by Dean Murray
He spoke softly, as if trying to calm a skittish colt, “Good thing I am just one man.” He traced my marred flesh gently, sending a bout of heat into my belly. “You are beautiful, Rayla. No patch of skin can change the fact. If any man thinks otherwise, he doesn’t deserve you.”
I turned away from him, unnerved. “I think we should go see what everyone else is doing.”
He clasped my shoulder. “I would rather watch the sun rise with you in my arms, but it can wait.” When he got to his feet, he pulled me up with him. “Would you like to explore Roger’s ridiculous palace with me?”
A slow grin covered my face. “Nothing better, but, first, I need a lady’s room.”
Zach took me to a side door. I was relieved to bypass the fray at the pool. I could hear splashing, giggling, and the occasional curse word.
“Here we are. That is, if I remember right. This place is worse than Neuschwanstein.”
I wanted to ask him about the fairytale castle that had fascinated me since I was a little girl, but my bladder had other ideas. I found it funny he had named my absolute favorite.
Eager to change out of the hideous thing I was wearing, I asked Zach to get my bag for me. When I opened the door a few minutes later, Zach had my belongings in hand. I gave him a rare flirtatious smile and shut the door firmly behind me. I could have looked worse, but I took some time to brush my hair and put on lip gloss. When I entered the hallway, he was gone.
I roamed the corridors for a few minutes before I realized I could easily get lost in this vast estate. Where had he disappeared to?
Duh, he was probably changing in another room. I needed to be more patient. I traced my steps back to the hall I had come from. At least, I thought it was the right corridor.
Most of the doors were locked. When I checked another knob, it turned. I smiled and let myself in.
Of all the rooms I had seen in Roger’s house, I liked this one best. Simple elegance was what I would christen this little corner of heaven. I could imagine a blaze roaring in the sumptuously chiseled fireplace. My finger glided along the dips and valleys of one of the engraved capstones. Five overlapping rings made up the odd kaleidoscopic design. Four of the rings intersected into a cross, the adjoining loops made an X that was connected by four arches. The center ring was raised and intersected each of the other circles dead center, as though it was the most important. The image looked symbolic, maybe even Celtic, but I had never seen it before.
The desire to curl onto one of the tufted leather chairs with a good book tempted me more than I could resist. I hit the switch nearest the mantel and brought my fantasy to life.
Zach could come get me. I was tired of searching for him. I perused the ancient looking tomes, stacked to the ceiling on wall-to-wall bookcases, to see if I could find anything interesting. Some of the titles were either in a foreign language or nonexistent. My fingers brushed the spine of a small volume stuck out farther than the others. I pulled it from the shelf.
The leather was smooth, as if thousands of hands had done what mine were doing now. I rubbed the cover one last time then rifled through the pages. The handwritten text had been scrawled in a slanted script.
How old was this book? It looked like a journal. I had always wanted to see what sort of things someone from another time would write about.
The leather chair I’d been dying to fill groaned before relaxing beneath my weight. I was engrossed the moment I started reading:
I find after five lifetimes spent in that other realm, my heart has grown cold and unfeeling. What sort of cruel fate would bring me to love my captor, just to rip me away from him? Oh, that I could see his shining eyes. I would gladly die to feel his body pressed to mine once more, but, alas, those days are gone. I am left alone in this world, without friend or family.
They think to appease me with riches. I have had those in abundance and more. How can I go on?
Keys jangled in the hall. I panicked, shoving the book into my bag moments before the door swung open.
I couldn’t put it back now without having to explain why I had taken it. Besides, I really wanted to read it now.
I would return the book later. Borrowing wasn’t stealing, right?
I expected Zach, but the fresh-faced young man staring bewilderedly at me didn’t look a thing like him. The stranger’s lips curved in a winning smile. He swept sandy bangs from his midnight blue eyes. With one finger poised, he gestured for me to hang on. He looked up and down the hallway then shut the door softly.
