It would be no good to reach down there and pry the paper out, doing so could rip it and then she would never know what was written on there. She sat back on her heels and chewed on her bottom lip, her mind reeling with how she could get the paper up.
Odette went into her room, rummaging around her makeup bag until she pulled out a nail clipper. She pushed out the nail file on it and rushed back to where she had been and dug into the board. Maybe if she pushed it back enough, the paper would slip out easily.
What she did not expect was for there to be a secret compartment. She really hoped there might be but she didn’t expect it. She felt like a super spy. A thin, square piece of wood came out, revealing a journal, some papers and photos.
There wasn’t anything special about the journal, no distinguishing marks to reveal whose it might have been. It was brown leather and just barely held together by an elastic band. The journal was bulging and to the point where one wrong move would make everything explode.
Odette gently ran her hand over it, smoothing away the dust. She removed the elastic band and turned to the very first page.
There was a Polaroid picture taped up inside of a man and a woman in front of the house and then beside it, one of a teenage girl and two little siblings of undetermined gender standing in front of the house. It was worn and wrinkled and the two pictures took up most of the page. Below them were short descriptions of who was who.
Under the photo of the man and the woman, she put together that it must be the man’s journal as it read “Me & Ava.” The children’s names were unreadable because of an ink smear. Odette turned the page and read the first entry.
“Today is our first day at the new house. Ava was car sick the whole way, but it could be the twenty-four hour bug that R. had yesterday.
The kids picked out their bedrooms and fought over who got what. Ava laid down on her sleeping bag and went to sleep early. I’m nervous about her, so I brought in a bucket in case she has to throw up again.
R. kept asking if she could leave the house to see the town. I told her no. She’s been upstairs in her room listening to that junk she calls music since. The boys haven’t stopped screaming once.
I hope this place will be good for us. R. will forgive me eventually about having to leave her deadbeat boyfriend behind.”
The entry ended. Odette pursed her lips; did she want to read more? Sure. But something held her back. She sighed and closed the journal, then placed it back inside of the compartment but did not place the wooden cover over it. She shut the cushioned lid and went back into her room. There was still plenty of time until dinner but she had nothing better to do, so she started getting ready. Pulling out her hair straightener, she plugged it into the wall.
Unfortunately, six-twenty snuck up on Odette faster than she expected. She ran around her room, fluffing her hair up, and throwing around miscellaneous items in her way.
“MOM?!” Odette shouted.
Her mother appeared almost instantly. “What’s wrong?”
“I laid out my shoes, the light blue ones that match this dress, and I can’t find them,” she ranted, picking up a box to see if they had somehow gotten in there.
Her mom held in a laugh and went to the other side of Odette’s bed and picked up said pair of flats. They dangled from her fingers teasingly.
Odette snatched them from her mom’s hand with a quick “thanks,” then slipped them on. She hadn’t been allowed to wear heels because of her mother’s constant fear that she would get dizzy or faint and break her neck. Instead, she owned an impressive flats collection in nearly every color, pattern, and style.
She did a quick check of herself in the mirror to assure that she looked perfect. Not too dressy, not too casual, but distinctive and pleasing. The powder blue dress was one of her favorites but she rarely got to wear it out because she never went out. It had a small rose on the front center with a lacy hem. Her shoes matched the color perfectly.
“Are you ready?” her mother teased.
Odette turned from the mirror with a fake, confident smile. “Yeah.”
She was not ready.
The Sinclairs piled into Pamela’s minivan and drove down the wooded path. It took less than three minutes but it was better to drive anyway because they would most certainly leave after the moon had risen.
The gates had been opened, allowing Jonah easy passage inside. He pulled his wife’s minivan around the driveway and parked it next to the very expensive sports car. Odette cringed hard, both inside and out, but she refused to say anything.
They walked up the chalky white steps to the front door, which stretched well above their heads. The knocker was an ugly looking face but Odette couldn’t make out if it was an animal of some kind or a human. It had fangs that seemed to wrap around the giant brass hoop, its eyes sharp and with slits instead of pupils.
Her father rang the doorbell and Odette thought that the knocker’s face seemed to twist up in offense. The door was answered a few seconds later by a man dressed rather well. He was on the chubbier side but looked like he could have been a football player earlier in his life.
“Are you the Sinclairs?” the man inquired, studying each of them. His eyes seemed kind, not harsh and calculating like Grayson’s.
Her father cleared his throat, “Err—yes, we are. I’m Jonah and this is my wife, Pamela, and our daughter, Odette.” He waved his hand in front of both women as he spoke.
The man’s face brightened up a little more and he stepped aside to let them in. “Wonderful to meet you all. I’m Zeke Rivet. I am Mr. Mages’ caretaker but I really just help around with everyone in the family,” he explained. “Follow me, they will be excited to know that you’re here.”
Odette crossed her middle and pointer fingers behind her back, holding in her nerves. She had thought the outside of the house had been magnificent; the inside really showed it off.
There was a grand staircase that led up to who-knows-where, with a deep magenta carpeting covering it. The walls were lined famous and expensive paintings along with floor-to-ceiling windows. Everything seemed so dark and foreboding, it made Odette shiver.
