8.
3513 Words
Completely frozen in front of my lifelong friend, I was still crushing Pitt with all my weight.
I felt like the sky had fallen on my head, flattening me like a pancake, leaving me without strength and destroying my ability to reason. However, I recovered quickly and tried to hide the state of shock I was in. I jumped up, trying at the same time to play down the situation with an exaggerated smile on my lips.
Without any result.
Kaley had found me about to gut her boyfriend. Her boyfriend!
“Kaley!”
Fists on hips, stern expression, and pursed mouth, she reminded me so much of her mother.
“What are you doing!”
I held my breath to think for two seconds what I was going to answer, I didn’t see thirty-six choices.
“I… he scared me and… I…”
Pitt would surely love this line.
“Pitt, are you alright?” she grew impatient, and spoke in English, as he stood up.
She had a slight Australian accent. I had to admit it wasn’t bad. Her stay with the kangaroos had
destroyed her harsh French pronunciation.
“No problem, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart! I had the feeling that all my bones were suddenly decalcifying.
“I was waiting for you as agreed and I made a sudden gesture when she got out of the elevator and your friend thought I wanted to harm her. I’m so sorry, Scarlett,” he cooed in the most convincing way possible.
I didn’t answer, my eyes fixed on Kaley.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to ask her. “I thought you were in Australia.”
I had naturally used Molière’s tongue, which made her wince.
“Speak English, please, Pitt doesn’t speak a word of French! I wanted to surprise you. Obviously, I shouldn’t have! Since when did you turn into a ferocious beast?”
I scowled as Pitt giggled behind my back.
I pivoted on him to give him a look that spoke volumes. Namely, he wasn’t going to get away with it. He looked down at me with treacherous eyes, while very discreetly licking a canine. I was electrified for the second time. Did Kaley know Pitt’s true nature? How did he manage to meet her?
“Good!” my friend exclaimed, dropping her bags on the floor. “Are you coming to hug me or do you want to rub against my man again?”
Her man… I was stunned.
“Uh...”
Still tense, I opened my arms to welcome her. She threw herself into them and enveloped me in hers.
“Damn Scarlett! Are you bringing us in? My bladder won’t hold up for long.”
Pitt turned his back on me to enter the apartment. He even pushed his luck so far as to lift his index finger to brush my cheek, a cunning smile on the corner of his lips, as he preceded Kaley.
I pushed open the door, making sure to keep it ajar.
“Where’s your bathroom?” my friend asked immediately.
Without taking my eyes off Pitt, I pointed to the bathroom closest to the entrance. When she disappeared, I propelled myself on Pitt to press him against the wall, holding him by the throat. Again, he didn’t make the slightest gesture to free himself.
“You stinking garbage. I don’t know what you’re up to,” I whispered as quietly as I could, “but you better get out of my friend’s life as soon as possible. I’m not going to let you wreck it just for the sake of getting to me. I’m not the same anymore, I’m not so afraid of you.”
“Not so afraid?” he repeated in a sweet voice, flooding my eyes with a destructive lava flow. “So, I’ll be content with what’s left of the fear that I inspire in you. Prepare to be tormented, pretty Scarlett. I’ll make your life hell. Now that is my only goal.”
I could have fixed the situation now, without waiting, and paid the price it would cost, brutally revealing the truth to Kaley. But I was reluctant to do so.
The sound of the toilet flushed; I threw myself back before Kaley opened the door.
“Ah! That feels good!”
She took the time to look at where she was and gave a shrill hiss of admiration.
“You could have done worse. Are you showing me around?”
This situation was impossible! The idea of showing the privacy of my apartment to this rat made me sick. I dodged Kaley’s request with skill.
“Wouldn’t you like to drink something, first? Sit on the sofa, I’ll bring you something to quench your thirst.”
“Gladly!” exclaimed Kaley cheerfully. “I’m thirsty and hungry, too! I’m glad to be here, old lady!”
I would have liked so much to rejoice with her and offer her a reunion worthy of the name.
I gave her a half-smile and showed her the living room with the flat of my hand.
