"She told me that The Maestro's tomb was under our eyes."
Faïz, puzzled, growled. We stared at each other for a moment.
"Are you really planning on sleeping in that chair all night? "
"There's a good chance."
"I can go back to my room, I assure you. If the Banshee appeared to me there, it can just as easily reach me here."
"No, Zoe, don't be fooled. Some places are inaccessible to them, and this room is one of them. When you wake up, I will take you to the temple of the Seventh Earth, and you will better understand what I am talking about."
"To the temple of what?"
"In fact, it's the name given to a mansion not far from here. A place where you will find the answers to most of your questions. Now, please, try to sleep. You must regain your strength," Faïz lectured me in an authoritative tone.
A busy schedule seemed to emerge for that Saturday with him. At that thought, I should have exploded with joy, but on that night full of twists and turns, that was not the case. In addition, I had decided a few hours earlier to turn this page, and I intended to stick to it. He and Rachelle were in a relationship, and it was out of the question that I would interfere with them again.
"Faïz... If you don't mind, tomorrow I'd rather go to this mansion with Charles or Victoria."
His face froze, apparently surprised by my words.
"No way!" he objected with a dark look. "That would put you and my family in danger at the same time."
His unpleasant voice and dry tone made me understand that the subject was closed. He put his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. Fatigue overwhelmed me. Soothed, I knew that nothing could happen to me near him. Before falling asleep, the last image I saw was that of the door of my room in pieces and Faïz's terrified face. Last night, I had had a glimpse of his superhuman strength. When angry, I wondered what he was capable of...
FAÏZ
Her steps, jerked by anger, almost made her lose her balance. She could no longer see anything or anyone in her path, and the sound of the music was nothing more than a distant hum. Rachelle did not know which direction to take once she arrived outside of the university building. It was then that she felt a firm hand close on her wrist. She turned instantly.
"Leave me alone!" she shouted full of anger towards Faïz.
The young woman pushed him away with all her might. Faïz did not let go of her.
"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."
Rachelle looked around. Few people were outside, and just a few were looking at the scene from afar. She did not like the scandal and immediately recovered. Her eyes filled with disappointment and sadness, landing on Faïz. He felt so guilty about being the cause of her discomfort. Rachelle tried to resist for a moment, but her feelings for the man she loved so much took over.
"You humiliated me in front of everyone tonight. Imagine if it had been the other way around. When are you finally going to put an end to this little game between you and Zoe? This is not the first time I've asked you."
Faïz opened his mouth and closed it immediately. His gaze hardened when he heard her first name. He didn't like to hear it, he didn't like to pronounce it, feeling his heart racing for those three letters that drove him crazy. He had never seen Rachelle as unhappy as she was tonight, and he realized in retrospect that he had gone beyond the bounds of reason.
"Everything has changed since she came into your life," she whispered desperately.
"It's not what you think. I have other things on my mind, nothing to do with her."
He was trying to convince himself of his own words. After all, the problem was not Zoe, but something much more irrational.
"Do you love her?"
Rachelle looked him straight in the eye, ready to hear a truth that would destroy her. Faïz embraced her tenderly, kissing her sweetly on the forehead.
"No, Rachelle. I don't feel anything for her."
Tonight, reason had won, leaving muzzled. He silenced his feelings for the young woman with green eyes, the one for whom he had felt his heart beating for the first time, the second he met her.
"Take me to your house," Rachelle said gently, her lips against his.
"First, I want to invite you to dance. Let's go back inside and enjoy this evening for a while."
As they rushed back into the building, he suddenly remembered that he had left the keys to the loft in Elora. He should slip away a little later during the ball to pick them up.
6
"Faïz?" I called, disoriented as soon as I woke up.
His room let in a weak beam of light. My eyes began to look for him at the four corners of the room when he appeared hastily from the bathroom with an anxious pout. I guessed he had just had time to wrap a towel around his waist, because of his soaking wet hair and the toothbrush in his mouth. His naked and wet chest made me look away, embarrassed by this scene.
