"What's wrong?" Ayla asked her.
"I have to go." She gripped her fingers through her hair to the point where she was pulling on it.
Evie got up. "We'll come with you."
Luxor bolted from Evie’s house and across the paddock at an accelerated speed, her thighs burning by the time she arrived at The Chalet in a daze. Digging her keys out of her pocket, she juggled them to find the right one. A crack in the door creaked. Nudging the door open she ran blind, her eyesight brightening up and her vision clearing. She swiped the closest weapon she could find, a dirty butter knife from the sink. It didn’t ease her fear but she needed something to steady her nerves. It was fight or flight time if she came face to face with any number of burglars.
The door slammed behind her, a whoosh of air blasting the back of her neck. Luxor screamed and swung the knife around.
"What the fudge?" Evie cowered, guarding her head with her hands.
"What are you doing here?" Luxor hissed, placing the knife against the bench.
"Making sure you don't get murdered." Evie said passing her a long, serrated knife.
Luxor held the knife in a downward motion as she bound up the stairs, her footsteps heavy. If there were burglars, she hoped her presence would scare them off, with Evie and Ayla as back-up who were not too far behind.
Luxor entered Meredith’s room and found Meredith faced down on the floor with a pillow over her head. Her flannelette pyjamas were in a crumpled heap, the odour of perspiration wafting around her. Luxor dropped to her knees and flung the knife across the room, gently rolling Meredith over in case of injuries.
"Call an ambulance!" Luxor screamed, the onslaught of tears blurring her vision.
Evie grasped the cordless in her palm and started to punch in 000.
“No, no ambulance," Meredith whimpered before Evie finished off the last zero.
"Please Meredith, I can't lose you." Luxor swept strands of hair off her face.
"Stay with me," Meredith whimpered.
Luxor gripped Meredith’s hand in hers. “I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.” She looked around the room. "I don't know what to do?" She placed her ear to her chest to make sure Meredith was still alive.
Ayla knelt beside Luxor and checked Meredith’s pulse.
"Please Astrid, stay with me." Meredith’s knuckles turned white, gripping onto Luxor's top. Her heart ticked, neither fast nor slow, but at a steady rhythm. An orange cylinder tumbled out of her hands.
It was the Valium bottle that had been half full.
And it was empty.
“What should I do?” Evie knelt beside Luxor.
Luxor stared at Meredith’s pale complexion. She was torn between doing what was smart and what was right. She wanted to take her to the hospital, it was the logical thing to do, but she also had to respect Meredith's wishes, just as Meredith ultimately did for her mother.
And look how that turned out.
"She's going to be okay, the hospital won’t help in her situation," Ayla told Luxor and placed a hand on Meredith’s forehead.
From the corner of her eye a faint baby pink light glowed. Luxor turned her head and blinked back except nothing was there.
“And how would you know? God, if she dies…” Luxor would never forgive herself for not doing the logical thing.
“I just know. Trust me.” Ayla nodded.
For some inexplicable reason Luxor had faith in Ayla. Was it stupidity? Maybe. But she projected a sense of tranquillity. With Ayla’s assistance, Luxor gently lifted her up by wrapping an arm around her waist and tucked her into bed.
Luxor stared at the bottle conceding this was entirely her fault. She'd constantly laid blame on her, never giving her a chance. Maybe if she wasn't so harsh, and listened, she wouldn't be here in this situation.
Just like her aura stated she had a problem with forgiveness.
But I'm not a fallen angel. Was she trying to kill herself, did I push her too far?
"I’m okay, thanks for the help," she told them, her eyes fixated on Meredith. "I’m going to lie next to her, I can't leave her."
"Like hell we're leaving you by yourself," Evie said. "I'll sleep on the floor if I have to."
Luxor was too tired to argue, and in truth didn't want to be alone. Her legs shuffled to her bedroom to get organised for the night. The purple pouch stood against the white linen and she clumsily swept it up. She twirled the cord around before juggling the doonas and pillows. She returned to Meredith's room and laid out cushions to resemble two mattress.
