The Alexandru Chronicles: The Beginning (27 page)

And once she had emerged from both her bathroom and bedroom, fully clothed, she went directly into the kitchen; where she was now standing, drinking her coffee and staring at the broken alarm clock in her garbage can. Lucky for her, she had made sure to stock up on alarm clocks.

When
Walmart
had last had a sale on alarm clocks, she had made sure to purchase at least a dozen of these annoying devices; for she had broken her fair share by either accidentally dropping them or putting them on the floor and kicking them around a few times.

Okay...maybe it was more on purpose than an actual accident.

Possibly her partner was right and she had some serious anger issues.

Once she had adverted her gaze away from the clock, Genevieve looked over at her cell phone; that sat on the sink's counter – the desire to call Jewel and Kyle was gnawing on her.

Yet, she didn't want her little sister to think that something was wrong – Jewel had enough to worry about. With classes wrapping up, and Jewel having to decide whether or not she should take summer courses or wait until August. And then, if that wasn't enough of a hassle, she had that pestering worry, over where she was going to store her belongings for the summer.

Jewel hadn't wanted to ask Amelia, because, last summer, Amelia's husband had given a few of Jewel's belongings to
Goodwill.
And then torn up some of Jewel's clothes. He had sworn up and down that it had been an accident, but Jewel and Genevieve had known better. The man just didn't like them. Nor did he want them around.

So, with all things considered, Genevieve found herself conflicted over whether or not she should call Jewel. Considering how stressed she was, with either being nagged by Amelia over finding a job, having to study for finals, having to pick her next semester's college courses, and then having to deal with being harassed by the register's office over money; it just didn't seem right to put more on her.  

Yet, before Genevieve had even successfully talked herself out of calling either one – her partner or Jewel—she was subconsciously reaching for her cell phone and dialing her little sister's number.

It was on the first ring that Jewel picked up.

“Hello...” Genevieve immediately felt guilty when she heard her sister's groggy voice on the other line. For those few brief minutes, she didn't say anything. Yet, when Jewel said, again, “Hello...” she finally did.

“
Jewel, this is Gen...”

“
Gen...,” she heard Jewel moving around. From the faint ruffle sound in the background, Genevieve was willing to guess, that her sister was sitting up in bed, which had her feeling even more guilty. “what time is it?”

“
Six..., I was just calling to see how you were doing?”

While Jewel was silent, for less than a minute; during that lapse, Genevieve had wondered, if Jewel had possibly drifted back to sleep. Yet, before she could repeat the question, her sister said, “I'm fine...Gen, what's wrong?”

“Nothing...” Genevieve wearily looked around her apartment. “I just wanted to see how you were doing?”

It was those few seconds, of her not responding, that had Genevieve worried. Yet, before she could ask if anything was wrong, Jewel said, “I'm good...things have been good...”

“That's good...” the tone of her voice slightly faltered. “I'll let you get back to sleep then...” before Genevieve hung up, she said, “Jewel..., I love you.”

“
I love you, too, Gen.”

XXX

Once Jewel had hung up her cellphone, she continued to stare at the blank black screen– she couldn't help, right then, being overwhelmingly worried about her sister.

She had never heard such anxiety in Genevieve's voice.

Gen was the strong one in the family -  the outspoken one that told you off, if you pissed her off.

This Genevieve, though, had sounded different – vulnerably frightened.

As she sat there in her bed, with the sheets irritably wrapping around her legs, she was tempted to call Genevieve back.

But knowing her sister, she probably wouldn't tell her what was bothering her. Gen had the uncanny habit of keeping herself closed off. If she was irritated about something, she tended to just keep it to herself or take her frustrations out on one of the many gadgets in her apartment.

The keeping to one's self, was one of the few characteristics that Jewel and Genevieve had in common. Possibly that was why they got along so well, was that they didn't bother each other with the mundane. If it was serious and Jewel needed to talk to her sister, she would. And Genevieve would listen, and try to help her the best that she could.

The matter regarding her belongings for the summer, had already been resolved; Genevieve had already offered to let all Jewel's belongings stay in her apartment – she had also invited Jewel to stay. It would be cramped, but Jewel would have a better time with Genevieve than she would have with both Amelia and her brother in-law.

While it was true that both Jewel and Genevieve had certain similarities in common, their personalities hadn't stayed consisted over the years.

Where Jewel had started to open up a little more about her life, Genevieve, on the other hand, had become more private. She couldn't seem to open up about anything anymore. And every time Jewel saw her, it was like she was re-acquainting herself with a complete stranger.  Yet, regardless of this, the strong loving bond between Genevieve and Jewel had not changed.

After ultimately deciding against calling her sister back, Jewel sat her phone down and, lying back down, she tried willing herself to fall back to sleep. While her body was exhausted, she couldn't seem to get her brain to settle down.

After awhile of tossing and turning, she finally just lay there; staring up at the ceiling, her brain replayed over and over again the conversation, that she had had with Genevieve. And, it was during this time, as her brain became, like her body, overwhelmed by exhaustion, that she wondered what could possibly be bothering her sister?

XXX

After she had finished her second cup of coffee, Genevieve decided it was about that time to leave the comfort of her apartment. She wasn't looking forward to the day ahead; it was that nightmare, and the individuals in it, that had her very much unbalanced.

