by Dakota Lake
He took my hand and opened the cabin door leading me inside to a room where a crackling fire was already burning.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much better.”
He walked over to the fireplace and started poking it with a fire poker.
“How is this possible? This all looks so real.”
“I must have a good memory of how things were laid out. It's the only way I can explain it.” he said placing another log on the open fire.
There were two couches and I sat on the one nearest the fire. Jessie came back over to me and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and sat down next to me wrapping it over us. He put his arm around me pulling me closer, I pulled my legs up and rested my head against his chest. “Can we stay here forever?” I said wrapping my arm around him.
“If only.” he said quietly.
“I feel tired.” I said closing my eyes for a moment.
He stroked the back of my head. “Me too.”
Chapter Eleven
A clanking sound woke me up. I opened my eyes to see I was back in my own bed. I turned over to to see Narmi pouring fresh orange juice into a glass.
“Sorry, I didn't meant to wake you.” she said.
“It's okay. What time is it? I should probably be getting up anyway.”
“It was 7.30am when I left the kitchen.” she replied.
I sat up in bed and pulled my legs up resting my arms on them, trying to wake up. I knew if I laid back down I would probably fall asleep.
I slid off the bed and walked over to the breakfast tray. Narmi opened the balcony door and went into the bathroom. She returned with a bundle of towels.
She looked me up and down strangely. I looked down at myself, I was still wearing Jessie's black Tshirt.
“Do you want me to wash that?” she asked eyeing it up. “Or hide it?”
“No it's fine. It's Senka's.”
“Okay if you say so. I have left you fresh towels in the bathroom.” she said walking to the door. I suddenly remembered I owed Alex that favour.
“Hey Narmi,”
“Yes.”
“When do you next get a day off or time off. I mean you do get time off don't you?” “Yes, four days from now I work until mid morning then I have the rest of the day to myself. Why?” “Do you remember that thing we were talking about?”
“Which thing are you referring to Miss Ruby?”
“The one about a certain boy called Alex that lives upstairs.”
She coughed and rearranged the towels in her arms.
“Is that yes?” She nodded. “Well how would you feel about having lunch with him?” As soon as I'd said it I remembered Alex didn't eat. “Or you could go for a walk together or maybe he could take you into Brackelburn for the day.”
Her eyes shot up to my face and looked worried. “How do you know about Brackelburn?” I stared up at the ceiling playing dumb. I had forgotten I wasn't supposed to know about it. “On second thought maybe you shouldn't tell me. Has he spoken about me?” she asked. “Yes and no. Alex is very private but I can tell he likes you, a lot. So is that a yes then, you want to meet with him?”
She smiled and nodded “I finish at noon do you think he can meet me on that day?” “I'm sure he can, providing he's not working. Where should I tell him to meet you?” “Outside by the cherub fountain.”
“Great. I'll let him know.” I was waiting for her to leave the room but she hovered by the door looking upset. “What's wrong I thought you liked him?”
“Oh I do. But I don't think I have anything suitable to wear.”
“What do you mean by suitable?” I asked.
“I only have three maid outfits and two white blouses and a long brown skirt.”
“That's all the clothes you own?”
“Yes and I don't own the maids outfits.”
I tapped my fingers against my lip trying to think of something when I looked over at my closet. I had a closet full of unused dresses that I was never going to wear, there had to be something in there.
“Put that down,” I said pointing at the towels in her arms. “come in here,” I said walking into my closet. “Just take something of mine.”
“I can't Miss Ruby. They're your clothes.”
“Yes but it's not like I wear any of them. Anyway if they're mine that means I can do what I want with them and I say you can take what you want. So choose something and if anyone says anything tell them to come and talk to me.”
I looked over at her as her eyes drifted along the rails. “I'm not sure.”
“Narmi it's okay, really. Now any particular colour?”
“Yellow is my favourite colour.”
“Yellow it is,” I said browsing the rails pulling out any yellow dress I came across but most of them looked too dressy.
“These dresses are hideous. I mean if we took the sleeves off and cut some of these bows off and cut the neckline lower this would actually be kind of nice.”
“Miss Ruby, you can't cut your dresses up.”
“Why not? You said they were my dresses, so my rules. If Cam doesn't like it he can yell at me about it not you. Okay, so go fetch some scissors while I eat my muffins.”
She smiled at me. “Yes Miss Ruby.”
After I'd eaten my breakfast I made Narmi try on the dress while I made a few changes to it. “I don't know it doesn't look.....”
“Ugly. It doesn't look ugly. Now it looks normal. I think Alex will love it. Trust me. You still haven't told me why you like him?” I asked.
“He's so handsome.”
“Really?” I mumbled.
I wouldn't describe Alex as handsome. Scruffy clothes with a crazy mohican didn't scream handsome to me. But there was a cuteness to him mainly because he looked so young with a teenagers face, maybe to her handsome was cute.
“He always holds the door open for me.” she added.
