“Your aunt has signed over your guardianship to me,” the Professor smiled, pointing to some papers on the table. “So it’s official.”
“It’s all for the best,” Angie nodded.
Caledonia looked to her peacefully smiling aunt for help, “But I– I still have one more day of school… And I want to see my friend graduate this weekend.”
“Surely it’s not necessary for you to go back.” The Professor answered for her in the most soothing tone, smiling patronizingly, “Why don’t you listen to Layla? She can tell you all about our program.”
Cal turned to watch as the girl started to talk about their studies, describing to her how wonderful their teachers were. It sounded like a scripted sales pitch, and as she spoke she projected a powerful tranquilizing lavender, flooding Caledonia’s senses with a sweet syrupy complacency.
Caledonia listened and started to nod in agreement, soothed by Layla’s droning voice. She began to think that maybe this was just what she needed… A ticket out of this place… A fresh start and an opportunity to continue her education …
But it would mean leaving Calvin behind, and the thought was like a knife twisting in her heart.
“No,” she said, pushing back firmly against the feeling. This time, Layla clearly flinched, and all Caledonia could think was that she had to get out of the room. She rose from the table, backing away. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go… d-do some schoolwork.”
The professor got up from his chair, “I hope you’ll consider my offer.”
“Of course,” she nodded goodbye. “I will.” She flew up the stairs, taking refuge behind the locked door of the bathroom. There were more voices, and then the sound of the front door closing. Her mind started racing, and she looked out of the small window over the shower to see the three visitors leaving in a cloud of greenish grey frustration.
She splashed cold water on her face and wrists, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She had a gut feeling that there was something terribly wrong, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She heard Angie and Phil go into their bedroom and she froze, straining to hear their voices through the vent in the wall.
Angie sounded worried, “Are you sure it’s the right thing?”
“That professor will straighten her out.”
“But–”
“Baby, you know she’s just going to get herself into trouble here. Running around with those bikers…”
“But she’s family.”
“It’s for the best. Besides, we need that money.” He chuckled happily, “Did you see his watch? Boy, that old man is loaded! He must have really liked your brother.”
Their voices trailed off as Caledonia looked at her saddened face in the mirror. For the second time in as many months she was going to be sent to live with strangers, only this time she had been sold. She thought about the professor’s avid eyes and cringed, walking to her makeshift bedroom in a daze.
Something bounced off the window with a sharp ping, and her head snapped up. She rose to look down and see Calvin standing on the walkway below, pitching pebbles at the glass. She could see his worried aura from the second floor, and she wondered how he found out about the professor’s visit. She sighed with relief; Calvin would know what to do. He gestured for her to join him.
She raced down the stairs and out the door, “How did you find out?” she asked him, breathless.
“Find out what?”
“About the professor,” she said.
“Professor Reed?” he asked, the name still fresh in his mind.
“Yeah,” She looked over her shoulder at the parking lot, nervous. “I think he’s gone now.”
His eyes opened wide, “He was here?”
“Isn’t that why you came?”
His voice was deadly serious, “What does he want?”
“Me,” she replied, “He wants me to go with him... And so does my aunt.”
Calvin’s face was stony, and he went ice cold with a bitter fear she’d never tasted before.
“Come with me,” he said. “There’s something you need to see.”
~
Chapter Sixteen – PROPOSITION
~
When they got to Calvin’s room he pulled out his computer and showed her everything. She read over his shoulder as he scrolled through one shocking article after another, hardly able to believe the gruesome fate that all of Professor Reed’s student researchers shared.
“Besides the suicides, do you see what they all had in common?” he asked her.
Caledonia looked up numbly, “What?”
“None of them had any next of kin.”
“Is that unusual?” she asked.
He looked at her seriously, “For all six of them to be orphans? Yes.”
Caledonia sat up with a jolt when she came to the story about the double-suicide and the poor abandoned twins. “They were there today,” she gasped. “Twins– They came with him. A boy and a girl… Layla and Michael. It must have been them.”
Calvin was surprised, “How do you know it was the same ones?”
She pointed to the picture of their mother, “They both had hair exactly like hers.”
“Lots of people have red hair,” he said.
She shook her head no, looking at him with shocked eyes, “The girl… She had eyes like mine. Heterochromic.”
Calvin’s eyebrows shot up, and he went back to the computer, determinedly searching for more information about the twins. There was no mention of them after the tragedy that orphaned them, and nothing came up in any search of their names. He finally quit looking, frustrated.
“Why would they end up with him?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. They’re going to the university … He had them tell me all about how great it was, and how he would pay for everything.”
“He’s not with the university anymore,” Calvin said grimly.
“They were trying to convince me to go with them. She tried…”
Her voice trailed off, and she sat back quietly, thinking about what had happened. She wondered if the girl really had tried to change her mood, thinking it might have only been her imagination. Layla was obviously doing exactly what the professor told her to, but why?
