She spent much of her time at home absentmindedly checking her watch waiting for Ana to come home with news of Armin, but it seemed an eternity before anything interrupted the moaning wind outside. She turned on the radio just to break the silence, secretly hoping there wouldn’t be too many days like this. She just needed something, anything, to get her mind off of Armin.

The slamming open of the door announced Ana’s entry into the house. She was carrying bags full of food while struggling to keep the door open against the wind. Chloe immediately jumped up to help her.

“How’s Armin?” Secretly she feared the answer Ana might give.

“The doctor said his condition is stabilized. For now at least. He’s going to need some surgery to patch him up, so I don’t know how that’s going to go.”

Chloe was in part relieved to hear this. The cold splatter of rain on the nose brought her back to more pressing concerns. Ana glanced outside. The sky was darkening quickly. “The weather’s taken a turn for the worse.” Ana said. “I’m going to be gone again this evening, but look who came to keep you company.” She stepped inside, revealing Yuri and Tasha waiting behind her in their rain coats.

“Hey,” Yuri smiled. “Our parents are out of town, so we’ve been staying a friend’s house. Couldn’t stand the thought of you being here all alone. He and Tasha were both carrying bags.

“I ran into them walking along the road.” Ana said as she sat her bags down on the kitchen table. “I figured I couldn’t leave them out in this weather, so I asked if they needed a ride. Yuri asked if I needed help, so both of them with me to the market to buy some food.”

“Me and Tasha even got you some stuff.” Yuri said and tossed a bag to Chloe. She fingered through the contents. In it was candy and sweet cakes. “Yuri, this is nothing but junk food.”

“And? That’s a problem?”

Chloe shrugged and put the bag on the table.

Ana then went back outside. “I should be back this evening to take you both home if it’s still raining. Take care and don’t get into any trouble!” She then shut the door and left.

It did not take long for the three of them to put together some sort of meal. Chloe chopped some vegetables from the garden while Yuri threw beans and sausage into a pot, somehow burning the contents of the pan. All the while Tasha watched. They then threw all of it together in a stew. Naturally it tasted terrible and they finished it quickly to move on to sweets. They started playing board games, including chess which Yuri actually beat Chloe at. Tasha too began to grasp how to play the game. They soon tired of it after a few hours, and the gale outside had become a full fledged downpour. They turned on the radio, but it was now nothing but weather warnings.

Both Yuri and Tasha glanced out the window worriedly as the storm grew worse. “I dunno if your grandma’s gonna make it back or not.” Yuri said.

“She’ll be here.” Chloe huffed. “And Ana is not my grandma!”

Yuri’s face twisted into a perplexed frown. “Oh. I guess that explains why you didn’t really look alike at all.”

Chloe scowled. “Yuri, I hate you sometimes!”

“Geez, back off! I didn’t mean anything!”

Chloe crossed her arms and glared at him. Yuri sat there think of what to do. Finally he snapped his fingers. “Aha! I have an idea. Let’s read a story!” He leapt out of his chair and rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a comic book. “Got this from a friend today. Haven’t started it yet, so let’s go.” And together they read a tale of superheroes and villains doing battle over a city. It ended with the heroes almost about to stop the villain only for the villain to gloat he had already won.

“No!” Yuri cried. “I hate it when it ends like that. Oh well.” He tossed the comic aside. “You got anything?”

“Hmm. I’ll go see.” Chloe went over to one of the bookshelves and came back with one of the large tomes. “Here it is.” She sat down between Yuri and Tasha and cracked open the book, flipping the pages to and old style of painting. Next to it was a long block of text. Tasha groaned. Yuri tried to make her quiet, but Chloe could tell he was only being polite.

“My mother used to tell me this story when I was little. It’s an old fairytale, but you might like it.”

The wind howled and thunder clapped outside. Tasha wrapped herself in a blanket and cuddled next to Chloe. “Okay, I’ll give it a chance.” she said.

Yuri chimed in. “Go for it.” Chloe smiled and began reading.

“In the beginning were three brothers. The gods gave to one the inheritance of light, and to another the inheritance of the dark. They became the kingdoms of the sun and moon, and for countless ages the two existed in perfect harmony. The kingdom of the sun brought warmth, light and knowledge while the moon brought rest, health, and wisdom. While the sun watched over the land, the moon governed the rivers and ocean, and mankind was happy. As long as the two kingdoms maintained balance crops were bountiful and rivers provided water for all. But each of them saw themselves as more important than the other, until the finally the king of the sun looked out over the earth and said to the king of the moon ‘I have no need of you. Look! I provide light to many so that their crops may grow and that they may see by day. Mankind benefits from my knowledge. And what do you do but to darken the skies so that no one can see?’ And with these words he told the king of the moon to depart from him. Indignant the moon king replied ‘You know not what you do! For I provide the waters of the seas and rivers so that all might live. I give people dreams so that they might understand. Yet you are bright and hot. None can live by you!’

