“Oh. Look, I need to get some rest.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Actually, I would prefer it if you left.”
“Don’t be absurd. I’m staying.”
“No. They aren’t going to come here in the middle of the night and kill me. I am sure of one thing. They want to study me. And as long as I am not going around murdering people, they will let me be. I’ll be fine. If they suspect you know anything, you will also be in danger. You need to go home tonight.”
“I don’t want you to be alone.”
She stood and walked over to him. Sitting down on his lap, she curled her arms around him and kissed him softly on his neck. “Thank you. I’ll be fine. And I’ll be much happier if I knew that you aren’t being dragged into this when it’s not necessary.” Seeing that he wasn’t mollified, she continued, “If the situation changes, I will come straight to you.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“As sure as the north-pointing needle of a compass.”
He grinned at that. “Fine, but you let me know if anything happens.”
She nodded and showed him out. He gave her a long kiss at the door before striding away. She watched him go with a mixture of regret and relief. At least he would be safe now.
Crawling into bed with little hope of finding sleep, she tried to push thoughts of madness and death from her mind. A hopeless endeavour.
Chapter Four
Change of Plans
The stairs up to the library entrance seemed to go on for ever. Khaya climbed them reluctantly. At the top, she eyed the door to her left. That way led to the actual library. Normality. No risk of madness. No threats of being terminated.
More than ever before, she wished she could take the door to her left. With a sigh, she pushed through the one on her right.
She caught Merrit’s eye as she walked in. He nodded at her. She glanced around, nervous that someone had seen and would suspect they were up to something.
She spent another day in the basement enduring endless tests and a litany of inane questions. After another fruitless round, Phalio scribbled some notes as he strode away.
Khaya rubbed her temples. She’d felt dizzy the whole day. Nothing to do with her second ability, she was sure. She picked up the glass of water from the table next to her. It had left a ring of moisture on the folder it had been sitting on.
The corner of a sheet of paper stuck out from the folder. Khaya glanced around and slipped it out. The Company emblem, a sun and a moon, was at the top. ‘Phalio,’ it read, ‘the time nears. We cannot risk too much. For the good of all, none must know.’
Abruptly everything blurred, her vision misting over before becoming clear again. She grabbed a pen from the desk, dipping the nib into the pot of ink. When the foretelling came, she scribbled on the back of the sheet she was holding.
She blinked several times and when she looked down at what she’d written, her stomach lurched. ‘Leena will die.’ She scratched the words out with the pen, making deliberate blotches of ink until they were illegible.
She stuffed the page back into the folder, putting it back on the desk just as Phalio turned to face her. He came over to her, eyes narrowed. Glancing down at the folder, he said, “What were you just doing?”
Her mouth pulled down at the corners. “I’m afraid my glass made a mark on that folder. I hope it wasn’t anything important.”
He picked it up and ran his eye over it. With a last suspicious look at Khaya he put the folder back on the desk, out of her reach. “Ready for the next round?”
She suppressed a groan and nodded.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
When Phalio finally decided Khaya could take no more, she stormed up the stairs and into the library. It was pitch-black outside and much later than she’d hoped. She sent up a silent prayer and went over to Leena’s desk. She wasn’t there. Her desk was tidy, not one thing out of place.
Khaya cursed under her breath as she rushed from the building. She didn’t know where Leena lived. There was a chance that Merrit did, though, and she thought she knew where she would find him.
The Prancing Pony tavern was unusually quiet and she spotted Merrit as soon as she walked in. He was sitting in a corner at the back and looked relieved when their eyes met.
She walked up to his table but didn't sit down. “Merrit, I need to have a word with you.”
He nodded, waiting.
Khaya shifted her feet nervously as she wondered what exactly she was going to tell him. She had already got him into a mess by telling him about her second ability. Finally, she said, “Where does Leena live?”
“Why?”
“I need to find her,” she said.
“As evidenced by the fact you are asking me where she lives. But why do you need to find her?”
She rubbed her ear, tucking her hair behind it several times. “I forgot to return something to her that I borrowed today.”
His bottom lip jutted out. “Mmm. You wouldn't be telling a little fib, now would you? We're leaving tonight, remember?”
She stared at him for a bit, "Oh, Merrit. I really need to find her, I think she is in danger. And I think it's because of me.”
“It’s because of your second ability isn’t it?”
Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed by the implications. She nodded, fighting to keep her chin from trembling. “I’m coming with you,” he said.
He took Khaya by the arm and led her outside.
"So tell me," he said as they stepped out of the tavern, "what’s been going on? Day in and day out you are kept out of sight.”
“They're doing tests on me. At least that's what they say they're doing, but it seems to me they're biding their time, waiting for me to go mad,” she said with a mirthless laugh.
“What? So that's why I I heard those rumours about them wanting to terminate you!”
“Yes,” she said, “that’s what happened to all the others who had two abilities. They went mad, then they were terminated.”
“Oh.” He scratched his arm, clearly uncomfortable. “You look pretty sane to me.”