Mischief danced in his expression when he walked past me to the fireplace. To my surprise, he flipped the switch, plunging the room into near darkness. At least the curtains weren’t closed. My eyes slowly adjusted. I should have felt uncomfortable being alone with him, but his baby-face kept me from being too worried.
There was a bit of a rasp to his tenor voice. “Roger would slit your throat if he saw you in here.” A flashlight erupted in his hands. “How did you manage to get in, anyways?”
When he raised the light to my face, I shielded my eyes. “Uh, I turned the knob.”
“Is that all?” He lowered the flashlight and chuckled. “Roger never leaves this room open. It would have been much more interesting if you had been a spy.” He smiled, but his eyes were searching mine a little too intently.
“I guess I just got lucky,” I said sarcastically, making my way to the door. He was right on my heels. I turned toward him to defuse the unexpected tension between us. “What’s your name?”
He grinned down at me. “Alex.”
He was too close. I was beginning to get nervous, but why? He didn’t look like much of a threat.
Cocking his head, he inched a little nearer. “What’s yours?”
I shifted my gaze from his intense stare. “Rayla.”
“I should take you to Roger to see what he wants to do with you, but you seem pretty harmless to me.”
“Who are you, his bodyguard?” I joked.
His face scrunched up in disgust. “Just because I’m scrawny doesn’t mean I’m weak. Besides, I’m working on it.”
“I didn’t mean —”
“Rookie mistake.” His teeth gleamed when he flashed a smile. “I get it a lot.”
I didn’t know how to handle his statement delicately, so I changed the subject. “Hey, have you seen Zach around anywhere?”
He gave me an exaggerated sigh, and his bangs lifted in a feathery puff. “Am I ever going to find a woman who isn’t already taken?”
Try as I might, I couldn’t hide the grin that spread across my lips. “I wouldn’t say I’m exactly taken, but he is my date. I need to find him.”
His eyes gleamed with a new hope I was sorry for putting there. “I’m not sure I’ve met him.”
I assumed Zach had been coming here for ages by the way he maneuvered the place. “He’s Roger’s friend.”
Alex sniffed and shook his head. “I haven’t heard of him, but I can help you find him if you want me to.” When I reached for the knob, his hand sped past mine. “You’d better let me — just in case.” He inched the door open like an inspector in an old murder mystery.
Mimicking his movements, I crept carefully into the dimly lit hallway. He had sort of a school-boy charm with his ruddy cheeks and promising features. He would be gorgeous one day.
“Thanks for not ratting me out, Alex,” I said for his benefit.
He glowered, not really at me, but through me. “I wouldn’t give Roger the satisfaction. He’s been impossible ever since Mom and Dad left.”
I would have never guessed in a hundred years this boy was Roger’s brother. Theatrics were the only thing they seemed to have in common. I glanced sideways at him. “Shouldn’t you be with your parents?”
He closed his eyes slowly. His lips pursed, making white lines appear around them. “I will absolutely lose it if one more person says that to me. Do you think I’m fourteen or something?”
He wasn’t far off, if I were being honest. I had pe
gged him for sixteen, at the most. How old was he? “Um, I didn’t mean to offend you. You do look young.”
“For the love of Mary! I’m a sophomore at Notre Dame! Damn it!” He hit the wall sideways with his fist. “I’m probably going to be forty before anyone will take me seriously.”
“I …”
“Never mind. You aren’t the first. You won’t be the last. Where did you say you last saw this Zach?”
I hadn’t actually, but I decided not to be nitpicky. “Here.” I pointed at the restroom. “I thought he was probably in the vicinity, so I started searching. That’s how I ended up in the study.”
Alex’s expression turned grave. “Let’s just hope Roger doesn’t find out.”
I touched his shoulder to stop him from walking away. “You’re serious, aren’t you? I thought you were joking before.”
His eyes held a sadness I understood completely. There were some things that just couldn’t be changed, no matter how much you wanted them to.
