Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone

by Jacklyn Daher

  There were only three names in her mobile, everything had been erased. Meredith, emergency, and Evie.

  Luxor thumbed around Meredith’s name to ask permission but talked herself out of it. Meredith would call her a liar for wanting to leave the house, and for disturbing her at work. That left one other option. Evie had taken charge and inserted her contact details into her mobile at lunch. Luxor would have to accept her offer of a tour around town. And most importantly, the library. Who knew, maybe they would be able to help each other and endure the tedious task of unravelling their family trees.

  She scrolled down to "E" she pressed the call button. If being subjected to endless chatter and eating was what she had to endure, it was a small price to pay.

  Luxor waited for the dial tones, contemplating on what she would say. But she didn't have to worry. After a long pause a voice stated, "Sorry the number you have called is not available from this service."

  Luxor gritted her teeth and tried to compose herself. She squeezed her mobile and contemplated smashing the phone against the wooden barn was powerful. Although knowing her luck, the derelict would collapse, how it was still erect was a wonder.

  I hate her. I hate her. I friggin’ hate her. No wonder she let me keep my phone.

  Everything made sense, and Luxor felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier. She never doubted Meredith would be strict, but not this severe. Meredith had always been a control freak, always one step ahead, and with all that had happened letting Luxor keep her mobile had been. Now it had become apparent the phone was for Meredith to keep tabs on her, and control every aspect of her life.

  Luxor's freedom had been completely stripped away.

  Luxor would have to break the rules, and the prospect didn’t faze her.

  She jogged to the edge of the property until she reached a wooden logged fence, and pulled on the gate, only for it not to budge. A padlock the size of her palm had been secured and the only way out would be to through the gaps. Pushing her backpack through, her lithe frame squeezed followed with ease.

  Luxor followed the three-kilometre cracked and concrete pathway, surrounded by an abundance of trees, dandelions and yellow daffodils. The creek bubbled with an embankment of grass that slanted downwards, housed by a small bridge to connect both sides. The end had been in sight when she saw the bright lights and sounds of traffic of The Village.

  The library had been easy enough to find, and Luxor was surprised she didn’t notice it earlier. Next door to The Hive, students held books as they rounded the corner, with coffee cups atop.

  Luxor clasped onto the knob, about to turn when she retracted. She blinked rapidly, as a flicker from a stray eyelash scratched her eyeball. She rubbed the bottom of her palm across her eye, to remove the irritation. And it was then she noticed.

  Oh, no this isn't happening!

  In her rush out of the door, Luxor had forgotten to reinsert her contacts, and now her unusual aqua eyes were on display. She couldn’t enter the library, and returning back home would have been a waste. Nope, work needed to get the work done.

  Luxor improvised and retrieved her sunglasses from her backpack. Stupid was better than being a freak.

  The door squeaked when she entered the small open space room, the stench of musty books, mixed in with the distinct aroma of coffee beans wafted in the air. Hanging from the rafters, rectangular fluorescent lights brightened up each corner and highlighted every feature.

  Luxor tread light and beelined straight to the books, passing students who had their noses buried in books, or a group of middle-aged women congregating in their book club.

  Books lined the room in a semicircle, exposed with no aisles. She proceeded to trail her fingers alongside the spines of the old books, the covers peeling off with dog-eared pages. There were numerous sections; fiction, non-fiction, biography and how-to books. If Luxor needed help, she was out of luck, the lean librarian with mousy brown hair assisted a boy from her History class.

  Luxor found a tall, bronzed tin cabinet tucked away in the corner, which stood out like an eye-sore, a relic from another time. Opening the top drawer, it screeched in protest, and ran a finger over the yellowed cards, set in alphabetical order, and paused once she got 'G.'

  "Now that outfit suits you better," a husky voice said from behind.

  Luxor jumped, whipping her head around. "Holy shit, you scared me. Normal people say hi."

