“Was Delilah the one who convinced you to come?”
“Yes...I mean, no!”
His face was strangely anxious. Instinctively I knew that Delilah was in trouble.
“She didn’t know that the party would be like this,” I added nervously. “When we realized it was when Verano grabbed me by the arm...and you know the rest.” I deliberately skipped the part where Delilah tried to convince me to jump with her. I also didn’t mention that she made no effort to help me with Verano.
He took a deep breath. His nostrils flared a little, but to my astonishment, his face remained neutral. Mmmm... Like his “brother,” Stephen had remarkable control over his emotions, which he kept carefully hidden behind an inscrutable mask.
At that moment, I hoped I’d given the right answer for Delilah’s sake. Stephan’s stony face didn’t give me any clues about what he was thinking. A wicked thought occurred to me. Delilah will owe me for this...and I’ll charge it! Especially because it was the only opportunity I’d have to unravel the strange connection between her and Stephen Cahill. That there was a connection, I had no doubt! Meanwhile, Delilah was talking on the phone, but looking at us.
“Again, thank you.” I placed my hand on his arm, anticipating the electricity that would make my fingertips tingle...and indeed, I wasn’t disappointed.
He tilted his head slightly, as one might bow. “At your service, madam.” The enigmatic face didn’t show if he’d noticed that I was testing him.
After Adrian, Dr. Barringer, and now Stephen, I came to the conclusion that each of them "vibrated" in a different way. As if the “shock” of them, or whatever it was...was equivalent to the fingerprints of normal humans, (i.e., there is a pattern for each pale individual), a subject I was researching on the Internet. Okay girl, your hallucination is science thing now! Maybe...CSI show!
Shut up! Those beautiful creatures’ blazing eyes emanate electricity in frequency and intensity that is completely distinct from each other. I was terrible at physics classes, but if I wanted to understand how it worked, I would have to find a way to overcome my educational deficiencies. One thing was certain—the tingling in my hand could not be all in my head!
“Adrian asked me to give this to you.” Stephen retrieved something from his pocket and held out his open hand to me.
“A phone?” I muttered in amazement. I wasn’t expecting that. The cornucopia of gifts had not ended? I decided that this time I couldn’t accept it...and this time, I had to be firm! His generosity was accumulating with expensive gifts using Machiavellian strategies in such a way that I could not refuse without feeling guilty. But now it was too much!
I began to shake my head, but Stephen had cleverly anticipated my reaction. “It’s so he can locate you, talk with you...and for you to call him when you need him.”
This was a good argument, was this not? Indeed, the appropriate argument. Of course I want Adrian to be able to locate me and the fact that he’d sent me the phone meant that he hadn’t forgotten me.
“My number is also recorded there in the speed dial, if you need to talk to me.”
“Why do I need this if you’re always around me?” I made a circular gesture with my index finger, holding the phone in my other hand.
He laughed.
“Yes, but I don’t talk to you. Unless you want me to look like a lunatic talking to thin air when I need to talk to you.”
He uncrossed his arms and mimicked my gesture with his big hand. “Of course I can hear you and certainly I’ll come to rescue you, but that will be nothing...a discreet situation.”
“I see... As discreet as you were today?” I noticed that he frowned, as if confused. “You were in my room today, were you not?”
He was silent for a long moment, staring at me. The dark blue irises were becoming yellowish again...a sign that he was angry. Stephen looked at the sky and then quickly replaced his sunglasses.
“No, it was not me. What happened in your room?” he asked in a dangerously soft monotone.
I couldn’t understand what he was asking me. How was he not there?
“I...I was just leaving my room. I heard a noise...a muffled sound...like someone walking across the room, so I went back, but there was nobody there. Everything was in place, except… I had locked the window and when I looked again, the leaves were brushing against it.”
He nodded as if he had understood, even though I didn’t get it. His jaw tightened when he spoke. “Listen, Melissa, I usually don’t spy on people in the privacy of their room unless there’s imminent danger. If you’re changing your clothes or using the bathroom...I couldn’t stay there, watching. It would be rude. Moreover, Adrian would tear my head off.” He rolled his eyes. “I usually cover the perimeter and yes, I stay ‘around you’ as you say, but the person who sneaked into in your room today wasn’t me.”
“If it wasn’t you, could it have been Adrian?” I ventured, hoping he’d say yes. He shook his head.
“Adrian isn’t in town now. Moreover...” He stopped, embarrassed. “Forget it, you wouldn’t understand. You need to know one thing: If Adrian had crossed my perimeter, I would have felt it.”
“Whoever it is, how did they get in without anyone noticing?” I didn’t say “without you noticing” so it wouldn’t sound like a criticism of his professional competence, but it wasn’t necessary because he reproached himself.
“I have failed.” The proud head dropped a little while he contemplated an imaginary point among the trees. “I was too confident. I forgot that one of us could become more determined, not caring about the rules or my reputation.”
“One of us?”
He smiled brightly. His sudden change left me baffled. I thought he was trying to distract me.
“I have my suspicions, but it’s nothing you should worry about. It will never happen again.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, puzzled.
He was very serious now. “Yes, I am.”
