Happy Tuesday, loves!
Hope you enjoy the update!
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Her freshly tuned cello felt warm and familiar under her hands.
The comforting pressure of the wood between her knees.
Enid knows she's been neglecting it, neglecting her music.
Her world has been too busy. Too complicated.
She longs for the simplicity of her first months in America.
Of her life in Wales.
Voices drift down the hallway toward her as she dances her fingers down the strings.
"Practicing without me, angel?" Alexander leans against the doorframe, his golden curls falling into his eyes.
He is smiling at her softly and she can see the ever-present concern in his amber gaze.
It has been there since last week, when they first heard the news about Patrick.
Enid knew she had been distant, disconnected.
Much of her week off had been spent curled in the window seat in the library or outside in the snowy garden.
Days spent reading and wandering, nights spent lying awake, thinking.
She hasn't been avoiding them, but she hadn't sought them out like she normally did, either.
Her mind and emotions are still in a state of disarray.
The memory of their conversation with Graham plays repeatedly in her mind.
It's reminiscent of when her father's vinyl player would get stuck and the same few notes would play again and again.
Echoing inside her until her heart matched their rhythm.
"The showcase is in a week and a half and finals start tomorrow, so I won't have much time to practice during the week." Enid gives him a tentative smile.
"You're going to do wonderfully if Alexander's praise is anything to go by." Graham steps into the room from behind Alexander, giving her a nod in greeting.
His presence startles her, but she shifts her features into a welcoming smile quickly.
"Oh, hi Graham! I didn't realize you were here." Her eyes immediately run over his exposed skin, but she finds nothing.
She is still concerned.
"Just had some business to wrap up." His lips press into a thin smile.
Alexander shifts, something flickering across his eyes as he watches Graham.
Something like a warning.
Enid watches the two of them, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.
An awkward silence fills the spacious room.
"I need to go into town." She breaks it.
Her phone seems to heat up as she says it, she imagines it searing a hole through her pocket.
She had received a text that morning from an unknown number.
Ready to finally solve the puzzle? Meet me at Harold's Grocer at 1.
Her first impulse had been to show it to Dante who had been cooking breakfast for her.
She had glanced over at him, his hands expertly dicing a strawberry.
Red staining the knife he was wielding.
She had kept her mouth shut.
"We can go tomorrow after class, dove." Alexander says and she shakes her head.
"I want to go today if that's okay." She knows she is being more demanding than usual, but she can't find it in herself to care.
Alexander eyes her strangely, unused to her defiance.
"I need to get some... feminine supplies." She hopes it will keep him from asking any further questions.
Her heart aches at lying to him, but it's important.
His fair eyebrows furrow.
"I know for a fact that Dante stocked up last week." He crosses his arms across his chest.
"I'll take her. I need to go into town myself anyways." Graham jumps in and offers.
Alexander's carved jaw clenches, his eyes sharpening.
"That's not necessary-" Alexander begins.
"That'd be lovely, thank you, Graham." She cuts him off and the look he sends her tells her she's treading on exceptionally thin ice.
This is working out even better than she thought.
It'll be much easier to slip away from Graham than it would be with any of her three.
She watches the emotions flash across his face as he thinks it over.
He knows that if he says no, she will only grow more distant.
More defiant.
Watching her retreat into herself over the last week has been unbearable for him.
Figuring at first it was because of the boy's death, he had understood.
She was far too kind for this world.
But now... it had gotten worse.
And he was scared.
Terrified, really.
Because something was very wrong and he wasn't sure what it was.
He tried constantly to draw one of her smiles from her, the ones that light up her eyes and the whole world around her.
How desperately he wanted his sunshine back.
His golden girl.
Tucking his hands into his pockets, he studies her.
His eyes drift over the resolve in her eyes, the determination on her brow.
It is a losing battle.
And he doesn't want to fight against her.
Not now. Not ever.
He gives a sharp nod.
"I'll just go grab my coat." Putting away her cello, she races out of the room before he can retract.
When she returns, she catches the end of Alexander's commands.
"-a single hair missing, you will be held responsible. Keep your eyes on her and your surroundings the whole time." Alexander's muscular back is to her.
She clears her throat, smiling at the pair.
"Ready whenever you are." She says before listening to Alexander's instructions on staying close to Graham and being home before dinner.
He presses a kiss against her forehead, his arms holding her tightly before he reluctantly let her go.
"I love you." He whispers into her hair.
Her heart clenches, the knot in her throat tightening.
She wants to be wrong.
Wants her worries and doubts to be so very wrong.
It is why she is going.
To prove they are innocent.
"I love you." She whispers back.
It is the truth.
Graham's car is sleek and grey, with a convertible roof.
It's a stick shift and he explains he had it imported directly from Germany.
The drive is mostly quiet, the radio playing softly from the speakers.
They have some amicable small talk, about her childhood in Wales and his travels overseas.
It is stilted and polite.
She swallows the impulse to demand answers from him right away.
"How long have you worked with them?" She asks him, her eyes on the swinging rosary hung from his rearview mirror.
"A long time, nearly a decade." His grip tightens on the steering wheel.
"What do you do, exactly?" Her tone as casual as she can make it.
He shifts gears.
"Oh, all sorts of things. I mostly act as a middleman between different parties. Help with negotiations and such." It's lie that has been told so often it slips perfectly from his lips.
She hums in response.
It is silent for a minute, but she can tell he wants to say something.
"Enid, do the immortals..." He pauses, shifts nervously, "treat you well?"
Her eyes fly to him and he glances over at her.
Fiddling with the zipper of her jacket, she thinks his question over.
"Yes." She answers honestly.
Because they do.
They always have.
No matter all this recent confusion, they have always treated her with immense care and love.
Graham practically sags in relief.
"Good. I'm glad." He smiles at her and it reaches his eyes.
"Do... do they treat you well?" The words escape her before she can stop them.
His hand that had been reaching for the temperature valve freezes.
"They pay me well for my services." His response comes moments later.
It sounds strained, like there's something in his throat.
"That's not what I asked." Her voice is low, almost a whisper.
"I know." He glances at her again, tugging a hand through his hair nervously.
As he shifts gears again, his shirt sleeve rides up.
The edge of a bandage sliding from under the cotton material.
Grabbing his hand, she pulls the sleeve up before he can yank it back.
"They did this." Her voice wavers slightly.
It is not a question.
"Enid-" Graham tugs his arm back, the motion frantic.
Something in her fractures.
Tears burn hot in her eyes, but she swallows them down.
"Don't lie." She rubs a hand down her face.
The sound of the blinker ticking is jarring in the silent car.
He pulls into a parking spot near the first row of shops.
She stares down at her leggings, her fingers toying with the bottom of her sweater.
His sigh is heavy with resignation as he turns off the ignition.
"Listen- They're dangerous, okay. I won't lie to you about that. But they won't hurt you. I know that without a doubt. You will always be safe in their care." Graham's words do not comfort her.
Opening the door, she takes a deep breath of the frigid December air.
Her hands are trembling at her sides, but she rolls her shoulders back.
Raises her chin.
When they enter the pharmacy, she waits until he is distracted reading a label.
And then she slips out the back door.
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How my heart breaks for her.
Who do you think the text was from?
Comments fill my heart with joy.
All my love, Sappho