  Hunter leaned leisurely against the cabinet, running his fingers through his wet ebony hair. He had changed into a pair of black jeans, and a fitted V- neck top which hugged and outlined the contours of his lean and muscular frame.

  "You'll find out I fit in the extraordinary category," he announced with an air of compelling arrogance.

  She rolled her eyes, and pushed the sunglasses back up her nose, not knowing how to respond to his extreme sense of self-worth and vanity. Extraordinary looks he might have but his personality so far left a lot to be desired.

  "What’s with the sunglasses? You have beautiful eyes; I don't know why you need them, especially in the dark."

  If only he knew. But nobody can ever find out.

  "Seriously? You have beautiful eyes? Is that the best you can do?'"

  Hunter scoffed. "You think I'm flirting with you? If I was, you'd know."

  "Then what's with the cheesy line?"

  "I'm just wondering, because they are so blue, almost as if they're contacts."

  Luxor swallowed hard and distanced herself, making her way over to the sign 'History.' She trailed her finger along the spines of the books and even though her eyesight was restricted, she still found nothing.

  Did he know they were contacts? She had chosen the most natural shade, anybody could have had that colour? There was nothing special about them. Ironically the only reason Luxor wore normal shade contacts was to cover her natural eyes which looked like contacts.

  Hunter followed. "This doesn't look like your kind of scene."

  It wasn't but Luxor refused to admit that to him. "Could say the same for you." She slammed the cabinet with a bang; the only card written was 'gardening.'

  "Touché."

  Why can’t the answers appear to me like they have been lately?

  Did her mind only provide answers she didn't really need? Who cared if she outed her former principal as an alcoholic, and she knew the number of lockers in the school? In the grand scheme of things, they were useless facts. What she really wanted—no needed—were answers that would help with her assignment. In typical fashion, as with everything, things were done on terms other than her own.

  "Wouldn't want to ever piss you off, the poor cabinet, I think you've actually dented it," Hunter said in a tongue in cheek manner.

  Not enough.

  "But it's not its fault," he said and stroked where Luxor had hit it.

  Luxor knitted her eyebrows. "What isn't?"

  "Belting the cabinet enough."

  Luxor stared at Hunter, and held a palm at her temple.

  Did I say that out loud? Or did I zone out? Because I seriously can’t remember talking.

  Hunter picked up a car magazine and lounged back on the sofa, one of his legs crossed over the other and ruffled the pages.

  Luxor ignored his presence and set up her possessions at a table near the window, and settled into a chair in front of a beige boxy computer that was invented decades before her time. She rested her elbow against the desk and cradled her chin in the palm of her hand, tapping them, as she contemplated her next move.

  Minutes ticked by and no ideas came to mind. She tilted her head back, she emitted a deep and throaty groan, not even a word was written on her sheet, or a thread of information was available. Without a full sheet, it was a certain fail, and Luxor never failed at anything, and she wasn't about to begin a list.

  Hunter sighed and dumped the car magazine and slowly circled around Luxor numerous times, before his captivating toffee eyes settled and bore into hers, deep and inquisitive. He opened and closed n
umerous times as if he had to spill a secret.

  "You look like a fish, just spit it out, and stop stalking me like I'm your prey," she said, frustrated.

  "Maybe you are." He laughed. "But seriously, you look bored."

  "It's homework, on the first day, so yeah I don't need to add boredom on top of the things I don't want to do."

  "Typical, your type usually needs constant fun."

  My type?

  "You don't know anything about me," she told him adamantly.

  What was her type exactly? Did the materialistic Ellie come across? Luxor was different, but some of her old character traits had remained. But who was the real person? These questions poked at her mind.

  "You'd be surprised, I'm very perceptive." Hunter smiled deviously, and dug his hands into his pockets, beginning to tap against his thigh.

  Nobody knew anything about Luxor, and that was a fact. And Hunter, a stranger she had just, met assumed he knew her type.

  Is this guy for real?