“And...what is this reputation that you have?” I swallowed hard.
“Melissa, there’s something you need to know about me.” He opened his strong arms as if to reinforce what he was about to say. “And I’ll tell you this, just so you’ll feel absolutely confident about that.”
“What?” I asked anxiously.
He gave me an evil grin.
“The one who mocked my security scheme challenged me personally. This is something I cannot tolerate. With your permission, I would like to enter your bedroom to look for some clues.”
“O-okay...” I stammered. Only then did I realize that he had dodged my question.
I couldn’t insist that he answer my question because at that moment Delilah approached us to return his phone. I excused myself and moved away, leaving them alone and so I could hide my new cell phone in my pocket without being seen. I didn’t want to provide Delilah with any reason to bombard me with more indiscreet questions.
Minutes later I heard Stephen’s voice.
“Let’s go, girls,” he said, pointing to his pickup. Whatever they talked about, they returned looking like it was something serious.
Delilah sighed. Sally did too, but I believe they sighed for different reasons. Delilah was looking at Stephen—a mixture of suffering and worship. Sally was obviously worshipping his F-150.
19
FRESHMANLAND
On the drive back to McPherson House, all I could think about was Delilah’s pathetic behavior. Throughout the trip, she chattered, chattered and chattered...in an effort to keep Stephen more attentive to her than the road, or us. The word “verbose” fit her perfectly.
What she didn’t realize was that he had shuttered himself in silence. His occasional sighs clearly demonstrated how upset he was and how much he wanted Delilah to shut up. However, nothing fazed her. I concluded that the gloomier he got, the more it drove her crazy.
A blessed silence had finally settled over the interior of the pickup by the time we stopped at the front entrance. I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought
I heard Sally sigh too. Fearing that Delilah would notice, I ventured a glance and saw silent tears sliding down her cheeks. I took a peek at Stephen, who was frowning even more than before, if that was possible. I almost felt sorry for Delilah...almost!
Keyra McPherson was waiting for us on the porch. Stephen asked to Delilah and Sally to go on ahead, but Delilah would not allow herself to be dismissed so easily. She slowed her pace, obviously for the purpose of listening to our conversation. Realizing this, Sally became exasperated and started to hurry her along, not at all concerned that she was being obvious. Like Sally, I’d heard enough of her bizarre prattle. Between that any all of the other bizarre events of the day, It was too much for me to deal with in one day. I started to follow them, but Stephen stopped me.
“I felt it,” said Mrs. McPherson as Stephen approached her. “And I’m as outraged as you should be. Who would dare invade my domain?” She looked me from behind her photochromic lenses. Her irises were like two balls of fire, poorly disguised by the shading.
“Someone who knows us. Someone from inside...” Stephen replied softly. She nodded in agreement.
He gestured for us to precede him, pointing the way. We headed inside, but he stopped me and suggested that I find something to do away from my room. “No matter what, stay away until I say you can go in there.” Without any further explanation or waiting for my consent, he quickly disappeared down the corridor.
Mmmm... Stephen was becoming too bossy to suit me. I had a right to know what was happening. After all, it was my room! I decided to follow them; however, Mrs. McPherson suddenly blocked my path when I approached the door.
“Why you don’t take a relaxing bath, baby?” she gently suggested.
I raised my eyebrows. “My personal belongings and my pouch bag are inside,” I replied, trying to justify my reason for entering.
Suddenly, someone nearby said something, distracting her. It was only a matter of seconds, but long enough for me to slip past her. Before she could stop me, I opened the door in time to catch sight of Stephen on the windowsill. In an impossible pose, his feet were firmly on the tip of the wood and his body canted slightly forward, perfectly balance. He looked like an amazingly realistic statue.
He was sniffing the wood! My untimely appearance in the doorway startled him. His eyes turned incredibly yellow, but he kept a straight face. He gave a little hop, straightened himself up, and came to us.
“Everything’s okay?” Mrs. McPherson asked.
He nodded and put on his glasses. “I found a clue. Putting this together with the trace not left at the Skull Rock, I’d say that I have enough to get started.” He held his hand up to Mrs. McPherson’s nose. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and then she turned to him with a look of amazement.
Feeling a little silly, I looked from one to the other. What was that—some kind of ritual? I hated secret rituals, charades, and cryptic conversations. Reading my face easily, Stephen made a comment that would give me food for thought for a long time...
“I will not under-estimate your intelligence.” He raised his other hand and gently pinched my cheek. “But I have no time to waste on explanations. I’m sure that being the good observer that you are, you will find the answers for what you just saw.”
Keyra McPherson sniffed loudly, as if giving him a warning. Stephen raised his eyebrows, not at all sensitive to her warning.
“I don’t know if I want to hear an explanation,” I muttered.
Stephen grinned. His smile widened and then he started laughing. “I have to acknowledge the corn. Any other girl in your place would have been freaked out!”
I rolled my eyes. “So now you don’t hate me anymore?” I asked in a cheeky tone.
He took my comment literally and stopped laughing.