And thus the two kingdoms began to fight amongst each other. The sun banished the moon from half the earth, and his warmth became a scorching heat creating vast deserts while the moon brought an eternal darkness of snow and ice. To this day the earth is scorching hot in the day and freezing cold at night.

The third brother, having no inheritance of his own wandered the wilderness. Now the great dragon was the oldest, wisest, and most wicked of all the creatures and knowing this he appeared to the third brother in the form of an old man. Taking pity on him, the brother offered him a cup of water from an oasis, so rare in the desert. In return for his hospitality, the man told him that he would give him an inheritance of his own, if only he would help free him. ‘But where must I go?’ asked the brother. The old man gave a wide smile and said ‘Go to the gate at the end of the world, and there I will meet you.’ So the third brother made a long journey that took many years, and finally arrived at the end of the world. There he saw a great iron gate, and the man waiting beside it. ‘Speak the phrase I give to you, and I shall be free to give you what is rightfully yours.’ said the old man. The brother uttered the phrase, and in an instant, the old man became a terrifying black dragon, engulfing half of the sky. The gate opened to an ancient abyss, a yawning dark chasm from which escaped thousands of unspeakable horrors, ancient demons from before time began. The dragon in all his fury ravaged the land, causing famine. The sky became an endless clouded twilight and shadows crept across the earth. It was here that de…”

Suddenly a massive thunderclap interrupted the story and caused a blackout. Instantly the room plunged into darkness. Tasha screamed at the sound, causing both Yuri and Chloe to jump out of their skin.

“Don’t… do that!” said Yuri as he calmed his nerves.

“It’s okay.” said Chloe. “I’ll go get a light.” After fumbling around various cabinets she came back with a flashlight which she set in the center of the coffee table. It gave an eerie light to the whole room as it lit up the faces of the three.

“Anyway… where were we? Oh yes.”

“It was there that death became known to man for the first time. The hearts of men turned cold toward one another, and once harmonious, began to hate each other. And so it is to this day that death, cruelty, and darkness rule over us all. Day and night continue to fight, and so long as they do the great dragon will make wrong what was once right, both on the earth and in the hearts of men. But whosoever lights a fire, be it a great blaze or a tiny candle, may beat back the dark shadows cast on the world, restoring the balance between darkness and light.”

With that Chloe closed the book and looked at Yuri and Tasha’s faces. Tasha clung tightly to her brother with wide eyes while he in turn looked rather perplexed.

“Wait, that’s it?”

“Yep.” said Chloe. “It’s not a very long story.”

“I didn’t like it.” Tasha interjected.

Chloe laughed. “Yes it scared me too whenever my mother read it to me. I’d jump at every shadow I saw.”

Yuri chuckled. “Really? That’s hard to believe.”

“Yeah well, I kinda grew out of it.”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.”

Tasha now looked with visible worry out of the dark window as the storm howled outside. Chloe decided to comfort her by sitting beside her. “Don’t worry. You’ll be alright. No demons can get in here.” she said, stroking Tasha’s hair. Gradually Tasha’s eyes grew heavy and her head drooped into Chloe’s lap. Chloe sat there, wanting to move but stuck nonetheless. She turned to Yuri, who himself was trying to stay awake.

“Your sister has quite the personality, doesn’t she?”

Yuri shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it.” After sitting a while he too fell asleep.

They both looked so peaceful, she thought. With Tasha curled up and Yuri sprawled out, they were certainly different. How could two personalities so different live under one roof?” Nevertheless in that dark room with pounding rain, Chloe was glad to have a friend like Yuri. Her heart, earlier heavy, now felt light. His levity made even the darkest of times bearable.

She looked at her watch. It was almost 10:45. She smiled and carefully moved Tasha’s head to sit in the chair opposite to them and continued to watch over them.

At some point in the middle of the night the power came back on, waking them all up. Not long after Ana came back and collapsed in the other chair. “Well now,” she said. “I trust everything has been okay?”

Yuri nodded. “Yes Mrs. Naptya. Thank you for having us over.

“Thank you both for helping take care of the house. Now let’s get you back home. You must be tired.” With that Ana drove Yuri and Tasha home as Chloe went over to her own bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.