It could be perfectly innocent. It was possible that he simply wanted to help the children of his former students out of sentimentality– but maybe it was a guilty conscience. The research could have been the reason for her parents suffering, as well as all of the suicides.
Then there was the girl’s eyes…
She sat quietly, lost in thought, considering the implications. There were too many coincidences to ignore, and she felt the same creepy sensation that she had when she first met the old man. Every fiber of her being told her that she must avoid going with him at all costs, and now she had no time to save money for her escape. Caledonia rubbed her temples; confused and frightened by the things Calvin had shown her.
She looked up to see him watching her with fear in his dark eyes, and her face softened, touched that he was so worried for her. It occurred to her that appearances could be deceiving, and he was a far better person than her first impressions had led her to believe.
She reached over to lay her hand on his cheek, thinking how much she liked his handsome face. He sighed, pressing into her palm and closing his eyes. She leaned in closer and kissed him softly on the lips, realizing how much she would miss him when she left.
He took her into his arms and pulled her close, shuddering with relief.
“What are we going to do?” Calvin asked.
“I have to go,” she said sadly.
He jumped back like he’d just been punched, surprising her with his extreme reaction. He took hold of her by the shoulders, panic in his eyes, “Are you kidding? You can’t go with him! Don’t you see? There’s something really bad going on!”
“I know… I know,” she tried to calm him. “But I have to leave. I can’t stay here anymore,” she said.
/> “Why not?” he looked agonized. All of his worst fears were coming true.
“I have no choice. My aunt has made him my guardian.”
“Why would she do that?” he asked in horror.
She looked up at him with sorrow in her beautiful mis-matched eyes, “He gave her money, but she didn’t want me around anyway. They wanted me to go with him today, but I told him that I wanted to stay for the graduation. I have to run away now… before he comes back for me.”
“No!” he said harshly. He pulled her close again, seized by a fierce protective instinct that he didn’t even know existed. “Please don’t go,” he pleaded. “Come stay here with me.”
She stiffened, suspicious, “Here?”
He nodded vehemently, pulling back to look into her eyes, “Yes! Why don’t you move in with me?”
He held his breath, watching her eyes darting around like she was considering it.
“Please?” he asked.
“What about Jarod? What will he say?”
“He won’t care… He likes you. Besides, if he knew what was going on…”
Caledonia thought about what Hillary had said and winced. She didn’t want pity, especially not from Calvin.
When she looked back at him her eyes brimmed with tears, and her lower lip trembled, “I don’t know…”
“There’s no way you can leave,” he said, brushing a stray curl back from her cheek.
“Why not?” she choked out.
He pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes burning bright, “Because I love you.”
Their lips met, and his emotion came through them so clear and true that it overpowered all of her doubts. He threaded his fingers in her hair and kissed her tenderly, and then fiercely, like he wanted to consume her. There was no denying anything now, and she succumbed, engulfed in his intense fiery colors. He laid her back down onto the bed and she returned his kiss, floating away on a sweet honeyed cloud of emotion.
“Please stay with me,” he whispered in her ear, sending shockwaves down the entire length of her body. He kissed her again, and by the time their lips parted, she would have said yes to anything.
“Okay,” she whispered, “I will.”
She could feel a relieved joy wash over him, sweetening his next kiss even more than she ever dreamed possible. Now he was aflame with color that she could sense even with her eyes closed; a lusty, passionate red, brightened by pulses of vivid pink and purple.
“I know what you’re doing,” she gasped.
“Yeah?” he breathed into her ear. “What?”
“Oxytocin.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a hormone. You’re making me produce it.”
“Oh really,” he chuckled, moving his lips along her jawline. “What does it do?”
“It makes you fall in love,” she said.
“Good,” he smiled, rolling onto his back and pulling her on top of him. She pressed into the length of his hard lean frame as he trailed his fingers up and down her back. She didn’t know what to make of the unfamiliar sensation, gasping again from his gentle touch.
There was a knock on the door, and a second later Jarod burst in and saw the two of them tangled up on the bed.
“Oh… Hi Cali,” he grinned at her.
She sat up, dizzy with desire. “Hi,” she squeaked, smoothing her clothes self-consciously.
Jarod leaned against the door frame, “You guys hungry? Me and Crystal are gonna call out for some pizza.”
“Yeah,” Calvin answered in a strangled voice, sitting up himself.
“Pepperoni okay?” Jarod asked, clearly amused at the state they were in.
Calvin turned to Caledonia, “What do you like on your pizza?” She shrugged, uncertain.
“Don’t tell me, you never had pizza before?” he asked incredulously.
“I had it at school once,” she said.
He groaned, “That crap isn’t even close to real pizza!” He turned to Jarod, “Get one with everything.”
“Sure thing,” Jarod said, turning to go.
“Hey Jarod?” Calvin called after him.
“Yeah?” he ducked his head back in.
“Cali needs a place to stay… Is it alright with you if she crashes here for awhile?”
