by Tanya Milne
His thin lips parted. The room fell completely quiet, the only noise from the machine’s quiet beeps. My mind spun. I had to try something.
‘Are these questions part of the script?’ I said, looking at the lady officer, whose face flushed. ‘Asking about boyfriends? How does that have anything to do with your investigation?’
‘Just two more questions,’ she said. ‘We have lots more students to question.’
‘Don’t you mean to interrogate?’ I said.
Max narrowed his eyes. ‘There was an act of witchcraft in the centre of town last night around 10.45 p.m. Were you involved?’
My memory of the night before flashed through my mind. I remembered the feeling, the temptation to join in the ritual.
‘No,’ I said.
The machine stayed quiet.
‘Last question, Eva,’ said Max. ‘Did you see the act of witchcraft taking place?’
I pictured Jet and his pack, forming a circle, fire escaping his fingers. I remembered Noah’s parting words, ‘You’re going to have to lie.’ Then there were Max’s words, ‘The machine never lies.’
‘Eva?’ said Max, leaning closer.
What would happen if I told him? Jet and his friends would no doubt be arrested. And then what? What would happen to them?
I took a quiet breath, prayed my words would keep the machine happy.
‘On the way home, we heard some noises, some howling noises in the street.’
The machine stayed quiet.
‘Anything else?’
‘That was it.’
The machine spiked again.
Max looked to the machine and back to me, his face breaking out into a grin. ‘That wasn’t it at all. Was it, Eva?’
I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘It was pitch black, hard to see.’
The traitorous machine spiked with my every word.
‘But the moon was full last night, Eva. The perfect night for seeing everything.’
My mind spun, and my breath deserted me. I remembered Jet looking at me, wanting me. I knew he was bad news, but still, I couldn’t dob him in.
‘That’s all I know,’ I said, folding my hands in my lap as the machine spiked, just as I expected.
Max stood up and went to the computer. ‘Well, Eva, it looks like you have well and truly failed this test. Unfortunately, I am not authorised to do any more tests on school grounds, so you will have to come with me. Orpheus will most definitely want to talk to you.’
‘What! No way!’ I said, pulling the cords off me and standing up. ‘You can’t take me anywhere.’
Max started to laugh as I stormed to the door and found it locked. ‘You’re quite the feisty one, aren’t you?’
‘Let me out!’ I screamed, taking in my classmates through the window, who looked frozen with shock. I found Noah’s face, but he blinked at me as though he didn’t know me at all.
Max’s cronies grabbed me by the arms as he opened the door. I struggled against them as they pushed me through the door.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ shouted Ezra, walking forward. ‘Get your hands off her.’ The officers dropped their arms, and Ezra pulled me beside him.
Max’s face went the colour of a plum as he glared at Ezra. ‘Ezra, with respect, Eva knows information about last night, information that she won’t tell us. Your father has insisted he speak to anyone with knowledge. So, if you will please step out of the way, I can do my job.’
The students behind us all gasped.
‘Officer McCann, isn’t it?’ said Ezra, speaking with such authority that I looked at him and wondered whether I knew him at all.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Max, holding his gaze on Ezra.
‘I think there has been a misunderstanding about last night. It’s best for everyone that I take Eva to meet my dad, to clear things up.’
Max clenched his fists. ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea.’
‘I’m not sure I like your tone, Officer McCann, and I’m not sure my dad will be thrilled when he hears how you are conducting your business here, manhandling Ms Martinez.’
Max opened his mouth and closed it again. Ezra continued. ‘You still have over a hundred students to interview, and I’m quite sure you should focus on that rather than on one girl who I am sure has nothing to do with last night.’
Max pressed his lips together and nodded. ‘I’ll be following up to make sure everything is in order.’
‘Right, well, now we have that cleared up, Eva, are you able to come with me? We won’t be long and I’ll take you home afterwards.’
Ezra held out his hand and I heard Noah, who was standing a few feet away, curse under his breath. I looked up into Ezra’s emerald eyes – they were serious, but they held only kindness.
I leaned forward and took his hand, and we left the room, which was whisper quiet.
Chapter Fifteen
As we walked through the school’s front door, the cool autumn breeze stopped us. The adrenalin that had kept me going deserted me, and I began to shiver and shake. I wasn’t sure my legs would hold me up.
Ezra took off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders, then put his arm around me and held me close. ‘Think you can make it to my car?’
I looked up into his green eyes – the boy I barely knew, yet I simply understood.
‘You have a car?’ I whispered, not remembering seeing him in the school car park.
He nodded. ‘Come on.’
He held me tight as we made our way down the stairs and out onto the street. Around the corner there was only one car – a sparkling silver Porsche.
‘It’s not my choice,’ said Ezra, the car doors unlocking as we walked towards it.
I raised an eyebrow and slid down into the black leather seat. In seconds, Ezra was beside me, filling the small space so there was only the two of us.
I put my hands on my legs to try and stop them from trembling. Ezra started the engine, and after he’d played around for a few seconds with the various gadgets on the dashboard, my seat heated up and warm air blew in from the fans.
‘Eva, you okay?’