“I feel pretty sane, but apparently it can happen quite quickly. I think they have no idea how to help me and they're afraid that I’m going to go on a killing spree.” Seeing his face had paled somewhat, she added, “Or something.”
“So, tell me, why are we really going to Leena’s house?”
“She is in danger.”
“From whom?”
“I don’t know - I had a foretelling.”
His eyes widened. “Has a foretelling ever been wrong?”
“I don’t honestly know,” she said after some thought. “The early ones – before the Company found me – always proved true. As you know, I am never allowed to see what my foretellings are at the Company, so I can’t speak to those.”
Suddenly, Merrit plucked Khaya by the arm, pulling her around the corner of the nearest house. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Shhh,” he said, his finger over his lips to emphasise his point. He leaned over, peeking around the corner and whipped back again, pressing himself flat against the wall and pushing her back as well.
She opened her mouth to say something, but he put his fingers on her lips while shaking his head. He waited a minute longer before risking another look around the corner. “I think we might be too late,” he said when he turned back to her.
“What do you mean? What did you see?”
“Someone leaving the house,” he said, pointing to what she assumed was Leena’s house.
"Maybe she just had a visitor,” she said doubtfully.
“A visitor who wiped and then sheathed a knife as he left her house? You reckon she had someone over to butcher a chicken for her?”
A chill went down her spine and she peered round the corner. “We are a long way from the house still. Are you sure of what you saw?”
He nodded and she took off r
unning towards the house. “Wait!” he called. “Where are you going?”
“She might be hurt.”
She didn’t look round, but she heard him following. She’d hoped he would. She was terrified. Not that she would admit that to him.
The door was ajar and she pushed it open. “Leena!” she called. When there was no answer she went in, searching through the house and calling out, Merrit on her heels. “Keep it down, Khaya,” he hissed in a whisper. “We don’t know if that man will be coming back. Or if there could be someone else in here.”
She didn’t pay him any mind and continued calling out. She stopped dead in her tracks as she got to the top of the stairs. Pieces of glass lay strewn across the floor. By the look of one of the larger pieces, she thought it was probably a drinking glass. Or two. “Leena! Are you up here? It’s Khaya.” There was no answer apart from the exasperated snort from Merrit.
She gingerly walked on, glass crunching under her shoes. She peered into the bedroom. Someone – she assumed it was Leena – was in the bed. “Leena?” she said, softly this time. “Are you sleeping?”
Merrit tugged at Khaya’s arm. “Come on. Let's get out of here.”
With a disgusted grunt, she snatched her arm away from him and walked up to the foot of the bed. Leena’s long brown tresses were spread out on the pillow in disarray. The blanket was pulled up high, concealing her face. Khaya crept around the bed, a sense of dread twisting her stomach.
A dark crimson stain showed on part of the sheet not covered by the blanket. Swallowing her fear, she lifted the blanket with a trembling hand. She gasped and backed away from the grisly scene before her until her back was up against the wall.
She looked up to see Merrit staring at Leena’s body. He looked as if he was about to be sick.
Leena’s wrists had been slit, the bedding soaked in a pool of her blood. Her mouth was pulled into a stiff grimace. Khaya only realised Merrit had been calling her name when he put his hand on her shoulder. She blinked and looked at him. “We have to leave,” he said.
“We have to help her.”
“She's beyond our help. We have to leave. Now.”
“We can’t just leave her here. We have to inform the lawmen at least. Tell them that you saw a man leave this house. They are going to say this was suicide.”
“If we stay here, they will say it was us.”
Her nose wrinkled. “That’s ridiculous. Just because we came upon the body hardly means they can accuse us of her murder.”
“I’m not sticking around to find out. You decide what you want to do. If you want to take that gamble.” He turned on his heel and strode from the room. When she didn’t hear the crunching of glass, she glanced up. He marched back into the room. He grabbed her arm and set about dragging her from the room.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“My conscience won’t allow me to let you make this terrible mistake. You're leaving with me.” When she started objecting, he continued, “And the only way you will be able to stay is by putting up your fists and fighting me.”
She relented and let him pull her from the house. Outside, he set off at a jog, towing Khaya along. He didn’t stop until he reached a house on the other side of town. “
“Whose house is this?” she asked.
“Mine,” Merrit said as he slotted his key into the lock.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
A figure emerged from the shadows, hood pulled low, hiding his face. He watched the door close behind them. This was going to be a problem. Merrit’s involvement with the girl was yet another unwanted complication. The Echelon weren’t going to be happy.
Chapter Five
Closing the Gap
Merrit put a kettle of water to the boil. He’d always believed that there was nary a problem that couldn’t be made better, if not solved, with a warm cup of tea. He thought that a laughable notion now.
Ever since he met her, he’d wanted to spend more time with Khaya, thinking up excuses to talk to her, but this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. Still, he felt a flutter in his stomach when he carried the tray of tea and bread into the sitting room – his sitting room – and there she was.
