The Complete Set

by Ainsley Shay

  I growled. “You can’t keep me locked away, you know?”

  He was as calm as ever as he sat back down on the couch, picked up the remote, and un-muted his show. How is it I was so mad, bubbling with anger and frustration, and he was calm in every way? It was completely unfair; I was a prisoner in my own home, and he was on vacation. I heard a car pull up to the curb outside. I turned to see Snow’s big-butt car. Pure joy rode along my veins, like it was on a roller coaster. I called down to her. “Snow.”

  Her backpack and sleepover bag were slung over her shoulder. She looked up. “Hey, girl! I brought pizza and your favorite movie.”

  I could have leapt over the railing like Spiderman and hugged her. Chandler’s TV show, with its cued laughs, was soon going to be shut down. I skipped from the balcony to the front door, opening it just in time for her to enter. In a few swift seconds, I took the movie off the top of the pizza box, and grabbed the remote from the side arm of the couch. “It’s just officially become girls’ night in,” I announced. When I saw his face change to an “are you kidding me?” look, I thought he would leave for a couple of hours. But no, his tight lips and bulging eyes softened. Damn!

  “Can you please talk to your girl, here?” Chandler said to Snow. “She purposely ignored my commands and went out onto the balcony, exposing herself to the elements of possible death.”

  Snow set the pizza on the counter and walked over to Chandler, bent, and kissed his nose. “The only exposing she did, was to me, so calm down. Besides, maybe if you requested and not commanded, she would have listened.”

  He rolled his eyes, huffed and went to help himself to a piece of pizza. “What’s with the brown meat and onion? Have you guys ever heard of pepperoni?”

  Snow went behind him and placed her hands on his hips. “That brown meat just happens to be the best meatballs in town?”

  Chandler looked over his shoulder. “Meatballs are round and covered with sauce, preferably served over pasta.”

  Snow kissed his cheek. “Don’t be so closed minded. Eat it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

  We moved the coffee table in front of the door. I put on the movie while Snow unrolled her sleeping bag and settled it in front of the TV.

  “Is that your sketchbook?” Snow asked. She moved past me to where my bed was.

  I didn’t realize I had left it out. “Yeah, can you believe it?”

  She squealed. “No, but it makes me feel stupid happy.” Snow ran to the bed. She picked it up, held the book to her chest, and jumped up and down. “Iris, do you know how good this is for you?”

  “I got this weird urgent feeling the other day to draw, whip up a tattoo for some desperate soul.”

  “Desperate, my plump butt.” She waved her finger. “They’d be honored to wear your art on their—whatever body part.”

  Chandler pulled her down onto his lap. “Speaking of body parts.” She giggled as he nuzzled her neck. I had watched her fall harder and harder for him over the last several weeks. She was not the type to fall for just anyone; yeah she loved to rave about hot guys, but to actually go out with one was rare. He put his hand on the back of her head and brought her mouth to his. Jealousy and happiness fluttered through me. He made her happy, which made me happy he was reciprocating the feelings. If he broke her heart—I’d kill him.

  “What chick-flick are we watching?”

  “The Sleeping Dictionary with Jessica Alba,” Snow answered. “You know, you really should know your sister’s favorite movie.”

  “There’s still a lot I need to learn.” Chandler’s voice was low and meaningful.

  “I’ll help.” Snow curled up against Chandler.

  I made myself comfortable on the sleeping bag with four pillows and a blanket. The slice of pizza I had eaten made my stomach churn. My appetite had been absent since Blacwin left. I wasn’t sure when it would return and I didn’t care. I only wanted Blacwin to come back. I grasped the pendant and wished above all wishes I had ever made he would come home soon.

  Snow was doing what she could for me, and I loved her for that. My favorite movie was not her favorite movie, and I knew it definitely wouldn’t be Chandler’s. But, they were being supportive and they were here. For that, I was grateful. I glanced over my shoulder. Snow was curled against Chandler like a puppy that couldn’t get close enough. They were both sleeping. I watched until the end and turned it off.

