Within The Shadows (15 page)

“
Now, the long journey must begin.
Sleep well, young princess.”

Light-
headed and dizzy, I
stumbled. I could hear my own heart beat sound a tad slower. Its
thump echoed in my head, and my eyes began to lose focus. In a
flash, I was out cold; again.

Chapter Twelve

IT FELT
LIKE
only moments had passed since I fell
asleep. I had no concept of how much time had passed, and I was
shocked to see the sun was starting to break through the clouds
that had accumulated in the night. The sight of elms and evergreens
made me feel welcomed, and I suddenly realised I was in
Kenwood.

I was home.

A burst of
excitement ran through me like a million stars exploding. Eager, I
sat up straight in the back of the blacked out car as we drove
closer to my house. Looking out of the window, I devoured every
path, house, and car we passed. I refused to take any of this for
granted, and wanted to imprint the memory of ‘home’ in my brain,
refusing to ever forget where I came from.

The car
slowly came to a stop. Antoine, who sat beside me, took hold of my
hand, and placed a necklace in my palm. Looking at it, I realised I
had seen the same artwork on his throne. It was white gold with a
miniature crown charm. Tiny writing was engraved on it, obviously
in Slavic, a language I would never understand.

“
Thank you, but I can’t accept this,” I said
softly.

“
It is merely a gift from me to you, but it also has some
significance with your safety. See this writing? It’s an old spell,
binding you from harm.”

“
Oh. What does it say?” I was intrigued.

“
This bit here . . .” He pointed to the back of the crown.
“It says, ‘In the shadows, evils hide, willing to take me from
love’s side, but with your help I shall be strong, and exile what
does me wrong. Send them away. Send them astray, never again to
pass my way. So mote it be.’ And this part says, ‘In the goddess’s
name, Lilith, we command thee’.”

He placed it
around my neck, and secured it in place. Before I could say
anything, my door was opened by a large, bald man who wore
thick-rimmed sunglasses. On his face was the same emblem Afanas
wore. I could not see his eyes, but I was pretty sure they were
deep red.

“
Thank you,”
I said as I got out of the car.

My legs were
like jelly, and butterflies of excitement and anticipation built up
inside me. I could not wait to have my mother wrap her arms around
me, but I was also afraid of my father. I worried about how he
would react when he saw me. Taking a deep breath, I stepped onto my
drive. Pausing, I looked at Antoine. He smiled at me. A beautiful,
caring expression spread across his face, and it made me feel
completely at ease.

“
I’ll be in touch. Stay safe, sweet Princess.”

I had no
time to say anything. The car drove off, leaving me alone, looking
at the house in front of me. My home was a traditional one, set on
a hill overlooking the Lake of the Isles. Deep amongst the trees,
it was a haven away from all the hassle of school life, a place
where my heart truly belonged.

My mother’s
silver sedan was in the drive. I walked around it as I slowly made
my way to the front door. My heart skipped a beat as I bent down,
and found the spare key lying under a pot full of posies and
geraniums, their strong, earthy, herbaceous scent soothed me,
balancing my thoughts, and giving me a spring in my
step.

Turning the
key, I entered the front hall. I was greeted by the same pictures
of my youth, familiar surroundings that welcomed me home with open
arms. I roamed from room to room, taking in every little detail,
from the miniature fairies I had collected as a child to the more
dramatic ornaments that were priceless collectables – my mother’s
pride.

Glancing at
the clock, I realised my parents would be close to getting out of
bed. I had no clue what I was going to say, and tried in vain to
make things up inside my head, planning answers for each question,
but came up with nothing. I was a useless liar, and totally
uncreative. I was going to have to go along with whatever was
coming my way.

No one was
more surprised by my presence than my father when he walked into
the kitchen. I sat by the centre isle with a cup of coffee in my
hand. I meekly smiled as he dropped his morning papers, pure shock
shooting across his face.

“
Marilyn, I
think you better come and see this,” he shouted from where he
stood.