  What was Hunter's type? From what she had gathered he was gorgeous, arrogant, cocky, and used to getting his own way. In other words, a player. If he was going to pigeon hole her, then two could play at that game.

  "Can I help you with something?"

  Hunter chuckled. "Oh, there are so many things."

  Was that a sexual innuendo? No, there's no way somebody can be that crass.

  "Okay, well I'm busy." Luxor resumed pretending to be engrossed in her assignment. "Yeah, I can see. Banging things."

  She glowered at him. That time it was an innuendo, she didn't need to be Einstein to figure that out. "What are you doing here? Obviously not working. Did you need to borrow a pen again?”

  Hunter pulled up a chair and sat across from her, not too close, but close enough for her to feel the electric currents run through her body. She needed him to get away from her, but she was held captive within her own body, and she didn't know why.

  "I saw you come in, and thought I'd say hi, see how it’s going with your family tree."

  "And yet instead you decided to scare the living daylights out of me."

  "Oh please, imagine if that was my intention, you'd go into cardiac arrest," he chuckled deep. Luxor crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him but it didn't faze him. "Then again, my mere presence gets your heart thumping, doesn't it?" His voice was low and husky, a tone used for seduction.

  As if on cue, Luxor’s heart thumped, but she put on a facade to mask it although it was an epic fail. Her eyes widened simultaneously, and her lips parted. She wished she could deny it, and make it seem his arrogance was off-putting, but the statement was true. In the few times she had met and spoke to him, her insides flared, fogging her mind of any coherent words.

  Luxor turned her back on him and she blocked out any thoughts regarding him, his presence only served as a distraction and time was being wasted.

  Hunter seemingly took the hint and exited the library without a goodbye, taking the electrical static too.

  Thank God.

  Luxor was on the verge of leaving but decided to try one last route. Typing genealogy into the search engine, she swivelled around in the chair while she waited for the computer to load. Rubbing her eyes, she allowed her mind to drift off to a land where the path to answers would guide her, all the while anticipating the throbbing headache which promised to strike.

  There had to be a way to find out about her parents. Meredith refused to tell her anything.

  What was the big secret? Was my mother a spy? In a witness protection program? Did she not want me knowing about her?

  Warm breath tickled her skin near her ear with an infusion of a forest aroma. "You might find opening your eyes you'd actually get work done." A finger touched the side of her glasses.

  Luxor's eyes flashed open, and she jumped from the break of concentration. "Don't touch me," she shrieked and wheeled backwards until the chair touched the heavy-set drapes along the wall. She placed her hands over her eyes, and a sigh of relief escaped from her lips.

  "Calm down." He took a step backwards and held up a hand. "This is kind of hot, take it." He handed her a brown paper cup. "It's a latte. Soy of course."

  Her breath hitched. She needed to leave, to escape his assumptions of information nobody knew about.

  Who is he?

  “Don’t you like coffee?” he said.

  Luxor refused to take the cup, why did he even buy her one. Did he put something in there? How did he know I needed soy? she thought.

  Hunter placed the cup beside the computer, rubbing his red palm against his thigh. "I didn't know if you were lactose intolerant or not, better to be safe than sorry," he said as if he read her mind.

  Luxor's heart skipped a beat and a fever pitched within, plunging her mind and blanketing her into a haze. He loomed over and placed both hands on the side of the desk, caging her in. She tilted her head up to meet his downcast toffee coloured eyes.

  Was he going to kiss me?

  Just in case Luxor retracted her leg, ready to release the hard force between his legs she would inflict which hopefully would render him impotent.

  Luxor had only ever kissed one boy, a moment she wanted to eradicate from her memory. It was a year ago, and it had ended in near disaster.

  Hunter cocked his head to the side, and narrowed his eyes, a wide smile on his face. "Your tongue is blue."

  "What?"

  "Navy actually, impressive." He stepped back.

  Luxor wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I ate blueberry liquorice at lunch."

  "Yes, that must be it." Hunter snorted, scrunching up his nose as he surveyed the Band-Aid on her finger. "What happened?"