Meredith slept on her back, hands plastered by her side. She resembled the dead; ashen face, lips coated with a tinge of blue and her body stiff, except the rise and fall of her chest was the only indication she was very much alive. Leaning over, Luxor swept the hair from her eyes and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll be right here if you need anything" Ayla’s soft tone comforted her. After gently squeezing her hand, she curled herself onto the chair, snuggling into the blanket.
"Me too." Evie embraced her, and settled down on the pillows next to Ayla.
Once the room was deathly quiet, Luxor slipped the letter out of the pouch, laying by Meredith's side. She held her hair and watched the rise and fall of her chest, reading and re-reading the letter.
A hot tear ran down her cheek. Despite how Meredith had treated her for most of her life, she was only doing what her mother asked. She needed to wait until Luxor was mature enough to handle the truth.
Luxor doubted she would have ever been ready.
“Please don't be angry with her. She's only doing what I want.”
Her mother’s words, lodged in her mind on repeat.
The last time Luxor was this close to Meredith was when she was a small child. Back then, it was Meredith calming her down, holding her hand, and taking care of her.
It was her turn to return the favour.
A melodious voice sang out and awoke Luxor from her uneasy slumber. Fluttering her eyes open, the dull throb at the back of her eyelids made her think she had a nightmare. Stretching out, she peered at the window, realising with the lack of a balcony she wasn’t in her own room, the previous night’s events came rushing back like a tidal wave and she sat straight upright, her eyes manically searching the room.
Empty. No souls in sight.
She scrambled out of bed, her legs twisted within the blankets, in search of Evie and Ayla. Had something happened last night? Did they end up calling the ambulance? Why didn't they wake her up?
"Meredith," Luxor yelled.
She trampled down the stairs in a frenzied state. With each passing silent moment the worse her mind wandered. Kitty seemingly appeared out of nowhere and trotted at her heels and into the kitchen. The humming became louder.
Ayla swung around and leaned against the sink. “Morning.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit like that. But everything will be better from now on,” Ayla said in a chirpy lilt. “I made you breakfast, bacon and eggs on toast.” She jutted her chin to the bench where a delectable aroma from the breakfast awaited her. “Meredith is in the lounge room.”
“Thanks. I hope this is a positive.”
The sounds of screaming vibrated through the kitchen. A fork was the nearest item available and grabbing it, she ventured swiftly into the lounge room. Nothing could have prepared her for what she witnessed.
Meredith and Evie were decked out on the couch, their legs covered by a tartan blanket, while the volume was raised on some reality show.
"Don't they have any shame?" Ayla entered, balancing a cup of green tea on a saucer that she laid on the side table nearest Meredith.
"Bad parenting I'm assuming," Meredith croaked out, taking a sip. "Ayla this tea is delicious."
"Shhh, I love this bit." Evie waved her hands. "Oh my god, I can’t believe she is getting a vampire facial, look at the pain."
Luxor averted her gaze to the television where some C grade celebrity was reclined in a chair have a beauty
procedure. It was perplexing as to why Evie was watching it, she hated any forms of reality television unless it had to do with bands.
"What are you doing?" Luxor directed the question to all of them. At the sound of her voice they all turned to face her.
Meredith peeled the blanket off, holding onto the armchair, as she raised up to wobble over to Luxor. "You needed sleep. Evie and Ayla have been keeping me company."
Behind them Evie clicked off the television and tugged a hesitant Ayla along. "We'll give you some space, we'll be in the kitchen."
Once they were alone, Luxor eased a fragile Meredith down onto the couch. She rubbed her eyes and tried to compose herself. “Luxor, are you okay? Your eyes are all puffy.”
"I'm not the one who overdosed. Why would you do that?"
Meredith sighed. "I don't remember anything. It’s like a blank space with bits and pieces.”
"You scared me," she choked out. "I can't lose you. I'm sorry for being hateful, but you can't leave me. Ever." Luxor couldn’t imagine being all alone, she shuddered to imagine where she would end up.