From the
hall, I heard my mother complain, “Oh, what is it now, Geoff?” She
walked into my father, her eyes fixed on me. “Giselle!”

“
Hi, Mom,” I said, swallowing hard. “I thought it was time
to come home.”

My mother
rushed up to me, grabbed me in her arms, and held me tight. I could
feel her sobs as she tried hard not to let go. My father stood
back, observing us, a stern look on his face. He was going to be
the one to administer the discipline. I could see it
coming.

“
Enough,” he demanded. “Enough of this nonsense. Giselle, do
you have any idea what you have put us through? We had just about
accepted that you’d left for good. And now you turn up unannounced,
and expect a welcome committee? You are in so much trouble, young
lady!”

“
Daddy, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight,” I
cried.

“
Not good enough. You are grounded for as long as I see fit.
I don’t want to hear excuses. In fact, anything you have to say
will fall on deaf ears.” He looked at me with hurt written upon his
face.

“
Daddy . . .” I tried again.

“
You are excused.” He picked up his papers, and continued
his journey to the breakfast room. No more was said, and I did as I
was told, retreating to my room.

I was
exhausted, and welcomed the sight of my neatly made bed. Nothing
had been touched, except for the laundry that had been put away.
Collapsing on the bed, I slept soundly until a loud knock awoke me
from my dreams. Wearily, I tried to open my eyes. I rubbed at them,
encouraging them to open. Slowly, I realised it was not a dream. I
was really home in my own bed, and hearing the familiar noises that
would normally piss me off – my brothers arguing.

Before I
reached the door, my sixteen-year-old brother, Ryan, burst into the
room, throwing himself on my bed. He was followed by Kevin, my
irritating thirteen-year-old baby brother.

“
Heard you were home,” Ryan said casually as he flicked
through some outdated magazine he found on my side locker. “You
know what they’re all saying?”

“
What?” I
stubbornly asked.

“
That you were knocked up, and went AWOL to get rid of it.”
He laughed.

“
Yeah, well, you heard wrong, dumbass,” I angrily
retorted.

“
Glad you’re home, Sis,” Kevin said. “It’s been weird around
here. Mom has been crazy. I swear I can’t take her picking me up
from soccer practice any more. She’s out to ruin my
life.”

Getting out
of the bed, I pulled on a sweatshirt, and moved over to Kevin who
was a miniature version of our father, tall and skinny with thick
black hair.

“
Glad to be back,” I replied as I threw my arms around him,
and gave him a kiss.

“
Gross!” he balked as he left the room, red faced, and
wiping the side of his face.

“
So, what
gives?” Ryan asked.

“
Nothing,” I
told him as I sat back down on the bed.

“
Liar! I know what that jerk did. Of course, you made
yourself look like a complete loser by running off like
that.”

“
Really? So, what should I have done?” I prodded, folding my
arms in protest.

“
Come on, G, we all know you have a pretty mean right hook.
Why not just kick her ass?”

I jumped off
the bed again. This time, I stood by the window, and stared out
across the lake, focusing my eyes on the trees in the distance.
“Because, Ryan, I had my heart broken. I wasn’t thinking straight.
Running away seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I guess
regret is something I’ll have to learn to live with.” I turned
around to face him.

“
You should have gotten Mom involved. She would have
crucified him.”

Ryan watched
me as I paced back and forth. My hair was dishevelled, as was my
choice of bed wear, my favourite Rocky Horror Show t-shirt and
tiger pants.

“
You’ve changed,” he blurted out as I sat down beside him.
He was serious, and his deep brown eyes showed he cared.

“
I guess I have. Sometimes, things happen, and alter who we
are,” I said, sighing.

“
Yeah, but don’t you think it’s time to . . . I don’t know .
. . move on? Forget Marc and Evie ever existed, and just . . . you
know, get laid by one of his friends?” He smiled.