“I wish.” He looked me up and down, a grin slowly forming on his lips, making me a little uncomfortable. “Look, if I were you, I wouldn’t come here again. Stay on campus. Finish school. Don’t get involved in this.”
I scrunched my face in confusion. “You mind repeating that in English? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
He smirked. “Good. Keep it that way.”
He started down the corridor again. That had to be one of the strangest conversations I had ever had. What in the world had he been implying? If Roger was into something bad, I didn’t want Cassie to get involved with him. Chase was enough bad for a lifetime.
I groaned, stopping short. I had ditched my best friend. She hadn’t crossed my mind once since she left me earlier.
“What’s wrong?” asked Alex.
“Forget Zach,” I said.
“Now we’re talking.” He spun the other direction. “I could show you my —”
I groaned inwardly. “Sorry, I still need to find him, but I have to find someone else first.” I had no desire to deflate his hopes, but I didn’t want to encourage him, either. I had enough men to deal with already. “Have you met Cassie Lambert yet?”
“If you mean that hot little thing Roger’s been mauling for the past hour, then yeah, briefly.”
I gasped. Zach could take care of himself. I had to get to Cassie as soon as possible. She and I had an understanding. “Will you take me to them?”
He cocked his head. “I shouldn’t, but she seems too sweet for him.”
We walked through a maze of corridors before he finally stopped. “They’re in there,” Alex whispered. “You’re on your own. I did not show you how to get here.”
He left without making a sound. I knocked loudly.
“Go away,” Roger yelled.
“Cassie, are you in there?” I tried the handle. It wouldn’t budge.
“I need to go,” Cassie said. At least I thought that was what I thought I heard.
“Not now,” said Roger heatedly. “You can’t leave me yet.”
When Cassie finally opened the door, her hair and make-up were a mess and her suit was lopsided. She wouldn’t look at me, and her cheeks were slightly ruddy, as if she were embarrassed.
“You can stay if you want to,” I said softly, so Roger wouldn’t overhear. I didn’t want to ruin things for her if she had changed her mind.
“No,” she whispered back. “I want to come with you. Do you think Natalie is ready to go?”
Why was she so eager to leave? The heat of anger filled my neck. “Did he hurt you?” I hissed.
She swayed a little. “I’m okay. Can we go?”
I shot Roger a dirty look when she opened the door further. Cassie’s eyes flew wide. She nodded slightly toward him, as though I had a line in this scene I wasn’t saying.
I looked directly at his smug face; however, I did not return his smile. “I’m sorry to have to steal Cassie from you, but we have to leave.”
“Stay the night,” he suggested coyly. “I have everything you could need here.”
Sure he did. Wayne Manor, indeed; this place was beginning to seem more like Dracula’s lair. “I’d prefer to sleep in my own bed, if you don’t mind. Besides, we have a curfew.” Parietals bothered most students in my corridor, but not me. I liked having an excuse to ditch a bad situation.
“I know a few people at St. Mary’s.” He lay back against the pile of blood-red pillows, placing his hands nonchalantly behind his head. Then, he stretched his long legs out on the tousled sheets, setting one ankle on top of the other, as though he owned the world. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
I narrowed my eyes and pulled Cassie into the hall. “No thanks,” I shot over my shoulder.
Roger was behind us in seconds. “Really. All the halls have an understanding about parietals.” He gave me his charismatic smile. “It’s like the army: Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
He was seriously creeping me out. Even the military couldn’t be that outdated. How had I ever considered him charming?
He grabbed Cassie’s hand. “Don’t you want to stay? I thought you were enjoying —”
“Rayla’s right,” she cut in. She couldn’t have been more crimson if he had dumped a bucket of red paint over her head. “I don’t want to get into trouble. We’ve only been here a couple weeks.”
The anger on his face turned momentarily to expectation. “I’m having a party next weekend.” He ran a finger up her arm. “I want you here.”
Cassie’s gaze lingered on the floor. “I don’t know if I can, but I’ll see.”
“There you are,” said Zach from behind us. His gaze darted to Roger’s bedroom. A slight frown pulled at his lips. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Don’t you guys need to get back by two?”
