The House of Smoke and Nightmares

Chapter Four: Indecision

Diane stared at Fred angrily. it was clear that he did not plan on leaving on his own accord prompting her to try something else other than struggling with him.

“I will scream.” she threatened him.

“Go ahead.” Fred replied brazenly.

“Don’t dare me.”

“I have done it already.” Fred said, looking at her with love struck eyes. “I am not leaving until I talk to you.”

Diane stared back until she could not resist anymore

“Kiss me.” she said and closed her eyes.

“Without doubt…” Fred said, switched off the lamp and planted his lips on Diane’s lips; kissing her hungrily. Diane groaned, jerking excitedly as Fred’s hand wandered into her night gown while he kissed her neck passionately. Suddenly, Diane saw a figure standing behind the curtains and blenched.

“Someone is here.” she said without thinking.

“Someone?” Fred asked looking back in the direction of her eyes. He flinched back and turned the lamp on but there was nothing.

“You did this deliberately, didn’t you?” He chuckled.

“Well no, but it is for the best.” Diane said and moved inches away from Fred. “you should leave.”

“Diane.”

“Until you make up your mind about whom you want to be with, please don’t give me force hope. My heart is fragile. Please do not be the reason why it breaks.” Diane said, interrupting him. he tried to caress her face but she jerked away, avoiding his gaze

“I feel guilty about leaving Chloe without a proper reason.”

“Is not loving her enough reason for you…? Are you willing to stay with someone whom you don’t love because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or maybe you are just confused between the two of us?”

“I love you.”

“Then prove it, Fred.”

“Let me…”

“You don’t prove how much you love someone behind closed doors, Fred.” Diane told him. “What is it? Are you afraid that people will laugh at you because you are dating me? I am not that bad and I just realized I deserve better.”

“Don’t be upset. You deserve better and I promise that I will the right thing.” Fred said.

“Until then I won’t see you. You are a temptation I cannot resist.”

“Please don’t punish me this way.”

“I mean it, Fred.”

“What about the project?”

“I will make my own project. You make yours.” Diane said. “We will present the best one to the class.”

“Alright.” Fred said, glance at her for the last time and went away, using the same way he had come.

“I don’t who you are and what you want from me but thank you for saving from making a mistake today.” Diane said and laid back on her bed, abruptly drifting into a deep sleep.

Suddenly, she found herself outside the old stout and archaic house and saw a girl standing in front of the door, calling with the motioning of her hand. Diane started walking to the house and when she reached the door, the girl was gone and the door opened by itself, revealing the girl standing in the hallway. She motioned to Diane once again and the latter followed her into the house. The door closed with a jarring sound and silence took over.

“Come and save me, Diane.” the girl said. “Won’t you come to the yacht party and save me, Diane?”

“Who are you?” Diane asked as she reached the spot where the girl was standing. Her face was still unclear but she was bloodied. Diane tried to touch her but she vanished and reappeared into the lounge where a bunch of children were playing happily.

Diane walked into the lounge and noticed herself among the children. She was so happy, playing with a boy and a girl in her teenage years came and gave them all some snacks. Suddenly, pounding knocks disturbed the children’s peace.

“Open the door.” A deep angry voice rumbled. The teenage was gripped with fear. She summoned all the children and hid them in the basement but she did not notice Diane and the boy hiding away under the table. The door was flung open and three men came in and suddenly all she could here was painful shrieks.

“No, no!”

“Diane, Diane. Wake up!” she heard her mother voice and sprang up. It was early in the morning.

Diane, you are late for school.”

“Shoot, mum. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Like always, I tried.” Irene said and backed off. Someone blew the horn outside their house. Diane rushed to the window and noticed Jake’s car. Her mother saw it too.

“Have you broken up with the boy next door?”

“Mum, I already told you that Fred and I are not friends. We are just doing a project together.”

“It doesn’t seem that way with him.”

