Into the Flames

Chapter 4

“All of the rooms in this hallway are empty. Except for the ones with our names on it, of course,” said Gianna, as she switched the lights on. The lights all turned on, revealing the long hallway. The wooden floor was adorned with a long, rich rug. Jenna was still in awe of the house; as Gianna led her up the stairs, she couldn’t help but look around. Jenna walked down the hall, threadbare socks padding over the soft material of the rugs. She decided to choose the room to the right of her, a few doors down from Gianna’s. Adam’s room was right next to Gianna’s, and Dylan’s room was on the opposite side of the hall. Each door had their own nameplate, with bold gold letters saying each of the correspondent’s names with their last name’s initial.

            Jenna walked into her room, surprised at its size. The bed was big, with clean white sheets and fluffy pillows. A window with deep red velvet curtains revealed the garden in the backyard; it was too dark for Jenna to see anything besides the silhouette of tall trees. There was a closet and a drawer next to her bed. Another door led to a bathroom - her own personal bathroom. Jenna felt her knees go weak at that thought. She could get all the warm water she wanted and take her own time. She would be all by herself and wouldn’t have to worry about who was scrutinizing her.

            “I’m going to go get some clothes for you from the attic,” Gianna said, as she leaned against the door, a warm smile on her face. “There are towels and soap in the bathroom, if you want to take a shower.”

            “No it’s fine,” said Jenna, half dazed from her own room. “I have a pair of my own clothes in my bag.”

            “Are you sure?” asked Gianna, concerned. “I’ll at least get you something to sleep in.”

            “Okay, sure,” said Jenna, still looking out the window.

            After Jenna got out of the shower, she saw clothes waiting for her on her bed. Jenna almost laughed out loud when she thought of changing into clothes specifically for sleep. She hasn’t worn pajamas for ten years now. She peeled off her dirty clothes – worn for about a week now, at least – and changed into her new ones.

            She woke up to the soft sunlight trickling into her room, lighting up the immaculate wooden floor. She peeked out of the curtains and saw a lone figure standing in the gardens: Dylan. She quickly closed them back and changed into her clean pair of clothes, glad she brought them along: a simple long, black sleeve shirt and some jeans and clean socks. Jenna quietly shut the door behind her, feet shuffling across the soft rugs. She turned around and saw that her door changed overnight; in the nameplate, “Jenna A.” was written in the same letters as everyone else. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion; how did her name and last name’s initial appear on the door? She never told anyone her last name; no one really bothered to know it. Even on the few school assignments that she did turn in, she just scrawled a messy A.

She was curious to see what he was doing, and figured she ought to say goodbye to him before leaving. She walked down and wandered around the mansion, trying to reach the back of the house that led to the backyard. She eventually found the exit, and saw Dylan standing in the backyard, wearing the same jacket from yesterday. She quietly stood in silence and watched him inhale and exhale deeply.

            “Hello Jenna,” he said, eyes closed. His brown hair was tousled and sticking out, like he just rolled out of bed and didn’t bother to brush it. He opened his eyes and looked at her, emerald eyes radiating warmth.

            “I thought I should stop by to say goodbye,” said Jenna, nodding her head awkwardly.

            “Goodbye,” he said with a small wave of his hand. After all he went through to get her to come here, he seemed so indifferent towards her.

            “I’m going to get going now then,” she said drily, turning to leave.

            Suddenly, Dylan’s eyes snapped open. “You mean you’re not staying for breakfast?” He immediately began to push her towards the door. “Really, just stay for breakfast and then you can be on your way.”

            Dylan said that with such command, Jenna didn’t dare decline. He quickly walked up to the door that led back to the house, and opened it for Jenna.

Jenna stared at the dining table covered with food. Dylan and Adam and Gianna all piled food on their plates and dug in. Dylan looked up from his plate and pointed his fork toward Jenna.

“Eat up,” he said, his mouth full of food. “I know it’s hard to stop looking at me, but–”

“Do you guys eat like this everyday?” she asked, ignoring his comment about his face. “I mean, I usually eat an apple and maybe a piece of toast for breakfast; this is a full-on feast. This is about the same of two weeks of my breakfast.”

Adam’s pancake fell off his fork, the maple syrup making a sticky sound to the porcelain plate. “Are you serious?”

            She nodded. “I guess. Did you and Gianna make all of this?”

            Gianna laughed. “No, we couldn’t have even if we tried. Adam’s mother and brother did.”

            Mother and brother? “So you guys aren’t alone? It’s not just the three of you here?”

            Dylan shook his head. “Falkner and Margaret are here also.”

            As if on cue, a tall boy and an elegant woman walked in. They both had the same color hair Adam had, along with identical deep-set eyes. Jenna could see the striking family resemblance.

            “You must be Jenna,” the woman said with a lilting English accent. Despite her age, she walked with grace and superiority. Her smile caused wrinkles to appear around her eyes as she smiled at Jenna. “I’m Margaret, Adam and Falkner’s mother.”

            “I’m Jenna, but you already know that,” said Jenna, unfamiliar with introductions. “Are you the head of this household?”

            She shook her head with a little laugh. “Oh, no. That’s Gianna’s family; we moved from the London Society to here. We’re expatriates. It’s so nice to see another Guardian joining us. This house is so empty, it could do with five more people!”

            “I’m not staying here,” said Jenna with a small smile. “I just stayed the night. I really should be on my way.”

            “Nonsense!” exclaimed Margaret. “You really should stay. At least eat a hearty breakfast; maybe that will change your mind.”

            Before Jenna could protest, Margaret took her plate and piled up pancakes, bacon, and fruit onto it. She left with a smile and sat next to Adam, running her hand through his dark hair. He pushed her off as if he was annoyed, but Jenna saw his small smile. Falkner sat next to Margaret, immediately helping himself to the meal. Jenna began to eat slowly, trying to restrain herself from overeating and getting sick from the sudden intake of food. She watched Gianna and Adam fight over the last pancake and smile at each other, and Jenna couldn’t help but smile a little herself.