Meredith cradled Luxor's face. "I'm sorry, but believe me something happened," her voice was barely a whisper as her fear filled her hazel eyes. “Everything is hazy. Maybe I took one too many. I honestly don’t know. Maybe I hallucinated it, but three black shadows were in the house. They grabbed me, or at least I think they did."
As much as Luxor would have loved the full story, it would have to wait. She doubted Meredith was in the right frame of mind to be coherent enough to detail the shadows to her.
"Can you do something for me?" Luxor sniffled, tilted her head up.
"Anything," Meredith whispered, wiping Luxor's tear away.
"Let’s go to the hospital to get checked out, just in case. Or a cab, surely they have them around."
Meredith shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm a nurse. Just let me have a shower and I'll make you breakfast." She put on a brave face and attempted to get up, but a pained expression lingered under the surface.
"You're a midwife, big difference. Ayla, Evie.”
“No,” Meredith said immediately.
Luxor let out a weary sigh. “Evie, Ayla,” she called out. In an instant they emerged. “Can you help me get Meredith into bed?”
"Sure," Ayla assisted Meredith to her feet.
Last night was a wake-up call and Luxor hoped she could put their past hostility behind and start afresh. She was adamant that she’d look after Meredith, whether she liked it or not. If it wasn't the hospital she'd look after her at home.
Meredith waved them off and made her way up the stairs, gripping the bannister. “I’ll help, then I have to get to school. Are you going?”
Luxor shook her head.
“Call if you need me,” Evie said and assisted Meredith.
Luxor pulled out the stool and sat down. Beside her, Kitty leapt up onto the bench, deceptively nimble despite her size. Meowing softly, she received a quick scratch being the ears and purred in appreciation. Ayla’s eye twitched and she screwed up her nose at Kitty, moving the plate forward and held up the fork.
“God, I’m such a horrible daughter, this was supposed to be a fresh start, and after everything I put Meredith through, I held onto this anger,” her voice crackled. She grabbed the fork and took a small bite of scrambled eggs.
“This is not your fault. She wasn’t ever a nice person.” Ayla frowned. “It’s probably a ‘look at me, look at me,’ thing.”
“How can you say that? You’ve met her what? Once?” Luxor’s voice rose and dropped the fork with a clang.
“Call it a hunch,” Ayla replied flippantly and inhaled deeply. “Thank the heavens the smell is gone. That was some evil smelling gunk.”
Kitty hissed and arced up as if she should have been offended.
Luxor got onto her feet, Kitty following her every move. She clamped her mouth shut and reigned in her annoyance but some trickled out anyway. “You know what Ayla? Just leave. I don’t need you slamming Meredith or the state of my home. I’d love to see where you live, and then judge you.”
“I didn’t mea—”
“Leave. Now.” Luxor stared her down, clutching the doorknob as she swung it open.
“Just because you didn’t find anyone, doesn’t mean nothing was here. But it doesn’t matter anymore, “Ayla said. Luxor slammed the door in her face and dusted her hands.
Glittery baby pink flecks floated upwards and swam in the air. Entranced by their beauty she reached up on her toes and swept her gaze over the kitchen and noticed it covered every inch of space, but a few places stood out more than others; the window sill, floor and over the benches. She rubbed her eyelids, positive it was a hallucination, but prayed it wasn’t, the tiny particles infused her with a flash of happiness. Before her fingertips could touch anything, the flecks evaporated.
Fifteen minutes later, after a super quick shower and brushing her teeth, Luxor threw on the closest clothes she could find and headed out into the frigid air and towards The Village.
While Meredith slept, Luxor was adamant to help out in any way possible. Ayla had apologised for her comments criticising Meredith and her house and had volunteered to stay.
Once she arrived, realisation dawned at her own abysmal attire and turning around, she ventured in the opposite direction feeling the need to hide. In her haste, she dressed in what could best describe as hobo; black leggings with an ill placed tear half way down her inner thigh, and a form fitting zip up jacket. Even with the hood of her jacket tightly pulled over her head, it did little to hide her face, but also only kept a small amount of the chill away.
