When Bernadette picked up her sister, an intense rain had begun to fall over the city. The droplets pounding against the roof of her car with such force that she’d begun to feel a little concerned for the welfare of her sunroof.

Beatrice was soaked. She sat in the rain with her make-up streaking so badly it looked like she was melting like she was turning into something out of a horror movie. The fact that Beatrice hadn’t had the wherewithal to cast a simple shielding spell to keep herself dry, was a sign of her unstable mental state. A worried Bernadette helped her sister into the car casting a drying spell on her purple-haired twin so she wouldn’t catch a cold.

“Are you okay? Shit!... What happened?” said Bernadette. Giving her sister a concerned look as they began driving again.

For a while, there was no response from Beatrice. The two sisters simply sat in silence. Making Bernadette wish she’d thought to turn on the radio beforehand because turning it on now felt like it would be like she was trying to tune out her sister.

Things got increasingly uncomfortable as Beatrice began to cry. Sobbing silently, so silently that the sound of the windshield wipers made it hard to hear her sniffling.

Then, just as Bernadette was about to pull over and demand some kind of explanation, Beatrice spoke.

“The engagement’s over…”

“What?” said Bernadette.

“My engagement with Devin Meyers is over…” said Beatrice. Her tone was terse. Her voice was oddly calm.

Bernadette suddenly understood why her sister had been so upset. Devin Meyers was the heir of the Meyers family of Sorcerers and Enchanters. Back when the engagement was made their status was comparable to the Wallaces’. Perhaps even just a tad higher. The marriage between the two of them had been one of the things that the family had been relying on to get them through this rough time.

Another quiet spell came. Bernadette finally worked up the nerve to turn on the radio, and now the car was filled with the sounds of a soft and mopey, alt-rock, love song. Eventually, after sneaking several peeks at her passenger and determining that Beatrice had calmed down, Bernadette asked the most pertinent question.

“Um...So, what happened?”

“The bastard called it off...Apparently, with the spot of bad luck that the family was going through, I was no longer suitable for the position of head-wife,” said Beatrice. Her voice filled with bitterness.

Bernadette winced. She’d always thought that Devin Meyers was a bit of a snake. During her harsher moments, while life hadn’t been going the best for her, Bernadette privately felt that Devin and her sister were well-matched in the worst kind of way. One was a weasel, the other a fox. Though Beatrice had a little more ferocity to her, in the end, they were still, sneaky, predatory, mammals, with little to no moral compass. Creatures who knew how to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Unfortunately, the Wallace family was at its weakest right now, which meant that by Devin’s reckoning they were all but begging to be bullied by thinking they could use the marriage to save themselves.

Most unfortunate, was the fact that Devin was a charming man. A manipulator with candied words, who’d managed to thaw even Beatrice’s icy heart. Getting her to fall for him to the point that she wept for the end of their relationship.

“Oh, and I haven’t even told you the best part,” said Beatrice.

“What?” said Bernadette. Wondering how things could get any worse.

“The bastard was ‘kind’ enough to offer me the position of second-concubine afterward,” said Beatrice. Her eyes glowed with purple-blue light. Her hair looked like it was on the verge of bursting into flame.

Bernadette scowled, then she frowned as something occurred to her.

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘second’ concubine?” Puzzled because the family hadn’t yet fallen so low that their daughters couldn’t rate first concubine status at least.

“Yes, well, apparently, there’s this girl in Quincy that he apparently knocked up...and forgot to bloody tell me about...Her family’s pretty high up in the rankings as far as superheroes go, but she’s not really high up in her family...Long story short, he wasn’t forced to make the bitch his wife, but he had to promise to make her his first concubine,” said Beatrice.

“So...You turned him down?” said Bernadette. Framing the statement as a question because the Wallace clan’s state really was fairly uncertain at the moment and if the Meyers were still willing to pay the full bride-price, Bernadette could see her avaricious mother pushing things forward.

“Of course, I turned it down, you ninny!... Just who the hell, does that bastard think I am?!... I turned it down and then I released the dossier I’d built on the whole bloody family,” said Beatrice. Her eyes still glowing, her sorrow replaced with a kind vicious glee.

Bernadette shivered. Their mother had done her best to teach her children the pleasure and the art of collecting knowledge. Beatrice had taken that particular lesson to heart. She was now basically what one got when you crossed an actuary with a good old fashioned voyeur.

The dossiers Beatrice created with that accumulated intel were things of horror and beauty. Knowing Beatrice, Bernadette knew her sister had probably just started collecting the Intel on the Meyers family to see if there were any hidden risks in the partnership between the families.. Then she’d likely kept collecting that intel out of habit.

Now every little piece of dirty laundry that Beatrice had collected was most likely going to end up on the web. By the time the year was over, it would be surprising if the Meyer clan wasn’t in a worse state than their Wallace family.

The ride came to an end as Bernadette reached her apartment building.

As Beatrice finally calmed down and got over the events of a few hours ago, her attention turned elsewhere. She looked around at the car she was in and the building that they’d parked behind and said,

“Hey, so uh...it looks like you’re doing pretty well for yourself. Since when did pet stores pay this well?”

A bead of cold sweat ran down Bernadette’s brow.

“Uh...Yeah. Thanks...Uh, since we’re on the subject. I might have neglected to tell you that I got a new job last year,” said Bernadette. Instinctively choosing to be as vague as possible.

“Oh? Cool...Good for you. I’m really proud of you and we all knew you’d figure things out for yourself eventually,” said Beatrice. Missing the point phenomenally, because after crying in the rain, she was tired and just wanted a hot shower, some hot cocoa, and a nap.

Goosebumps rose on the back of Bernadette's neck at her close call. Beatrice's almost palpable disinterest in pursuing the subject made Bernadette glad the people in her family were so extremely self-involved. While Bernadette hadn’t intended to hide her current employment situation, not having to deal with the hubbub that would certainly come when everything was unveiled was much appreciated.