I could have banged my head against the walls. I had once again entered an infernal sphere, increasing catastrophes tenfold. A space-time in which everything went awry and where I suffered the bitter flavour of the unforeseen. It was cyclical. So, it would never stop!
Before stepping back into the kitchen, I saw that Pitt was sweeping the room with a quick and efficient glance, surely taking note of every detail, for example, the photo of Elgin and I had taken this summer in London that couldn’t be missed. As soon as I was alone, I took off my duffle coat and grabbed my cell phone. I sent Grigore a five-word message.
| Pitt is in my living room.
Needless to say more.
When I had filled a tray with juice, water, soda, and cookies for Kaley, I joined them. I had to suppress a gag as I saw them sprawled out on the sofa, pecking at their mouths as if their lives depended on it. My God, she had no idea what she was doing or who she had stumbled upon. She was the ewe who was going to be eaten up raw by a starving and unscrupulous beast. This farce had to stop, and quickly!
The predator got to his feet and caught me off guard, freeing my hands.
He put the tray down on the coffee table and looked up at me. He filled all the space and I could only see him and his unhealthy and revolting hypocrisy.
He examined me with a long, indecipherable look, then c****d his head to the side.
“Can I get you something, Scarlett?”
I managed to smile politely because Kaley was watching me, and shook my head.
“And you, sweetheart?”
“The usual!”
He poured Coke into a glass and handed it to her, his eyes in love.
Disgusting.
“Aren’t you sitting down, Scarlett?” Kaley wondered, seeing me as stiff as a stake in front of them.
The lie came as easily as the lyrics to a song I would know by heart.
“No. I spent the day sitting in class.”
Pitt didn’t return to his seat next to her. I saw him pour orange juice and straighten up to take a sip as if it were the most delicious of nectars, while I knew he hated it.
He moved to pretend to inspect the room admiringly.
“How did you meet?” I asked without taking my eyes off him.
Kaley gave a small, crystalline laugh as she put her glass back on the table.
“In a pub! I went there every day with the girls from the class, then one evening, I noticed him. It took days before he dared to approach me. Pitt is shy!”
I couldn’t suppress a mocking snort that Kaley didn’t notice.
“And do you want to know the best thing?”
“What?” I pretended to be interested.
“He’s from St Andrews!”
I gave Pitt a meaningful look.
“No kidding?”
“Yes! I found it an extraordinary coincidence!”
“It sure is,” I grumbled under my breath.
I focused on Pitt, narrowing my eyelids.
“And what were you doing in Melbourne…, Pitt?”
He stared at me with eyes of astonishing sincerity, then he directed them towards Kaley, armed with adoration.
“I was looking for my soul mate and I found her.”
“Oh! The best!” cooed Kaley, totally under his spell.
I rolled my eyes, desperate.
“We’re made for each other,” Pitt said.
That would surprise me, I squeaked to myself.
I slipped my hand through my red curls and continued my questioning to capture the skill with which he had manipulated my friend.
“How long are you here?”
“About two weeks. My parents are furious, I refused to spend the Christmas holidays with them. But Paris, I know. St Andrews, not at all! Yours were lovely, they offered to stay with them for a few days while we were visiting the area. They were aware of my little surprise!”
I was no longer listening, I was horrified.
“Do you plan to go to Wick? Home?”
A flame of sadistic delight danced in Pitt’s eyes.
“They invited us.”
I must have been in the middle of a nightmare!
I breathed slowly, deeply, held my breath, and discreetly pushed the air out of my lungs to calm myself.
I didn’t have time to answer, the scent of Grigore distilled around us just as my front door slammed violently against the wall.
Kaley let out a cry of surprise as Pitt settled himself comfortably next to her, enveloped in complete serenity.
When he entered the room, Grigore was radiating powerful negative and extremely dangerous energy.
“N-ar fi trebuit niciodata sa te întorci,” he addressed Pitt in Romanian. [“You should not have come back.”]
Who just smiled, knowing that Kaley didn’t see him.
“What did he say? Scarlett, do you know him?” Kaley asked in a frightened voice, sticking to Pitt.