“Wow! It must be love, he always slams it in my face.”
“But what will I say to him?”
“Err how about start with 'hello' that's always a good start. Anyway if you're anything like me you'll probably only have to spend five minutes with him before you want to bash his face in with a candle holder, so you wont have to worry about the conversation.”
She looked at me strangely as if she didn't understand.
“It was a joke. Nevermind. Look just be yourself talk about things you like to do. Go for a drink, chat about the weather, play a game of darts together. You'll be fine.”
There was a knock at my door, Narmi was still wearing the yellow dress. She panicked and ran into the closet. I opened the door to Emmett's wide grin. He wore plain blue jeans with a Pac-Man Tshirt and a pair of beige steel cap boots.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I thought we could do something today. We haven't done anything together for a while, thought we could hang out and talk.”
“I can't I have plans today.”
“Oh, with who?”
“I made plans with Kenzie and I'll probably spend the rest of the time upstairs.”
Emmett nodded and picked at the door frame.
“Ruby there's something I need to talk to you about. It's important.”
“Is it life threatening?”
“No.” he answered confused.
“Then it can wait.” I said cutting him off. “Now I need to get washed and dressed, I have lessons this morning. So...”
“Okay, well I'll catch ya later, probably see you at dinner.”
“Probably.” I said closing the door glad to see the back of him walking away.
I turned around and my eyes went straight to my nightstand. I walked over to it and checked the floor all around.
“What are you looking for?” Narmi asked walking back out the closet.
“Did you see a candle here this morning?”
“No. Usually yes, there is one there most mornings but not this morning. Do you light them before bed?”
“N
o I do not.”
“Oh,” she said confused.
“It's complicated.” I said standing back up.
I'd completely forgotten to check this morning but obviously Emmett hadn't left one last night. Maybe whatever Vivienne had said to him worked. I got washed and dressed and put on my red dress today. After having made a few changes to the yellow dress it had me thinking I could alter a few more, I was getting tired of living in the same three dresses day in and day out. Lessons finished ten minutes early today and I quickly went back to my room, I had roughly forty minutes before the change over took place between guards. I changed into the clothes I had taken back from the sewing room again. If I was going to sneak into the elevator I wanted to look as inconspicuous as possible. I put Kenzie's watch on and sat on the edge of my bed counting down the minutes. My hands were clammy and I felt as though I was coming out in a cold sweat. I needed to calm down. I went into the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. As I was drying my face I checked the watch again. Hoping the time had magically fast forwarded. All this waiting was making me feel sick. The watch said 1.15pm only two minutes on from the last time I'd checked. A sudden knock at my bedroom door sent my heart pounding against my chest. Who could that be? There was no way I was going to open the door dressed like this. So I stood listening with my ear close to the door, hoping whoever it was would go away.
“Ruby I can see the shadow of your feet under the door.” Senka said. I stepped away from the door. But didn't say anything. “Ruby I don't know what I've said or done but can I please come in so we can talk?” he sounded exhausted like he'd been at work all night.
Grrr! Must stay strong. Do not open the door.
“Ruby please,” he called.
I heard a light thud, it sounded like he was resting his head against the door. My door was never locked so I really hoped he would respect my privacy and not decide to barge in. I had no idea how I would explain the way I was dressed.
“You haven't done anything wrong. I told you I've been busy with homework. I'm really trying to apply myself and focus on my studies. I'm in the middle of some really interesting calculus work right now. So I'll come find you later okay.”
“Ruby you know that's total crap, you hate studying. You hate anything that involves numbers.” Damn he knows me too well.
I was really fighting the urge not to open the door and throw myself into his arms. “Did Alex say something to you, is that why you're avoiding me?”
“Senka no, Alex hasn't said anything to me. I'm not avoiding you, I'm just really busy. What are you doing later?” I asked.
“What are you doing in there? Have you got someone in there with you?”
“What no.”
“So what are you doing?”
“I just told you I'm studying.”
“I'm coming in.”
As soon as he said it I ran to the bathroom and quickly locked the door. At least the bathroom door had a lock. The door handle rattled.
“Ruby, what is going on?” he said loudly banging on the door.
I was so close to giving up and coming clean. Senka sounded so hurt even though he'd done nothing wrong.
“I don't feel well, Senka.”
“What do you mean you don't feel well?”
“Girl stuff.” I blurted out, hoping he knew what I meant by girl stuff even though it wasn't true. “Girl stuff,” he repeated.
“Yes. But if I feel better later I will come and find you. Are you going back to work?” “No not today.”
“Then I'll see you later okay.”
He didn't reply straight away. It was like he was thinking it over. I really hoped he believed me. I checked the time. It was 1.27 I needed to be leaving in a minute but I couldn't go anywhere with Senka standing outside the bathroom door. He was still being quiet when I heard his cell ringing. He didn't answer it.
“Ruby....”
“Yes,” I replied.
“You promise you'll come up later, if you're feeling better?”
