EMBER IN DARKNESS Chapter 3 (100% Lingerie)

As soon as I finished brushing my teeth and drying m hair, I picked the clothes River gave.A halter sun dress and underwear? How thoughtful.The white cotton dress is pretty, also considered a mini-skirt with its length. It has a baby pink-colored bow below the chest and pink straps to be hung on my neck.This underwear is not underwear-underwear; it’s 100% of lingerie. Are they expecting me to wear this thing?“Whatever.” I’ve worn thongs. This is nothing new but it still feels weird for guys to pick this kind of thing out.My reflection on the mirror looks horrible… very puffy eyes and coal-black eye bags; my mom would freak out if she saw me like this.I’ve got to stop thinking about them, I don’t want to break down again and again-if they were here, they would want me to live normally…and hunt the killer down.When I opened the bathroom door, a pair of heeled slippers greeted me, and, to my surprise, there are headbands of MY type on the antique dresser, a bunch of ponytails and small clips, a bottle of powder, lip gloss…everything I need.Knock, knock.“Come in.” I called out, still admiring the glittering nail polish set I found inside the drawer.River came in.“Why? Is it breakfast?” that was a joke.He nodded.For real?!“Thanks for the uhm..stuff…” The dress felt very light and comfortable that I almost felt like jumping and waltzing my way downstairs, to their dining room.Errr…I don’t know where it exactly is.I allowed River to lead the way.The whole house is surrounded with glass, covered by magnanimous, cream and gold velvet curtains. I feel like I’m in a castle. The floor’s made of brown marble, mostly white furniture with either gold or dark brown frames, renaissance paintings on the wall and a huge white statue in front of the door. I can’t make out what it is. Somewhere along the way, I was pretty distracted by a white polar bear rug; poor creature.“Wow.” The ceiling looks like a church’s. It’s painted with angels on one side, demons on the other, a man with fangs and writing on his body.“This house needs a map.” I whispered.River must have heard. He scratched his neck and gave a sigh.Or did he find it funny?“How much farther is it?” As if he can answer me.He pointed to the window; I saw a very well-decorated terrace almost as huge as the room I slept it. There is a breakfast table filled with cupcakes with a load of icing and white-sauced spaghetti. Four other platters are covered; different dishes, I suppose? I’m not really in the mood to eat but I guess if I stare at the dishes long enough, it will perk up my appetite.The moment we stepped outside, I went running back in and slammed the door shut. The two maids and River stared at me like I’m a lunatic.“I am not going out with those things flapping around!!!” I pointed to the three huge butterflies hovering over the flowers. I was scared of butterflies ever since I saw one-they’re like mutated worms with powdery wings and itchy legs.The two maids immediately ran inside and brought out a couple of electric fans each. In my opinion, things would be better if we eat inside, but after a few minutes later, I found myself sitting at the table with a cupcake in hand-frozen in paranoia. River looked amused, every time he sees a butterfly, he would look at me, maybe to see what my reaction is or to check if it will attack me. Luckily, the maids are considerate enough to shoo it away with the electric fans or catch it with their net.After thirty excruciating minutes of my poor heart pounding in fright, we were done with breakfast.“The dining room really looks inviting for lunch and dinner.” I announced so that the three of them could hear. Lunch hour is when the sun’s at its highest. Despite the butterflies, there are also dragonflies and other creepy winged creatures. Dinner outside is like suicide. Thick-winged moths with fat, heavy, juicy bodies covered in dust WILL fly around anything that gives off light, and if not, WILL fly around me. Sometimes, I think these insects could sense my fear.“Oh gross.” I noticed an encased collection of perfectly dead butterflies on one of the columns.“Uhm…River, where’s the toilet?”Again, without the slightest bit of hesitation, he accompanied me and even opened the door for me.“Thanks.”Looks like I’m stuck here until I work on my own and find my own place stay.A mirror, hanging across the door reflected an image of me and River’s back. I didn’t know that he had a tattoo on his nape.I closed the door behind me and splashed cold water on my face.Where will I go from here?_________________________________________________________________________________________________“Hey. What time will Dr. Burke get home?” I sat beside River, who is watching motorcycle stunts on the plasma screen.River didn’t reply. “You just ignore me when you want to. It’s pretty irritating.” I crossed my arms and stomped on his foot.No response.“You’ve got problems.” I stood up and went out.This place is so cool. It’s like a whole estate. A flower-filled garden stretched out in front of me, below the front porch. There were no butterflies in sight, so, I took my time to look around. Swinging benches and mini-fountains are scattered everywhere. The best spot I stumbled upon is a wide lake taking up a quarter of the space. The water’s clear, reaching all the way to my waist. Smooth black and white pebbles filled the lake and clean limestone rocks contained the water. It’s perfect. There is a shrine in the middle, with flowering vines wrapped around the four columns surrounded with roses. In fact, the whole lake is surrounded with roses.Carried away with the beauty, I took my slippers off and followed the small steps descending to a path on the floor, made of flat round stones which led to the shrine. If the water was deep enough, I would dive.The sun sparkled on the small ripples I made as I walked up to the shrine.