by S D Wile
Impatiently Sonia dragged me to a desk.
“What’s wrong? Do you know him or something?”
“No.”
“Then what’s up with the face? He’s new; poor thing must feel so alone.”
“I understand. We’ve all been there, it’s normal. Anyway you never take so kindly to random men, so what’s this?” Just then a smile flashed and disappeared within seconds on Sonia’s face.
“You fancy him!”
“Shush, we are in a library remember and yes he seems nice so we must help!”
“Help him?”
“Yes, what if that Jenny Summers sees him and tries to...”
“Seriously? I’m sure he can handle her.” Any excuse would not have been enough to convince my generous friend. She was already fond of him and starting to get quite annoyed.
“Handle who?” Sonia shouted when my heart jumped into my mouth as her cinnamon swirl went rolling like tumbleweed down the aisle towards the main desk.
“Oh crap!” she accidently blurted out in a banned volume. With the expression of a serious hedgehog wearing reading glasses and pierced lips, the middle-aged librarian that had been behind the main desk came marching towards us sharp.
“There is strictly no eating or speaking in this zone. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave!” She reminded me of an angry school teacher. I’d never felt so embarrassed in my life and what made it even more humiliating was that Christian was there to witness this. Aggressively, the librarian picked up the cinnamon swirl in its paper bag and threw it towards the bin. The pastry bounced off the wall before landing straight in. Just then someone shouted out ‘shot’ which irritated Sonia even more.
“How dare she throw my food away. I spent money on that.” Sonia looked like she was on the verge of exploding whilst angrily gathering her belongings. That’s when I locked eyes with Christian; we both knew what was to come next. Any time now Sonia was going to lose her temper and start arguing with the lady, which would result in security throwing us out. Quickly we both grabbed her arms and bags before dragging her out of the library. Christian apologised to the hedgehog on the way out. I did think she’d over reacted by throwing away Sonia’s cinnamon swirl; she could’ve just given it back and told us to leave. Some people forget that they work with adults and not children.
Christian went to class and I decided to take Sonia outside for some air. Twenty minutes later, she told me that when she went to buy coffee she noticed her purse wasn’t with her and was worried she might have dropped it in the old factory. She’d already cancelled her debit card but was hungry and bought the cinnamon swirl from the last bit of change left in her car.
“Next time anything like that happens tell me straight away. Don’t get yourself all worried. You know I could help.”
“I just thought you had so much going on. This was the last thing you needed to hear – more bad news.”
“Trust me; it would have made me happier knowing you came to me when you had a problem. Next time…”
“I know, sorry.”
“After class we’ll go to the bank and get this sorted, unless you want to miss the chance to sit with Christian,” I joked.
“Bless him, he bought the coffee.”
“OK. Because he did that I’ll let him off. I’ll be nice,” I promised.
Chapter 17
Too many things had gone wrong lately but I was going to make sure that the things I could control (like my work) didn’t. Therefore I arrived at work half an hour early. Hugo had been working since 8 a.m. and looked awful. Unfortunately, he’d caught a nasty cold so I reassured him that the new girl, Leah, and I would look after the place this evening. As I had closed the coffee house numerous times before, I offered to stay till the end, 9 p.m., which was an hour after my shift was supposed to finish. As Leah was new I didn’t expect her to stay any longer than her normal work hours.
There was a bitter chill in the air, which blew in occasionally instead of the usual flurry of customers tonight. I busied myself with stocking the shelves and helping Leah brush up on her knowledge of Coffee Time merchandise. It was evident that Craig had spent too many shifts flirting as she wasn’t aware of the procedures. Poor Hugo had managed the best he could in his state but I expected a bit more from that lazy ladies’ man, Craig. Surprisingly the next time I glanced at the clock it was 7.30; I couldn’t believe how quick the time had flown by. Leah had been lovely to work with. I felt as if I’d made a new friend.
After emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the tables and mopping the floor I was about to walk towards the front door to turn the open sign over to closed, when a short man stumbled in. I was about to tell him that I could only sell a coffee to take out but he seemed very unsteady on his feet and his left hand was pressed onto his head as if he was injured. Slowly, I stepped out from behind the counter to ask him if he was OK but he staggered over the mop bucket before raising his left hand as if to stop me from stepping any closer. Next he mumbled he was OK.
Suddenly I saw the door open violently. A slightly similar looking man with a dark stubbly beard, shaven head, wearing blue jeans and a short-sleeved white shirt stained in blood, stormed towards him with rage. Mortified I ran behind the counter only to shout that I was going to call the police unless they took this brawl outside. Paying no attention to my threat the short man delivered a punch to the other man’s chin, causing him to catapult onto one of the tables, snapping its wooden leg clean off. Panic and horror flooded through me at the sight of the clean parquet floor now flooded with dirty mop water, mixed with the muddy footprints of these unwanted customers. Furthermore, the broken chairs and table were now being used as weapons. Just then I had a vision of one of them throwing something and hitting the front glass window, smashing it to smithereens. I had to do something to stop them from ruining the place completely.