‘I will be,’ I said, unable to keep the tremor from my voice.
‘Can you tell me what happened?’ he asked, and I knew he didn’t mean what had happened at school.
His question sat in the air, heavy and troubled.
I knew he was the last person I should trust with the truth, but if it weren’t for him, I’d be with Max and who knew what would’ve happened then.
‘I can’t tell your dad or the police.’
‘I can keep secrets.’
‘Even from your dad?’
‘If it helps you, then yes, even from my dad.’
I sat back in my seat and looked out at the apricot-coloured leaves that were falling from the trees. ‘It’s probably best – for your own sake – that you don’t know, Ezra. It might put you in danger. I should probably just go home.’
Ezra let out a long sigh. ‘I wish I could take you home, I really do. But the thing is that Officer McCann will tell my dad whatever happened in that room, and he’ll want to speak with you. It’s probably easier if we get it over and done with. Show that you have nothing to hide.’
Tears prickled in my eyes. ‘But I do have something to hide.’
Ezra found my hand and took it. ‘I’ll help you keep it hidden then.’
I smiled. ‘Why are you so nice to me?’
‘I can’t choose my family, but I sure as hell can choose my friends,’ he said, wiping a rogue tear from my face.
Is that what we are? Friends? Is that all he wants?
I remembered Elijah’s fears about Ezra and my promise to stay away from him. Yet here he was, right here, wanting only to help me.
‘You don’t even have to tell me if you don’t want to,’ he said, placing his hands back on the steering wheel, looking deflated. ‘But know that if you do, you can trust me with the truth.’
I reached
out and put my hand over his. Electricity danced between us.
‘Thank you, Ezra,’ I said softly before removing my hand and gazing out the window, dread now sitting in the base of my stomach.
Ezra took one long glance in my direction before he put the indicator on, turned out onto the road and sped quickly along the maple-lined street, sending leaves flying in all directions.
I texted an abridged version of what was happening to my parents and Elijah and then turned my phone onto silent. There was nothing I could say that would make them feel any better. I just had to get through this and get home.
Ezra looked lost in thought as we sped along the long road that led out to his house, a Cape Cod-style mansion jutting out of the cliffs. I looked out at the choppy grey waters of the bay and took some steadying breaths to try and calm the storm raging within me. The thought of coming face-to-face with Orpheus again was bad enough, but to be questioned by him, to try and keep a secret from him, felt as though I’d slipped inside some kind of nightmare.
Soon we entered enormous black gates and sped up a driveway with towering dark-green forest on either side. Ezra slowed the car as we entered a large circular stone driveway. ‘It’s probably best you let me do most of the explaining, okay?’ he said.
‘But you don’t know what happened,’ I said.
‘I’ll work it out. Don’t worry, it will be okay. I can manage my father,’ he said with a confidence that belied his age, before jumping from the car and coming to open my door. I took his offered hand, and he held onto mine tightly as we walked up the wide sun-drenched stairs hand-in-hand and into the cool shade of the veranda.
As we walked through the open timber-and-stained-glass double doors and into the imposingly beautiful house, Orpheus strode into the panelled entry hall. His gaze immediately dropped to our hands that were still intertwined. I tried to remove my hand, but Ezra tightened his grip.
‘Father,’ said Ezra, walking to greet his dad, whose big bushy eyebrows were drawn together. ‘Do you remember Eva?’
‘How could I forget? Eva, good to see you,’ he said, as though a charming European, but his blue eyes were like frozen ice. ‘Officer McCann told me you were on your way. I’ve been expecting you both, for some time actually.’
‘Sorry, we got talking. You know how it is,’ said Ezra, not missing a beat.
Orpheus looked back and forth between us, his gaze trying to get below our skins. ‘I’m not sure I do, but anyhow, here you both are. And now, if it’s not too much trouble, I should like to ask Eva a few more questions about what she saw last night. It is critical to our investigation.’
‘Well, Father, there’s no need to question Eva on her own. Actually, I can probably clear everything up once and for all.’
What the…?
‘Is that right, Ezra?’ said Orpheus, his voice thick and husky. ‘This I have to hear. Why don’t you both come with me?’
Orpheus turned on his heel and strode back through the hall, disappearing into the depths of the house. I turned to Ezra and whispered, ‘What are you doing?’
‘Keeping your secrets,’ he whispered back. ‘Trust me?’
The question sat between us like a flame. I nodded and he smiled, a small dimple forming in his cheek.
How could he even be related to Orpheus?
We wandered through the long, dark puzzle of a house that felt as though it held many secrets in the depths of its walls. It was spectacular, but with its high ceilings, stuffy air and walnut panelling it felt repressed and gloomy; it needed to be opened up and flushed with fresh air and the light outside.
‘I know, she’s lost in time,’ said Ezra, as though reading my mind.
I was trying to imagine what it must be like for Ezra living here, stranded in this beautifully sad and isolated house, when we came to a wide timber stairwell. I heard footsteps coming from the top of the stairs and glanced up to see the fleeting movement of someone dressed in a long white dress as they disappeared from view.
‘Who was that?’ I said, imagining I’d just seen the house ghost.
