Beneath The Light

6. What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You

What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You

Topaz hadn't come out of her room in two days. She hadn't eaten in five, only surviving on biscuits and coffee. She didn't need food. She didn't need to socialize. What she needed was answers. And those, she wasn't getting much of either. She hadn't spoken to anyone since the night of Zac's intrusion on her and Aden. She'd felt too ashamed by the incident, too embarrassed by her feelings and too offended by his words to face anyone. "Oh so that's what you look like?" Zac teased as she hurried out of the bathroom on the third day of her hibernation. "Shut it Zac." Topaz snapped, slamming the bathroom behind her. "Hey, wait," Zac shoved his foot in the doorway, the door bouncing open off his foot. "I wanted to talk to you." Zac said as Topaz scowled up at him. "Well whatever you wanted to talk about you can just ­un-want because I don't want to listen to anything you have to say." She stormed to the bed and threw herself onto the mattress, her face pressed into the pillow, her mind clamming over. "Well tough because you've locked yourself in here for two days now Paz, and whether you like it or not our problems aren't going away, even if the Lightingale's are."

"What?" At the mention of the Lightingale's Topaz lifted her head off the pillow, blowing her hair out of her face and turning to look at Zac standing at the foot of her bed in front of the door. "They were only supposed to be here for a week, Paz, that's how long they have down here to figure out what happened with our parents. After that, the Lighters want them back."

"No, you mean they want to go back."

"Oh for the Angel's sake Topaz!" Zac slammed his hand on the footboard of the bed. Topaz jumped slightly at the anger reverberating off her older brother. "Will you get down off your high horse already?!" Topaz's cheeks flushed. "Just because I interrupted you and little Angel boy the other night doesn't mean that you have to hide away and never look at him again! Our parents are still dead Paz and we still have their murder to solve, not to mention the fact that there's a load of their paperwork to go through and the fact that we still haven't figured out who's ruling the Dark World now that they're gone."

"So what? I'm the youngest in this perfect family so what the Hell does my input mean huh? You want opinions or advice, go talk to Robert or Lewis or Niall. I'm sure they're politically correct input is far more superior than mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Aw don't give me that, Zac, the only reason you're here is because you don't know what to do with yourself because your precious little Angel girlfriend is leaving in a few days and you know I'm the only other one who knows about it."

"What're you talking about, Topaz?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about Zac. You and Alice, the way you look at her, I'm not stupid Zac; you've known that I've known since the moment she arrived here. And now you're panicking because you've forbidden us both from interfering with the Angels and now they're leaving in a few days you don't know what to do anymore." Zac slowly walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. Lowering his head into his hands he sighed emphatically. "You're right," He mumbled into his palms. "I don't know what to do anymore." Topaz hadn't expected such an outright admittance from Zac. Normally, her brother was never like this. He never admitted she was right. Okay, so, he hadn't admitted about him and Alice, and it had been a massive guess at any rate, but Topaz knew it took a lot for Zac to say the words 'you're right'. And because of that she felt herself soften slightly. She moved beside him on the bed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Has something happened?" She whispered gently. "No. Nothing. That's the problem."

"What?"

"In two days there have been no rogues found anywhere around the Dark World, not in any part of the World at all. It's as if they've all just vanished, or as if we've reached the end of the Rogues. And, as well as that, Alice and Aden have hidden themselves off in his suite and are refusing to come out. Much like you actually." Topaz sighed. "Well, maybe what you said in front of Aden and I the other night has offended him."