“I have called the police, now GET OUT!” After shouting with all my might I stormed towards them but out of nowhere a chair came flying towards me. Luckily I ducked letting it continue to sail over the counter and smash the coffee cups I had recently taken out of the dishwasher. At that moment I ran out of ideas but I had too much at stake to give up. Hugo was the only one that had given me a chance and I could not stand here and do nothing so I went into the storeroom to grab the fire extinguisher. Suddenly my eardrums exploded with a frightening roar that vibrated through the walls of the coffee house. It demanded that the men leave right now. The sheer volume and fury in this voice froze my limbs.
Startled by the interruption the men straightened up their clothes and walked out with frustrated expressions. It was obvious from their body language that they were planning to continue this outside. Slowly I peered over the counter to catch a glimpse of the owner of this alarming voice only to find Christian standing there, radiating animosity. Face solid, eyes bulging, brow furrowed and hands curled up in iron-fists, he gave the impression of a mad man. He looked different, unknown, which made me wonder how could someone you know suddenly appear so alien? Even I felt wary about his presence. As much as I wanted to shut the front door and start sorting out the atrocious mess those savages had left, I couldn’t find the courage to step out from behind the counter. The terror that raged throughout him created a thick fog of tension which I wouldn’t dare to enter.
“They won’t come back here, they’re gone.” Shocked that he knew I had been standing there (behind him) my body stiffened. Suddenly I remembered all those times I’d been impolite towards him, giving him a piece of my mind yet he never said anything in defence. If I knew he had a temper like this I wouldn’t have even looked him in the eye let alone tell Sonia he was a creep. He was now staring at me because I hadn’t moved for the last few minutes. Keeping my eyes on the floor I picked up a dustpan and brush.
“Thank you, I...I need to,” I found myself lost for words, confused and overwhelmed. I would have happily stayed there all night if it had resulted in restoring the coffee house as it was, but tidyin
g alone wasn’t enough. Trying not to think about it I continued to plough through as fast as I could, so fast that I found myself continuously dropping shattered pieces of the mugs. Every time I went to reach for something another thing dropped and every time I walked towards something I bumped into something else. Yet I couldn’t get myself to stop, my mind was running on overdrive. I mustn’t stop I thought. I must fix this and every second was precious. Meanwhile my skin burnt like the sun from Christian’s endless stare or perhaps it was just my unsettled state of mind. He probably wasn’t even there now. Yet I wasn’t going to risk looking up in case I lost complete control of my emotions.
I picked up a broken chair leg and tried to figure out if it could be screwed back on. Experiencing the fear of not being able to fix anything, I found myself disorientated, panic-stricken and exhausted. Desperately I continued with what looked like hopeless fiddling, when a hand gently took the broken part of the chair from me. I looked up and saw Christian had knelt before me as I sat on the floor.
“You should go home, don’t worry about this.” There was an unexpected softness in his voice; it was as if it was the voice of another. This was the face of someone who could see right through me, someone who could see how troubled I was. I was overwhelmed by his gentle aura.
“I can’t. This was my responsibility; I was supposed to lock up. I promised Hugo everything would be fine!”
“You’re in shock. You need to go.”
“Shock? Have you seen this place? I’m sorry I just need to fix this. I can’t, I won’t let Hugo down! I’m not going anywhere until everything is as it was!” There was no way I was going to put my needs first when this was my chance to prove that I was the same reliable Izzie as before, not the failure everyone else seemed to be making me out to be. This was my mess and I was going to clean it up!
“Listen, I understand you gave your word but you don’t have to do this all by yourself.”
Chapter 18
Christian could see she was shaking and on the verge of falling apart. He’d witnessed pieces of her life since he’d rescued her. He was starting to admire her determination to fight back every time she faced trouble, which reminded him of the tests the elders would put the Rourkes through, in Orsa. Every time, no matter how low he felt he was determined to win. Although Sebastian repeatedly highlighted the weaknesses of mankind, Christian realised that Izzie’s determination was the same as his. The root of her strength was the same: a kind soul and a strong mind. One thing was evident; these were not the qualities of someone who would give up on life.
Both of them worked through the night without a sound except the odd smile of reassurance. Swiftly, Christian managed to clear the wet floor and the shards of glass while I tried to put everything back as it was and make a list of the broken items. It was now 2 p.m. and the buses had stopped. I knew getting home would be difficult but I didn’t care. I would have spent the whole night at Coffee Time if it meant the place would look the same again.
“I’ve called Sonia. She said she’d give you a lift home,” he instructed whilst taking a bin bag from me.
“How did you get her number?”
With a grin he told me that she gave it to him in case he got lost or bumped into the ‘wrong kind’. I should have known really but it was pretty careless of Sonia to just give her number away so easily. Coffee Time looked as tidy as it could, considering what had happened, but there were no traces of broken furniture or any kind of mess. The only indication that something wasn’t right were the missing broken items which I had yet to find an excuse for. A part of me wondered whether I should tell Hugo but then I couldn’t bear the risk of disappointing him as he was the only person that gave me a chance.
