Curse of Wickery Manor pt 2

“You guys go on ahead,” Mireille said quietly as she unlocked the door and pushed it open for her friends and other team members from her class.  “Riden, can you lead everyone to downstairs?  I'll meet you all in a minute.”

Riden's blue eyes filled with concern.  “Everything okay?”  

“Yes,” she answered with a nod.  “I just want to check in on a couple of people before we get started.”

Riden nodded in understanding as she made her way toward the spiral staircase to the upper level of the Kornari mansion.  He knew her family had come across hard times and she was dealing with it all as best as she could.  It had been a secret among only her select friends that her uncle had attempted to commit suicide. However, it was news that flew around the school when word got out that her sister had been viciously and brutally attacked just before the end of summer break.  How Mireille managed to keep her mask in place day after day on top of everything else she had to face was a thought that randomly crossed his mind several times throughout the day.  He watched until her figure disappeared down the hall before turning and leading the others toward the basement stairs.

***

Mireille cringed slightly as she tried to keep the doorknob silent as she turns it to open the door to her Uncle Akil's room.  She had tried to make it as soundless as possible so as not to disturb him, but when she stepped inside to see him sitting up in his bed, she realized it would not have mattered.  

“Hello, Uncle.  It's good to see you're awake.”

“Am I?”

Mireille blinked and frowned at his response.  “You think you are not?”

“I think I am in Hell.”

“Gee, thanks for letting me know that seeing me makes you think of Hell.”

Akil's face held no emotion as he looked up at her.  “That's not what I meant.”

“I know.”  They continued to stare at each other for a moment before Akil looked away and Mireille stepped closer.   Her eyes passed over from him to his bedside table, realizing something was missing.  “Uncle?  Where is the green crystal rose?”

Akil froze. “... I put it away.”

“But why?”  Her curiosity piqued when he merely shrugged in response.  “Uncle, what is going on?”

“Nothing.”

“You never could lie very well when it came to me, you know that.”  

“Nothing is going on.”

“What did it show you?”  She took the silence from his bed to mean that she was at least on the right track.  It was known in the house that he held that rose as his most prized possession.  It had been the last gift his wife, Saphira, had given him before she was killed.  There had been many times where she would see him gazing wistfully at the rose, though for the longest time she could not understand why.  It was not until much later that she learned the crystal of the rose had reflective properties that would show him visions of his love.  She understood from then on why he would never let it go.  To see him without it only meant one thing.  “It's showing you visions you would rather not see.”

She sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, reaching out to cup her hands over his when his eyes closed and a few tears dropped to his comforter.  “I had no idea, I am sorry.”

“I can't stand to look into it anymore.  I just... I just...”  His voice choked off and he pulled his hands from hers to cover his face.

“Shh, Uncle...” Mireille truthfully had no real idea what to say to him.  She doubted very much that anything she could say would help him, but a part of her still wanted to try.  “You don't need the rose to be close to her, Uncle Akil.  She is always with you, here, even now.”

“It's not the same.”

“Maybe not, but will you not seek out the comfort in knowing that she watches over you at least?”

“I want her here.  I want to be able to hold her again, smell her, kiss-”

“I got it,” Mireille interjected quickly with an inner shudder before he could continue.  “And I think you are missing my point.”

“What point?”

“She can easily be called to you at night.  In your dreams.  She is trying to reach out to you, but in all your grief, you have shut her out.”

Akil looked up at her in shock.  “What do you mean?”  

“I mean you need to ease up a little so she can come to you.  She has visited me in my dreams at night hoping to get a message to you.”

“You lie.”

“You know me better than that.”

“You are still lying.  She could come to me if she was trying.”

“Not in your mental state, she can't.  She hurts for you, Uncle.  Her spirit is at unrest.  She wants to comfort you, but she cannot break passed your walls.”  Mireille sighed.  “At least think about what I said, Uncle.”

“You're leaving?”

“I have to go downstairs.  I have people waiting on me for a school project.”

“Oh...”  He looked down for a second before looking back up.  “She really is trying to come to me?”

Mireille nodded and started for the door.  “You only have to ease up on your grief enough to let your wall down.  She will meet you the next time you sleep.”  She was almost out of the room when he called out her name.  “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Mireille smiled softly at him before closing the door and wandering toward the other end of the hall.  She poked her head into another room but kept her distance as she could see the family doctor, Dionis Niklar, and his assistant, Venrora Inamys, working tirelessly over her sister's body.   Just out of the way, Mireille's parents, Aurora and Adair Kornari, stood still, watching with faces twisted into looks of concern and anger combined.  Anger that someone would dare harm their daughter in any way, and concern that even with the exhaustive effort Dionis was putting in, there was still a chance that Zahara's condition would worsen.  Mireille caught their attention long enough to let them know she was home and motioned that she would be downstairs before leaving them.  She wiped at a tear in the corner of her eye as she thought about what her sister had to have suffered. 

Quickly, she ducked into her own room to change into much more comfortable clothing and pulled her hair back out of her face with a headband. She grabbed her notebook and a couple of pens and made her way back through the mansion and toward the basement stairs.  Though basement was really not the correct term.  The lower level was really like a completely separate living area with a secondary kitchen, stove, bar area and several other sleeping quarters down another hall.  There was a game area with a pool table and an air hockey table on top of a few arcade games, dart board, soda and candy machines, and anything anyone could possibly need for living and partying. Just now, however, it was being used as the best study area where they could be a little louder without worry of disturbing those ill or busy upstairs.