“Kindly tell Jake that I will go to school on my own.” Diane said and rushed into the bathroom. After dressing up, she went down stairs and found Jake chatting and sipping on a cup of coffee with her mother.

“I thought you would have left by now.” Diane remarked.

“He deserves a greeting first.” Irene said.

“Good morning, Jake.” Diane said

“Good morning. I couldn’t leave since I was already here.” Jake said.

“I will drive in my car.”

“Your car needs refueling.” Irene said, signaling to her daughter to act courteous 

“Right. I almost forgot.” Diane said. “Jake came at the right time.”

“He did indeed.” Irene chirped.

“Shall we go?” Diane asked.

“Yes. Mrs. Krauss, thank you for the coffee and pancakes.”

“Don’t mention, Jake. Come back anytime.” Irene smilingly said before the two high-schoolers left for school.

*** 

Jake and Diane walked into class chatting and laughing. Luckily for them, the teachers were having a staff meeting. Fred glared at Jake as he gave Diane her bag since he had carried it for her. Diane thanked him and stood a seat, aware of Fred lingering gaze on her.

“Are you going out with Jake now?” Jake’s inner voice pounded but Daine quickly turned to him.

“Did you say something?”

“No.”

“I heard you.”

“You must be hallucinating.” Fred replied. Everyone except for Marble, Jake and Fred laughed.

“That is a good one, Fred.” Someone from the back shouted. Diane looked back and saw Raphael laughing at her.

“Dull fool.” Diane’s inner voice pounded and Fred looked at her with a gaze that suggested he had what she had said. Diane glowered at him and looked at Jake. The latter smiled and waved at her. Diane smiled merrily and waved back.

Then, hearing the clicking steps of Mrs. Reed, their class teacher and teacher of Architecture and Geography, the students settled down and kept quiet. They knew how much she hated clutter and noise and so they always did things according to her standards. Mrs. Reed was young and beautiful with a body of a teenager.  This is why she usually got crushed on by male students. At one point, she had to report some students for harassing her. No one would have believed her if she did not have a witness to back her story. The boys were suspended from school soon after that and Mrs. Reed never gave up on teaching.

“I hope you are all well.” she said after taking a seat at her table. “And I hope you are working on my project.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Everyone answered.

“Diane Krauss, are you working on the project?” Mrs. Reed asked. Diane was her favourite student.

“Yes, Mrs. Reed.”

“I see you are working on it with Fred Terry.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Fred replied.

“I cannot wait to see what you two make. So, do not disappoint me.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” they both answered.

“On that note, we are going to visit a place across town.” Mrs. Reed said. “It is a one week field trip to Downhill town.”

“Downhill town?” Raphael exclaimed. “I am sorry Mrs. Reed but my brother tells me a lot of creepy stories about downhill town.”

“Isn’t your older brother supposed to be in Law school?” Jake asked.

“Yes.”

“Is law too hard on him that he wants to be a story teller instead?”

“Watch your mouth.” Raphael snorted as the class burst into laughter.

“Quiet down!” Mrs. Reed gave them her scariest look. “I will not hesitate to take the whole class to detention and have you write tests later on.”

The class went quiet; not even a book or a pen moved.

“Now like I said, we are going to Downhill town for a field trip for both Architectural and Geographical purposes. The place has beautiful historical site to survey and evaluate.”

“Do we need to pay any amount of money?” Patrice asked, ready to protest if the answer was yes.

“No. The school is sponsoring the trip through the general fees you have already paid.” Mrs. Reed said. “However, you must carry your own personal utensils including sleeping bags, clothes, food, water and toiletries.”

“Are we going to camp outside?” Raphael asked nervously.

“We are going there in a yacht and we will stay in the yacht.” Mrs. Reed said.

"Wow, yay! I can’t for this trip.” Jake chirped, looked at Diane and winked at her. Fred clenched his fists, suppressing the anger that burned inside, threatening to slice and dice.

“Diane Krauss?”

“Yes, Mrs. Reed.

