SWNOVELS Chapter 21 ~ Visitors
When she opened her eyes it was already dark. She looked up at the ceiling to see the stars.
“Wait. What?” She murmured to herself “Where the hell am I?” she looked around. She was lying next to a fire pit, in the middle of a forest. The fire had already gone out. There were two other blankets on the ground, indicating that two other person had slept there too. She sat up. Suddenly she heard footsteps. She quickly got up and reached for her dagger. She quickly realised, that it wasn’t there and that she was wearing a long dress instead of her jeans and sweater. She hid behind a bush and waited.
Soon she got sight of two dark figures. Both were tall with black hair. One had very pale skin, while the other had warm beige skin...At least as far as she could tell.
“Where is she?” asked the taller one with pale skin. He turned around. Ivelle immediately recognised Adrastos. Someone behind her grabbed her and covered her mouth. She let out a faint screak. Now both men turned towards the bush. Her eyes widened as she recognised Áedh. The one who grabbed her started dragging her deeper into the forest.
She sat up suddenly panting and sweating. She sat on her bed staring in front of her. She buried her face in her hands, trying to make sense of her strange dream.
She sat like that for a while when someone opened the door.
“Good, you’re awake.” said Adrastos, standing at the door “Two policemen are here, they want to talk to you.” he said in a bored tone and walked out.
Ivelle groaned and got out of the bed. She quickly went into the living room. Before she stepped in she heard one of the policeman’s voice.
“So you’re a foreigner?” he had a deep and calm voice.
“Yes.” answered Adrastos coolly.
“We’ve met in Spain, and now working on a project together.” explained Ivelle, while walking into the room and sitting down next to Adrastos, across the officers. The one who had been talking to Adrastos was small and bulky, and maybe in his late 60s. The other one was younger, tall and thin.
“You must be Ms Preston.” said the older “I’m Chief Inspector Carson and this is Sergeant Stewart. We would like to ask you a few questions.” Ivelle nodded, indicating him to go on.
“So you say you were abroad. How long?” asked Sergeant Stewart.
“Nearly for a year. I left last November, and came home today.”
“I see. And where were you exactly?”
“Madrid.”
“Have you talked to your grandmother since you left the country?” Ivelle looked at her lap.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know I just...I was too busy I guess...” she felt quite ashamed, although she couldn’t explain why.
“It’s an interesting coincidence.” he said examining Ivelle’s face “That you came home after she was murdered.”
“I...” she couldn’t say anything. “Wait... Am I a suspect?”
Adrastos slowly stood up. And walked into the kitchen. The older man followed him with his gaze cautiously. He opened the fridge and then stood in the door, drinking orange juice from a glass.
The younger officer quickly collected himself.
“You have to admit that there are too many coincidences.” Ivelle looked at Adrastos who stopped drinking and started murmuring under his breath. Chief Inspector Carson looked confusedly from Ivelle to Adrastos and then back at Ivelle. He wanted to stand up but suddenly stopped.
“First your mother is killed, and-” Sergeant Stewart didn’t finish his sentence and sat there with his mouth open.
Adrastos put down his glass on the counter in the kitchen and walked into the living room.
“Well gentlemen, I think you saw enough. I’m sure that you found everything ok, and that there’s nothing suspicious at all.” he said looking from one officer to the other.
Chief Inspector Carson turned to him, although his eyes didn’t focus on him.
“You’re right, Sir. It’s all fair and square. We won’t bother you anymore.” he stood up and the younger one followed him “Thank you for your cooperation.” They walked out of the room and then out of the flat. When Adrastos closed the door behind them and walked back to the living room, Ivelle just sat there shocked.
“What?” asked Adrastos sitting down across Ivelle.
“You...” she started trying to find the right words “You... bewitched them?”
“Something like that.” he shrugged his shoulders.
“But...why?”
“To get rid of them, obviously. They bored me.”
“Sure, obviously...” she murmured.
“So where should we begin our investigation?” Ivelle looked at him, trying to make sense of his words. Her thoughts were miles and miles away. He could bewitch her too, anytime he wanted, and could make her do things she wouldn’t want to.
“For Keres’s sake, get over it.” groaned Adrastos “I won’t bewitch you if you worry about that.”
“How could I be sure?”
“You can’t be.” he gave her a childish grin “I guess you’ll have to trust me.”
“There’ll be problems with that.” she stood up and started her way towards her room.
“Whenever you’ve finished sulking, we can start our job.” he shouted after her “Or have you forget about the war?” Ivelle turned back and walked up to him.
“I’m not sulking.” she looked straight into his eyes “And it’s impossible to forget it, the fact that you’re here is a great reminder.” She went into her room and closed the door. She sat at her desk, staring out the window. How dared that big-headed monkey treat her as a child? She was a grown-up woman. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She inhaled slowly, then blew out to calm her mind, then slowly stood up and opened his wardrobe. The box with the journals was still there. She grabbed the box and walked back to the living room. She dropped the box on the coffee table.
“What’s that?” asked Adrastos.
“Journals. They belonged to my mother.” as she saw the confused expression on Adrastos' face she added, “If she really hid that sword, I’m sure we’ll find some clue in them.”
“Clever, very clever Ms Preston.” he opened the box “Let’s get to work.” he grabbed the first journal and started reading.