VOX

Ch 9

To the rest of the outside world things looked normal. Her days were spent cleaning and helping Robert around the house, and out running the occasional errand with Finn. Visitors would come and go, noticing nothing unusual about 1229 Bell st, except maybe it's unnatural clean and orderly state since the girl had moved in.

Davina didn't know what to think about being considered an outsider. The people she met weren't soulless husks that crawled upon the earth, they were the opposite actually. Each of them greeted and chatted to her about the weather, her outfit, how nice the house was starting to look, or bits of gossip. She had never met people more full of life than the citizens of Redwell. So how was it that some of these kind people could be involved in whatever it was that Finn was?

Heeding his advice, Davina did not attempt to follow him again. One night of running in the dark from Royal Guards was one night too many for Davina. That didn't mean she had stopped watching him return home at sunrise every morning, or from snooping around his room/ Robert's office. Not that she was proud of it (she totally was). She was back to square one though, his room empty of any personal effects except for the bag of clothing he had brought with them. The smell of sea salt and coffee stayed with her for the rest of the night. 

It had been days since their night in the alley. The small cuts on her palm, which were already scabbed over and a light shade of pink, had been carefully hidden from Robert's watchful eyes with long sleeves and cozy sweaters. At least the cold was good for something. Finn hadn't brought up their little adventure nor had he spoken to her about...anything, really. He reverted back to speaking only when Robert was around and completely avoiding her, a hard thing to do in a small house but he found ways to get around that. He offered to run errands for Robert, willingly went into town for groceries, and even talked Robert into doing house calls for some of his clients by dropping off their supplies himself. The only time they saw each other was at dinner, which Robert insisted they sit down and eat together. Davina of course still watched him come home every morning, but Finn knew about it.

He had spotted the girl's silhouette perched in the window the night after the guards broke up the meeting. She sat there every morning, a messy outline of bedhead and blankets draped over her shoulders. Though he couldn't see them, he knew those wide eyes watched his every move like a cat staring down prey. He thought about waving to her sometimes but always thought better of it.

Keeping his distance wasn't as easy as he had planned. Sure, he found ways to stay out of the house, but fuck, it was almost as if her ghost followed him. Every head of curly hair he walked by during his errands reminded him of her, and he swore he heard her breathy giggle twice, before he realized it was just the wind. He blamed it all on lack of sleep and nerves. The meeting spot had changed to a shitty abandoned storefront on the edge of town, making it harder for guards to find them, but meaning he had to walk farther and stay up even longer than before.

Bored and always half awake, he didn't really listen to the meetings. He began questioning his attendance once people revealed why they wanted to join the group. The only thing this hodgepodge collection of roughly thirty to forty people had in common were their complaints toward the crowns. The real group had banned together over spilled blood, lost loved ones, and hatred. Petty bullshit like raised taxes, slow mail delivery, land allotment, or displeasure over who one of the crowns chose as a partner, were a waste of his time. And that was what he reported back to Mac.

His friend assured him that he wouldn't have to attend for much longer, and he just needed someone to make sure the group didn't do anything stupid, like draw the attention of the royal guards. Finn still wasn't sure how those bastards found out about them. His mind was mulling over possible scenarios, like a spy, or leak in the group, when it happened.