  The nights were the worst. I could still feel him next to me when I slept. Knowing when I woke his side of the bed would be just as empty and cold where his warm body had spent so many nights. I dug my nails into my palm as I tried not to cry for the thousandth time. Emotions I thought I had under control surfaced in waves of loss, hurt, and anger. The wound of losing my father had scabbed over and I was healing. Now, that wound was raw, and alongside of it was the fresh slice of loss for Blacwin. When he left, my happiness was stolen away with him. We were reinventing ourselves into this new, but ancient relationship we had. In the four days since he’d left, I’ve tried distracting myself with anything. But, most things only kept my attention for a few minutes.

  When I started to stand, dizziness overwhelmed me. I caught myself on the arm of the couch and slowly stood. Balancing myself, I carefully walked through the small space and prepared the apartment for the night: turned off lights, locked the front door, lowered my privacy curtains from the hook on the wall.

  The balcony door was slightly open. Night had brought a cool breeze with it. Daring to look over my shoulder to see if Chandler would catch me breaking house rules, his eyes were still closed. I took a chance and eased the door open enough for me to slip through. Eerie darkness drifted down Main Street. All of the street post lights were out, except one. It lit the four-way stop just past the bookshop. Glancing in the opposite direction, toward the cafe, I saw the moon peeking out from behind glowing clouds. Something was moving in the street. Squinting, I tried to focus. A wavering figure was walking in the center of the cobblestone drive. Their details were difficult to see in the dark, but it was clear they were walking in my direction. The closer they got, it was clear their swaying was an intentional swagger.

  The slim body of a woman emerged from the darkness into the faint glow of the far-off street lamp. I hoped, with the dark apartment behind me, I would be invisible to her. Hoped...As she past me, she looked up. Her gaze easily found me as if I stood on a stage in a spotlight. She offered a wicked grin. Her teeth were pale against dark lips. It was a grin I was all too familiar with. It spread into her glinting eyes and nestled in the dark orbs of her eyes.

  As if tilting an imaginary hat, she nodded to me. I choked off the scream rising in my throat. Carina’s satin smooth hair slithered back into position on her back when her gaze fell away from me to whatever she found interesting in front of her.

  My hands shook and I balled my fists. Off in the distance, on a floating breath of chilled air, came a sweet voice. It was childlike and hypnotizing. “Blind girl, blind girl, what do you see? I see a monster staring at me. Monster, monster, what do you see? I see a blind girl destined for me.”

  10

  The sound of paper ripping woke me. Focusing, I saw Chandler tearing away the wrapping paper I had hung on the balcony door. Carina had shaken me so badly, when I came in after seeing and hearing her, I boarded everything up. That included: propping a chair under the front door handle, moving the coffee table in front of the balcony door; which was stupid, because the door opened outward. Then, I found a role of wrapping paper in the closet, unrolled it, and taped it over the French door behind the sheer curtain. Being scared by a horror movie, of which Snow and I had seen our share, was nothing compared to the crazy woman who was stalking me.

  “Where’s Snow?”

  “After we unbarred the door, she went to get coffee.” He pulled back the drapes and rested the end over the hook on the wall. “What’s gotten into you?” a baffled Chandler asked.

  I hadn’t wanted to tell him I was outside on th
e balcony, past midnight, totally exposed to the possibility of death. So, I lied and threw my arm over my eyes. “Nothing. God! I just wanted to keep out the morning light.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess the chair in front of the door is helping with that dilemma too?” He rolled his eyes and bundled the paper in his fist. Clearly, he was unimpressed with my lie. “I can’t see if danger is coming if that paper is up.”

  “Yeah, well you can’t see it if you’re sleeping, either!” That was when I should have told him I saw Carina last night. But, I was too mad to confess anything.

  “If anything had happened, I would have been up in a less than a second.”

  You failed to prove that when Carina was right outside this apartment and singing at midnight. I threw the covers off and got up. My heart was racing with anger as I stood face to face with him. “I’d like to see what it actually takes to wake you up.” I pulled the drape off the hook and let it fall between us. I grabbed a towel, went into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” He was right outside the bathroom door and his voice boomed through the hollow wood.

