The House of Bells: The Essences Saga - Book #1

House of Bells: Chapter 7

Seven

Silas waited impatiently for Jennie to show up for her afternoon shift. Already, he huddled over his third cup of coffee and the jitters began to set in. Jennie and Curtis came through the front door, shaking from the dry, icy wind. Her eyes met his and instantly she nodded at him, Give me a minute. He sipped from his mug and a few minutes later, Jennie joined him, tying her apron around her waist.

"If you're here for dirt, I have to tell you now that I'm not comfortable in spilling it," she muttered, sliding into the chair across from him.

"What happened?"

"You already know the answer to that, Mr. Blake. Now ask me what you really want to know."

Silas sighed heavily, "Why didn't Min call me?"

Jennie pursed her mouth tightly, her eyes wandering far away. "I can't say. We all woke up this morning and found her as chipper as a bird. I don't know what she said to Melissa and I didn't ask. Or if she said anything at all. I do know she stayed up all night waiting on her. I peeked downstairs late last night and saw her sitting on the porch swing."

Silas took another sip to stall while he thought about that. Min was happy this morning, even after catching Melissa, but she set no obvious punishment or asked him what to do about it. What was she playing?

"What do you think?" he asked her.

Jennie leaned her elbows on the table. "Well, either she doesn't know what to do and is afraid to ask for help on her first week...or she's trying something no one else ever had."

She waited for his comment, but when he only tossed the ideas around in his head, she continued, "I don't think she's scared. Min is a lot smarter than she looks. What she accomplished with Tia these past few days...well, that was just short of a miracle. Personally, I think she knows exactly what she's doing. I think she has a plan, and I also think she understands Melissa better than anyone. I can't explain it fully. It's almost like she can look into our minds and know what we're thinking and feeling."

If that were true, Silas was in some major trouble. No one should know what he was thinking when it came to Min. The sight of her - no, the thought of her - jumpstarts old urges and ricochets his heart all over his ribcage. But Jennie had a point.

"Do you ever get the feeling that she's not what she seems?" he inquired quietly, studying Jennie. "That she's different and not the normal way of being different?"

Jennie returned the analysis and looked calmly at him for a long time. She wasn't confused. Silas saw that she understood what he meant. There was something about Min. Some kind of anomaly that didn't settle well in his brain, and he couldn't pinpoint it. The unerring beauty, the flawless tone of voice, the fluid movements...everything about her. Not an ounce of reality in her. But she was real. He touched her; he conversed with her; he smelled her unique scent.

She existed in this world, but she was apart from it.

"I have to get to work," Jennie finally said and walked away. Silas finished his coffee, left a tip, and went home. Tomorrow, he was determined to lay to rest his concerns and find out who that woman really was.

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The evening was quiet with only me and the other three girls. Ashley and I stopped at a movie rental store on the way home earlier that day, renting a couple of new releases. I had really wanted stop by a bookstore also, but I decided to wait until later the next week. There were some last minute additions to my book list that might have Ashley asking questions I wasn't prepared to answer. And instead of cooking, and scaring the girls away with my amateur cuisine, we ordered pizza and spent the evening camped out on the sofas watching movies. Melissa joined us around six o'clock. She wasn't acting anxious, only her usual sullenness and bad humor, so I wasn't concerned about another all night escapade.