“Whatever it is you need help with, I’m glad you came to us,” he smiled back. “Like we told you before, for Frey and me, this is not just a fling. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but I…”
“Not now,” she interrupted him, even though she had longed to hear those words for quite some time now. Mostly, because she felt the same way. “This is not the time or the place.”
He could see in her eyes that she wasn’t saying this to push him away. On the contrary, she was pulling them all inside, towards her, hoping she would never have to let them go again. Whether they said those words or not was irrelevant. What mattered was that they all felt it.
They finally reached the abandoned house, and making sure no one saw them, they entered through their little crawl space, one by one.
“What took you guys so long?”
A voice greeted them as soon as they got in, and Eva was ecstatic to see Sebastian lying on the bed, with a book in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
“You know, you really shouldn’t smoke in here,” Eva told him, in a scolding but gentle way.
“Here,” he extinguished the cigarette on the cement floor. “Happy?”
“Thank you,” Eva grinned.
They all got comfortable, unconsciously creating a circle. Bella shivered a little and Sebastian offered her the cover from the bed. She seemed distrustful, at first, but she took it, without a word.
“Thank you all for coming here,” Eva started, looking at each and every one of them straight in the eyes. “There is no one else I trust more than you, and right now, I need your help. We need your help. I already told Bella, that last night, I went to see my dad.”
As she spoke, she could see the look of shock on the Dorian and Frey’s faces.
“You and I all believed that he died in that car accident, that robbed me of both my parents, but it turned out that he survived and had to hide so he could recuperate. I saw him last night. He was with Sorwyce.”
“Sorwyce?” Frey was the one who spoke for all of them when he repeated this name. “You mean, Principal Sorwyce?”
“Yes,” Eva nodded. “I’m sure you all know the story of Holmerry and what happened.”
They all nodded.
“So, I won’t waste time on that. But, what you don’t know is the following..”
Eva had no idea how much time it took for her to tell them the whole story, everything she’d heard from Amelie, Sorwyce and her father, combined. She told them what they needed to do and how to do it. When she finally finished her monologue, she felt her throat was dry, like she had just crossed the desert. She exhaled loudly, with obvious relief.
“When do we need to do this?” Bella asked.
“In two days,” Eva replied.
She paused, eyeing them all. Their faces revealed a plethora of human emotion. She saw fear, curiosity, determination, doubt, suspicion. She understood every single one of those emotions, because she had felt them herself. Now, she was only left with determination and desire. There was no fear. She knew what her job was and she was set on doing it.
“I’m in,” she heard Frey say.
She knew he would be. She looked at the rest of them.
“I’m in, too,” Sebastian was the next one to join officially.
Bella and Dorian eyed each other. It was as if she was waiting for him and vice versa. Neither wanted to be the first.
“You don’t have to do this,” Eva smiled at them. “You can just go back and I won’t hold it against you. Against either of you.”
The tone of her voice and her smile assured them she was telling the truth. She could lay down her own life, but not the life of others. Everyone had to choose their own destiny.
“I’m in,” they both spoke the words at the same time.
Bella giggled. Eva laughed. Then, everyone joined in. It felt good to be so close, surrounded by loved ones, at such a dangerous time. Eva
didn’t know what the night would bring, but she was determined to find out.