His alarm clock went off and I got out of bed to shut it off. “I should call Chad.”
“Did you want me to take you into town?” He sat up and stretched his lean body up toward the ceiling. His usually long kempt mane was sticking up all over.
“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe he’ll come out here and pick me up.” I found my phone and I had no missed calls. “I’ll be right back.” I bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips.
I grabbed my pack of cigarettes and went outside to the front porch. I lit one up and enjoyed the first few drags before dialing the number. It was a cloudy morning and it didn’t necessarily look like rain but the sun was nowhere to be seen behind the dirty clouds. I loved days like this, dark and dreary. I searched through my contacts until I found Chad’s number.
“Hey,” he answered suavely after a few rings. “I’m about to leave and get you.”
“Do you think you could come to Jaden’s cabin?”
“What for?”
“Well, that’s where I am.” He started laughing.
“You couldn’t stay away for too long, could you?”
“It’s not like that,” I said harshly. “Sorry. Something happened last night and he had to come get me. I stayed here all night and I don’t have my car.”
“Oh.” He was silent for a moment on his end. “Did you still want to go today?”
“Yeah. It will help clear my head for a few hours and besides, we need to do it.” Really, I wanted to get to the library to find out about my house more than anything.
“Okay. Do you still want a coffee?” he asked.
“Yes, I need the caffeine. Cream and sugar, please.”
He chuckled. “All right, coffee regular for the lady. I’ll see you in a few.”
“Okay.” I hung up my phone and threw my cigarette down on the ground, stomping it with the rubber of my shoe. I wrapped my arms around my body and held myself together. It felt slightly chilly that morning and a squally wind was blowing around. I was thankful I brought a long-sleeved shirt. I headed back inside and sat on the couch.
I thought about calling Greg. Maybe he would have some great advice about what I should do but I already knew what he’d say. I wondered if my parents even knew that I was gone. That is, if they weren’t aware of what happened. It wasn’t like my mom came out of her room and stopped my dad from assaulting me. I hoped she was all right after I left. With all of the commotion, she must’ve woken up at least once but she was nowhere around.
I grabbed the remote and searched through the vast array of channels they had out there. I put on the news and tried to concentrate on other things. I heard Jaden’s door open and he walked out in a pair of cargo shorts and no shirt. I leered at him as he walked my way and felt the heat rise to my cheeks. He plopped himself down on the couch next to me, letting out a prolonged sigh.
We sat there quietly and watched the events of the day unfold in front of our eyes. The politicians were being corrupt and pocketing money from their people, wars were being waged all over the globe for stupid reasons such as stealing natural resources, people were getting their rights taken away from them, and the world’s ugliest dog was winning an award. Where was the outrage in this country? Where was the revolution? The media in this country is a disgrace, not at all what it used to be. There can be no honest journalism when the state runs things.
I could sense Jaden’s stare as prickles formed on the side of my face. He pulled me closer to him and I fit perfectly inside his arm.
“So, are you leaving me?” His voice was warm.
“Just for a little while. Chad said he'd pick me up.” He leaned his head against my cheek.
“Are you going to stop by your place?” I bit my lip while I thought about it, glad that I still had a few hours before going back. I wasn't ready to face it yet.
“What do you think I should do? Maybe I could stop by while my parents are gone. Do you think my dad’s okay after what you did to him?”
“I didn’t do any permanent damage. He’ll be fine.” He seemed sincere and I believed him because if there was something wrong, they would have called.
“Would you go over there with me?” I asked sweetly hoping to convince him. He took an exaggerated deep breath, filling his cheeks full of air.
“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”
“I want you to do things that you want, not what I want.”
“They’re basically the same thing,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I doubt that.” His eyes burned to mine and his face lifted into a smile, leaving me breathless.
“Let me see your hand,” he requested.
“Why?” My eyes narrowed.
He started smiling while stifling a laugh, “Just give it to me.” I lifted my hand up from my leg and held it in the air. He placed his left hand under mine and held it securely. His eyes blazed, putting me into a trance, and traced the finger of his right hand along my skin. I felt a prickly feeling form in the center of my palm that slowly expanded out. I broke my sight from him and watched his hands while they worked. I could see his energy like a mirage of heat.
A wave of euphoria started rippling through my hand and up my arm and it seemed to be vibrating at a different frequency. The sensation changed as it made its pathway through my body. My arm started to tremble and I could feel the blood racing through my veins at record speeds. His hands were blistering hot but didn't seem to be harming me. I gasped and tried to endure it. He moved his hand back and forth across my palm, sending waves of pleasure through my body.
When my bones started to tingle, I shrieked. He released my hand and everything stopped in an instant. A warming sensation ensued and my body felt completely relaxed, any pain I had no longer existed.
“That’s basically all I did to your dad last night, except for longer. I’m surprised you handled it for so long. You must be tougher than I thought.” He ran his hand through his hair, fixing the messed up pieces.
“What do you mean? The pain wasn't unbearable.”