‘My mum,’ said Ezra, looking wistfully up the stairs. ‘Hopefully you can meet her later. She’s really nice.’
Meet her later? All of a sudden it felt like the longest day of my life.
Ezra led me further into the house and through an open door and into a room at the back of the house. I gasped as I took in the glass windows that ran the full length of the room and looked straight out onto the place where the harbour met the sea. I could hear angry waves lashing the rocks below.
‘It’s really something, isn’t it?’ said Orpheus, who was mixing himself a generous glass of scotch from the bar. ‘I remember having the same reaction when I first saw the view. I’d been in two minds about moving to Melas, it not being the capital and all, but this view made my final decision.’
‘It’s incredible,’ I said, taking in the large and comfortable sofas, opulent paintings, exquisite rugs and enormous stone fireplace full of a roaring fire.
‘I knew it was probably going to be better for Ezra to live here, in a small and safe town where nothing untoward could harm him, but the power of the sea on your doorstep, well, that’s something too,’ said Orpheus, coming to sit down next to the fire, gesturing for us to sit opposite him.
‘So, Eva, there are no machines and no police, so why don’t you tell me what you saw last night on your way home from the movies?’ he said, placing his arms up over his couch. Everything about his whole being was relaxed, but his eyes were set upon me like a fox’s.
My heart started to pound, and I tried to find my voice.
‘Come now, Eva, I am a patient man, but you should know that I won’t tolerate witchcraft here in my town. If you know something, then you must tell me – clear your name.’
Clear my name?
‘I wasn’t involved,’ I managed to stutter out.
‘I would like to think that, really I would, particularly as Ezra here seems to be your special friend. But you are giving me little choice but to think the worst.’
I flopped back on the couch, and suddenly the act of breathing seemed like the least natural thing in the world.
‘And I hate to say it, but unless you have something to say, there will be consequences, for you and your family.’
I looked into his eyes then and saw the soul of a twisted man; a man who wanted to punish me more than he wanted to find out the truth.
‘Father, you need to stop this,’ said Ezra, his voice slicing the air.
‘No, son, I think you need to stop this.’ Orpheus’s gaze dropped to our hands. ‘Eva is not proving to be someone worthy of your association.’
‘You have it all wrong, Father,’ said Ezra, running his hand through his hair. ‘The reason Eva won’t tell you what she saw is because she’s trying to protect me.’
‘Excuse me?’ said Orpheus, lowering his voice.
‘We met in town last night. We were together while there were issues; that’s why she couldn’t say anything.’
Black fury passed through Orpheus’s eyes, and he fought against it for control. He glared at Ezra. ‘You snuck out of our home last night and met with her?’
‘Her name is Eva and yes, we met last night.’
Orpheus’s gaze darted to me. ‘Is this true? You met with my son at night without my permission?’
The terror I’d felt coming here, being here, being questioned, fell away. Before me there was no more illusion. In front of me was a cruel man who tortured all those around him, including Ezra.
‘She’s my girlfriend, Dad, and I knew that you’d never agree to let me see her.’
Girlfriend! What the hell?
‘And there’s nothing you can do to stop us meeting,’ said Ezra, looking his dad in the eye.
Orpheus’s face turned the colour of a bruise before he spat his words into his only son’s face. ‘How dare you! You are never to tell me what I can and cannot do. You belong to me. Do you hear me? Only me!’
Ezra’s face was as white as fresh snow, but still he held his head up.
What did he do? For me.
‘GO! Get out of this room this instant. Leave me,’ roared Orpheus like a bull.
Ezra and I stood and left the room, before quickly making our way back through the house, which felt as if it were watching our every step. The salty wind from the sea blew at us as we walked outside and got back into the car. Within seconds, we were flying down the long drive, the trees a blur beside us.
I glanced at Ezra, who looked as though he’d been punctured by an invisible arrow –
and all for me. My name had been cleared, but at what cost? Ezra had to live with his cruel father, day and night.
Soon, we were back on the quiet streets now dampened with the gloom of the impending night. I wanted to go home to my family and never leave, but there was no way I could leave Ezra alone after what he’d done for me.
‘Take the next right,’ I said quietly, an idea arriving.
Ezra glanced at me. ‘You sure?’
I nodded before getting out my phone, ignoring the ten missed calls and urgent texts. I tapped out a quick text to my parents, pushing down the waves of guilt.
All okay. Have left Orpheus’s house and stopping for something to eat on the way home. Be home soon. X
I shoved my phone back into my bag and glanced over at Ezra, who’d kept my secret safe even though I hadn’t told him a thing.
‘We need to talk,’ I said, my insides cramping at the prospect of being alone and having the conversation we needed to have.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Park here,’ I said, pointing to an empty spot down near the pier.
Ezra pulled into the space, turned his car off and asked, ‘Where are we going?’
‘Let’s go get some fish and chips, take them down to the jetty. We should be able to talk freely down there.’
Ezra smiled, a small smile. ‘You don’t have to, you know. I can take you home. I’ll be okay.’
‘I know, but I want to, and did I mention that I’m starving?’
