Is It Love? DROGO

Chapter 6: IDENTITY REVEALED

"That's not all. At one point, I glanced in a mirror and I didn't see Lorie's reflection in it!"

"You must have imagined it, it's impossible." I stop to face her, in the middle of an alley. Like every time we get onto the Bartholy subject, Sarah stays in incredibly evasive. Why is she still hiding things from me when I've just revealed my suspicions? It's unbelievable.

"I'm fed up with all these secrets! I really feel like I'm the dumb girl whom no one says anything to! If you don't want to talk to me about it, avoid getting me all paranoid about it then!"

"Red..."

"Seriously?! I mean you warn me about them, you're downright paranoid about them and now that I tell you all this you're acting as if I were making it all up!!"

"You have to discover things for yourself, Red. I can only get you in the right path, which is what I'm doing." Is she acting the spiritual master now?

"All I can tell you now is to be wary of their father. Stay away from him as much as possible." Why is she talking to me about Mr Bartholy? I haven't even met him yet.

"I haven't met him yet. Is he the problem?"

"Of course not! The whole family is cursed, but he's a powerful and fearsome man. There are no words strong enough to describe him ge is an evil being!" She's coming on strong!

"Why?"

"He has the city at his feet and enough power to stifle incidents related to his sons. He never leaves anything to chance. But you'll never find anything against him, he makes sure he never leaves anything that could compromise him in any way." If I listen to her I fell in the middle of a family of Mafiosi or crooks! Or worse...

"I guarantee you that other than the tendency of not eating, the house is pretty quiet. As for Lorie, that's another story."

"She scares you?"

"She's just a child. But to say, she has freaky reactions."

"You're my friend Red. If I were you I'd get the hell out of there and pronto!"

"I don't know. They're proper with me! Apart from Lorie's dreadful character and their rather odd way of life, I'm not mistreated! If you're really my friend, then tell me everything."

"I can't..."

"Okay, so I'll find out by myself."

Arriving in front of the classroom, we're both in a sullen mood. We stop all discussion on the subject. No point drawing other students attention on our oddities.

It still continues to tick over in my mind. I think back on every detail: cold and pale skin, no reflection, superhuman strength, bloody bin bags... Several theories evidently come to mind, and I intend to look into them after class.

After the last class of the day, Sarah is much less enthusiastic about the rest than she is for Dr Jones's.

"This teacher really has a funny way of explaining things. I was confident that I'd like this course, and its content could be great, but he ruins everything!"

"You can always put things together differently and make review cards. The important thing is how you work outside the class, I think."

"Yeah, you're right." I stop in the corridor and head for the library. Sarah calls out to me.

"It's still early, are you up for going out and having a drink in town before going home?" I have other things in mind at the moment. The questions I asked myself about the Bartholys have troubled me all day. Even my note-taking suffered.