“Lily…” I heard my brother’s voice.“Spade?” I looked around, but no one’s there.Now, I’m imagining things.“Lily.” He called again.Okay, I’m not imagining things. I half-swam back to the grass and didn’t mind picking the slippers up.“Spade? Where are you???” Past the trees was a maze made of trimmed bushes, 5 feet tall. I entered, calling my brother.I know what I heard. He’s here, Spade’s alive.After a few blind turns in the maze, I got closer to the sound of his footsteps, until it came to a halt.“Where are you?” my voice almost came out like a squeak and tears stung my eyes again; I rubbed them off with my eyes and continued looking around…Until he stepped into viewI ran over to him, and wrapped my arms around him. He’s perfectly unhurt-no wounds or bruises, not even a scratch!“I thought you were dead.” I sobbed.“Mom called me up yesterday, her voice was shaking. She told me that somebody was looking for you; after that, the phone went dead.” Spade’s tone is cold.“I…I…” the only memories I have during that day is when River covered me.“I heard a guy yelling at the background, he wanted to know where you are, since you were not at school. She didn’t want to tell him…Where were you during that time?”He sounds…different.“Where were you?!” He yelled, pulling my hair so that he could see my face.“You’re hurting me.”OOOOF!!!Spade forced me to the ground and circled his fingers around my neck.“You killed them.” With gritted teeth, he squeezed my neck until I couldn’t breathe.CrackThe sound of a twig being stepped on loosened his grip, and without saying anything, he ran off.At first, I kept on coughing and coughing…until I was able to breathe.River knelt beside me, tilting my chin up.“Spade…he…was…here…” I looked up at River’s eyes; it was black as night.When I was ready to stand, River helped me up and handed my slippers.“He strangled you?” Dr. Burke repeated for the hundredth time, at dinner.“Like I said, YES. River here, made some noise which scared my brother. He ran away after that.” I ran my hand through my hair and caught a whiff of the strawberry-scented shampoo I used a while ago, after the incident. “He’s blaming me for our parent’s death.”“He’s still under shock, just like you are.”I ignored his last statement, and thought for a moment. “I can go to school after tomorrow.”Dr. Burke’s spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. “You sure?”“Yeah.”River continued chewing and listening to our conversation.“I bought you some clothes. Expect them in your closet tomorrow morning.”“How could I ever repay you?” I still have my credit card with me, but my mom had it blocked when I bought this pair of boots that I saw on display. She had my bank account blocked too.“It’s nothing, I’m glad to help.”I smiled, feeling more than lucky to have him, when he’s not even related to me in any way. “I want to ask you something…You have all this. Why do you still work in our school?”“I like the research and stuff, it’s sort of an….obsession.” for a man in his thirties or forties, he knows how to talk with teenagers, filtering all the technical stuff.I noticed River’s eyebrows meet at the middle of his forehead.“Oh.”When we were finished, Dr. Burke and River went to their rooms while I, on the other hand, brushed my teeth and changed into the nightgown I saw lying on the bed.Good grief.It’s almost transparent and only covered the important parts; all the others are exposed. I wore the robe beside it and headed downstairs, feeling the need to watch TV.Upon reaching the living room, River was already there, with his own robe on, but untied, showing his chest and his tattoos, the straight line of dark hair below his tummy; good thing he has boxers on.I sat beside him and lifted my feet off the floor.“Pick a movie.” It’s a suggestion, not a request. He’s just watching the news anyway.He grabbed the remote and switched to different channels, until we came across HBO. The next movie in five minutes is National Treasure.“Can we watch that?” I asked.River placed the remote on top of the table and disappeared in one of the hallways.I guess I pissed him off.Just when the movie was about to start, he came back with a bottle of soda, two empty cups and three boxes of pizza and fixed all of it on the table, grabbed another remote and pressed on one of the buttons POOF, there’s fire in the fireplace.Wow. He is a certified couch potato.“Thanks. Oh, and River-“, I paused when the smell of his aftershave with his body scent and the pumped up chest came to my senses, as if inviting me to come closer “-thank you for helping me out a while ago.” though it was unintentional.I feel like my eyes want to travel down there.Fan…I need a fan…his smell is filling my lungs.To divert my attention, I grabbed one slice of pizza, removed the onions and took a big bite off.I managed to let it stay that way, surprised when I realized that I have finished half of the box in fifteen minutes.About halfway through the movie, a question suddenly popped in my mind.“River, why do your eyes change color? Like…one moment, it’s a light blue, the next it’s like sapphire and when you’re mad, it turns black.”His mouth opened and he was about to talk. He’s going to say something!Then, I felt disappointed when he faced the TV and drank half a cup of soda.“I know you can talk.” I turned back to the movie.