August pulls his hands behind his head and looks up toward the ceiling. “Perrie, I know as much as you do, but we are going to find a way out of this. If I have to tear this city apart bit by bit to find that damn portal, I’m going to get you out of here.”
I let my lips move up into a closed lip smile. Even when it’s hard to bring myself to smile right now. August is my best guy friend, and I love him so much for his friendship. “No, we are going to find a way together, and we are going to get out of here together.”
Chapter 15
Neither one of us are that tired since we slept in Sleepy Hollow, but I still lie down next to August and try to get some sleep.
I choose to sleep on top of the blankets and so does August. I’m hoping these sheets are clean, but if they aren’t, I have scarier things in my life right now to worry about.
August pulls me close and wraps his arm around my stomach. I take hold of his arm, tug it up to my chest and close my eyes.
This feels nice right now. In fact, it feels more than nice. When did my feelings for August first begin to change? It had to have been prom night.
After everything that had happened with Neven, I didn’t want to go. I was never big into dances or anything like that, but Maisie was, and she didn’t want to miss prom.
I had told her to go with someone, but she had told me that she wanted to go and hang out with me.
We were at lunch one day. August was sitting next to me, and she had asked, “August, will you go to prom with us?”
He was in the middle of swallowing a french fry and choked from surprise. I started patting his back, and he grabbed his bottle water and started chugging. “You guys are going to prom?”
Maisie had leaned forward with her strawberry eye patch and said. “Yes, if you will take us?”
I looked at both of them. “There is no way I’m going. If you two want to go, then more power to you. I’ll be at home in my pajamas, most likely having a personal movie marathon.”
August grabbed me, hauled me to him in a side hug, and stroked my hair with his other hand. He looked at Maisie. “If Perrie doesn’t go, then my duty will be joining her at this movie marathon.”
Maisie threw up her hands, and they were squeezed in tight fists in front of her. She had her eyes closed with her head tilted up and begged. “Please!”
I wiggled out of August’s arms and sighed in defeat. “Fine. I refuse to wear heels, though.”
Maisie pulled her arm in a downward fist pump. “Yes!”
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
August had picked us up for prom, and I hadn’t gone too fancy with it. I wore my hair down and curled, with a strapless red dress that was tight on top and flowed out on the bottom right above my knees, with black flats.
Maisie, on the other hand, stole the show. She had on a similar styled dress to mine except it was sapphire blue, and it had a one shoulder strap. The strap was made of peacock feathers, and across the bottom of the dress were more feathers woven in and hanging from the front all the way to the back.
Her hair was loosely curled and tied in the back into a loose bun. Maisie’s eye patch was the same blue shade as the dress, except around the edges of the patch, there were miniature peacock feathers. She looked beautiful.
After we had walked into the dance, we took prom pictures together. It was the first and only time I ever felt a twinge of jealousy toward Maisie. I had looked over at August and knew how if he hadn’t already had a crush on Maisie, he would now.
He never looked at her that way, though. Even that night, he only looked at her like a friend, and I felt relieved. Then I wanted to slap myself for that moment of jealousy. Why was I thinking or caring about if August liked Maisie?
August was in a black suit with a green tie, and it made his eyes stand out even more. I was drawn to them more than ever that night.
When we sat down, August went to get us drinks. Neven had come in with some of the guys from the basketball team. Most of them had dates, but Neven and David didn’t.
As soon as I spotted them, I examined my fingernails to pretend I was doing something.
David approached our table, and I looked up when I heard him talk to Maisie. “Maisie, you look interesting tonight. Do you want to dance?”
I gave him the biggest what the heck look. David told her she looked interesting? He had been trying to get with Maisie forever, and his lines were just not getting any better.
She told him okay, but Maisie told anyone that asked her to dance that night, yes. She even asked the nerdier boys to dance who were standing by themselves. That is what I love best about her is the fact she doesn’t care what anyone thinks, and just wants to see everyone happy.
Maisie left with David to dance. When I was done playing the examining nails game, I looked up and happened to lock eyes with Neven. He looked so pitiful, and at that moment, I felt bad for him and then got mad at myself for feeling bad.
Neven got up and started to walk to our table. Looking back, I don’t know if I would have talked to him if he had tried. I probably wouldn’t have. I would have gotten mad like I always had for what he had done.
He never made it to our table, because August got there first and sat the drinks down. “Do you want to dance?” He looked shy for the first time when he asked me which made me say yes. I would have said yes anyway. I had never seen August look shy ever, and it was adorable.
As we got to the dance floor, I looked at the spot where Neven had been. He was already gone, but I didn’t care anymore.
The dance was a slow dance, and at first it was awkward since I hadn’t danced before. Then August helped me get into it. He knew what he was doing. I laid my head against his shoulder, and my arms were around his warm neck.
His hands were at my waist and then my lower back. There was this fluttery sensation that was sprouting inside of my stomach that felt like more than butterflies. It was a mixture of things like dragonflies, ladybugs, moths and maybe even hummingbirds.