  Luxor stuck her hand under the table. "None of your business."

  "What did you do? Stick your finger in your mouth." Hunter chuckled, but it came across as forced.

  Luxor gulped, her body tensed up and questions swirled through her mind.

  How did he know? What was he getting at?

  She needed to leave but forced herself to stay refusing to be intimidated. In her mind, she was here first, and he needed to get the hell away from her.

  "You need to step back, better still leave me alone," she told him with a firm voice. “Why? Was I getting too close?"

  “And creepy,” Luxor bit out. As disturbed and scared as she was, she refused to show he freaked her out.

  "Don't lie. You thought I was going to kiss you. Don’t flatter yourself; I wasn't going to kiss you." Hunter gave a teasing smile, a playful glint in his eyes. "But soon you will succumb to me."

  Luxor snorted and swung her chair around trying to comprehend what he just said. She returned back to the screen to see if the computer had loaded, only to find a blank screen was displayed, and no sound came from the hard drive.

  "Why did you do that for?" Luxor told him angrily, pointing at the blank screen.

  Hunter shrugged. "You'll be here all-night waiting for a page to load."

  She huffed. He was right, but revealing that would end up with him smirking, or worse he'd retort with a smart-ass comment. If she had to see him do that one more time, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions.

  As Luxor passed Hunter to search for the librarian, she knocked his shoulder, a zap shooting up her arm. The library was pretty much deserted now, only a faint light emitted from the other side of the room. She had enough of reaching dead ends, all that surrounded her were old books, and technology from the Middle Ages.

  A cardboard sign sat on the desk.

  “No Card, No Borrow” it read.

  "Here." Hunter followed and placed a hefty book in front of her. "Unlike the computers or secrets within families, these might help. I borrowed it just for you."

  Luxor looked at the book, then at the sign, then back at the book. She had no choice but to accept them. She had done everything possible and came up with nothing, obtaining a library card would take time she didn't have.

  "Thanks," Luxor mumbled. Sec
retly she wondered what his ulterior motive was.

  "No problem babe, don't return it late otherwise I'll come to collect." He leaned in, his all too intoxicating smell surrounding her. Wisps of hot breath tickled her ear, his voice low and husky. "And I'm not talking monetary terms."

  Luxor gasped and blinked rapidly, speechless at his audacity. She contemplated lobbing the book at his skull, telling him to shove it. But by the time she contained her composure, he had already vanished.

  Luxor waited an hour before leaving the library, chewing up the time on the internet by indulging in the Spirituality lesson topic. She finally had enough of researching everything fallen angel related, and if she had to view just one more image of angels with blood seared backs from where the wings were ripped off, she might very well convert to becoming a believer.

  The sun had well and truly disappeared, replaced with a milky crescent moon and cradled by the stars. The darkness arrived and cast a cloud on the desolate street causing an electrical storm to brew in her mind, and swim with all the possible horrible scenarios that could happen, and ways she could escape.

  Luxor dreaded the walk home, and hated that she lost track of time. She wrapped her arms around herself to stave off the chill in her bones. The stickiness from before had been substituted with an invigorating air, fresh against her skin.

  She removed her sunglasses and returned them to her bag, cocking her head from side to side. Stopping at each block, she mimicked a spy on a highly classified staked out mission.

  The dark had always scared Luxor, the unknown was a dismal abyss luring her in, settling deep in her soul where light should have resided. It had to do with always being alone. But with light, a comfortable blanket soothed and cradled her as if she was a newborn in their mother's embrace. It wasn't a surprise the only time she slept soundly was with a night light on.

  The library was warm, and inviting and homely, like a refuge where no harm could come her way. Outside was a different story. On the outside the evil came to play.

  A meow sounded melting her negative thoughts, and she rotated towards the direction. Her kitten sat expectantly, her ears pricked and tailed swinging. Luxor smiled widely, scooped her up in her arms, finding comfort despite her size, and twirled her about.