Bab 22: What They Believe In
"I was just too happy to notice it." The boy held on his arm that bled darker blood into his white coat. The blood patch was even big enough to make it look like he lost a limb. If Haukur didn't see him waving his two arms, he would have assumed so.
Crevan stared at the scrawny man first as if he was going to say more. However, he dropped the notion and walked off toward the big man behind him. The big hand offered his arm to be Crevan's chair. He then carried the boy off to the edge, soon jumping off to get to a lower roof.
That was the only time Haukur noticed that the big thing had a box on its back. Blood leaked from its bottom as if whatever was inside was bleeding uncontrollably.
The scrawny man hummed. "It normally took him two days to fix up corpses. I wonder what kind of body did he find lying around tonight. No matter. Time to patrol until Lev comes home."
…
When they reached the estate, Keagan alighted the car on her own. She saw the maids cleaning the black motorbike from the soot that must have come from the burning building. After all, they parked it quite closer than preferred. No matter, Wren was already home.
"Miss Allard, please come with me." Cherie greeted Keagan by the garage's doorway leading to the inner hallways. When Keagan stepped past the frame, Cherie caught her feet and wrapped them in some kind of plastic. That was only when Keagan realized how dirty her feet were.
A strong blush showed on her face when she realized she walked outside the estate in sleepwear. Not only did she not wear any slippers for sitting cross-legged on the couch, but she barely had any makeup. Neither was she wearing any bra under her pajama. Thankfully, the buttons did not give in to the pull of her flesh. She wouldn't even notice it until it was too late.
Defeated, Keagan walked with Cherie to the baths on the second floor. Cherie only stayed in the outer area where Keagan had to strip off her clothes. After all, the silk pajamas looked ruined by the dirt.
Since Cherie was also a woman, Keagan cared too little about getting bare. Moreover, the steam fogged up the mirrors so Keagan didn't have to look at the kind of body she now had. It was nothing close to what she was used to, especially when she was not allowed to visit the gym and could only work out at home. To be honest, she hadn't done much these days.
"…let's just drop it, Keagan. You don't have a boyfriend anymore. No one's looking at your body anymore," Keagan whispered to herself as she opened the sliding door to get inside the bathing area.
The place in front of her was nothing like a bathroom she expected to see even in a mansion of a rather willful woman. Instead of tiles and a sunken bath, what Keagan had before her was an artificial spring. There were plants almost everywhere, and the scent of the forest overtook everything else. The pond in the middle even had a few fish in it.
Her eyes flickered as she turned to the further side. Four stations for bathing were installed, seemingly asking her to shower under an artificial waterfall. Toiletries were at the side so it wasn't like she only had water to clean herself. However, her eyes still followed the river flow to the sunken bath as if seeing where the soap suds would end up in.
"I'll just… look for another place to wash off next time…" Keagan sighed and begrudgingly stayed to wash off the dirt on her body. The dirt of going out in her pajamas showed, especially when the sleeves were rolled up and when the top was paired with shorts.
The mini waterfalls had a stone floor, where Keagan sat as she scrubbed her legs. Her feet suffered so badly from her misadventure, but the discoloration went away easily. It was just that she watched the water flood around her seat a little. Soon, her limbs limped as if she had run out of energy.
Keagan felt the water on her back and stared at the stone wall before her. Tears flooded her eyes as she thought of their burning building. She had yet to meet Wren again, and she didn't know if Elijah was any better than her. If he was alive, shouldn't Wren have taken him back home? No one was behind her on her bike. Did she not see him in the room?
"Are you okay? Should I brace for your friends looking at me again because you vanished?" She then stared at her hands. "What if they think that I got rid of you instead? What would they believe in?"
…
The news about the burning building spread around like wildfire. Keagan woke up in her new pajama that looked more like a dress than a button-up top. She brushed her hair and tied it on a high pony before leaving the bedroom allotted for her. Cherie picked her up like the last time and walked her to the dining hall. Unlike the last time, however, Wren was already there.
Keagan stared at Wren's perfect silhouette as she stood before the huge window with its blackout curtains drawn. It only lit up the dining hall because of the curtains' strong white color. It was no less than the brightness of Wren's white hugging blouse.
"That's not an excuse. Call me again after you eat breakfast and have a clearer mind. Perhaps, you will be wiser," Wren spoke in a lazy yet assertive tone. She seemed to be arguing with someone over the phone. However, she clicked 'End Call' on her screen and handed her phone to another maid in the house.
"All they gave you are problems," Gephardt whispered as he watched Wren's angry visage. He even followed her to her chair with his gaze. "Let me take care of them."
"Leave it, Gephardt. You're just giving me more headaches. I can't have my board replaced in a flash. The police might even think I have a motive." Wren sighed and picked up her fork. Her phone rang again, but the maid had taken the phone out of the dining hall. It seemed to be the same person calling her so early in the morning.
Keagan walked to her seat as directed by Cherie. She smiled at Gephardt and Wren. "Good morning, Madam, Gephardt. How did you sleep last night?"
Gephardt didn't greet back, but he didn't ignore Keagan as well. He just shrugged as if not knowing how to answer that kind of question.
As for Wren, she only made an exhausted smile. "I worked some more after we returned. More work came now that things are getting messier than I expected. I guess I won't have any good night's sleep for a few more days."
Hadiah
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