I glanced sideways at Grigore.
“Yes. He’s a friend.”
“Do all your friends like breaking down doors?” she replied, sceptical.
Grigore looked at her and deduced that if Pitt was sitting quietly on my couch, it was because of her.
“Let me introduce you to my childhood friend, Kaley, she’s come back from Australia where she spent several months. And this is Pitt, her… boyfriend. Pitt is from St Andrews, but they met in Melbourne. Incredible, don’t you think?” I hastened to add so that he could understand what Pitt had been up to.
Grigore never took his eyes off him.
The tension was such that I expected him to explode any minute. He hadn’t seen Pitt in over a year and had perhaps found himself expecting a change of heart from him. Instead, the friend he had always regarded as his brother had become even more treacherous.
“What’s going on?” Kaley insisted, addressing me.
I turned to Grigore desperately. I had no idea what to say. He gazed at Kaley for a moment, lingered on Pitt, and answered for me.
“Nothing I can reveal in your presence.”
Kaley took turns watching us, utterly puzzled, while Pitt revelled in the situation.
“Maybe we should come back at another time, Scarlett? It was a bad idea to come unexpectedly. I should have warned you. It doesn’t seem to be going the way I wanted.”
She stood up in front of me.
“Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?”
I wondered if it was a good idea to leave Grigore and Pitt alone at the risk of seeing my apartment completely devastated. But a reassuring look from Grigore urged me to take the opportunity to get Kaley out of the way.
“Okay,” I replied.
I turned my back and invited her to follow me.
I led Kaley to my room and closed the door carefully to prevent her from hearing what Grigore and Pitt had to say to each other. She sat down directly on the bed.
“What’s going on, Scarlett?” she began. “Where’s Elgin? Are you separated?”
“Not at all. Elgin is still in Orkney; he won’t be back for a few days.”
She shook her head, annoyed.
“That boy… I thought he was looking at you like… I don’t know. He’s weird. I felt like he was about to cut someone’s throat.
She couldn’t have put it any better.
“Are you having an affair with him?” she asked suddenly.
I almost choked.
“No! Grigore is a friend. Kaley! You know what Elgin means to me!”
She narrowed her eyelids as she pouted.
“You may not feel anything for this Grigore, but he must see things differently! He was about to make a scene for you!”
“You’re completely off the mark, Kaley. He really is a friend.”
“You should beware of him, then.”
I would have liked to scream at her that it was Pitt she should be wary of. I wanted to tell her what he was, what he had done to me, what he was planning to do to achieve his ends, but I couldn’t. Not like this.
“Why did he come to you in such a state?” she insisted.
I said the first stupid thing that crossed my mind.
“Grigore has incontinence.”
She made an extraordinary face.
“Scarlett Rittel, you have never lacked imagination when it comes to inventing the best scenarios, but you have always been a terrible actress. I won’t bother you with this anymore. Tell me you are happy.”
Right now, not really. I couldn’t tell her that, so I ducked.
“It’s more for me to ask you that! How’s Cyril?”
“Hmm…,” she grumbled. “We quarrelled a bit and... the distance didn’t help...”
“You haven’t reconciled.”
“No. Then Pitt came into my life.”
I had to make a considerable effort not to show the contempt he inspired in me. I even avoided questioning her on the subject, wishing to refrain from knowing the details of their relationship. He had taken the time to investigate me to find a way to reach me without too much difficulty, he was using her as a perfectly sharp tool and when the cleaver fell it would hurt.
“He’s not like the others,” she confided to me. “He says that I’m his universe.”
He’s lying! He’s lying! I wanted to scream.
She was silent for a few seconds and confessed in a dark voice.
“To be completely honest with you, Scarlett, sometimes he scares me.”
“Scared? Why? Did you notice anything strange about him?”
“Not particularly, except that he’s full of mystery, he eats three times nothing and you should see his strength, it’s just amazing! Look, we’ve known each other for a few weeks, six or seven. I think it’s all going too fast because I can’t say no to him. When I try to reason, all he has to do is look at me with enamoured eyes for me to stop thinking. I don’t know if you understand.”
