Faceless Instincts

Who can you trust?

I raised my head a little to hear clearly but I couldn't quite make out what they were talking about, although as they spoke, I recognised some voices, Tanner and Mr Wembley. What were they doing here? I cautiously got out of bed and walked slowly towards the door, I crouched down a little so they can't see me and continued listening.

They were all huddled in the living room looking grim, Olivia's face was red with rage and I appeared as if she was crying. Mr Wembley looked deep in thought while Tanner sat with his head in his hands.

"I can not believe this is happening I thought she went out on a date with Nikolai" Olivia spoke with a sharp note in her voice, and Tanner looked up at her.

"Can you please speak a little slow, she's sleeping upstairs." Hushed Tanner.

"Does it look like I care?"

"Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Oh, yeah? Why not? I think a big deal should be made about this Tanner Woods because she's our friend." she was emphasising words that made Tanner even angrier.

He stood up and rounded on her, "do you think I don't care?"

Olivia stood up and got right in his face, "Doesn't look like it to me." She looked at Mr Wembley who wasn't listening to them, "I can not believe it how is this even possible? How did she reach there? Most of all how in the hell she got inside?"

"It's not about what she did and how she did it." Wembley looked up at them. " the question is what she saw inside."

Both Tanner and Olivia turned grave as they looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Tanner asked.

Me Wembley stood up and walked towards them, "you do know about the break-in, right? Did you not bother at all to ask questions about it?"

"yeah, someone broke into her office, but what about that?" I could see Olivia shaking even from this far.

"The man that broke into her office was Dorian Ashford"

Colour drained from Olivia's face as she slumped on the couch, "This is a nightmare." She said. "How is the even possible?" She looked at Mr Wembley.

"Perhaps the power of the mind is at work again." He said looking back at her, "and it's not a good sign for us."

"And now she has found this" Tanner bend down to pick up something from the table and that's when I noticed it for the first time there, my head snapped back to my nightstand, the trinket!!

Tanner was holding the small plastic bag in his hand, Olivia stood up and looked at it, "She shouldn't have this with her, she isn't supposed to have this with her"

"I know," said Mr Wembley, "but she has somehow managed to find it."

"Then let's take it away and throw it somewhere," Tanner said gripping the trinket in his palm.

"No, we can not" Mr Wembley took the trinket from him, "we can not do this, she has found it we can not take it away from her, especially right now, we'll keep it back where you found it, Olivia"

"But" Tanner started to protest but Mr Wembley raised his hand

"No, Tanner, it's not correct to take it away from her, but we'll have to be careful with what she is doing these days. Keep an eye on her."

"Do you think this could cause any problem?" Tanner asked.

"Yes, yes very much so, if she learns about even a fraction of truth."

"This could turn disastrous" Olivia added

"Exactly, it's in the best interest of everyone, that she never learns the truth." Mr Wembley said as he sat down, "I can't believe you missed a detail as important as this. I asked you to follow her, what were you doing at the cafe, having coffee instead of watching her."

They shared a glance and nodded, "I'll keep it back then," Olivia said as she took the trinket and started to walk towards the stairs. I immediately pranced back and rushed to my bed, jumped inside, turned the other way and closed my eyes. I tried to normalize my breathing and pretended to be asleep.

After a while I heard her open the door slowly and walk inside without making any sound, I heard her place the trinket back and whisper, "why Dorian? Why now?" My brows furrowed reflexively but I instantly straightened my face.

The next thing I felt was Olivia bending over me and smoothing my hair with gentle strokes, "you shouldn't have gone inside darling," she spoke in a calm voice, "you should have told me about this, you should have stayed away, now that-" she stopped as I heard another footstep coming up the stairs, Olivia let out a heavy sigh, "You shouldn't have brought this out of there, now we'll have to stop you, and we'll have to see that you are never out of our sight" She sounded sad, her words were forced whispers and they ran a chill down my spine.

"Is she still asleep?" I heard Tanner in the room, soon their footsteps were moving out of my room, I opened my eyes and I saw their shadows by the doorframe, "Don't worry, we'll take care of her" and with that, they left.

I laid there unable to move as I heard the main door click shut. It was tough for me to even begin comprehending what I had witnessed tonight. My mind was flocking and a throbbing headache made it impossible to concentrate.

The concern of what I had encountered in Dorian's house was now second in my list of suspicions, the first spot was just inoculated by what I had seen in my own house.

I sat up and held my head in my hands. The confusion was hysterical and I felt like running away.

I threw the blanket aside and got out of bed, pacing the room I tried to piece everything together but every time I tried the conversation between the three came back darting into my mind.

How could they possibly know anything about this trinket, or the house moreover how did they even know Dorian?

In all complications, I recalled how Mr Wembley responded when he first heard about Dorian. He appeared like he couldn't believe his ears.

Olivia and Tanner's words echoed in my mind, and I couldn't decide on who to trust.

The three most trustworthy people had just turned into someone I could not open up to.  I realised why Mr Wembley was so intrigued by details about Dorian. But if he knows about Dorian, then does Dorian know about them too?

My energy was at its poorest and I could barely keep myself up, I walked towards the bed and sat on the edge, taking the trinket in my hand. The blood was now brownish red, but whose is it and how do I find out?

As soon as the question popped and the answer arrived, Nikolai. I fumbled with my phone and started typing the text but stopped midway, Nikolai was Tanner's good friend what if he snitched?

I was deliberating the possibilities of trusting anyone at this point, can I trust Nikolai?

I tapped on the phone as I thought hard, I needed to know if Dorian knew anyone of my friends because if he does then I might have to know a lot about him than he had already told me.

I decided to go to Dorian's place first thing in the morning but before that, I needed to ask Nikolai if he could meet me.