Charlotte After Dark

Chapter 44: Fountainhead

A cold wind passed through the trees as I sat alone in a small, isolated seating area in the gardens behind the house. I looked up for a moment as my reading was interrupted, bringing my sweater closer to me out of habit. The cold weather didn't bother me. In fact, I barely even noticed it. I looked up at the dark, milky sky above. It might snow later, I noted, feeling it in the air.

I brought my attention back to my book but there was movement in the corner of my eye as I continued to read my book. Without glancing up, I sighed, "You don't need to follow me everywhere, Joaquin, I am quite capable of staying in the boundaries of the-"

I paused when I looked up. Luca was standing feet away from me, in silence having taken his jacket off, and loosened the tie around his neck.

"Oh, it's you," I replied before returning to my book.

He came down and sat next to me on the bench, letting out a sigh as he sat down.

"Tough day at the office?" I asked.

"You could say that," he replied looking off into the distance of our ample back lawn. He turned his attention to the trees that surround the small seating area.

"I don't know why Valentina insists on these garish things," he thought out loud, pointing to the trees that surrounded three-quarters of the area.

"I don't know why she insists on many things," I muttered.

"She is particular," he responds with a few nods, still looking off into the distance of the woods that butted up to the farthest end of the property. I began to notice that he hadn't looked at me once yet.

"She's a lot of things, particular is only the tip of the iceberg," I stated.

Luca let a laugh escape him, looking down at my book before speaking again.

"Joaquin tells me you like to read," Luca noticed.

"It's one of my many talents," I said, closing my book and using my finger as a placeholder before looking up at him.

Somehow, I got the feeling that Luca didn't take many chances to sit in the yard in peace in quiet as I watched him look at the area around him with some unfamiliarity. I could tell that he was struggling with something, but I wasn't about to try to delve into his personal inventory of issues.

"I find reading helps to stop the time for a little, to help you understand more and worry a little less," I told him.

He reads the title of my book and chuckles to himself, "The Sanguine Codex, not exactly the kind of book that satisfies that criteria," he said.

"Valentina puts a lot of stock in it," I reminded him.

"It's a collection of fables, nonsense," he brushed off my comment.

"Fables and nonsense have had the power to start wars," I remind him. I point to the book and continue, "this collection, in fact, has started at least one, and maybe another."

I wanted to stop myself from saying it, but I couldn't. Luca was so keen to keep me in the dark about many things I had noticed, and I didn't want him to think that my time spent with Abel was changing that. Audra's words from the previous night echoed in my mind as I spoke, growing louder as a familiar silence enveloped both me and Luca. The night grew silent around us, without even the chirp of insects or the sound of wind. Our conversation began to take on a seriousness I didn't believe Luca was prepared for, and he looked at me with unfamiliar consternation before he spoke again.

"I would hope you do not ever need to experience the kind of turbulence and suffering a war like that can cause," he said.

"You are very confusing," I told him.