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

House: chapter 9

Nine

Melissa was home promptly at eleven. I asked her how her date went, but all she replied was "Fine," and then went upstairs. After the other girls had gone to bed, Jennie came into my apartment.

"You gotta a minute?" She asked me through the door.

I was tired. I haven't slept much in the last week; more dreams, infused with churning storm clouds and suffocating piles of paperbacks, had me up before the alarm clock chimed in my ear. It was already after midnight, and my eyes were drooping. But I let her in. Afterward, I was thankful that I had. She told me Melissa's history.

Melissa's real father abandoned her and her mother when she was little. Her mother had become quite delirious because of that, but she remarried a few years later to a man who eventually adopted Melissa as his own. Unfortunately, her mother never completely regained herself, and it took a toll on her new husband. One day, her mom left for work and never returned. No one ever found out what happened to her, whether she had died or just disappeared. Melissa's adopted father turned malignant and angry. He was fine with being a father when Melissa's mom was around to do all the work, but being a single dad was not his desire. When Melissa was fifteen, she finally ran away.

She stayed with some friends for a while, but her father eventually tracked her down and abused her for running away, even though he didn't want her. But she kept leaving. She was arrested a few times for loitering, theft and public disruption, and that was when Silas heard about her. He was filing a report at the police station for another one of his cases when she was brought in on that last charge. He asked some questions and discovered that Melissa was from Alabama, but he was able to bring charges against her father, and she was removed from his care. Melissa was sent to some temporary homes, but no one had been able to control her. Silas deemed it best for her to be in the permanent home.

She had run away from the house a couple of times in the first month. The last time it happened, Silas informed her that he couldn't guarantee her a home anymore if she left again. Melissa, though pigheaded and rebellious to the core, was smart enough realize that she had no other favorable choice. She couldn't go home, and she really didn't want to run for the rest of her life.

She stayed, but couldn't help stirring up a little trouble now and then, which led her to do community service. She had been scheduled to "volunteer" at the homeless shelter every Saturday during the last four weeks. I suspected that Silas had a hand in that arrangement; it was droll enough that the breadcrumbs led straight to him.

"She has always been headstrong," Jennie was saying. "The only person who she has ever been really good friends with was Mae. And Mae left us a few months ago. Melissa was unbearable after that. She was angry all the time; she skipped school, got in trouble, and she fell into this relationship with Chris. I haven't been able to talk any sense into her about that. But then again, she never listened to me anyway. She once called me an 'overbearing, goody-two-shoes, old hag,' even though we are the same age." She smirked at the memory.

"So who is this Chris," I asked her.

"He's kind of the town's bad boy. He hangs out with a bunch of jack-offs down at the train yard. I don't suppose you heard about the derailment that happened last month?" I shook my head. "Well, that was his doing, although it was never proven. I also suspect that he deals in a lot of stolen items and maybe some drugs, but I don't know for sure."

"And Mae?"

"Oh, Mae is one of us. She has called this house 'Home' off and on since it opened. Her mom is an alcoholic and whenever she falls off the wagon, Mae shows up. She has an older brother in Florida somewhere, but can't tolerate him. I think he's a bit O.C.D., according to what Mae says about him. If you ever get to meet her, I think you would like her. She has a weird sense of humor and finds ironic humor in everything, including her own life."