A Discordant Melody

Thirteen

Thirteen

The piece of paper was still clutched in my fist as I walked inside the house, following behind Lee.  He kept looking behind him every few moments, probably because I hadn’t said a word, even after he asked me what was wrong. 

My mind was still reeling. 

Persephone was coming for me this time, not Momma. 

“Zoe, seriously, what’s going on?”

It was Lee.  He’d stopped right before we turned the corner into the kitchen and I almost ran into him because I wasn’t paying any attention to where I was going.  I stopped just a few inches away from him, looking up at his face. 

“It’s nothing,” I said, shaking my head.  “I’m…everything’s fine.”

“No,” he said, looking at me with a serious look.  “No, everything is definitely not fine.  You were fine a few minutes before, but certainly not now.”

I pushed by him, wanting to get away before I told him everything.  “It’s nothing.”

But it certainly was something, that’s for sure.  I didn’t know what was going to happen.  The note was too vague to know anything really. 

Everyone was standing around in the kitchen, laughing about something that Momma was saying.  She was standing in front of Daddy, who had his arms wrapped around her waist as she leaned back against him.  The smile on both of their faces would have blinded anyone. 

“There you guys are,” Momma said, her smile still bright when she spotted me and Lee.  “We were wondering what happened to you two.”

Lee snorted, rolling his eyes.  “You know my mother.  She never wants to let me go when I have to leave.”

Both Momma and Molly laughed.  There had to be some unknown story there. 

“Isn’t his family the best?” Molly asked, directing the question to me.  “His brothers are absolutely hilarious.”

“Definitely,” Momma laughed.  “You remember that one time…”

“Um, I’m kind of tired,” I said, cutting her off.  I was trying not to look any of them directly in the eye for more than a few seconds at a time.  They would know something was up.  “I’m just going to go up to my room.”

Momma wasn’t laughed anymore.  Her eyes creased with worry and she stepped away from Daddy and toward me.  “Are you alright?  Did something…?”

I shook my head quickly, still clutching the note in my fist.  “No, I’m fine.  I’ll just…I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

I turned quickly, wanting to get away before they could say anything else, and headed for the stairs.  Taking two at a time, I practically ran down the hallway so I could get to my room.  And when I did, I closed and locked the door, pressing my back against it as I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath that was shakier than I wanted.

For the next half hour, I was sitting on my bed, the crumpled note laid out in front of me.  I was reading it over and over again, trying to piece together just what could happen, what Persephone could do to me to get to Daddy.  She could do anything really, because I knew that he would do almost absolutely everything for me, just like he would Momma.  Persephone knew that, too.

“Zoe.”

I swear that I was about to scream when I heard my name said.  It was so unexpected and having the note in front of me definitely didn’t make it any better.

But it was only Lee.

“What are you…how did you get in here?” I asked, my eyes wide as I looked at him.  My hands reached for the note, crumpling it in my fist yet again.  “I thought I locked the door.”

He raised an eyebrow as he walked toward the side of my bed.  My eyes wandered to the door, which was wide open.  How could I not hear him come in?

“It was, but I’m pretty good when it comes to picking locks.  It barely took me a few seconds.  I would have thought you’d hear me…” He sat down in front of me, turning so he was completely facing me.  “But you seem to have something else on your mind…and in your hand.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Zoe, I know you more than you think I probably do.”

“You’ve barely known me.”

“You’re a lot more like your mother than you think you are.”

I grimaced.  I couldn’t argue with that.

“What’s going on, Zoe?”

Biting the inside of my lip, I unclenched my fist, holding out the note to him.  His eyebrows furrowed when he saw it, but picked it up and read it anyway.  I could tell when he knew who it was from.

“Persephone?” he questioned anyway, looking up at me. 

I nodded, looking down.  “It was in my car.  That’s what I picked up when we got back here.  I…I don’t know…”

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.  I couldn’t let him see how upset it made me.  He wasn’t having that, though.  I saw his hand come up, putting his fingers under my chin to lift my face up.  That made my tears fall down my cheek.

“She’s not going to do anything to you,” he said fiercely.  “Not if I have anything to do about it.  Nothing will ever happen to you.”

I shook my head, trying to look away from him, but I just couldn’t.  “That’s not it, though.  I think she might do something to hurt me.  And there are only three things in this world that I really care about.  Momma, Daddy, and…”

I caught myself before I finished.  There was no way I could let him know what that third thing was. 

Because it was him.

“And…?” he said, trying to get it out of me. 

Too bad he was a lot better at silently persuading me than he probably thought. 

“You.”

I had looked away when I said it, but his silence was pretty much dragging my eyes back to his.  He looked…surprised?  Surprised, shocked, and to my utter astonishment…kind of happy. 

“Me?” he asked.  “Why me?”

I just shrugged, looking down again.  “I don’t know what it is.  Well, I kind of know what it is, or more of what I suspect it is.  But yes, you’re one of those few things that she can use to get to me.  I don’t know why, when I’ve known you for such a short period of time, but it’s like there’s this…this connection…”

“Then I’m not the only one, huh?”

That statement made my eyes snap up to his again and see that slight smile on his face.  My heart started racing. 

“What do you mean?”

He laughed slightly.  “I think you know exactly what I mean.”

Lee shifted then, moving more toward me.  My heart wasn’t just racing then.  It was pretty much stopped completely.  But that moment wasn’t happening for very long, that moment when I thought he might just lean forward even more and kiss me. 

No, because someone else was there. 

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