I was doing very well, alas.
“Are you in love?”
She was silent for a moment longer as if it was useful for her to think.
“I’m attached to him, but… no. I don’t think so. I have the feeling that nothing is true and that everything will fall apart.”
She didn’t need to say more, I could have hugged her to suffocate her as I was so happy with this news. Kaley had never been stupid, far from it.
“And you, Grigore, are you sure that...”
“Kaley!”
“What? He’s monstrously sexy!”
“And single!” I informed her with a wink.
She shook her head, lighting her face with a beautiful smile.
“I missed you, Scarlett. I’m happy to be here.”
“You too, old lady! You too.”
I felt like I was stepping back two years when I was still in Paris and we spent all our time talking this way, confiding, and remaking the world. It was good to have her here.
“Where are you staying?” I inquired.
“Well…, I know that I arrived like this, but… I was wondering if…”
“You, not him!” I interrupted abruptly.
She opened wide surprised eyes.
“No, of course, Scarlett. Pitt told me he wouldn’t be available and...”
“Are you planning to take him to my parents?”
Frowning, she shook her head.
“No. He doesn’t even know mine. You don’t seem to like him very much, am I wrong?”
I examined her carefully to choose my words well.
“He doesn’t inspire me with confidence.”
She let out a small, crystalline laugh.
“Scarlett the sceptic! I take back what I said, you haven’t changed a bit! Come on, we better join them, they must be wondering what we’re up to.”
She stood up and put her hand on the doorknob. I held her back before she opened it.
I had to tell her part of the truth. If she were to stay here, she would end up finding me stranger than I already was.
“Kaley, a close friend of mine has been missing for a few days. We have no idea where he is and his two younger brothers find themselves alone in their home. You can stay here, but if you could come with me to spend a few nights there, that would be nice.”
“Gone, gone? By choice or…?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can count on me and then you know that I love kids! How old are they?”
More than six hundred years...
“Seven years.”
“Perfect! I planned to stay one week in St Andrews, the next one I’ll spend in Wick, with your parents.”
I smile softly at her.
“Okay.”
When we entered the living room, Pitt was no longer there and Grigore was standing in front of the window, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Where’s Pitt?” asked Kaley.
Grigore turned to her, jaw clenched.
“He had to leave, he’ll call.”
“He could have said goodbye!” she exclaimed, annoyed.
Grigore and I looked at each other without saying a word.
“Scarlett, I know we’re going to your friend’s house, but you think I can shower before I go?”
“Of course. There’s a bathroom in the bedroom to the left of the entrance, you can use it. Take your time, I need to gather some things.”
“Thanks.”
Then she turned her attention to Grigore.
“If you have to leave before I’m done, goodbye!”
He nodded silently and watched Kaley leave the room.
“So?” I asked immediately.
I saw his blank gaze, directed at the huge vase against the wall, just behind me. He finally came back to my eyes. A few curls crossed his forehead, which had turned pale as death, further accentuating the icy cold which gradually took hold of his irises. Asphyxiated by the answer he had not yet given me, I tried to catch my breath, parting my lips.
“Scarlett, the situation is much more serious than we thought.”
All the heat contained in my body had come up in my cheeks. My heart was pounding heavily and painfully in my chest.
“Tell me,” I whispered, overwhelmed with apprehension.
“Pitt had nothing to do with Rucker’s disappearance. He was kidn*pped by the Strigoi. They serve a vampire kingdom in the East.
I stopped breathing for the second time.
“The Strigoi?”
He nodded; jaw clenched.
“They are the original vampires, the ones that gave birth to all other species, including the dark angels. They had always lived in Romania, and are ageless and very powerful.”
I shivered.
“What do they want with him?”
Grigore cast a gaze over me filled with almost intolerable pain.
“Not good, Scarlett. If I’m to believe Pitt, he’ll be tortured, dismembered, and then killed for taking the life of one of theirs. We don’t have a second to waste.”
The echo of this sentence resounded in my head like hammer blows on an anvil. I felt my legs give way under me.
Not Rucker. Not him.
- Writer