"Shit, Zoe! You scared the hell out of me," he articulated with difficulty without taking his brush out of his mouth.
He disappeared again.
"I... Uh... Sorry, I stammered," still looking at the door.
I tried to come to my senses, pinching myself to check that I was not dreaming. The situation seemed to me to come straight out of one of those romance films. All that was missing was Rachelle's unexpected entry to close the whole thing. My God, what would she think if she saw this? Or worse, how would she decide to kill me? I shook my head in order to pull myself together. Unfortunately, I came back to the spectacle of Faïz's body, which left me speechless. His anatomy was just perfect, without any defects. I would never have guessed that he was hiding such a developed muscle structure under his clothes. However, I had seen him once take off his top when we were near the pool, only a day or two after I arrived, but my eyes hadn't lingered long enough then for me to notice anything. I decided to cut short my ideas and go and prepare myself. Faïz had told me about a place he wanted to show me today.
My room now seemed different to me. I stood in front of my bed, in the same place where I was last night, in front of the Banshee. I closed my eyes and The Maestro's face appeared to me in a flash. The horrific vision was enough to awaken the trauma experienced a few hours earlier. I relived them instantly. Tears rose to my throat before the truth that caught up with me, no matter what I did. A dark existence where legends, reality, and demons coexisted, an eternal war between good and evil. A soul as fragile as mine had no place in it. I stepped morosely towards the bay window, the only place where the view of the cliffs and the ocean could calm me down.
"Mom, look after me. Life is more complicated than I thought. The stories you used to read to me as a child all had a happy ending. I don't see any for this one."
The almost burning water on my body made me feel alive and woke me up. I was not alone. My family of heart was now a priority for me. I had to protect them. In front of the mirror in my dressing room, I opted for a combination of curved jeans, rock and roll. I couldn't help but grin in front of the mirror by raising my hands to the sky.
"No one wears this kind of outfit in LA."
"I think it looks pretty good on you."
I jumped, surprised by Faïz's intervention. He was standing against the wall. His natural charisma prevented me from looking away from his beauty. How long had he been watching me? I had seen him almost naked, but that was no reason for the opposite to happen.
"Glad you're finally dressed," I said ironically as I walked out of my dressing room.
He could not help but smile in response. Deep down, my mind was screaming to get my heart back on the right track.
"How are you this morning?" he hastened to ask me in a gentle and benevolent voice.
My good mood faded. Last night was an emotional evening. The events of the ball came back to me, and everything else.
"Zoe?" Faïz's worried and insistent voice made me return to the present moment.
Positioned in front of me, he was desperately waiting for an answer.
"It's okay... It's just that I have so many questions and I need answers."
His benevolent gaze absorbed me. I felt that he wanted to tell me so many things, but that he was holding back.
"Everything is so complicated with you," he confided to me. "I know that most of the time I do it wrong, but I just want you well and safe. Your life, as precious as it is, deserves to be fought for."
My feelings exploded in my chest when I saw that he meant every word he said. I was precious to him, and that was all I cared about.
"Ready to come down for breakfast? We have to get going."
His tone had hardened again. He looked towards the bay window, as if to guess what time it was.
"I'll join you right away. I just have to finish getting ready," I replied as I hurried to the bathroom.
He stepped out of my room without saying another word.
As I walked down the stairs, I heard in the distance the voices of Lily, Charles, and Faïz, who seemed to be in the middle of a very lively discussion.
"You should have convinced her to go back to France! God knows what awaits her here."
Charles's voice against Faïz rang out full of reproaches. Lily soon came to her son's rescue.
"That's what he did. He asked her to. You weren't there! He's the first one to want to put Zoe on a plane to Paris."
"You should have insisted, not given her a choice! Last night's Banshee came to predict a near death."
