Divine Blue [Book One]

Chapter Fifteen

By Wednesday, Taylor was on edge with anticipation for her next meeting with Sarai and Samuel. It had been several nights since she had seen or heard from them. Meanwhile, her recurring dream of the woman in the red dress continued to haunt her as she slept. She questioned whether this was some type of message from them. Why else would this dream have started up again?

It was the afternoon, and Taylor was returning home from school, her keys jingling as she unlocked the door. She and Adrienne had been going home with one another after school to work on homework each night, but she came home by herself today. Adrienne had to attend a dinner party with her parents, and Sandra would not be home for the next couple of hours. The house felt empty and eerily quiet. While she had spent many days in the summer at the house while Sandra was at work, this felt much different somehow.

Taylor settled in on the couch in the living room and flipped on the TV to provide a bit of background noise. Maybe that would change the ambiance. She pulled her backpack closer to her and pulled out her algebra textbook and computer. Taylor was relieved that this was the only subject she had homework in today, though the quadratic function didn't exactly garner any additional excitement.

As the afternoon turned to evening and she finished her homework, her phone vibrated to alert her to an incoming text message. Taylor picked the phone up from the table.

[Sandra]: hi sweetie! i have to work later than usual tonight. something came up with this case i'm working on. it may be pretty late. :(

Sandra had made such instances incredibly rare since adopting Taylor, so Taylor knew it must be something serious if she wasn't able to return home until much later.

[Taylor]: it's ok sandra. i know you can't help it. need me to order anything or make you something to eat for when you get home?

[Sandra]: no that's ok babygirl. we're prob going to get takeout. feel free to order something if you want. :)

Taylor put her book and computer back into her backpack and set it over in the foyer next to the door. She then sprinted up the stairs to her room so that she could change into her pajamas and get comfortable. Taylor stopped in her tracks as she reached the doorway to the room.

"I knew I had a bad feeling about today," she said as she saw Samuel standing next to her window with a pair of aviator sunglasses on.

"We have approximately two hours to provide some additional instruction before I bring you back. We thought it a gift by not taking you under the veil of night."

"I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I guess. But how are we supposed to get there since we're in daylight?"

"There's not an issue of visibility. Once we take flight, mere mortals cannot see us."

"That's convenient." Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "OK, I'm ready when you are. At least this time I won't be in pajamas."

Samuel swooped and pulled Taylor into his arms, and they were out the window before she could even really finish her thought.

"Is there ever a time when you won't have to fly me to where we're going?" she asked as they raced through the air.

"Yes, you will fly yourself to us, wherever we may be," he told her as they arrived at the old Victorian home.

Samuel gently set Taylor's feet on the ground. She scrutinized the exterior of the home; dusk provided a sharper view of the structure. What was left of the paint on the wood siding was peeling and curling, and the exposed wood was gray with age after being left to the elements for decades. The slate roof was still mostly intact, but after years of no upkeep, some of the shingles had cracked and were crumbling away at the edges. Taylor could see why this was possibly the best place to meet, the forgotten rural home.