She gave him a tremulous smile, making his heart beat a little faster. “What are we going to do?” she asked.
“We leave tonight, as planned.”
“It would look suspicious if we don’t go back tomorrow," she said, after a pause. "If the Company is behind this, we don't want them suspecting that we know something.”
“I guess you’re right,” he said uncertainly. "But what are you going to tell them if they ask you anything?”
She shrugged. “Depends on what they ask.”
“Yes, but if they ask you if you know why she committed suicide?”
“But she didn’t. Commit suicide, I mean.”
He took a breath, wondering if she was deliberately being difficult. “Yes, we know that, but the person who killed her went through some effort to make it look like a suicide. And if it was the Company, they will try to reinforce that perception.”
“I guess I would just say I don’t know why she would commit suicide. I didn’t know her all that well anyway.”
“Good,” he said with a nod. He studied her for a moment. She always seemed so tough, but he thought there was a vulnerability to her. It made him want to give her a reassuring hug, but he didn't dare. The scar above her eye wrinkled as she frowned. He once asked her what had happened there. She said she’d had a fall when she was little and gashed her head. He wondered if that was truly what happened.
“I guess I have to get home,” she said.
“You’re not staying?” he asked, disappointment on the edge of his words. “I mean, will you feel safe alone at home?”
“I should be just fine,” she said.
“Let me at least walk you home.”
“Fine, but don’t think I’m a scared girl.”
“I wouldn’t even entertain the notion,” he said with a grin.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Merrit arrived at work, as always, a couple of minutes after he was meant to be there. He found that as long as he didn’t push his luck too far, Peater didn’t bother him over it. He took his time climbing the stairs to the main library floor. He glanced over his shoulder at the door to the left, then plastered a smile on his face, took a breath, and pushed the door open.
As he walked in, Khaya was being led to an office. He thought it was a chap by the name of Phalio with her. He didn’t like the look of him. He looked like a prowling cat, on the hunt for its next meal. And Merrit felt uncomfortably like a mouse in his presence.
He pulled his eyes away from them and sat down at his desk. His ability - seeing spirits - didn’t keep him particularly occupied during the day. The Company often took him along on fieldwork, which he liked, but his days at the library dragged by. They gave him busywork to be sure. Boring, mind-numbing busywork. Some days he felt more like an actual librarian than a Gifted.
His desk was a mess. Books and papers covered every inch of it. With a sigh he sat down. “Merrit, to my office,” Peater said right behind him, giving him a start.
With a thundering heart, he followed Peater to his office. Peater pointed to a chair as he closed the door behind them. “I’m afraid I have some rather sad news,” he said when he sat down. “Leena is dead.”
“What? How?” Merrit asked, eyes widening.
Peater studied his face before speaking. “Suicide. I must say I'm rather taken aback by this. She didn’t seem the type to me.”
Merrit sat shaking his head.
“You knew her better than most. Why do you think she would have done this?”
Merrit rubbed his nose and shrugged. “As far as I knew, she was well. If not happy, at least content. Except, she sometimes spoke of feeling a bit lonely... but don’t we all at some stage or another?”
“No, we don’t,” Peater said, his normally affable manner replaced by a steely demeanour
. “Did she talk to you about anything else?”
“No,” he said, pausing to give himself a moment to think. “To be honest, though, we weren’t close. She has come along to the Prancing Pony a few times. She tended to speak to the other ladies there, though.”
“What other ladies?” Peater’s face was pinched.
“People I know outside the Company. Friends from before I worked here.”
“You haven’t told any of them anything about the Company or what we do here, have you?”
“Of course not,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “I know my obligations. They all just believe I – and Leena for that matter – work here at the library.”
“And Leena didn’t talk to them about anything that she shouldn’t have?”
“I can’t speak to that. I didn’t listen in on their every conversation, but Leena was a trustworthy person. I can’t imagine she would have broken the rules. What does this have to do with her suicide, anyway?”
Peater had a faraway look in his eyes. After several moments, he blinked and refocused on Merrit. “Nothing. That will be all. Get back to work.”
Merrit’s chair scraped back as he stood. When he glanced back, Peater was staring out of the window, his face pale.
To his relief, everyone was called to Peater’s office throughout the day. When Haria came out again, she was wiping away tears with a handkerchief. Were they all being questioned or were they just being told of her death? he wondered.
He hadn’t seen Khaya since that morning and he couldn’t help but worry about her. He hoped that she would be able to cope with being questioned. If she got too emotional over it, it would raise suspicions. Especially since she wasn’t friends with Leena.
He wanted to wait for Khaya to appear again before he left for the night. After staying an extra hour, he ran out of things to do and when Peater frowned at him again, he decided he had to go.
As always, he started trying to shape his desk into some sort of order, but soon gave up and headed for the door. “So, since I stayed late tonight,” Merrit said with a cheeky grin as he passed Peater, “does that mean I can come in late tomorrow?”
Riddle of Fate Page 3