He scrunched his eyes. “How could that not be painful? You saw what it did last night.”
“I know but it doesn’t hurt. It’s...actually quite pleasurable,” I admitted with shame.
“You’re such a masochist,” he said with a grin.
“I’m not either. I think you just affect me differently than other people. You should feel better knowing it can’t hurt me.” He put his hand up to stop me.
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“Jaden—I’ve felt it all along, from the moment our eyes first met. I'm always aware when you're around me, I can feel you.” I glanced up and his eyes met mine.
“Why have you been keeping this from me?”
“I don't know. At the time I didn't know it was something you sheltered inside. I thought it was my hormones acting up when I saw you.” He chuckled while pressing his lips against my palm and pulled me onto his lap. I leaned my face into him and met his lips, stroking his neck lightly with my hand.
A car beeped outside and a door closed. He moved his face to my neck and lightly nibbled on my flesh. I started laughing hysterically as it tickled. He continued to torture me with laughter until there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Jaden yelled while I covered my ears. “Sorry.” Chad walked inside and Jaden continued to hold me. He was wearing a baseball cap today, backwards, and he was dressed a little more casual than I was used to seeing him.
“Here’s your coffee.” I took the hot cup from his hand and took a sip but it was way too hot to drink. I sat it on the table and as I turned to sit back down, that’s when Chad saw my bruises. “What happened to you?” He was suddenly concerned and spoke loudly, his eyes jumping to Jaden. He looked back at me and I shook my head. How could he even assume something like that? He was Jaden’s friend.
“Well, you know about that house probably better than I do. Let’s just say, I was beaten by someone who looks a lot like my fat
her.” Chad’s face went white as if he saw a ghost.
“That sounds a little familiar, doesn't it Jay?” he asked, looking over. My eyes were inquisitive of them both but neither of them was willing to speak. An awkward laugh escaped from my mouth and they both seemed to relax. Chad was apologetic for his assumptions and sat down in his seat, slowly sipping his morning pick-me-up.
“Are you gonna move now?” he asked when a commercial came on.
“No. I don’t think that’s really necessary.”
“You’re gonna continue to live there,” I nodded, “after that happened?”
“Yes. I can’t abandon my family there and they won’t leave. Nothing’s happening to them anyway, it’s just me.” At the moment I said those words, I could feel Jaden’s eyes splitting into me. He blamed himself for everything, insisting that if we weren’t together everything would be fine. Even if that was true, I wasn't sure I believed it.
I grabbed a cigarette from my pack and lit the end, ignoring his eager eyes. I took the lid off from my coffee and blew on it for a while. After the top part was slightly cooled off, I was able to take a small sip. It was perfect. Just enough sugar and plenty of cream.
“This is really good,” I said to Chad who was looking eager to leave.
“I know most girls like coffee like that. I take mine black.”
Jaden leaned forward in his seat and reached for the cup. I handed it to him and he took a few drinks. The scalding liquid didn’t seem to bother him but I knew it had to be burning his mouth, damaging his taste buds. I looked in the cup when I got it back and a third of it was gone.
“Thirsty?” I asked.
“Nah. It’s good, though.” He ran his fingers through his hair, moving it out of his eyes. I couldn’t stop staring at him, especially when his body was exposed in such a way. Chad was busy talking to him about something but I wasn’t paying attention to the words they were muttering while I had something so intriguing to look at. The trail of hair extending from his navel to below his shorts was beckoning me to visit the forbidden land.
“Mina?” Chad asked, breaking my concentration. I turned to look at him, my face suddenly hot. I don’t know why I was embarrassed, it’s not like either of them could read my mind. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.” I stood up and put my cigarette out in the ashtray. “I’m going to stop by my house afterwards. I’ll call you when I’m ready and if anything happens, you’ll be the first person I call.” I wrapped my arms around him and we hugged, holding each other for a private moment.
“Be careful,” Jaden said out the door and I waved behind me without looking back.
Chapter Twenty Five
The public library was an old two-story building built out of red brick. It was perched upon a hill, three sets of stairs leading up to it. A round clock was placed on the center roof, the numbers set in the way of Roman numerals. It looked like it had been constructed years ago by expert stone masons.
Once we were inside, we found a table that was unoccupied and set up our materials. He sat at a computer and searched their online database and found two books related to our topic. I looked over the assignment sheet and it said we could use books, magazines, and reliable internet sites. At least there were other choices in case the books sucked.
He left our table in search for the books while I sat there and finished my coffee. A short librarian with graying hair, wearing a tan skirt and blouse, walked by and I got up from my seat to ask a question of her. Her looks automatically projected her occupation. She turned to face me after realizing someone demanded her attention and was startled after seeing my face.
“Hi,” I spoke first.
“Hello. Are you all right dear?” She seemed gravely concerned as she looked over my facial lacerations.
“I’m fine. I got into a car accident the other day,” I lied.
“Can I help you with something dear?”