Sonia rushed out of her car wondering why I was at work and how it came to be that I was with the one person I had been warning her about. Thankfully both Christian and Sonia promised not to speak a word of what had happened.
Chapter 19
That evening I didn’t sleep. All the events of the day just kept flashing back in my mind. Yet I couldn’t forget the anger in his voice when he stopped the fight, or the look on his face. How could one face change so drastically. Is that what I looked like when I lost my temper with Jenny? The thought of looking so psychotic in front of Christian mortified me. Sonia suggested that I tell Hugo that one of the chairs had been faulty and that the new girl had accidently dropped a tray load of mugs when she was clearing the tables. However, my conscience wouldn’t let me do such a horrible thing especially to someone so kind. I’d be no better than Jenny Summers if I did that. I hoped that a solution would spring to my mind by morning whilst I made my way to see Hugo.
Suddenly I remembered the list I’d made with all the broken items; it was still on the counter. Somehow I had been hoping to replace some of those things and put them back, but it was too late now. Maybe Christian had it? This was the one moment I wished I’d taken his number. That’s when I thought of Sonia. As I went to grab my mobile from the bedside table I glanced at the time on my alarm clock and realised it was 5 a.m. It was unfair to ruin Sonia’s sleep over my carelessness (she’d done enough for me already). I guess I’ll just have to tell Hugo the truth and deal with the consequences. It was my responsibility. After that I would find a way to thank Christian for all his help.
Cale had been sitting in the almost completed Room of Rituals for a couple of hours, awaiting Sebastian’s verdict on his alliance with his brother. No matter how hard he tried to prove he had no part in Christian’s actions Lameer was hell bent on convincing Sebastian the opposite. Cale had been ordered to stay put, until Sebastian returned from seeing the mother of the ocean himself. The notorious elder was seeking the truth about Cale rather than Christian, as he had seen enough over the past few days to know that Christian was no longer in Orsa.
An irritated Cale found himself pacing back and forth in the small room. An unfinished doorway tempted Cale to leave but he knew this would go against Sebastian’s orders, which was the last thing he wanted to do. He was a prisoner. The unfinished doorway and the stonework in the centre of the floor kept on reminding him of his brother. This was a task given to the both of them, something to make the elders proud. A place that would have been as sacred as a monastery, where those seeking answers would have visited, in the hope that their thoughts would be heard by Orsa. If a Child of Orsa was losing themself they would come here to meet with the elders, who would give them access to the knowledge they seek. The encryptions on the floor were sacred and would allow the elders to draw strength, knowledge and guidance from Morbidma.
It was through deep meditation that the elders were able to retrieve knowledge from Morbidma, who was pleased with their devotion to Orsa.
“Could there possibly be more that is troubling you?” Cale snapped out of his thoughts well aware of what Sebastian was hinting at. As always the elder stood in front of him even though his voice seemed to be coming from behind. Cale wondered how Christian was always able to sense Sebastian’s presence seconds before he would show himself.
“You know everything there is to know,” replied Cale calmly.
“And true that is. So here is what you will do.” Before completing his sentence Sebastian stood still, staring awkwardly at the distraught Rourke, creating a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. It was clear that even though he knew Cale was innocent he was still angry with him. It was probably because Christian was his favourite, the one he had high hopes for, not Cale who was always trying to prove himself. Even though Sebastian saw him as second to Christian, the fact that he now had to rely on him angered him even more as well as being betrayed by his own.
“Lameer has offered to complete what your brother left incomplete. Now that we have this room we, the elders, will draw strength to right what is wrong.”
“What must I do?” Knowing that Christian had just been given a death sentence Cale was desperate to prove himself, as he did not want his reputation tainted by the actions of his brothe
r.
“You will go to the lands!”
“The lands?” Cale was not comfortable with this demand as the lands were forbidden, unless you were redeeming your soul.
“As you were not aware of your brother’s whereabouts it is your duty to appear upon the lands but only as a shadow. Under no circumstance must you face him; you will stand as witness to his crimes when he is sentenced in this very room. Are there any questions?”
“No.”
“Very well, you will be sent at midnight when the waters of Orsa are the bluest. That is when they are the most complying.”
Although Christian had disobeyed the numbers and committed the ultimate crime, he would still be given what the elders would call ‘a fair trial’. However in reality no such thing existed. The elders decided the verdict as soon as they were made aware of the crime. The trial would just give them an opportunity to make an example out of those who disobeyed the numbers. Everyone knew that there was only one sentence for Christian. Death!
Chapter 20
Rapidly, I marched down the high street towards Coffee Time hoping to get there before Hugo, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Good morning Izzie.” I wondered if he’d feel the same in about two minutes.
“Morning Hugo,” I reluctantly smiled back.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I just don’t know where my mind is this morning but dear I’ve left my keys at home. Do you have the spare key with you?”
“As a matter of fact I do.” Maybe I should have said no, just to buy myself some time before Hugo noticed anything and fired me but what was the point. I’d rather face utter doom now than delay it any further.