Zeke led them through a pair of double doors and into a room that appeared to be a drawing room of sorts, like in a Jane Austen novel. The room had a long, purple velvet couch where an old man sat on. She recognized him as the man in the ticket booth from the show.
His face was stony and wrinkled but not as horrible as it should be. He looked like he might have been only ten years older than her father, but she knew that was probably incorrect. His grey hair had dark roots and he had kind, dark brown eyes. He really didn’t look a thing like his grandchildren.
Behind him, Greer sat on a fancy armchair and Grayson stood with his back to them all. He didn’t turn around until his grandfather started talking.
The old man, upon seeing his guests, grinned crookedly and the resemblance to his grandson came out. “Ah! Welcome to our home! It is such a pleasure to meet you all. I am Jethro Mages.” He stood up and came to shake their hands. He started with her father, gripping his hand and shaking it vigorously. It was the type of handshake that used both hands, entrapping her father’s between his own sunspotted ones.
“You must be Miss Odette,” Jethro said, kissing the back of her hand. “I have heard much about you.” He winked playfully and Odette didn’t know if she should laugh it off or feel embarrassed. After all, it had only been one day, what could he have possibly been told?
“And you must be Odette’s older sister!” he joked, holding Pamela’s hand close to him.
Odette was almost immediately pulled away from her family by Greer. “I’m so excited to see you again, dear,” she mused. She tucked Odette’s hand in the crook of her elbow, escorting her to where her brother was standing.
“It’s nice to see you again too,” Odette replied, feeling like she was really in a regency era novel. “Hey, Grayson.”
Grayson spread his lips in a thin smile, “Hello, Odett
e. How was your day?”
Odette shrugged, “Pretty normal. I read a lot because I didn’t have much else to do.”
“What kind of books do you like to read?” Greer asked, not releasing Odette’s arm.
She pursed her lips, “I like classical literature. Like The Picture of Dorian Grey and Mystery of Udolpho.”
The twins nodded in sync with each other, watching her with slight fascination. Odette couldn’t help but feel like a new toy or something of the kind. Their eyes didn’t leave her for a second, but maybe they were just curious about her.
“You should see our library,” Grayson commented offhand, adjusting his dark blue button up.
There was a gleam that caught Odette’s eye on his lapel. She didn’t recognize it completely at first because it blended in so much, but she eventually recognized the oval shape of the amulet he wore at the show. The jewel was swirly, hypnotizing her, drawing her in.
“Grandfather, would you mind if we took Odette to the library, at least until the food is ready?” Grayson asked politely, although there was a demanding undertone to it.
Jethro, however, wasn’t bothered by his grandson’s attitude. “Go ahead kids, we can talk grown up stuff this way.” He seemed like a very cheerful man, if it wasn’t for that similar mischievous glint in his eyes that the twins had during their shows.
Odette looked to her parents, waiting for their outburst about how she needed to be near them at all times, blah blah blah … but they didn’t even look at her as they began their conversation with the older Mages. Not even a flicker of eye movement.
A swell of pride rose within Odette’s chest and it was hard to contain a smile. Greer gently tugged her along but it didn’t bother her. Grayson stayed behind the two of them, only walking in front to open the doors like a true gentleman.
The library was only a room away from the drawing room and it, too, showed the excess of wealth that the Mages’ possessed. A rich mahogany covered the walls and the floors were carpeted by a crimson plush. Large and long shelves lined the walls with multicolored books, adding a pop of color to the room. A couch and two armchairs were placed in front of a live fire. Over the mantle there hung a painting of the twins and Jethro, all looking especially menacing.
I am in a Jane Austen novel, Odette thought to herself.
“That is a beautiful portrait,” Odette said quietly, slipping away from Greer to admire it even more.
Greer followed close behind. “Yes, it was done about six months ago. We needed to have an updated one considering the last time we had been painted was over six years ago,” she explained.
Odette’s eyes raked over every inch of it. The eyes were by far the most prominent part of it. They were almost electrifyingly alive, standing out against their thick, dark lashes and pale skin. There was something smudged over Grayson’s lip but she couldn’t tell what it was.
“I hate that picture,” Grayson grunted. He had gracefully flung himself onto one of the couches, one leg dangling off the side while the other was propped up on the cushions.
“Why?” Odette turned around to look at him curiously.
The boy’s nose twitched in an almost like a snarl but he calmed his facade. “The stupid man actually painted the scar I have on my lip. At the time, it was still fresh so it was red. I didn’t think he would actually do it.”
She frowned, not knowing what to say.
“Its ancient history now but I’m still very … annoyed by it.” He glared at the painting but finally let his gaze drop back to Odette, his gaze softening from stern to something like indifferent.
Greer perched herself on one of the arms of the couch and gazed at Odette with leisure. “Tell us something about yourself, dear. Why did you move to Sunwick?”
Odette winced. She hated telling people “why.”
“My health. I have a lot of things wrong with me but my heart is the worst. I have this thing called an ‘atrial septal defect,’ which is just a fancy way of saying that I have this hole in my heart. It’s actually pretty small and they tried to fix it when I was a baby but … it didn’t really heal.”
