Lost is not always Found [Kinsey]

[Deleted]

-October 26th 2024-
@kinsey

The autumn day was windy and cold, storm clouds blocking the sun and any warmth it might offer. Despite the miserable weather the Hogswarts Hogsmeade trip was in full swing. Students bustling back and forth between the many shops of Hogsmeade with arms full of tricks and treats. Many headed for the Three Broomsticks to warm their bodies with a butterbeer, ensuring that the popular pub was filled to capacity. Despite it’s overcrowding most did not seek the only other pub in town to get drinks and food faster. The Hogshead, a very dark and run down pub, was near vacant at this hour. In fact, the part of town the pub rested was rather scarce due to its poor selection of shops students might frequent.

Diana Bainbridge held her hood up over her head as a gust of wind whipped through the streets. No one looked in her direction or stopped her as she moved through the crowd, and soon she stood on the almost bare of all life street that the Hogshead lay. Even then she did not lower the hood, instead she stepped into a small alcove to the side of the pub that wasn’t buffeted by the impending storm. There she waited.

She didn’t wait more than a few minutes before an equally cloaked figure appeared next to her.

”You have it?” She asked, not moving.

”Do you have the payment?” The stranger, male, asked. Diana didn’t answer, instead she pulled a bag out from under the cloak, opened the flap for moment to show the contents, before closing it once more. The man, nodded, and pulled out a package from under his own cloak. The transaction was over in a flash, the package disappearing under Diana’s cloak just as the man took the bag.

”Always good doing business with you. Next time you need something, lets meet somewhere warm,” said the man before he spun and disappeared. Diana cracked a smile, barely visible under the hood. Turning to leave the alcove she stopped midstep. The wind picked up at that moment, and she didn’t stop it from ripping her hood off her head.

Diana stood face to face with one of her younger sisters, Kinsey.

[Deleted]

Kinsey didn't normally go to Hogsmeade. This was another one of her experiments, her attempts to try and see how well she could control herself around other people if she really tried. She was thinking about maybe going to the Halloween dance in a few days if today went well, but she wasn't entirely decided about that. 

Either way, today she was wandering. First she went into Honeydukes, checking out the shop until she felt like she was getting a bit overwhelmed. Then she went out into the street, deciding a nice walk up and down would be a good idea. She'd still be among the crowds, but at least there was fresh air out here so hopefully it wouldn't be that bad. She smiled as she sense the positive intentions in the village, glad that at the moment nothing too terrible was on her radar. 

She was about to turn around when someone walked out of a store and the wind pushed their hood off their face. Without really meaning to, she glanced at the girl and then looked back. "Diana," she breathed, eyes wide in stunned realization. "Diana, is that really you?" She tried to sense her sister's intentions, reaching out and then frowning. She couldn't sense a thing. 

@diana

[Deleted]

@kinsey

The wind whipped Diana’s hair from her face, her expression still as stone as she met her sister’s gaze. For the first moment, when Kinsey spoke, Diana didn’t move or react in anyway. The second moment, when Kinsey asked if it was really Diana, and there was still no change in expression. Actually, it was more like a lack of expression.

Several seconds passed before Diana reached out and pulled her hood back on, though not quite as low as before, so her eyes were still visible.

”You shouldn’t be wandering this part of town,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper as she motioned with her head to the Hog’s Head, the adult only pub. ”What are you doing here, Kinsey?” The young woman asked.

[Deleted]

Kinsey watched, dumbfounded, as her sister lifted her hood back up. She tried again to feel anything from her sister, but it was almost like Diana was a ghost. There were no intentions. Nothing positive, negative, nothing resembling the sister she'd once been able to sense from across the room. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to observe Diana more closely. It was hard with her cloak and everything.

A frown covered Kinsey's face when Diana finally spoke. "I can walk wherever I want. This isn't out of bounds or anything, you know." She knew her tone was defiant, probably a little petulant as well, but Kinsey didn't care. Diana was sounding just like Cara used to and Kinsey always bristled when she felt as though she was being bossed around. She shrugged at the next question. "I was walking around, getting some fresh air." Trying to get away from the hoards of people that were overwhelming. No, she wouldn't tell her sister that last part. Not this Diana. Her best friend Diana, she would have told everything. This Diana standing in front of her was little more than a stranger. "Are you okay?" Kinsey almost didn't want to ask the question, sure that this version of Diana wouldn't appreciate it, but she also couldn't help herself. She missed her sister, loved her and wanted to know she was all right. She didn't know what else to say.

@diana

[Deleted]

Diana’s expression never changed, despite the looks Kinsey was giving. But, when Kinsey announced that she could walk wherever she wanted, there was the slightest of flicker in Diana’s currently dark eyes. A scattering of red specks that were quickly absorbed back into the dark and unreadable hue they’d been the entire conversation.

”No, it’s not. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe for a student wandering alone,” Diana said. ”You’re asking for trouble when you act like this is just like any other part of town.”

Diana didn’t respond immediately when asked if she was okay. A silent moment passed as Diana looked at her younger sister. In that moment of silence between the sisters, the distant echoes of laughter carried through the air.

”I’m fine, Kinsey. Everything is fine.”