Across the Village Bowl Luxor noticed Hunter at the open garage, bent over under the bonnet of a muddy, pick-up truck. She made her way over, to install part two of forgiveness.
Nerves crept in, and the constant of The Hunter Effect started. All she had to do was cross the road. Before she could turn around and leave it for another day Hunter must have sensed her presence. He reared his head, and she knew it was too late.
Luxor side-stepped the grease staining the concrete floor, entering into the small enclosed area. She wrinkling her nose; the combination of petroleum, spray paint, and chemicals assaulted her senses, while the dirty motor oil circulated in the air.
A silver BMW was hoisted up, whilst he worked on a pickup truck. With no available pockets, and not wanting to lay her hands on anything, Luxor crossed her arms across the chest. She stayed near the cleanest part, a desk pilled with papers, car parts, and coincidentally the entrance.
"Luscious Luxor, what can I do for you?" The smooth way the words came out heated her body, making her want to turn and run. But not from repulsion. Could last night have changed everything? The events at the carnival when Hunter showed a softer side followed by the drive to the lookout had altered her perception of him. Now she wasn’t sure what to think or feel.
Grease splatters stained down his faded blue jeans as he twirled a wrench around. Luxor averted her gaze from his tanned and toned biceps on display in a black singlet. It left her nowhere to look, but his face.
"Really? Back to name calling?"
"It was a compliment. However, I should re-introduce my inappropriate sexual innuendos I know you love so much," he drawled.
This was a bad idea.
"What can I do for you?" Hunter grabbed a spanner and proceeded to lay on a trolley to slide underneath the car.
Luxor bent down, holding her hands on her knees. "I want a truce." She blurted out.
"I didn't know we were fighting." His voice was muffled.
“Maybe truce is the wrong word. Proposition maybe.”
The wheels creaked as Hunter slid from underneath and hopped up to face her. "Proposing? As in what?” He said, stepping forward until they were mere inches away.
Her cheeks flamed. With the influx of heated pin-pricks spreading throughout her body, and the burning intensity of his gaze, if she didn't leave she'd combust.
“Get
the filthy thoughts out of your head.”
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He smirked. "Refresh my memory? What is it about me that gets you all hot and bothered?" His breath smelt of Skittles, her inner urge kicking in to want some.
Luxor scowled.
He held his palm ups. “Where should we start?"
"How about trying to be nice, let bygones be bygones or however that expression goes. We've got to stop this bullshit."
“It stopped long ago. We can take it to the next level.”
"Stop trying to get a rise out of me. It'll never happen again. But we can friends, you’ve shown you’re capable." She made sure he was more than an arm’s length away.
Lying to herself was the only way for the craziness to stop; he was her weakness. One she wanted to overcome.
"Friends?" he snorted. "Pass.”
Why can't things be easy with him? Because it's Hunter, nothing is simple with him.
Luxor inwardly groaned, realising she needed to employ a different tactic. "We can spend more time together, hang out." She tilted her head giving him a coy smile. "Who knows what the future might hold?"
He hesitated, ruffling his hair, and tilted his head to the side. "Now who's messing with me?"
"Truce." She stuck her hand out in a show of solidarity. "But things need to change. I can't deal with this roller coaster we seem to be stuck on."
Hunter leaned back, his hands clasping the desk. Not only was is to reject her hand, but to keep him upright. "Is that your only stipulation?"
“Yes.”
“And you want to be friends?”
“Yes,” she repeated for what felt like the millionth time.
“Pass.”
Luxor growled, clenching her fists. "I really hate you. You realise that?"
"And yet you want a truce...interesting," he mused. "Does that mean being friends with that religious friend of yours? It would be pushing the boundaries.”
“It would make things easier.”
"Yeah me and religion. Not a good mix," Hunter admitted. "Although I might make an effort now."
"Yes, because your previous contribution to the class has been sorely missed," she said sarcastically. "Do we have a truce or what?"
Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Page 31