It had been Genevieve's personal experience, that after a nightmare, such as last night's one, that the next day was surely to be if not chaotic than horrible.

She remembered one such day, after a nightmare, where it had been belong bearable. That had been the day that she had lost Big Tom – her big tiger tom cat. A stupid prick had run him over, and when she had confronted the dumb fuck; his mother had the nerve of pointing out, that cats, and other defenseless animals, were just soulless creatures that didn't feel anything – like pain, sadness, or any other emotions.

This had pissed Genevieve off so much, that she had spouted out, that a soulless creature, like the woman's son, was one that ran over defenseless animals; who weren't doing anything, but minding their own business as they strolled along.

Of course, the woman hadn't taken kindly to her delinquent son being called
'a soulless creature'.
Yet, Genevieve hadn't cared what that bitch had thought of her. She wasn't one, who thought before she spoke; if she was truly pissed off or a person was really asking for it, she told them off.

Granted she could be nice, but that was either if she liked the person or a case, she was working on, called for compassion. All and all, she didn't have much use for people. She loved animals, but certain people made her sick to her stomach.

While losing her cat, had, at least according to Genevieve, been categorize in that category of being   the worse day of her life, the next day had been a little better – karma had made the wise decision, to take her side.

When she had arrived home, she had noticed two police officers over at the little delinquent's apartment. They were arresting him, and, from what she had found out, from one of the officers, the little asshole had ran over a little girl at a school cross walk. As he sped off, the crossing guard, who had witnessed the whole thing, had written down his license plate.

Well, that was karma for you.

While she didn't like that an innocent child had had to end up hurt for it to take effect, it was just the way the planetary alignment had worked out for her.

After Genevieve had retrieved her holstered weapon from the bedroom and her keys from the coffee table, she left her apartment. Once she had locked the door, and swiftly made her way downstairs, she headed toward the parking lot. She was trying hard not to think about that nightmare. Yet, for some reason, she desperately wanted to know what that dream meant.

She wasn't a superstitious person. Yet, this nightmare had her cautiously wondering, if it was wise for her to pursue a romantic relationship between Cirpian and herself.

She imagined that it was never a good sign, to dream about a potential love interest in a villainous sort of way.

After she had unsuccessfully tried to shrug away the nervous flutter in her stomach, she walked past a couple, who she exchanged really weird looks with; she couldn't say why, but the way the couple had looked at her, had her even more on edge.

As she stopped to watch them pass, it was then that she caught a few words that they whispered among each other; as they continued to sneak anxious glances over at her.
“...she doesn't know.” when they both noticed her stoic gaze on them, they hastily walked away.

Anxiously watching their departing backs, Genevieve rubbed her face. After she had stood there for a few minutes more, watching them disappear behind a corner, she finally continued on her way to the parking lot. Yet, the whole time that she walked, she kept wondering on what they had meant by that statement:

“She didn't know...
”

She didn't know what?

While she was tempted to follow after them and ask them what or who they were talking about. She resisted the urge, by resigning herself, to the fact that it was possible that she wasn't the one they had been discussing. Then again, their expressions had said otherwise.

She was so much lost in her own thoughts, that she wasn't really paying that much attention. If she had been, her car probably wouldn't have been such of a surprise. Then again, she probably would have still reacted the same.

The moment she saw her car, she didn't even recognize it.

The wreckage was like nothing, she had ever seen or heard of.

She had heard of cars being scrapped like this, either in drug bust or by the typical car thieves. Yet, this...this...this was something else.

Her brain refused to believe it. Even though she was seeing it for herself, her brain was still having a hard time comprehending what her eyes were actually seeing.

The car was keyed, all four tires had been flattened, the windows had been busted out, and, as she walked around the car, she noticed how the hood and roof were caved in.

The once pretty car, that had been more reliable than any man in her life, now looked to belong in a junk yard.

The first thought that successfully got through, her over-strained brain, was denial. This couldn't be her car. Yet, she recognized that parking place, the one she usually parked in, right below her bedroom window, and the silver cross that hung on her rear-view mirror.

“
Ah...” before she could even get the curse word that hung on her tongue out, her cell phone, cut her off.

The annoying device had her flinching inwardly. Yet, once she had gotten over her surprise, she pulled it out. Like her wrecked car, the name that flashed on the screen, left her brain trying to catch up with her eyes.

It was Cirpian.
 

Chapter Twenty-Three

The phone rang three times, with her just dumbfoundedly staring down at it. Eventually it made up her mind, for her, to cease it's consistent droning. Once it had stopped, she stood there looking at the missed call. It did dawn on her, that Cirpian would call back. And possibly that worried thought, was the reason behind her quickly dialing Kyle's number.

He answered on the first ring.

Once she had told Kyle what had happened, his reaction had been one of surprise. First, he had asked her to repeat herself. Then, he had told her to wait outside for him to show-up.

That last part, had had Genevieve of course rolling her eyes.

Sometimes she didn't know what her partner was thinking. He had to know that close to seven, the temperature was hastily making it's way up there to the triple digits. It was possible that since he had a darker complexion than her, that he was somewhat immune to the summer heat. It could also be that he was just the typical dumb male, who didn't know that the hot breeze blowing in his face, really didn't feel good. Yet, she was willing to give her partner the benefit of the doubt, and say that he was just one of those Tucson natives that truly enjoyed the unbearable summer heat.