"Nothing says it was hers!" cried Faïz, angry.
My three hosts froze when they noticed my presence at the entrance, obviously frightened at the thought of knowing that I might have heard everything. Charles cleared his throat.
"Hi, Zoe," he greeted me, embarrassed. "Come and have breakfast."
"Thank you, but I'm not very hungry."
I looked at Faïz, who squeezed his jaw, instantly looking away from me. Lily rushed to me and put a delicate hand on my cheek while looking me straight in the eye.
"We're just trying to find out what's best for you, so nothing happens to you."
"Mom, prepare something for her for the road. We have to go," Faïz said, impatient.
"Where are you going?" asked Charles.
"To the mansion. William and Julio are waiting for us."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"I think you've done enough for today," replied Faïz scathingly.
Without giving his father time to justify himself, he passed me and headed for the exit.
"Let's go!" he declared in a chilling tone before walking through the door.
I looked with compassion at Lily and Charles, who seemed sorry for the way things had turned out, and then I went out to join Faïz.
He was already installed in his McLaren, the engine gleaming. I was hoping he wouldn't drive too fast. To my great surprise, he started calmly. In the rearview mirror, the villa gradually moved away from us.
"I didn't see Victoria this morning. Was she still asleep?" I dared to ask, to break the silence.
"No!"
I sighed deeply, exasperated by his attitude. The more we drove, the faster the McLaren was picking up speed.
"You're driving way too fast. Slow down a little."
"It's hard to do otherwise with this car."
Irritated by his behavior, I could not help but swear in Spanish. His head turned immediately towards me.
"Look at the road!" I shouted, fearing that he would drive into a ditch.
He laughed. I tried to remain insensitive to that sound that I particularly liked about him, and which had the gift of making me forget everything.
"What's in the playlist on your phone?" he suddenly asked me, curious.
"I listen to a bit of everything, from Paolo Conte to Sia."
"And French artists?"
"Of course. It also varies: Kimberose, Kery James, Shay."
"We'll see about that! Put your Samsung on Bluetooth."
I gave him a surprised look. Faïz Mattew wanted to enter a little into my world. Once the connection was made, he turned up the music to listen to it better. As for me, I lingered on the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt, which showed muscular and prominent forearms. The first song was a beautiful slow one by Whitney Houston.
"Romantic. It's to be expected," he whispered in a calm voice.
We were driving alongside Malibu when Sam Smith started singing.
"This one is, for the moment, my favorite."
" 'Too Good At Goodbyes' is a good choice," he admitted, taking a quick look at me.
"Do you speak a little French?"
He grinned slightly before answering me.
"No... That language is far too complicated."
"And I thought you spoke of at least five foreign languages."
"The stereotype of the billionaire. Classic! Actually, I don't speak all the languages of the world, and I don't play the piano, either."
I couldn't help but laugh, because it was true. He had summarized the image the world had for that type of person.
"You're just a muscular millionaire who has to save the world."
"Yeah, just that. Not too disappointed, I hope?"
"No, actually. It doesn't matter. You are who you are."
"Is there anything I don't know about you yet?"
"Strangely enough, I'm the one who plays the piano in this story."
"Oh…okay."
He looked at me, intrigued by this revelation. We looked at each other for a few seconds, eye to eye, then he turned his head to look at the road.
After driving along the coast for a long time, the car rushed onto a wooded path. The deeper we went into the woods, the more darkness filled the space. The trees with thick foliage blocked out daylight. It was then that we arrived in a clearing with an impressive expanse of greenery.
"We're here!"
Faïz had regained his seriousness, caught up in reality. He parked under a big oak tree. Through my window, I tried to see the mansion, but to no avail. Yet we were in the right place. A strange feeling crept into me. This disturbing uneasiness accentuated an unexplainable premonition.
"Zoe, look at me! Everything's gonna be fine. I am here," he tried to comfort me.