“Yeah. Do you have any town records, like newspaper articles about its history? Anything like that?”
“Sure. That would be in the basement. Anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“I’m doing a project for school and wanted to put some historical aspects in it.”
She stood on a ladder and placed some books in their proper place on the top shelf. “All of the town records, anything you’d need are downstairs. We have newspapers dating back to the very first Shadow Heights Herald. If you need help, come find me.”
“Okay. Thank you very much.” She walked away and I headed back to my table. Chad soon appeared with some books in hand. I grabbed the top one and looked through it but the book was exactly as I expected—a government manufactured drug manual. There wasn’t much we could use for a persuasive speech. There were only two pages about marijuana and it discussed the dangers and things of that sort.
“This is hopeless. We’re gonna have to go online,” I said after an hour of no luck.
“You’re probably right.” He cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms over his head. “Let’s go have a cigarette first.”
I was also in need of some nicotine so I decided to join him. We left our things on the table and headed out the side door.
“So, what exactly happened last night?” he finally asked. I was waiting all day for that to happen. He seemed genuinely interested so I decided to spill.
“Well, after you dropped me off last night, my dad was up waiting for me. He wasn't acting like himself and he punched me, well attack is more like it. Jaden insists that it wasn’t him but how is that possible?”
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this but...” He took a drag from his cigarette and I waited patiently for him to continue. “The same thing happened to Jay. Everything was going well for his family and one day, his dad just snapped. He couldn’t take it anymore. They thought about selling the house but his dad was too attached to it.”
“Why won’t he tell me what happened?” I inquired, hoping he would tell me something.
“Mina, you've gotta understand. What happened to him was extremely fucked up. I’m surprised that he’s gotten over it. I mean, he’s never personally told me the exact details but I’ve heard things around town.”
“Then how do you know what the real truth is?” He shrugged.
“I don’t. Jaden is the only one who knows what happened in that house and he’s never told anyone.” I was confused.
“I thought Ryan knew.” He shook his head.
“No, just the same as me. But you should know that this wasn't the first time something happened in that house. It's like history repeats itself there. Jaden comes from a long line of powerful men and he isn't so innocent in the story.” I snubbed my cigarette out in the ashtray and shook off the eerie feeling that was lingering at the back of my neck. We walked up the stairs together and he held the door for me as we went back inside.
“I’m gonna look on the internet,” he commented as he strode away from my side. I scanned over a few magazines that each had an article about medical marijuana usage. I read through it quickly and copied down a couple quotes. I made sure to write down all of the information, the magazine name, page number, etc. I didn’t want to get kicked out of school for plagiarism. They are so strict about those policies anymore. You could do something small, not even on purpose, and still get in trouble.
I leaned across the table to peer around the corner, hoping to see my partner nearby. He had earphones shoved in his ears, his head bobbing to a beat. I got up from my seat and headed down the stairs while I had the chance. I saw a sign that said BASEMENT so I headed in that direction. The walls and floors were both made of cement and it smelled musty, like old books and water damage. There were shelves upon shelves lined across the floor. My mouth dropped open at the immense display. How am I supposed to find anything in all of this? It’ll take me weeks to get through it all.
Before completely discouraging myself, I decided to scan through at least one. There were big leather binders full of news
papers. Trying to go off of instinct, I slid my hand over the various folders until I picked up a feeling from one of them. After an intuitive nod from the top shelf, I reached for one and the year of print was 1922. I pulled it down and sat at a table under some dim lighting. Each newspaper page was covered in a thin layer of plastic for protection and they all appeared to be the originals. They were slightly faded yellow and the edges were roughed up but in fairly good shape considering how old they were. Whoever's job it was to restore these must've given special care to these documents.
I flipped through some of the pages, reading the various headlines. I made it halfway through the binder and I finally saw something that caught my eye.
Jerold Laenzar opens town orphanage. There was a picture under the heading but it was badly faded. There were two men standing outside near a fence. The caption said that Jerold was on the left. I could see a slight resemblance to Jaden, the dark hair for sure. He looked young in the picture, probably in his early 30s, but he didn’t look like the man from my house.
There was a faint image of a building behind them. I moved it over to put it under more light and saw that they were standing in front of Laenzar Manor. It was exactly like the house in my dreams. I wasn’t crazy. The house was different then.
Jerold was the son of Aleister, the town's founder, and all of Shadow Heights was in high spirits to have such an institute opened in their village. Apparently, at the time, there were many children in the surrounding area that were orphaned and without homes. I didn't see anything wrong with that. He was doing a good deed for the community. I skimmed through the rest of the binder but couldn’t find any more articles of interest. I hurried over to the shelf and put it back, grabbing another selection that was dated fifteen years later.
I scanned the pages and found another article about the orphanage. The headline read—City considers shutting down local orphanage amid investigation. I scanned my eyes down the page and half of it was missing. The article was gone. I flipped through the next couple pages but there was nothing. Great. Now I'll never know what happened.
Shadow Heights Page 25