The whole dance I kept thinking to myself, what if I just leaned up and brushed his mouth against mine? Something about the way his hand rubbed against my back told me that I don’t think he would have minded at all, but I wasn’t that brave. Not that night.
After the dance, August walked both of us to Maisie’s door. Then he walked me to mine. I was such a chicken. It was another perfect moment. Instead, I rushed in for a hug and squeezed him goodnight, avoiding looking at his face. Before I closed the door, he was smiling at me; a daring smile that let me know he had wanted to kiss me. I leaned my back against the door and sighed but smiled so big my face had to be outlined in cracks.
I’m half asleep, half dazed, and I roll over to August. He is lying on his back, and I lift myself to give him a quick brush on his mouth with my lips. His are soft and perfect. I’m not sure if he is asleep, but his arm wraps around me, and I lean to his ear and whisper, “Goodnight, August.”
“Goodnight, Perrie,” he whispers back. So, he is awake. As I leave his ear, I give him a kiss against the side of his neck. He inhales shakily, then I lay my head against his chest. His arms pull my body toward his, and I easily fall back asleep.
When I wake up, I’m still lying comfortably in August’s arms. I risk a look up, and he is already awake, looking down at me. “Finally awake, sleepy head?”
I start to sit up, and a cold brush of air hits me after leaving August’s warm arms. “Why didn’t you wake me up if you were already awake?”
He moves himself up to an upward position next to me and then twists his body, so he is sitting on the bed with his feet flat on the floor. “Why, so I can bring you out of your lovely dream back to this hellhole?”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” I lean over and snatch my shoes and begin to put them back on. August already has his shoes on and places the top hat on top of his head.
We leave the room and head down the hall to the front where everyone is eating breakfast and socializing with each other. I
spot Fannie, and we walk over and sit in front of her at a table.
She is drinking tea and pours a little whiskey in it from a tiny, silver flask. Fannie doesn’t spot us, until we sit down in front of her. “Yes, after last night. I needed my tea to have a little something extra in it this morning.”
“I completely understand,” I say. I wouldn’t be surprised if all these women are drinking all the time.
Fannie looks over at August. “So, I see you are still here?”
August shakes his head. “I have her for the entire week and not only at night either.”
Her eyes widen, and she sips some of her special tea. “A knight in shining armor, I see. As long as you don’t have someone waiting at home like most of these men do,” she says sarcastically.
“It isn’t like that,” he rushes on.
“We will have to see about that, now won’t we?” Fannie clucks her tongue.
We’re all silent. Fannie stands up and brings us some tea and a small portion of food for breakfast. I don’t know if I’m supposed to pay someone here, or if the food is free. Maybe money doesn’t even exist in this place. I don’t know how real any of this is.
Fannie is a sweet girl, and she is incredibly smart. I want to ask her how she ended up here, but then I change my mind. Then I change it again. “How did you end up here, Fannie? I don’t think I have ever asked you that.” I hope from whatever false memories she has of me that I didn’t.
She leans back in her seat. “I lost my parents when I was fourteen, and I had no other family to take me in and nowhere else to go. My parents didn’t have a lot of money. When they passed, I had nothing. I lived on the streets for a long time and was basically just a gutter rat, taking food from what I could scavenge out of the trash. Eventually, I ran into two women who told me about this place. They took me in, and now here I am.” She waves one hand in the air.
My face must have a stricken look on it. “Don’t worry about me. This may not be the Queen’s palace, but it has treated me better than I was ever treated on the streets. The one’s that work the streets have it the hardest.” She looks down at her tea and stares at it for a moment before lifting it up and drinking it again.
A loud shout interrupts my thoughts. “Mary!” I only turn around because the voice is so loud. Then I remember that I’m Mary, and that bastard Thomas is walking over to our table.
August rises out of his seat and stands in front of me. “What do you need, Thomas?”
I get out of my seat and stand next to August. Two is always better than one. “I came to apologize about last night.” He looks dreamily up at the ceiling then back toward me. “Thank you so much for everything. I know you did that so I would go and see Irene, and she fulfilled every single fantasy I have ever dreamed about.”
Did I just vomit a little bit in my mouth? I believe that I did. “Irene is a worker of magic,” I reply.
“I will be spending my time with her from now on, so no hard feelings. Our time together was always amazing, and I will remember it forever.”
My lips are sealed tight. “Mm-hmm.”
He smiles and leaves with a final, “Good day.”
August turns to me, and I snicker. “Wow.”
“Well, he shouldn’t be bothering you anymore,” August says.
“I’m glad to say I have never had to spend any of my time with Thomas,” Fannie pipes in.
We spend the rest of our time talking and finishing up breakfast. Everyone is discussing the murder, but no one is mentioning a second murder. They are throwing out their thoughts on the situation. Maybe the time frame of the murders isn’t the same here.
After breakfast, we tell Fannie that we will see her later. I brush the crumbs off my dress and get ready to explore the city. Hopefully, we are able to find a portal out of here.
Chapter 16
We need to find the portal out of here, but what if we don’t find one? The door squeaks when August opens and holds it for me. “Where should we start?”