His face expressed a thousand concerns about me. In an uncontrolled gesture, the palm of his hand gently stroked my cheek, which liquefied me on the spot. Realizing what he had just done, Faïz immediately regretted his action.
"I'm afraid to discover that in the end we're all doomed. I mean, look at me! I...I am just a blind woman on an unknown path, a fraud," I declared, distraught.
Faïz, taken aback by my words, looked up, looking for an answer.
"You're just human. Remember that evil, it can also come out of good."
His voice was intended to be reassuring and persuasive, but his tortured look betrayed fear that I could not explain.
"The mansion is there."
Faïz pointed, but the house remained impossible to see.
"Where? I can't see anything!"
"The little hill. Do you see it?"
"Yes... But it doesn't look like a mansion at all."
"From here we can see part of the top floor."
Amazed, I got out of the McLaren, eager to discover this strange place. Faïz followed me. We crossed the clearing and then, after a few meters, a strange house gradually appeared. It was with amazement that I saw a mansion standing in front of me that had just come out of the ground. I was speechless when I realized that the rest of the foundation was built underground. How were we supposed to get in?
"And now what?" I asked Faïz, who smiled at me.
"The door is right there."
He squatted down and grabbed the heavy metal handle of a trapdoor under our feet. Without effort, he managed to open it as if it weighed nothing. Although I knew the immensity of his strength, I couldn't help but be surprised again. It would still take me some time to get used to it. Rachelle must have been crazy about it. I shook my head to get those evil thoughts out of my mind. Th
ere was no way I could imagine them together. Suddenly, I wondered if she was aware of the Mattew's secrets.
"What's the matter with you?" Faïz asked me, anxious.
Already engaged in the dark staircase, although the place was lit by a dim light, he stopped, waiting for me. Hesitantly, I prepared to ask him, taking care to choose each word.
"Rachelle... Does she know about all this?"
Faïz looked around furiously.
"Not here, Zoe. What's the matter with you? Is it that important?"
His sour voice did not destabilize me.
"Yes!" I assured myself at the top of the stairs.
Faïz gave me a black look. He rushed up the few steps that separated us to get closer to me. He took a deep breath and finally answering me.
"No, Rachelle doesn't know anything!" he said, taking care to articulate each word.
"Are you angry with me?"
"Of course I am. Why the fuck do you always bring it all back to her? Why are you thinking about her now? Tell me, what's the connection with what we're doing here?"
I didn't understand his sudden anger at such a simple question. Wounded, I decided to retaliate.
"Why is she not aware of anything?"
"Why the hell not? " He defended himself by raising his arms to heaven."
"Why do you make her think you're in a serious and solid relationship when in fact she doesn't even know you? Why do you make her hope for a future with you?"
Faïz paled, faced with the reality of my words. Pushed into his last entrenchments, his eyes ordered me to be silent.
"My relationship with Rachelle is none of your business, and I would ask you in the future to keep your thoughts to yourself!"
"You really need a shrink!"
I was surprised by my cold words to this man who seemed to lose all control when faced with the truth. Faïz turned on his heels and continued his path without saying anything. I looked up to heaven, annoyed by his changing moods, and decided to follow him down the stairs, which seemed to lead into the bowels of the Earth. After a few meters of a steep descent, we arrived in front of a large dark-colored entrance door, on top of which was engraved, "The Seventh Earth" in gold leaf. Faïz meticulously turned the thick round handle in one direction, then in the other. The door opened immediately, revealing a refined interior. The ceiling moldings, with a magnificent fresco of clouds and clear skies, revealed fine rays of light. It was as if Heaven was painted there. I looked up to analyze the details of this magnificent landscape that seemed to almost move above us. Gold leaf lined both sides of the immense walls of the entrance, and the chandeliers that descended from the ceiling shone with a thousand lights. This manor house with its excessive decoration gave the impression that it was immense, once you were inside.
DARK FAÏZ Book 1: Every hero has his legend Page 12