THE BEAST ─ five hargreeves

[ 071 ] five and zara make a promise

LXXI.

f i v e   a n d   z a r a
m a k e   a   p r o m i s e

—IT WAS PITCH DARK when Zara went back indoors. There was no moon in sky but the stars were bright. She went quietly up the stairs, holding her breath, for it seemed as though the whole world was one great stone creature that had sense and feeling and was awake, but silent. She mustn't make noise and disturb it.

She found her room finally and went quietly in, walking almost on tiptoe.

Five was sitting awake with only the faint glow of the bedside lamp in the darkness. His eyes watched her as she climbed into the bed. There was something startlingly bright about his eyes—green like a cat's—with the irises seeming to snatch up any last rays of light and steal it for themselves. Pretty, but unnerving all the same.

"You're awake," she observed, not looking at him.

There was a pause.

"It's a bad neighbourhood. I didn't want to go to sleep until you got back."

"How very noble of you. So much for wishing you had never met me."

He ignored her snarky remark. "You were gone for a while," he said.

"Astute observation," murmured Zara.

"It's late. Not many places to go at this hour."

"That would be correct."

He looked at her irritably. "Would you just answer my question?"

"First ask me a question. Then maybe I'll answer it."

Another pause.

"What happened?"

"I was talking to Ralph."

Pin-drop silence.

She looked at him and his face was completely devoid of emotion. He was a marble statue—blank—expressionless. He studied her face in the dark.

"Oh." The brief wall of silence persisted for a moment more, then he asked: "And?"

She frowned. "What do you mean and? We talked. Then I came back to the room. End of story."

"Well, you don't sound very happy about it, so I'm guessing something else happened."

"Nothing happened."

"Mhm."

"Jeez, man. It was just talking, all right? People do that, you know? They have conversations with their friends without blowing up about this or that or whatever. There's nothing more to say about it. Goodnight."

She leaned over and switched off the light.

The pillow was a piece of fluffy cloud that sunk down when she put her head down onto it. She drew the blankets up and shut her eyes. Darkness at last! How peaceful it was to melt away into the black void of sleep.

Then Five leaned over and switched the light back on.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Yes," she replied. "Are you—still mad at me?"

He sighed and rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah."

There was a pause.