The old street has only two directions, left or right. There are buildings up and down it, but there are no other streets to turn down which is strange.
“Let’s try left,” August suggests.
Going left it is. The sun is already shining in the sky, and the buildings are old and spectacular. There are no people out in the city, only us. Even the buildings appear to be closed and have no people within. Why is that? I walk over to one, peering into some of the windows. There is nothing except for furniture.
I glance at August and then back toward the window. “Where is everyone?”
August shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t even know. That seems to be the go to answer these days.”
We walk down the street again. When we get to the end of the row of buildings, there is finally an intersecting street. Before I reach it, I hit the barrier and am knocked back. August helps me catch my balance. It’s the same thing as before, I can push against it, but I can’t penetrate it.
August tells me to go left while he goes right. We pat it down like we did in Sleepy Hollow until we are forced to turn, where the barrier is not letting up.
I meet him back in the middle of the street. “Okay, so if this is like last time where this thing is a rectangle around the city, and it’s closed off right here and at the sides,” I point, “we should be able to go through the barrier at the other end.”
August doesn’t look surprised with my logic. “Agreed. Let’s go.”
There is no walking, we run. Everything is a blur as I pass. I don’t even look at buildings; I just look straight for my goal up ahead.
My heart is thundering in my chest. As I inch closer, I see a small village of houses up ahead, and some of them have smoke pouring out of their chimneys.
Suddenly, I smack into something and realize that it’s the end of the barrier. I’m launched backward. I fall straight to the ground on my butt. Then I manage to continue falling onto my right arm and scrape it on the rough ground.
August isn’t able to stop himself either and lands right beside me. “Well, shit.” He shakes his head, and his top hat has fallen off his head. How he was able to keep it on while running is amazing, but he stands up and kicks it with anger.
I’m purely annoyed, and more than anything, I don’t understand why the portal is still closed.
“Why do you think the barrier isn’t opening, August?” I breathe heavily.
He walks over and grabs my hand to help pull me off the ground, and I bring my arm up and cradle it.
His frustration is growing. “More of the same answers. I don’t know.” He looks at me cradling my arm. His mood changes to one of concern, and he tenderly holds my arm and looks it over. “Are you all right?”
I let him look it over, even though I’m fine. “Yeah, it’s just a scrape. It’ll heal.”
My eyes go back to the barrier. I walk over and press my palm against it thinking that it may pull us through this time, but it doesn’t.
I rub my palm against my face. “Maybe it only opens up at a certain time of the day or something?”
We stand there for a long time, and then we sit down and wait for what has to be hours. There isn’t a clock anywhere to show us the time, but we continue to sit and wait for something to happen. When it doesn’t, we head back for the brothel. There is no sign of anyone outdoors. I don’t understand it at all.
On the way back, we just take our time. It isn’t like there is anything else for us to do right now. I feel safe because nightfall is still far away. As we pass one of the tall gray buildings, it has a long crack up the side. There is a balcony covered in vines and flowers with brilliant colors. A shoe shining station sits outside of a shoe repair shop. There is no one around with their shoes waiting to be shined or even a person waiting to do the work.
When we arrive at the brothel, I want to give up hope on this whole situation. I haven’t had time to think about anyone or missing anyone. I go in and follow August to the same small table we sat
at this morning.
I set my elbows on the table and put my chin in my hands. “Now what?”
August looks at the bar. “Hungry?”
“Really? You can still think about eating?” I let out a small laugh.
“All the time.” He gets up and walks over to the bar and gets us two bowls of stew and then goes back and grabs us some tea. I just stare at the bowl of stew.
“You are going to have to force yourself to eat whenever you can. Who knows when or if we will be able to eat or drink anything again.”
I eat a little more than half of the bowl. “There, happy?”
He smiles and waggles his eyebrows. “Thrilled.”
My eyes go to his mouth, and I almost but not completely had forgotten giving him a kiss last night. He hasn’t said anything, but I haven’t said anything either. There is nothing for me to say right now anyway.
I let my eyes drift up to his hair that is cute and messy. “I see you forgot your hat back there.”
He presses his hair down. “Screw that hat,” he groans.
Before I can say anything else, the door flies open. Fannie runs in and screams. “She’s dead. The Ripper has done it again. Catherine Eddowes has been murdered.”
I stand up and rush over to her. “Where is she?”
Fannie looks stunned and out of it. “She’s down the street.” I try to run past her, and she takes hold of my arm. “You aren’t going to want to see this one.”
August is beside me in an instant and moves straight for the door. I tell Fannie that I will be right back.
I step outside into the darkness. Wait, why is it dark already?
August notices, too. “How is it dark this early?”
We didn’t sleep that late, and we weren’t gone that long when we looked for the barrier. Most likely only a couple of hours could have passed. It should only be somewhere in the afternoon right now.
“Things aren’t making sense any more than they have been,” I mumble.
To my left, there is a body not that far from where we are, but there is no one around it. No lookers, no help, no police officers.
Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault Page 10