“I understand you don’t go to many field trips but this one is important. The final scores will be counted towards your final exam too.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I will do my best to attend the field trip.”

“Don’t worry, Diane. I will protect you.”

“Rather think about your grades, Jake Milan.” Mrs. Reed said but no one dared to laugh. Jake was not someone they wanted to have as an enemy.

***

Fred drove to the park, came to a complete halt and turned to Chloe was was seated beside him.

"I am sorry I could not take you out tonight. I just have a lot on my mind right now." he said

“You have been sad all day, Fred. What happened?”

“Like i said, I have a lot of my mind.”

“Is it because of Diane?”

“Don’t mention her name here. She has nothing to do with my current mood.”

“Fine.” Chloe said, adjusted Fred’s seat and rolled onto his laps, unzipping his trouser. Fred looked uninterested but this was not the first time it had happened. He and Chloe often made love in his car and although it did not leave quite a good impression of Chloe, she always did what he wanted just to please him.

“Let me take care of you.” she said, sliding her dress above her waist.

“You know what I like.”

“Without a doubt.” Chloe replied and begun unbuttoning Fred’s shirt. “But today I want you on top of me. Can you do that for me?”

“We are in a car.” Fred said as Chloe slipped her hand into his trouser, making him groan.

“Maybe we should change the place.” Chloe’s seductive voice hit his eyes

“I can’t wait for that anymore.” Fred said and pounced on Chloe, kissing her hungrily.

“Let’s move to the back of the car then.” Chloe suggested. Fred obliged and soon they were making love at the backseat. Chloe moaned with pleasure as Fred penetrated into her in slow and steady motions. Fred moaned with mixed feelings as he replayed the scenes of Jake and Diane walking into class together and how he had winked at her. Suddenly, he recalled the night he snuck into her room, her voice echoing in his head.

“Kiss me.”

“Kiss me!” Chloe moaned, uttering Diane’s words and making Fred recoil.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“I am not used to this.” Fred lied.

“Fine. Let’s exchange.”

“No.” Fred said, putting on his shirt.

“But, I am dying here.” Chloe complained. “You need to finish what you started.”

“Sorry, Chloe. I am really not in the mood.” Fred said and moved back to the driver’s seat. “Get dressed. I will take you home.”

“No. You drop me at the city square. I have to meet up with Patrice.”

Fred nodded and started the car. The ride to the City square was a quiet one and both parties did not care.

“Thank you.” Chloe said and tried to leave the car but Fred held her back.

“I am sorry once again.”

“I am not upset with you.” Chloe said, planted a kiss on his cheek and hurriedly got out of the car. Fred started the car and drove away immediately.

Chloe walked into the café at the square and headed to the counter. She smiled at the young man standing behind the counter and dropped her hand, making traces on the counter with her finger.

“How much for your time?” she asked him.

“Did he finally dump you?”

“I really need you Evans.” Chloe spoke with quivering lips.

“You shouldn’t have left me, Chloe. At the end of the day, I am the one who really cares about you.”

“Stop gloating. Your cousin already left me burning with shame.”

“You are in luck. It is time to close.” Evans smirked. Evans was Brad’s sister’s son and although he and Fred were cousins, they never interacted much. In fact, Evans disliked Fred because of Chloe. She had left him for Fred earlier and this caused the rift between the cousins to grow bigger.

“I will wait for you outside.” Chloe said and walked out, leaving Evans gnashing his teeth in anger.

***

 Fred arrived home late at night and dashed to his room. He ambushed to the window hoping to catch a glimpse of Diane but for some reason, she was not waiting on him tonight. Diane was sleeping in her bed, reminiscing over the school day’s incidents. From the way that Fred’s acted towards her earlier in class, she could not help but feel like Fred had been playing with his feelings all along. Meanwhile, the thought of having heard his inner thoughts crept in in her mind, disturbing her sleep. How was it possible that she heard what he had said without uttering a word?