“We were just coming to find you,” I said, dismissing Roger with my gaze.
Cassie didn’t need any encouragement to bolt ahead of us. We left without any fanfare, thankfully.
Alex had me curious, though. Who was Roger Wayne, and why did I suddenly feel as though I should have found somewhere else to be tonight?
. . . . .
The rest of the weekend was a blur of homework, Mass with Cassie, and trying to dodge girls from my hall, who suddenly wanted to be my friend. I just couldn’t handle any more frivolity right now. Was it all college students, or had I been lucky enough to get the only floor on campus where everyone wanted to goof around all night instead of studying? My classes were hard, and I wanted to actually graduate. I hoped that my corridor-mates would settle down soon. I would have probably been right there with them if I hadn’t had so many surreal things happening to me all of the sudden.
I desperately wanted Cassie to go to the meet-and-greet tonight, so I could read the book I had pilfered from Roger. I didn’t want to explain to her how I had gotten it. I hadn’t even had a moment alone to look at it, and my curiosity was driving me batty.
“I’ve got to study tonight, Cass,” I told her for the third time. “Go without me.”
She stood in front of me, hands on her hips. “You like ghost stories.”
I hadn’t heard anything about that. “What are you talking about?”
Her sudden grin got bigger. “Jessica knows the RA downstairs. She said that this is real secret stuff. Supposedly, there is a ghost right on our floor!”
I had heard the rumors, as well. My curiosity won over. “I’ll go. But if it turns out to be lame, I’m leaving.”
“Fair enough,” Cassie said, grabbing her jacket.
“Will it be outside or something?”
“I’ve heard people talking. I just want to be prepared.”
The nights had turned chilly here. Winter seemed to be fighting fall for dominance already. Why hadn’t I picked a school in the South?
When we got to the meeting, everyone was leaving. We raced to catch up with the group. The halls were alive with whispers, as though the girls had all made a secret pact to set a ghoulish
mood.
“See,” Cassie said in triumph.
I raised my brows at her. “Just because we’re headed outside, doesn’t mean we’re going to a séance.”
“Cassie,” Jessica called. “Wait up.”
Jessica shared a quad down the hall with a group of high school friends. She seemed nice enough, yet there was also something irritating about her I couldn’t quite pinpoint. Her mousy brown hair bounced up and down with each stride. It was probably the only volume her limp locks would ever see.
She looked at Cassie then, me, her dull brown eyes abnormally bright. “I thought you two chickened out. You’ll be glad you didn’t.”
I kept my eyes on her, even though they wanted to go skyward. “Why’s that?”
Jessica gave me a look. “The guys from IPS are going to be here.”
I waited for her to tell us what IPS meant. The only thing I could think of was Indiana Postal Service. Why would Jessica care if a couple of delivery guys showed up to the meeting? “Who?” I asked, after she clearly wasn’t going to elaborate.
Jessica glanced at me before she glared at Cassie. “Why’d you bring her?”
I narrowed my eyes, crossing my arms. “Hey, I’m right in front of you.”
Jessica shoved a finger in my face. “I don’t care if you’re a believer or not. Just keep your snide comments to yourself. Some of us are trying to enjoy this.”
I cocked a hip. “I don’t have anything against fun.” When she started walking away, I yelled, “Tell me when we start having some.”
“Boring is as boring does,” she said before running up ahead to another group.
“Why are you so rude to her?” Cassie asked.
I didn’t really know how to answer her. Jessica was just … annoying. “She gets under my skin. I can’t say why.”
I nearly sailed into the girl ahead of me when she stopped short. There could only be one reason they would bring us behind Regina Hall. The cemetery loomed in front of us. Beyond it lay the forest that still held fright for me. I knew the man in the woods couldn’t possibly be there now watching me, but I was freaking myself out wondering about the possibility. I still didn’t know if he was one of the fab-four. I didn’t want to think about there being another man to worry about.
