Dyani

Part 27

I was baffled, I didn’t expect him to hang up on me. It almost made me cry, but then my phone started to ring again.

‘Sorry, didn’t want you to call me, it costs too much, I wanted to call you.’

‘You scared me,’ I said with a quiet voice.

‘Sorry, that wasn’t my intention,’ he muttered.

‘Charley?’ I whispered.

‘What’s wrong?’

I almost felt his worry radiate through the telephone.

‘I ehm.. could.. My father kicked me out,’ I muttered and my face turned bright red, making me glad he couldn’t see me.

‘Where are you?’ he asked, his voice had hardened.

‘No.. I just.. I needed someone..’

‘Dyani, where are you?’ he ordered me to reply.

I told him the bus stop and that I was riding by bicycle.

‘I can’t come over to you, but I can have a friend come get you?’

‘Ehm.. you really don’t have too..’ I whispered.

‘Yes, I do.’

In his voice I could hear he wouldn’t accept no for an answer. He promised me that his friend would be with me in under a half an hour. I couldn’t even react, he ended the connection again. In contradiction to how I had come to know him, he sounded so powerful, like a person in charge. I just sat there, with my new handkerchief and I got a small piece of candy from my bag. With a little sting in my heart, I realised these were the bags of candy my father had bought me lovingly, only yesterday. I realised I hadn’t even checked the mirror before going outside, he had hit me quite hard in some places, and I wondered if my black eye from days before was still visible.

I didn’t look at my phone anymore and after some time, a van stopped in front of me, it looked kind of expensive. Some busses had gone by and some people had gotten out and went in, but this time no bus. The driver got out and looked at me.

‘My dear, are you Dyani?’ he asked me.

I looked up and had to put in so much effort not to giggle. Before me stood a man, well.. yes, he was definitely a man, but also definitely gay. He looked adorable.

‘Dear girl, what happened to you?’ he asked, yep definitely gay.

‘Sorry. Yes I’m Dyani. You’re the friend of Charley’s?’ I asked.

‘Yes, come, give me those bags.’

I gave him my messenger bag, which he put in the back of the van, after which he gets my bike and puts it in the van as well. I gently lower my backpack in the van as well. I get into the front seat, a little uneasy, but knowing that my driver is most definitely gay, makes it easier.

‘You didn’t give me your name,’ I mumble when he steps behind the wheel.

‘Sorry, my name is Alex,’ he said.

He turned the key, making the large van roar to life and drove off. Normally I wouldn’t have gone with a man, but the fact that he knew my name, he knew where I was with my bike and the fact that he most definitely had to be gay, made me sure I could go with him. After the same half hour, I had waited for him to arrive, he drove out of town and to a small road. It led to a large gate, probably fencing off the entire estate, however large that may be. He drove a bit further and looming in the distance I saw a house, it seemed to have never been cared for. Vines climbing up and looking very creepy to be honest.

‘Is this where Charley lives?’ I asked him, a bit distraught.

Alex only nodded.

‘But don’t think he’s wealthy, he’s bought this cheap, because it’s so..’

He didn’t continue, but I knew what he meant, the house had nothing going for it. I would not have been surprised if this had been said to be haunted. We got out of the car and he helped me with my stuff again. He brought my bags inside and put my bike near the front door, unsure where else to put it. Inside I took my bags again, I didn’t need him to carry them for me, but didn’t want to leave them at the door. I flinched as I put the backpack on and to be sure my back wouldn’t hurt even more, I kept my messenger bag in my hands.

‘Ehm.. Charley has asked me to bring you to the living room and wait for him there. He wants to ask you, not to judge him straight away. He needs to tell his story and doesn’t want you to run off as you see him,’ Alex said, he looked very uncomfortable telling me this.

‘Why would I run?’ I asked.

This little speech scared me more than the house had done, and the house had seemed quite creepy. Alex scurried from the room and my breathing hitched a bit when he closed the door.

The house from the outside had looked like it was falling apart. No actual stones were falling, but the plants had taken over and the stones looked grim from the rain. Inside however, the grand foyer had looked tidy. It had absolutely been cleaned, but they must not have redecorated. It seemed from a movie about the eighteen hundreds. It looked old and very classy. I wondered if there was a ballroom. The room where I was, had definitely been decorated more recently. Comfortable couch, flatscreen television and some other technological knicknacks. It seemed bare, like they hadn’t really had the time to decorate. Since I hadn’t really anything else to focus on, my mind went back to the little speech, dear Alex had probably memorised. Why would I run? I knew Charley, he knew me. I just never saw him, neither had he seen me. He could be scary, but his voice always sounded so nice. He had sounded so worried about me, when I called him no less than an hour ago. I got to my feet and went to the windows, covered by vines, which made the large room look dark. Walking back to the black leather couch, I heard the door handle creak and the door started to open.