“
Eww. Oh, yeah, I can see that solving all my problems!
How’s Dad been? He won’t even talk to me.” I changed the
subject.

“
Dad is Dad. He’ll cope. It’s just . . . You broke his
heart. You left, and, well, he had to pick up the pieces. Kinda
hard for a man who spends all of his spare time tearing things
apart. He’ll come around. He always does. Mom, on the other hand,
has gone all Stepford on us. We can’t do anything or go anywhere
without her panicking that we’ll disappear as well. By the way,
thanks for that. I was this close to getting it on with Brigitte
Spencer.”

“
I’m sorry, Ryan. I didn’t think about you, or Kevin, but
believe me, I’m not going away ever again. I’m home for good.
Scouts honour.” I held my right hand up in the air, knowing I was
probably lying. “But seriously, Brigitte Spencer?” Both of us
laughed out loud.

My mother
knocked on the open door. “Honey, someone is here to see you,” she
said as she moved out of his way, and he walked into my
room.

A face more
familiar than anyone I
’ve ever known
appeared. I had loved that face, and had grown up looking into
those beautiful eyes. He was to be my always and
forever.

My mother
called Ryan out into the hall. He closed the door behind him,
giving me a look I knew only too well, and mouthed a few words at
me, “Sock it to him.”

Marc
stood in front of me. I wanted to ignore him, to
pretend he was not there, but my gut instinct refused. I gave in,
and asked the simplest question of all.

“
Why,
Marc?”

Marc stood
in silence with his hands in his pockets. He looked as miserable as
I did, and for a moment, I sympathized with him. He made no attempt
to answer me. The only noise I could hear was the pounding
heartbeat that reverberated in my head. He looked tired, and was a
shadow of his former self.

Impatience
got the be
st of me. Pent up anger flew
from me in a violent rage as I slapped him hard across the face. He
did not fight back, infuriating me even more. I slapped him again,
but as I did, tears fell down my cheeks. My anger was winning, and
I could do nothing except continue to hit him until I ran out of
breath and the urge to fight. Standing in front of him, I
cried.

“
Why Evie? Why her? Was I that bad of a girlfriend?” I
sobbed.

He shook his
head while his own tears fell as he broke his silence. His face was
reddened, but it was his eyes that were full of tears and sorrow.
“I can’t excuse what I’ve done. I make myself sick just thinking
about it.”

“
Marc, you screwed another girl behind my back! You promised
you would wait for me, and now it’s too late!”

“
Please,
Giselle. Please, give me another chance,” he begged.

“
I can’t. I could never trust you again. You allowed it to
happen. Live with it,” I hissed coldly at him.

With more
fight than I expected, he raised his voice at me. “Maybe you ought
to ask your buddy about that night. After all, he was the one who
set the whole damned thing up. I was the fool who fell for his
scheme. He always wanted you, and I was constantly in his
way.”

“
What? Who do you mean?”

“
Oh, come on, G, your good, old buddy Alex. He was behind it
all. I was too damned drunk and high to realise what was happening
until, well, it was too late.”

“
What?”

“
Alex threw a party at his place downtown. The pot was free,
so I and a couple of the guys thought why not. Got stoned out of
our minds, and drank his bar dry. Next thing I know, Evie is all
over me, and Alex was cheering her on, saying it wouldn’t leave the
room. What happened there, stayed there.

“
I had no idea the whole thing had been a set up. I know I
screwed up big time, but Jesus, Giselle, I deserve a little
something here. I’ve beat myself up over this for months now. You
can’t punish me any more than I’ve already punished myself. I love
you. It has always been you, only you.”

I could
hardly believe it. Was it really true?

It all
started to make sense now. The realisation of the past seven weeks
came crashing home. Everything started to add up. Alex had been
behind everything. He had coaxed Marc into having sex with Evie.
The file I had found in Afanas’s study had a list of girls – girls
who would be easy prey; easy enough to sleep with Marc. The whole
thing had been orchestrated by Alex as a way to make me
defenceless.