  I turned on the shower to drown him out. When I stepped into the hot stream of water, my muscles began to relax, but my nerves were still frayed. It would take more than a shower to calm them down. The thought of still having to face him was less appealing than eating bugs for breakfast. He was not going to let this go; but I was not going to give in. Carina was strolling outside my apartment alone in the dark for a reason. I needed to know what it was. Blacwin’s safety might rely on whatever it is; a future without Darenfys may depend on it.

  When I came out of the shower, Chandler was nowhere that I could see, and in this studio, there weren’t too many places to hide. Snow sat on the couch with a cup of coffee from the café in her hand.

  “Hey,” I said.

  Ignoring me, she asked, “What did you do to Chandler?”

  What did I do? I would not let myself believe she was taking his side over mine. “Not a damned thing.” I had hoped her getting involved with Chandler wouldn’t come between us. I needed her right now, well always, but this misunderstanding had to be made right, between her and me. I took a deep breath and asked in a calmer voice, “Where is he?”

  She stared at the blank TV screen. “He left for a little while, but don’t worry, he didn’t go far.” Her tone was tinted with sarcasm. But, that was Snow, and I had no choice but to love her for it.

  I got dressed behind the curtain in case Chandler came back. “Oh, I’m so not worried. He can catch the next flight to freaking Tibet and that would be too close,” I yelled from my bedroom.

  “You know he’s just trying to keep you safe?”

  “I never said he wasn’t.” I called her from the bedroom to come in. She sat down next to me with the steaming cup of coffee. She must have caught me staring at it, because she handed it to me. I took a sip. Snow liked her coffee without the flavor of vanilla, like I liked mine; but it was hot and tasted delicious.

  “I got you your special blend. It’s on the kitchen counter.” While she went to get it, I finished getting ready. Simple as usual, ripped jeans, dark sweater, and Mary Janes. I gathered a handful of the drapes and rested it on the hook. Snow handed me my coffee when she came back into my bedroom and sat down again.

  Confident she wouldn’t tell Chandler, I told her what had happened last night. “Snow, I saw Carina last night, when you guys were sleeping.”

  “Did you tell Chandler?”

  “No! And neither will you.”

  “But—”

  “No,” I said again, harsher this time. Convincing her this was the way it needed to be for now was not going to be easy. I took her hand in mine, and softened my voice. “Listen, I don’t think I’m going to get any closer to the truth or what Adelina wants from me, while he’s hovering over me all the time.” She started to protest, protect me from the enemy, but I stopped her. “Snow, listen to me. They know where I fit into this giant cluster of fucked-up, and I need to know what it is. If I don’t...” I lowered my eyes from hers when I realized the weight of what I was about to say. “If I die...again...I’ll have to wait another generation to be re-born to do whatever I was cursed to finish out. I need to find out in this life what that is. And,” my next words tore open my already fragile heart, “this time, I think Lord Darenfys has Blacwin in his possession.” The disturbing images of the dungeon came hurdling over the barriers I had constructed in my head. I shook them off as best as I could.

  She nodded. “Okay.” She leaped forward and gave me a tight hug. When she pulled away, she stared at me. Her eyes were set deeper and her features changed from timid agreement to fear. “Promise me, when this is all over, we’ll never talk about it again.”

  “That is a promise I will definitely be able to keep.” I hugged her back.

  We pulled apart. “Listen, I’ve got to get to work, but I’ll call you later,” she said.

  “Me, too. Well, not actually work, but I’m going to hang out at the bookshop with Mr. Yves today.” Then I groaned. The thought of Chandler sitting in the bookshop all day with me was not pleasant. A teeny-tiny break from him would be nice, and well deserved.

  Snow shoved the few things she brought into her bag. “Chandler went to get some clothes and he said he’d be back.”

  “Yaaaay,” I said, and let the word fade into nothingness as I rolled my eyes.

