We waited for five minutes just hoping someone would answer the door... But no one did. I walked over to the dusty window left to the door and tried to take a look inside. Although it was difficult to see inside due to all the dust, I was able to see just a bit. The house was filled with cobwebs. There was a sofa in the middle covered with dusty old clothe and a fireplace which was empty and covered with cobwebs.
I sighed and looked at Leo who was waiting for me to tell him what I saw, "The house is vacant. It looks like no one has lived here for ages."
"What are we gonna do now?" Leo asked, I noticed how his voice cracked and tears welled up in his eyes. He was scared but didn't wanna show it. I wondered what happened for him to start acting like this overnight. He's usually really expressive of his fear, he was till last night. I decided to ask him about it, I was worried something might be bothering him or that something happened that he didn't tell me about.
I saw a huge boulder on the side of the house that was in a good shape to sit on. I called Leo and sat down on the rock, Leo sat next to me. I wrapped my arm around him pulling him close, "Hey, it's okay, we will find our way back home. We won't be that far." I reassured him. He just nodded back. "Leo, is there something you wanna talk to me about?" I asked while pushing away the hair covering his forehead.
"Huh?" He asked in a confused tone.
"Well, you don't seem to be acting like yourself today. Usually, you freak out in these sorts of situations, not that it's a bad change, it's good that you are trying to stay calm. But that's not the kind of Leo that I have seen till yesterday. So, I was just wondering, what changed?" I wasn't sure if that came out right, I don't want him to feel that I am judging him nor do I wanna make it sound like being calm is a bad thing.
"I don't know, sis. After the scare yesterday at the museum, I was thinking about it last night and I felt like I wanted to..." Leo hesitated, he was shy to talk about his feelings. That's cute, I smiled. "I felt like I wanted to change and be a bit braver, isn't it because I easily get scared and don't talk back that Cleo always throws me into trouble? I want that to change. Maybe if she realizes that her bullying isn't affecting me much, she might leave me alone, right? Isn't it because I am an easy target that I was the only one that was being chased around yesterday, he didn't chase anyone else." Leo looked at me with tearful eyes. It was then that I realized how much all this was affecting him and that I was being a terrible sister just watching it all from the side.
I felt something in my heart and I wanted to cry and tell him that I was sorry and that I will try to be a better sister. But I just hugged him tight. "You are right Leo, be a brave man and no one will dare to bully you." He wanted some support, not an apology. I rested my chin on top of his head while he was hugging me tightly sniffling every now and then. I hoped that this talk helped him get some weight off his shoulders, the poor guy's been going through a lot at such a young age and it hurt to know it was mostly from our own sister. Cleo is his big sister, she's supposed to protect and support him, not bully him.
I was just letting my eyes wander around when it landed on something. But I wasn't able to make out what it was from this far. I slowly pushed Leo away while squinting and trying to understand what it was. Leo also diverted his gaze to what I was looking at. 'What is that?' I thought to myself. A stack of boulders? A small hill? Wait, no... It's a cave!
"Leo, it's a cave!" I turned to him with a smile.
"And how's a cave gonna help us get home?" Leo asked in a grumpy tone.
"Don't you see? Atlantica is filled with tourist spots. This also could be a tourist spot."
"Lera, I don't feel like exploring right now. I just wanna get back to the hotel."
"Leo, if it's a tourist spot, there will be people there. And if there are people there, they can show us our way." I explained and that's when Leo understood what I meant.
"Well then, what are we waiting for, let's go." Leo raced past me and I took off after him.
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