Jarod didn’t hesitate, “No problem.” He turned to leave, stopping and spinning back around. “Hey Cali…”
“Yes?” she asked.
“Do you know how to cook?”
“I’m good with eggs,” she offered.
He smiled, “Awesome. You can be in charge of breakfast then.”
Soon the four of them were gathered around a delivery box on the coffee table, Calvin’s leg pressed close to Caledonia’s. He watched her avidly, seemingly unable to take his eyes or hands away from her. Jarod and Crystal exchanged a look, smiling wryly.
“So… how do you like pizza?” Calvin asked her.
“I think it’s the best thing I ever ate,” she said solemnly.
Jarod and Crystal laughed, but Calvin knew that she was completely serious, and it made him love her even more.
Crystal was delighted with the news of Cali moving in, seeing it as one more step towards the domestication of Jarod. She pulled Caledonia aside in the kitchen, “I hope you’re being careful… You know, using protection.”
“Protection?”
“You know,” she leaned in, “When you get it on.”
She was met with a blank stare. “Get what on?” Caledonia asked.
Crystal rolled her eyes, “Have sex!”
“I…I… I don’t know that much about all that.” Her face flushed hot.
Crystal adopted a sisterly tone, “Listen Cali, Cal’s a good guy, but you can’t always leave everything up to the dude, if you know what I mean.”
“No,” said Caledonia, “What do you mean?”
Crystal exhaled hard, reaching for her purse on the kitchen counter. She rummaged through it, pulling out a handful of little packages and presenting them to Caledonia. She shook her head at the confused look on her face, “Here’s some rubbers. Just take them! Don’t get all stressed out, it’s just something us girls gotta deal with.”
Caledonia put them into her back pocket uncertainly, “Uhm… Thanks.”
“Oh… and now that you’re gonna be staying here, you should get these guys to spring for a new couch.”
Calvin came in and noticed how flustered Caledonia looked; her face was as red as if she’d just been slapped. He took her by the hand, leading her out of the kitchen and back down the hall to his room.
When they sat down on his bed he eyed her suspiciously, “What did she say to you?” Caledonia flushed pink again, looking down nervously, worrying him. The last time Crystal had gotten hold of her there was trouble. “Tell me!”
“She was asking me about sex.”
“What?” his eyes flew open in shock. “What did she say?”
She reached in her pocket, handing him the packages, “She gave me these.”
He looked angry, confusing Caledonia even more. “That’s not why I asked you to stay!” he protested, rushing to explain. “I don’t expect… I mean, I really just want you here…. Please don’t think I’m only trying to get you to do something!”
“Why would I think that?” she asked.
“Uh… She gave you condoms…” he said.
“Oh!” It was her turn to be shocked, “So that’s what they are!”
When their eyes met again they started laughing, finally falling back onto the bed. He reached over and took her hand, looking at her with soft eyes, “I was afraid you were going to get all upset at me… I want you to trust me. I’ll never push you into anything.”
“I know,” she said.
“I’ll give you my room tonight and go sleep on the couch.”
“Why? Don’t you want to stay with me?”
“Of course I do. It’s just…It might be better if I didn’t stay in here.”
“Why?” she asked innocently.<
br />
He shrugged, smiling sheepishly, “Because I can’t keep my hands off you.”
She met his gaze, thinking how beautiful his dark gypsy eyes were, “I don’t mind.”
“You know, when I first saw you I thought you were a ghost,” he whispered.
“When I first saw you I thought you were an idiot,” she replied, sending them both into spasms of laughter.
They lay there for a long time, talking about everything and nothing at all. She speculated on what kind of job she should try and get, making him realize just how aimless he’d become. When she asked him about his plans after graduation, he admitted to having none, not really. Her direct questions about the future dredged up old abandoned dreams that seemed like they belonged to an entirely different person.
“I used to want to move to the city and go to art school,” he admitted.
“But you don’t anymore?” she asked.
He sighed, “I don’t know. It just seems… stupid… now.”
“Because of what happened to your mom?” she asked.
He looked into her eyes, still taken aback by how well she could see straight through him.
“So, what did you think about the city?” he asked her.
She smiled, remembering their perfect day at the museum. “It’s big. There was a lot of stuff to see... And so many people.”
“Do you think you could ever live there?” he asked.
She shrugged, thinking about the tall crowded buildings in the city. She knit her brows together, “I was wondering…”
“What?” he asked, imagining what it would be like to wake up with her every morning.
“Why do they call them apartments when they’re all stuck together?”
He laughed, lifting her hand to his lips to kiss it, “I have no idea.”
“Tomorrow is your graduation rehearsal,” she said. She had been planning to go and watch, but she started thinking about the hostile girls that were sure to be lying in wait for her. “I think I’ll skip it if you don’t mind. I can go pick up my stuff after my aunt leaves for work tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay home and help you move in,” he said, trailing the back of his hand down her cheek.
The Athena Effect Page 16