  Snow caught me by my shoulder. “Hey, he’s just trying to do what Blacwin told him. Besides, he’s your brother, keeping you safe is what he’s supposed to do.”

  She was right; I knew she was right. But, I still hated being under someone’s thumb all the freaking time. I wasn’t about to argue with her, or bring up my feelings of being kept a prisoner. So, I hugged her goodbye. She waved, and I watched her turn the corner toward her car. I started to go back inside, and as I closed the door, I heard something slide down the wall behind me, then smack the ground.

  An envelope lay outside my apartment door. My heart plunged into depths of the unknown. The switchblades were back, slicing the walls of my stomach; only this time, they weren’t happy for the attention of a gorgeous guy. I thought about leaving it there, or bringing it in to toss into the garage. If I left it there, Chandler would find it, and if it was to be opened, it was going to be by me. Then, I would decide if I wanted to share its contents with him. I picked it up and turned it over. I came close to dropping it the instant I saw who it was addressed to: Catherine/Iris. The “From” line had been left blank.

  There were only a few who knew I was one and the same. I wasn’t afraid of the three who were close to me: Chandler, Blacwin, or Snow. It was the other four: Darenfys, Adelina, Penemuel, and Carina, in that order. I wasn’t ready for any more bombshells. But, my curiosity won over, and I took it inside with me, and shut the door.

  Curling up on the couch, I studied the envelope. I knew I didn’t have much time to see what was inside before Chandler came back, so I sliced open the seal with a knife.

  A newspaper clipping slid out. The date on the article was seventeen years prior. The title of the article read, “The famous sculptor, Adelina deBlays moves to Chesapeake.”

  I scanned the article, not knowing why someone would think I’d care about when she moved here. It became clear though when I got to the part about her reason for moving here:

  Ms. deBlays has spent most of her thirty years sculpting beautiful, lifeless creations. Her work has been featured in numerous art galleries around the world, art magazines, art shows in Spain, England, Italy, and right here in the USA. I (the author of the article) was fortunate to interview Ms. deBlays. She was not comfortable with having the interview at her home, so we met at the cafe on Main Street. Ms. deBlays was cordial and respectful. The question that intrigued me most, with no disrespect to my local community or its residents, was, “Why did you choose Chesapeake, of all places, to settle down?” Ms. deBlays’ answered, “I have traveled the worl
d, and there are some places, like Chesapeake, I’m more drawn to. This town, as small as it may be, is full of interesting subjects for my pieces. Also, Mason Thorn was very convincing when showing me homes in the area, that Chesapeake was up and coming. And, I’m sure he’s a very genuine man. Did you know he and his wife are expecting a baby?” I answered, yes, and that there wasn’t too much that went on in this town I didn’t know about, and we both laughed. Ms. deBlays continued, “That little girl is going to be very, very special.”

  The article continued, but I didn’t read more. I had known my dad was a realtor at one point, never based his living on it though. He considered it more of a side job. Not that it mattered, but I never knew he sold Adelina her home. I had imagined Adelina’s elegant, vengeful smile and the interviewer eating it up as charm. The switchblades were working overtime. Hacking away at every one of my nerves until they were merely raw frayed ends. I hurried and put the article back into the envelope, hid it in between two pages of my sketchbook, and slid the book underneath my bed. My breaths were shorts and jagged. I needed to calm myself before Chandler saw me. I grabbed my bag and rushed to the bookshop.

  11

  The bookshop was quiet, too quiet. Mr. Yves wasn’t expected to come in for another hour. The store’s radio played the usual classical songs that were not part of the weekly Top 40, or even of this generation. I didn’t care; it was noise to fill the void of silence. The article still had me on edge. My hands were clammy and uncooperative as I counted the money and prepared the cash drawer for the day. The only good things about the racing thoughts and the thousand questions in my head were they had been a distraction from Blacwin. As they suffocated the pain of his leaving, they opened up new doorways to places I told Snow I needed to venture into, to find answers to this madness. Now that those doorways were creaking open, I was scared shitless.