“So, how are we supposed to go about doing this?  Everyone pick a time and just show up?”  Binda asked as Mirelle reached the floor and crossed to the soda machine to get a drink before perching on the arm of a couch beside Riden and two other male friends. 

“This would work so much better if Will and Zidar were here,” a petite girl with auburn hair and hazel eyes muttered. 

“Not likely, Charity,” Jade sneered causing the girl to jump.

Mireille's eyes narrowed.  “Ease up Jade,” she warned quietly.  

Jade shrugged in annoyance.  “You know it's true, Kornari.  They are more self-centered than the center of an atom.”

Binda shook her head with a confused look on her face.  “Not all of them are that bad.” She rolled her eyes with an irritated sigh.  “Sometimes I think things would be better without you, Jade.”

Mireille stood and brought up her hands in the sign of a truce.  “All right, you guys.  Stop before someone says something they regret.”

“Not likely,” Binda grumbled earning herself a stabbing glare from Jade's piercing eyes.  

“We know that the Chainers will all just show up when told,” Riden spoke up in an attempt to diffuse the situation.  “We can decide a time and one of us can contact a member of them to let them know.”

“Mireille can always be in charge of that,” Jade replied slyly.

Mireille's stomach did a flop and she suddenly felt sick.  “What's that supposed to mean?”  

“It's obvious that Orifiel has pull in that group.”

“Yes, so?”

Jade stood and circled the couch in order to stand behind Mireille, resting her wrists upon the blond's shoulders.  “You seem to be the only Outsider he makes an effort to talk to,” she purred. 

Mireille blinked in shock before pulling away from Jade and crossing the room to stand behind the bar counter.  “You are just trying to stir up trouble for us, Jade.”

“Oddly, though, she's right.”

“Binda!” Mireille felt trapped in a corner.  The one man she wanted desperately to remain apart from for reasons of her own, was the one man everyone seemed to want her to be around.  

“If I didn't know better, I would think that just the mere thought was driving you crazy in ways you would never admit.”

Mireille glared at Jade.  “Next matter of business. Now.”

***

The meeting finally came to a close near eleven o'clock and Mireille found herself driving along the lakeside.  Against her wishes and through all her protests, she was still in charge of notifying Orifiel of the time they ere all to meet at Wickery Manner.  No amount of grumbling under her breath made her feel any better, especially once she realized she did not have his phone number and she would have to actually go to his house.  

The night wind chilled her as she stepped out of her car and made her way to the front porch.  She rang the bell and nervously glanced around.  “This is stupid... I shouldn't be here, not now...”  After a few more seconds, she tried to peek through the window.  “It's so late, he's probably sleeping.”  She sighed and turned to leave.  “I'll just tell him tomorrow.”

“Tell who what?”

Mireille jumped with a gasp and swallowed hard at the voice.  Spinning with her hand pressed against her pounding heart, she found herself quickly consumed by ice blue eyes.  “Orifiel, y-you're awake...”

“Yes... I am.”  

She gave him a searching look at his soft voice.  It was quieter than he usually spoke and it caught her off guard. “Did I wake you? I'm so sorry-”

“You didn't wake me, Mirelle,” Orifiel assured her with a light smile.  “I haven't been to bed yet.”  There was another silence before he tilted his head at her.  “You wanted to tell me something?”

“Oh! Yes... it's about this weekend.”  Mireille racked her brain trying to get herself to remember the information she was supposed to give him.  She hated that whenever he was around it seemed as though her mind always went blank.

“What about it?”

“We-you...  Don't you remember the paper we are to do in English?”

Orifiel frowned.  “Sorry, I must have forgotten somehow.”

“You and I were put in a team.  We were all going to get together this weekend at Wickery Manner.”

His eyes grew wide and he took a step back.  “I-I couldn't have agreed to that,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Yes, you did.  You said you and the others would be there.  We are supposed to get there at six so we have some time to settle before nightfall.”  

“I couldn't have...”

“Orifiel.. are you okay?”  Mirelle watched as Orifiel's posture seemed to shift and change.  He stood more confidently in the doorway and gazed at her with an almost hungry look that completely baffled her.

“Me? I am fine, but you, sweetheart, look positively chilled.”  He reached to the side of his door and grabbed a light jacket before stepping outside to slip it around her shoulders.  He gave her a charming smile as his fingers brushed along her jawline.  “Perhaps you would like to come in out of the cold while we discuss this report?”

“You aren't backing out of this now,” she told him, trying to sound tough through chattering teeth.

“I wouldn't dream of backing out on you, Mirelle,” Orifiel purred, lightly steering her toward the door.  “But I do believe there are a few things that we need to go over first...”

Mirelle's heart leapt into her throat as the door closed behind her and she looked up at him.  Oh sweet gods, how did this happen...?  “Orifiel...”

“Don't worry, I wouldn't try anything on you.  Not tonight anyway.”

Her eyebrow arched before she closed her eyes with a sigh.  She knew if he was going to keep this up, it was shaping up to be one very long night.