“Yes of course I will.”
“I'm going out in a bit do you want me to pick you up some treats?”
By treats he meant, chips, soda and chocolate my favourite bad foods.
“Only if it's not too much trouble.”
“It's no trouble.....Bye then.”
“Bye.” I replied and a second later I heard the door close.
I didn't want Senka thinking he'd done anything wrong, especially now I knew he hadn't taken my memories. I would go up and see him later. I had missed him so much the last few days that I probably wouldn't even wait until after dinner to go up and see him. I'd go when I got back from my uncover work, well that's what I was calling it.
I unlocked the bathroom door and peeked out to make sure he was definitely gone and not hiding in the closet. I checked the time again. It was 1.32pm I had to hurry if I wanted to get there and back. I inched my bedroom door open and looked both ways before deciding it was clear to go. I pulled my hood up and hurried down the corridor. There were no servants posted along this section of my corridor only the guard outside the elevator which I could already see was gone. I sped up and my legs seemed to carry me effortlessly and I reached the door in seconds. I checked back to make sure I hadn't been followed, then I hit the up button on the wall.
The door pinged open after a few seconds and I stepped inside. The elevator had wood panels and and a red carpet on the floor and a rail running around the edge. Which I quickly grabbed onto before my legs decided to carry me back out. Inside there were five buttons. The letter G which was for the ground level. 1, 2, 3. Then there was 4. I pushed 4 and the doors slid shut. I backed myself into the back wall of the elevator and held on tight as the elevator started to rise. The sudden thought of what if someone pressed the button from the third floor, what if one of the guys wanted to use it? My heart pounded like a drum and my ears felt like there was a tiny drummer man inside them. The elevator passed the third floor and kept going, but it seemed to go higher than it would be if it was going to the next floor. I waited for a few seconds and the elevator came to a stop. The door pinged and movement behind me made me jump. I spun around to see a set of doors opening up behind me. The elevator had doors on both sides. I slowly walked out and into a small dark entrance way with a bare cement floor and bricked walls with an archway straight in front. A dimly lit sconce light glowed on the wall lighting up a set of stone steps leading up. I spun around double checking I hadn't missed a door anywhere. But I hadn't the steps seemed to be the only exit from here. I crept up the steps and stood in front of the door listening for any movement on the other side. When I was certain I didn't hear anything I twisted the door knob and let the door swing open. I stepped out onto a hard uneven stone floor with a cobblestone wall. More dimly lit sconce lights were dotted around. Leaning against the walls were stacked paintings with sheets covering them and furniture was stacked up with dust sheets flung over it. There was an open archway in front of me which led into a small room full of more furniture and other random household items. All the other archways were the same and led into small openings with furniture and boxes. At the end was another set of stone steps. How many sets of steps would I have to climb until I supposedly came to the fourth floor? I walked up the steps cautiously like before and quietly opened the wooden door and peeked out. It was much darker up here, I stepped out onto a hard wooden floor. It looked like a hallway or corridor. The lights were off but moonlight shone through the windows. Moonlight? Wasn't it just daytime when I was downstairs? I crept along the corridor and soon realised I was inside someone's very old Victorian style house. If I didn't know any better it looked as though I'd just come up from the basement. My instincts were telling me to go back down the steps, back to the basement then back down the other steps to the elevator but the 'I want answers' side of me kept going. I walked into a large kitchen and came back out into the corridor. Who's house is this? I tried to be as quiet as possible, what if they were in bed?
I came to a wide staircase that zigzagged and led up but I kept walking until I located the front door. I lifted the large door handle amazed to find the door wasn't even locked. Outside there was a circular driveway lit up with small lights that led around the side of the house, over to the right I could see four large garages. I left the door ajar and walked down the front steps. Where am I? It couldn't be part of the manor, I had gone up not out through a side door. I was still looking around when I heard voices from inside the house. I quickly ducked down and dived into the nearest bush. I carefully moved a branch aside to get a better view of the door.
“You coming or what?” said a boys voice.
It was one of the boys from the manor I recognised him but couldn't put a name to his face. The other boy stood by the door with his back to me wearing a beanie.
“Don't you think it's weird the door was open?” the one in the beanie said.
He turned slightly and I could see it was Rex.
“Who cares? Now let's bounce.” the other one said walking round the side of the house. Rex lit a cigarette and followed him. I waited still crouching in the bush, it was so cold I could see my own breath. It was nowhere near as cold as this back at the manor. Headlights lit up the drive and a car pulled out and shot off down the drive at a ridiculous fast rate, stopping briefly for the gates at the end to open. The car swung round the corner and out of sight as the gates automatically started to close by themselves. I hurried across the lawn keeping to the shadows of the trees, but the gates were already closed by the time I reached them. Ivy hung down all over the wall which I moved aside checking for a switch or anything that looked like it would open the gate. I looked through the gaps in the iron gate but I couldn't see anything useful only a house in the distance across the street.