Daydreams And Nightshade (DaN #1)

Chapter 20: A moment of rest

Noah shook his head as hard as he could, making a futile attempt to chase away the flies while throwing an accusatory look in the horses' direction.

"I didn't think this through," he whined and leaned his head against the tree. A fly immediately landed on his cheek.

"What a surprise." Winton blew a fly away from his nose. "Though on the bright side, catch them in your mouth and it's free food."

Cassius looked repulsed and Noah suppressed a laugh.

"I'm afraid the effort made to catch them would defeat the purpose of eating them though." His laugh died out into a sad smile. "Ugh, I wish I had a tail to fend them off like the horses do. Or that I'd grown my hair out. Uncle Ethan was right about hairstyles all along."

"Are flies really the worst of our problems, though?" Winton watched a fly land on his knee.

"It certainly doesn't help," Cassius replied, having an easier time chasing them away with his shoulder length hair. "It's the little things that get to you."

"It could've been something else. It could've been..." Winton trailed off as he watched a mosquito land on his knee. "... Oh, son of a bitch."

Fortunately for them, the soldiers had been busy setting up camp since they arrived and no further questioning had occurred. Initially they'd planned to take the opportunity to rest but the flies had proven infuriating beyond imagination.

Noah tried to focus on his story instead but he was constantly distracted by itchy spots wherever the flies sat down.

"So!" He raised his voice a little as if that'd make the disturbance go away. "I managed to convince Luna to come with me to the haunted house. That's where we left off, right?"

The other two nodded.

"And not to forget, you finally talked to Finn," Cassius reminded him, and Noah grimaced.

"Right. Yes... Before talking to Luna, I was approached by a bunch of important people. One of them being the headmaster for a fancy school he insisted I'd attend in order to build connections and so on. I really didn't want to go, but..." Noah sighed. "... Finn joined the conversation, mentioning he went to that school so before I knew it I had blurted out that I'd consider it."

"Of course..." Winton repeated after clicking his tongue.

"I mean... He was right in that I could use some connections and friends in the same social circle so it wasn't the only reason."

"Sure."

"And? What did you talk about?" Cassius wanted to know, but Noah couldn't help but hesitate.

"Oh, well... I don't really remember. Anyway, about the boy in the house—"

"Come on," Cassius of all people interrupted. "You just got to the Finn part and that's all you say?"

"No. No, I'm not at the Finn part yet. The Finn part happened later when I actually attended that school the year after. I promise we'll get there, anyway... So we agreed to go back to the house the day after but..." Noah stopped to think. "... I didn't go with Luna for some reason... I don't remember why she wouldn't go, but in the end I went over there with Alexei."

"Alexei?"

"Well yeah, I didn't want to go alone to a crime scene, and he and Ivan came by our house that morning after the party for some reason." Noah tilted his head from one side to another. "I think, despite apparently having had their differences in the past, Ivan and my father actually started enjoying each other's company after the years of us and Alexei growing up together. I guess Alexei followed to hang out with Luna, but I think... I think Luna had disappeared from the house by then or something? So I was the only option left, and I was missing an investigation partner so it worked out."

Noah shrugged and shook a fly off his chin.

"I remember it was a pretty awkward walk there. I mean, we'd spent time with each other before but rarely without Luna during the later years—"

His eyes suddenly widened.

"Ohh, wait, that's why Luna was angry that morning!" He gently banged his head backwards against the tree.

Cassius tilted his head.

"She was... angry?"

"Oh, oh yes. She was furious. Honestly it was horrid, for all of us. See, actually our father gave her some pretty... Well, big news that morning..." Noah's expression suddenly turned grave. "It... turned out Luna and Finn had become engaged during the party... without Luna's knowledge."

A long silence ensued, only to be broken by Cassius who shook his head, almost at a loss for words.

"... What?"