mavi doesn’t go to bed without several drinks. Sometimes it takes an entire bottle before he goes to bed,” she told him.

“He was drinking when I left,” Askel told her.

“What was he drinking?”

“How the hell should I know that, Akira?”

“What color was the liquid in his glass?”

Askel shrugged and shook his head. Akira groaned.

“You’re no help at all, Kel!” she whined.

Askel tried to get up to go to her but she stopped him.

“Oh no you don’t!” she admonished. “You stay there until I’m done.”

“But it’ll go faster if you have help,” he complained.

“Tough twinkies,” she replied. “I’m not the one who just had an epileptic seizure. By the way Askel, when were you planning on telling me about your condition?”

She gave him a hard look that cause him to look down in shame.

“I didn’t want you to worry about me when you had your thesis to worry about,” he said.

Akira returned to where her brother was still sitting on the floor.

“Kel, you’re my little brother. I’m always going to worry about you,” she told him gently lifting his chin so he was looking at her. “I wish you had told me before tonight. At least then I would have been prepared.”

“I’m sorry, Kira,” he whispered tears pooling in his eyes.

“Hey, don’t cry. You’re ok and that’s what matters most to me. Sure, I would have liked to have been prepared but it’s in the past so there’s no use dwelling on it, ok?”

Askel nodded. Akira wrapped him in a brief hug before rising and continuing to reshelve her research materials.

“I hear they train dogs and cats to sense when a seizure is coming, maybe we could get you one of those so you’re in a safe place when they happen, yeah?” she asked over her shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted a puppy!” Askel exclaimed.

“Well, you wouldn’t be getting a puppy exactly but you would be getting a dog nonetheless,” Akira laughed.

Maybe that’s what they needed, something to make them laugh again. Adan had always been the one to make them laugh. Nell had always made them cry, never in a bad way though. With both them and mother gone, Akira could see how an animal would fill some of the void they’d left behind. It actually wasn’t a bad idea. Askel could use one to help him get to a safe space in case he had a seizure and she could use one to talk to at night when she got lonely.

“It’s settled then!” she called from deep within the archives. “We’ll get you a dog trained to help you with your seizures and we’ll get one for me and dad. Who knows, maybe the dog will help dad too.”

She heard her brother squeal with childlike delight, something she hadn’t heard him do since they were very young. She laughed to herself. It was amazing that that one sound could bring her such joy in such a dark time. She shelved the next document in her slowly dwindling pile.

“You shouldn’t go looking for the Bloodshed,” a deep, gravelly voice said from deep within the shadows of the archives.

Akira screamed, despite the fact she thought she recognized the voice.