“I never hated you. Ever! I just didn’t know if I could trust you. But when you defended Delilah, even though she didn’t deserve it, in that moment, you earned my trust. My instincts didn’t deceive me. You are a loyal person by nature.” He raised his hand when I tried to protest. “I know, I know! She had no idea that the party involved a ‘small dip’ in the lake, but she didn’t need to push it!” His expression became a little sad when he gazed at me.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot in play...aspects of our lives here in Hadrian’s Wall that you don’t know, but you will in due time, if you have patience and good judgment. Until then, ‘discretion’ is the watchword.”
With a grin, Mrs. McPherson called Stephen and they left the room.
I stood there in the middle of my room, totally freaked out. They had left me alone to digest the information. Super! I could hear the ticking of the bomb ready to explode over my head. I took a deep breath, ready to scream. Just one thought could stop the hysterical picture that was forming: In the midst of that mess, I had earned Stephen’s confidence and that was a good thing, wasn’t it?
After I’d calmed down, I checked the time on my PDA. I had missed the party, but by no means would I miss my first dinner at the famous McPherson House, but according to the schedule that I saw on the bulletin board, dinner was to be served until 5:30 p.m. I had plenty of time to organize my things, take a shower...in short, do things like normal people do! I glanced at the drawing board, still in its original package. Before I could begin setting it up, I heard a soft knock at my door.
Delilah didn’t wait for permission to enter. I knew that she’d been crying when I saw her red, swollen eyes and blotchy face. I noticed that she had changed clothes, but it was just a variation of the same black outfit. She leaned against the door and stared at me in a weird way.
“What did Stephen tell you?” She got straight to the point.
I started to open the packaging of the drawing board model, mentally counting to ten... pulling the cardboard open, I tried to unfold the support legs. With a sigh, Delilah approached and started to help me.
“Did he say anything...about me?” she asked.
“Why would he?”
“C’mon!”
“If you want answers, you have to give me something too. What’s your relationship with Stephen?”
She didn’t answer immediately. “There is no ‘relationship’—that’s the problem.”
“And you wish there was.” Suddenly an idea occurred to me. “Oh, that’s why you always dress like you do...because he’s always in black.”
She shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s none of your business why I dress this way.”
“Okay, it’s none of my business,” I replied and went back to unfolding the other leg of the table.
A few seconds later, Delilah sighed again.
“I like him. That’s it.”
“And?”
“And...he obviously doesn’t give a damn about me. End of story.”
I smiled to myself. She liked him. That was obvious! But the thing about the black clothes remained a “half-mystery”... as well as the coffin that I hadn’t seen yet.
“He asked if you convinced me to go to Verano’s party.”
“So, what did you tell him?” She looked at me, terrified.
“I said you didn’t know the party what was going to happen...freshmen jumping off the rock into the lake and everything else. Well, you didn’t know, right?”
She touched my arm. “You’ve got to believe me, Mel. I had no idea! I screwed up. It would have been easy to figure out what was happening if I had paid more attention to the party’s theme and the location mentioned in the invitation, but here’s the thing...I had other things on my mind.”
“Okay, Delilah. Now help me get this thing set up.”
Looking at the structure, she said the obvious: “It’s a retractable table. I have one like it. Let me pull this handle for you because it takes a certain knack and...”
In the following minutes, we worked harmoniously until my phone rang. Delilah stared at me while I checked the number on the display. Although she hadn’t been asking questions, which was unusual for her, the wa
y she looked at me was getting on my nerves.
Unexpectedly, she got up and went to the door. “See you in the cafeteria.” She gave me a thumbs-up sign and then left.
I nodded as I already had the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hi, just called to say that the perimeter is protected. You can sleep peacefully. Your attacker will not have another chance.”
“Thank you...again.”
He chuckled. “I’ll always be around,” he said.
“Oh, great. Bye!”
I closed the phone and sighed. A wave of sadness washed over me. Where is Adrian? What is he doing? Stephen said he was out of town, but doing what? With whom? I was consumed by curiosity...and jealousy.
It occurred to me that sooner or later, Adrian would hear about the incident with Verano. I cringed, just trying to guess what his reaction would be and had the feeling that it wouldn’t be a friendly one.
Every time I feel restless, I grab my block drafts and start scribbling something. This time was no different, except that I was using my new drawing board for the first time. Morrigan’s face emerged and around her a battle scene...manga outlines that I automatically defined, like an impulse. She appeared in full attack against a legion of Roman soldiers. Minutes later, I realized that Morrigan’s stylized features resembled Keyra McPherson.
* * *
The cafeteria was big and looked to me like a new building. It was connected to the main house by a covered walkway. Its glass roof allowed me to see the cloudless sky filled with stars.
There were four long tables arranged and decorated to resemble the huge dining halls of medieval castles where lords hosted sumptuous dinners for their subject. The tile floor looked like stone and perfectly matched the lamp fixtures—torches attached to the walls adorned with smooth stones cut into thinner blocks. At the far end of the hall was a large counter along the wall between the dining area and the kitchen. A uniformed server was dishing food onto trays. Near the entrance was a fifth table, a little shorter than the other four and partially hidden. It was occupied by teachers or perhaps boarding house staff.
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