@kinsey

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Diana's intentions were missing. The lack of anything from her sister worried Kinsey. Could people turn off their intentions? Make it so she couldn't feel them anymore? Or was something wrong with her ability? She reached out, blinking when she felt all the intentions of students and adults semi-near them. Some positive, others not so much, but she blocked them out again, focusing on her sister in front of her. Nothing. 

Kinsey rolled her eyes at Diana's tone. She was acting more and more like Cara and it was more annoying than Kinsey cared to admit. "I'm hardly alone," she argued. "There are other students out here too, and it's not like I was going in any of the buildings or anything." Kinsey came here to get a slight break from the barrage of intentions in the middle of the village. Diana could probably figure that out for herself, but Kinsey had no intention of saying it out loud. 

Diana didn't say anything for a bit after Kinsey asked about her. Kinsey tried to read her older sister's expression, but it was like that was blank as well. Who was this person standing in front of her? Her spirits sunk as she realized that she hardly knew Diana anymore. When she said she was fine, Kinsey looked down to the ground, "You disappeared without a word this summer." She was stating a fact, something Diana was fully aware of, but she learned last year that asking questions wouldn't get her anywhere with Diana. Either Diana would tell her things because she wanted to or she wouldn't. She glanced back up, "Are you sure everything is fine?" Kinsey wasn't trying to be annoying, but she couldn't help but ask.

@diana

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There was a small reaction, a small sigh and shake of Diana's head as Kinsey countered her remarks of being alone. Diana didn't say anything though, that reaction being... well, the only reaction before Diana looked over her shoulders, back down the alley she'd been only moments before Kinsey had stumbled upon her.

Diana's gaze turned back when Kinsey spoke again, focused on her sister despite Kinsey's gaze being cast downward. That unusually still expression returned. "I know." Was Diana's immediate answer. "I' was busy." she continued, offering only a vague explanation. When Kinsey looked back up, their gazes met. Once again, Kinsey asked that question, though phrased slightly different. "Why wouldn't everything be fine?" She asked, answering Kinsey's question with another question.

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Diana seemed to barely be paying attention to Kinsey, who was growing a little more annoyed by her sister's behavior, which likely had everything to do with the fact that she couldn't sense her intentions. It was strange. After all these years of wishing she could get rid of her abilities, not being able to sense her sister made her feel incredibly vulnerable. She didn't like it. Besides that, Diana was acting the way Cara normally did, which automatically brought out the angry side in Kinsey. Ugh, she hated it. 

At Kinsey's comment about her older sister disappearing, all Diana said was that she knew, and that she was busy. Kinsey wanted to ask what she was busy with, but she could already sense that that was something her sister answered. "Are you ever going to come back? Everyone is worried about you, you know." Kinsey wasn't sure what she was trying to accomplish, but she felt this urge to find out if she would ever see her sister again on purpose. It almost felt like Diana was leaving the family, abandoning them just like Dustin had. She shrugged when she asked Kinsey a question right back. "Because you left without a word to anyone." She bit her lip before continuing with the self-doubt that plagued her when Dustin left because of her and then Diana disappeared without a word. The words spilled out of her mouth quickly. "Is it because of me? If you don't want to see me anymore, I'll stay out of your way when you come to visit," she promised. There was a pit in her stomach from Dustin leaving. She knew that was her doing and felt bad that everyone else was missing him so much because of her. If she'd somehow done the same thing with Diana, she'd be willing to stay out of the way so her sisters and parents wouldn't have to miss her the way they did Dustin. 

@diana

[Deleted]

Diana didn’t immediately respond to Kinsey’s question. The only reaction Diana seemed to have was a subtle biting of her bottom lip. She didn’t look away though, her gaze steadily focused on her younger sister for those several silent moments. Kinsey spoke again though, reminding Diana that she’d left without a word. Still Diana didn’t respond. A finally comment, asking if Kinsey was the reason Diana stayed away seemed to hit a nerve though as Diana let out a breath. Her eyes closed as she exhaled. When her eyes reopened there was a softness to them.

”No, I didn’t leave because of you.” Diana started, ”I can’t tell you why. But there are things I have to do.”

@kinsey

[Deleted]

Diana was so quiet right now. She wasn't answering Kinsey's question and Kinsey couldn't sense anything from her older sister. As much as she was trying to pretend it didn't bother her, it definitely did. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to take the silence, but she'd asked her questions. What else could she do? If Diana wouldn't talk to her, Kinsey might as well talk away.

She watched her sister closely, especially when she asked if it was her fault Diana wasn't around anymore. Diana closed her eyes and Kinsey was taken aback. Was something wrong? When Diana looked at her again, it was almost like it used to be. Diana said that it wasn't because of her, and Kinsey's eyes started watering. She blinked rapidly, nodding to try and hide how emotional she was getting. It was such a relief that she hadn't pushed Diana away like she had Dustin. 

Diana expanded a little more, saying there were things she had to do. "Will I see you again?" Wow, that sounded selfish. "I mean, do you think you'll be coming home again?" She swallowed, "We miss you." Surely Diana knew that, but Kinsey couldn't help but tell her. She missed Diana especially, missed the relationship the two of them used to have. Even though it was broken now, she remembered how it used to be. 

@diana