Remember Me

Chapter Seven

As Alice and I enter the house, the kitchen is the first thing I see.

Puzzled, I look around. The design of the house is pretty bizarre, but my doubt stops when I see the living room. It's to the left of the kitchen, and the two rooms are separated by a counter. The living room looks like it's divided by an invisible wall that starts from another door there (another exit?). Both sides of the room have sofas and a glass table, and on the room's four corners there are plants. The floor is covered in clean, white tiles. Colorful curtains decorated with different flower-like patterns cover the windows on either side of the room.

I avert my eyes from the rather rich-looking living room and turn to the kitchen. The counter is overladen with some sort of tablecloth that looks handmade. My stomach growls at the sight of a bowl of fruit on the counter. To my left is a sink below a glass cupboard. There's a small stand of sorts next to the faucet, and I see three colored glasses (pink, green, and blue, respectively). Beside the sink is a gray fridge, and it has various magnets and receipts on it. I smile when I see a drawing of three stick men holding hands. There must be a child here.

I'm too busy looking around as I bump into the dining table. It's mahogany, something I regret hitting for some reason, and there's a beautiful bouquet of roses, forget-me-nots, sunflowers, and other flowers I can't name. Hovering above the table is a bronze chandelier. To the table's left is a small flight of stairs leading to the living room, and to its right is a painting of the seashore. There's a hallway to the left of the painting's wall, and I see three doors--probably bedrooms. The floor of this room is covered in clean, mahogany wood that matched the table. I feel bad for stepping on it...it looks so clean.

"Hannah!" Alice calls, setting her bag on the table. "Shaula! I'm here!"

"Goodness, Alice!" an annoyed voice says from the bedroom hall, and I hear a door open and close. Out of the hall comes a tall woman, with platinum blonde hair that flows elegantly behind her waist. Her pale blue eyes are serene but calculating. I feel a calming yet eerie atmosphere around her when she looks at me, and it sends shudders down my spine. I thought she wore a long blue skirt, but as she walks I see it's just a pair of flowing pants. Her cream blouse matches her bottom, and emphasizes the grace she has when she walks.

"Selene," Alice says. Selene. That's her name. "Are Hannah and Shaula around?"

The woman, Selene, stares at Alice. "Why?" she asks, and her voice is silky and quiet.

"I found Hannah's book," Alice says sheepishly. "I thought I lost it, but at least I--"

"Alice!"

Out of the bedroom hall comes a little girl, around five or six, with bouncy brown curls and vibrant dark eyes. While her skin is brown (a little bit darker than Alice's), I see a trace of some cute little freckles on her face. Her colorful dress bounces as she skips toward Alice, grinning felicitously. She waves a little hand at Alice.

"Hi!" she says. I think she's adorable, and I bet Alice thinks so too.

"Hello, Hannah," Alice says, kneeling down to reach Hannah's eye level. She withdraws a little white book from her bag and gives it to the child. "Here you go. Sorry I nearly lost it, that book just likes to run away."

Hannah giggles, and I look at the scene with a smile. Then, cutting through the peaceful air like a knife, Selene says:

"And who is this?"

I stiffen, somehow this woman seems hostile. Alice is, or pretends to be, oblivious.

"This is Dalia," Alice replies, placing a gentle hand on my stiff shoulder. I try not to cringe at the woman's cold stare. "A friend of Nero's," she adds.

Selene nods. "I see," she murmurs, but she seems almost unbelieving. She nods curtly at me. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You, too," I wave, putting on my best smile (although it was more nervous than pleasant). "A...A pleasure." Here I'm afraid if this woman would start to dislike me...

But, to my great relief, Hannah intervenes. "Mommy, can they stay and play for a while?" she asks innocently, her eyes like big brown orbs.

Stay? No offense, Hannah, but I don't really want to stay...

Selene shakes her head. "No, Hannah," she replies gently, stroking Hannah's hair. "They can't. We still need to follow Angelo."

Hannah pouts. "Aw, okay..."

Alice grabs my arm. "Sorry, but we'll be on our way, then," she says, laughing. We walk to the door and, after a waved goodbye, we leave.

"That woman creeps me out sometimes," Alice mutters under her breath.

I laugh. "She does that to me, too."

But nothing creeps me out more than seeing that exact same red-eyed boy staring right at me.

~

A/N: Sorry I'm late! I had some things to do! It's already Fourth Quarter, so it's a busy one! My updates might be slower, so please bear with me. I also have two genres for the extra story, and I'm torn between Medieval and Horror! Help me choose? :)

Anyway,

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