“That’s horrible,” Greer said.
“It isn’t so bad,” Odette added quickly. “I just can’t do anything that would make my heart rate go above normal. That’s usually when most of the problems start.”
Grayson leaned forward on his elbows. “But you were a dancer, weren’t you?”
“I made it work. After dealing with it for so many years, I just began to disregard my symptoms and flare-ups. I couldn’t let that stop me. It all changed a couple years ago. I was getting worse but it wasn’t just my heart. I was on stage when it happened. I just sort of … collapsed, right in the middle of my solo. People thought it was part of the dance but my coaches and my parents knew better.” Odette rubbed her arms, feeling the ghosts of needles pricking her veins.
“The doctors said that it would happen a lot more if I continued. I would have these bad headaches and dizzy spells and I just couldn’t get out of bed, like I was paralyzed or something. My hands, legs, and feet would swell up too and, sometimes, turn blue. My parents withdrew me from ballet and from school within a couple of weeks after the accident. I’ve just … never gone back to normal since.”
Someone laid their hand on her shoulder and she jumped. Odette barely had to turn her head to see him. He must have snuck up on her while she was reliving her painful memories. His hand slid from her shoulder to her hand, picking it up and bringing it closer to his eyes. She thought he might kiss it again but he stopped with her hand well away from his lips.
“So, is this your heart monitor then?” He motioned at the bracelet on her arm that looked a lot like a smart watch.
Odette nodded, peering over him to make sure that it was at a normal rate. She didn’t need him to know that he made her feel nervous.
He gave her one of his crooked smiles and turned his attention on her arm once more. “What’s this?”
Odette glanced at where his eyes were focused and mentally sighed in relief, it wasn’t anything embarrassing. “My birthmark.”
“It looks like a crown.”
She couldn’t stop the smile that came and giggled a little. “That’s what my mom says.”
Grayson brushed his thumb over it lightly and wet his bottom lip. “I guess that makes you a princess.”
Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. All heads turned towards it.
“Enter,” Grayson called out monotonously, his slightly cheerful mood gone.
The door slowly opened and a head with wild, silver hair peeked through. At first, Odette believed that it was Jethro but the fire’s light made his hair shine enough to assure her that it wasn’t. The hair was like molten silver, shimmering like liquid and dazzling her. She didn’t catch what his face looked like as the head was bent and the door covered a great deal of it.
Despite the warmth of the room due to the fireplace, Odette became cold. A chill settled over everything and the twins lost their “welcoming” mood.
Grayson clenched his jaw, his entire body going rigid. “Thorn, why are you out of your room?” His voice was cold and sharp.
“Mr. Mages requests … requests that y-you join th-them for … for dinner now,” the man, Thorn, stated. His voice was strained and raw, almost coming out in a whining tone.
Greer was the next one to speak, “And he couldn’t have sent Zeke or anyone else?”
“We have a guest, Thorn. Three of them,” informed Grayson, his eyes narrowing.
The man faltered, unsure if he should leave or fulfill his duty. Before he could turn around and leave, Odette stepped towards him with a friendly smile.
“Hello, I’m Odette.” She only had a foot or so between the two of them and stuck her hand out for him to shake.
The man kept his head down. “H-Hello, miss.”
He didn’t take her hand at all but she wasn’t deterred. She stuck it out farther for him to take. He finally took it.
She tried not to react when their skin touched but he was freezing. The man barely held onto her for more than a second before he let go.
“Are you a relative of Grayson and Greer or do you work for them?” she asked, recovering from her shock.
Again, Thorn hesitated before speaking. “I-I assist with the … with the shows, miss.” He kept his head bowed the entire time, she couldn’t see anything. Odette was going to ask more but she couldn’t.
Grayson cleared his throat and Thorn quickly put a distance between himself and the girl. “I think we should be going to dinner now.”
He appeared beside her quicker than she anticipated and placed a hand on the small of her back, sending warmth all throughout her body.
“Sister?”
“Right behind you, brother.”
Odette looked back to say goodbye to Thorn but he had ran off somewhere. She hoped that he didn’t think she was weird or rude.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s a bit shy,” Grayson whispered in her ear.
She swallowed hard and weakly nodded her head and allowed Greer to loop her arm with hers again. The twins had sandwiched her in between them, giving her no room to escape.
V
“So, how has the town been treating you?” Dr. Noel Short asked her newest patient.
It took everything in Odette to keep her eye from twitching. She didn’t want to be in the heavily perfumed office and she couldn’t believe that her mother had sent her to a psychologist in the first place.
“Your pediatrician thought that it would be a good idea, especially with you being in a new state. We just want to help you, Det,” those being the words of her mother that very morning.
Yeah right, Odette wanted to have it out with her mother then and there, but there had been no room to argue the situation. It was better to just go rather than fight it until she was forced.
“Fine, I think,” she finally responded. “I haven’t really gotten out all that much yet to really explore it all.”
Dr. Short wrote something down on her notepad. The sound of the pen scratching against the paper irritated Odette, but she didn’t try to look to see what it said. No, she tried to keep her expression as cool and collected as she could.
Violent Delights Page 4
