Flashback a few moments
Iam standing there looking at Niven, “Mam, how much time do we have?” My voice drowns out the sound of the doorbell as I walk back into the library. “I will give it to the end of the day. If I can’t find something to help her, then she must go to the hospital.” She was shaking her head, and I know she would rather just call for help now. “I informed the kid that I will do all I can, but I can’t make any promises.” Headlights redirect my attention away from her, initially causing me to head back outside. I watch the driver’s side door swing open as someone steps out, slamming it behind him.
Brennan!
He glares in my direction, and anger is plastered across his face. He snorts like an angry bull about to charge, before he turns and storms into the manor.
“Brennan is home, Niven.” I step one foot back through the library entrance, giving her the heads up, “I am sure he isn't going to be incredibly pleased with what he finds in there.”
Her shoulders roll back as she gives them a little shake, asserting her confidence. “I am not afraid of Brennan and remember you helped me.” The corner of my lip curls up in a smile, “I’ll stay here and keep watch, but you should head over and tell him whatyou’vedone.”She will not be pawning this off on me,“It is only fair that you tell him what happened. He deserves to know.”
“Sir, I can’t do this without you, please?” I watch as her eyes pull together in sadness. “Just give me a moment, I will ask the boy to keep an eye on her.” Before I can protest, Niven jogs up the steps, and muttering can be heard as the whispers bounce off the walls and tumble down the stairs. I disregard them and pace—waiting for her return. A few moments pass, and she arrives promptly with a nod of her head. “Ok, fine, let's make this quick.”
Once inside, I speed off to Emory's room. Releasing a sigh of relief when the door opens and she isn't there, meaning she managed to make it to the garden before he showed up. Arguing erupts down the hall near the west wing, startling me, causing me to hasten to the noise. With prior knowledge that Brennan can be a lot to handle sometimes, I choose to keep my distance. Finding him and Niven deep in conversation, I stay back, lingering just close enough that i know Niven can feel my presence—their voices are in earshot, as I listen just in case she needs me. Brennan would never do anything to hurt her, though I may not be as sure after she tells him what happened.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” she says to him, her arms crossed—face crimson with indignation.
“So, you bash his face in. Give him a few good lacerations, and lock him in my grandfather's room? Seems pretty thought out to me.” His cheeks begin to brighten with anger, “Where did you put Charlie, Niven? Where is my grandfather?” Stopping to contemplate, he stammers a bit before continuing, “By the gods, don’t tell me you finally put him in a home.” He begins to raise his voice, then checks himself. Forcing himself to rein it in so as not to use a disrespectful tone. “You’re like 80 something, how did you even-”
“Oliver… helped me,” she interjects.
Brennan’s eyes go white as he rolls them to the back of his head and scoffs, “Really, you’re going to go with that old Ghost story?”
“It's not a story.”
“Oh, no? Then prove it.” Before she even had the chance to open her mouth, I grab the sconce from the wall and hurl it at his head. He is a trained killer with reflexes like a cheetah, so I knew he’d dodge it—and he does. “Who’s there? What kind of game are you trying to play?” he calls out.
“Really? Brennan?” she interjects, “I don’t have time for this. If you won’t take care of him, then I will.”
“Wow, calm down, ok.” He backs down, trying to brush it off like a teenager would his mom after telling him to clean his room. “Why has this scum got your old ass knickers in a twist anyway?” Niven gives him a look that instantly made him back pedal, “Sorry, why does he get you all worked up and ready to get blood on your hands?”
Shestraightens her body. “This will be a long explanation, so I need you to listen toall… of it before you react, do you understand?” He throws his head back and crosses his arms, flicking one hand out—A signal for her to proceed.
“I was in the library—where I always am.” I settle against the wall as she begins to elucidate. “A phone call came through informing me of an order pick-up.” Her chin pulls in as she fights her emotions, “It was December 21st, and I was waiting for the shipment of the special holiday edition of Harlequin books. I came up here to check on your grandfather…” Her eyes begin to blink rapidly, visibly commanding her tears back. “I wanted to ask if he needed anything.”
The halls are quiet, not even the rats in the walls scurry, as her eyes begin to shimmer, and her silent battle continues. “I asked him if there was anything he needed. If I could grab him something while I was out?” There is a flash of white as she snags a handkerchief from her cardigan pocket—using it to conceal the quiver in her lips, before she put the cloth beneath her lashes, to catch the tears as they form.
“Werther's candies. That was all he said before I left.” She sniffles, “Upon my return home, Oliver was screaming, and… no matter… how many times… I called her name. Glindaline was gone.” I watch as the house nurse’s name sculpts a type of disgust on Niven’s face that even an untrained eye could see.
Moving closer to her, I attempt to place my hand on her shoulder, but she moves away. “I charge up the stairs… barreling through the door,” her speech begins to break as her body starts to betray her and shake against her will. “As I get in the room,” she blows her nose, then continues, “He was... lying on the ground. I raced to him, thinking, maybe… he had just fallen.”
More tears break free and glaze her cheek. “I roll him over… and-and…” Unable to hold it back anymore, she breaks, “He was… c-covered in b-blood… his eyes… were-were… b-bloodshot. He was b-barely… h-hanging on.”
“Stop! What are you trying to tell me?”
“Brennan, p-please" Niven, begs, “let me... f-finish.”
“No! What happened?
Stop!
Dancing around it!
TELL.
ME.
POINT.
