ENSHROUDING LIGHT

THE AFFAIR

CHAPTER 5

THE AFFAIR

Nevaeh crept behind Luke as he marched up the road, hands in his pockets, hood pulled over his face. Where was he going? They never went this way. He cut through the old people's home and jumped the fence, and then crossed the main road that ran from oldham to Manchester, and stood at the bus stop. Why would he be heading into Oldham?

She stayed hidden behind the fence and waited until a bus pulled up. As he got on and walked to the back, she climbed the fence and watched the bus leave.

There was another one coming. She ran across the road and waved her hand in front of it. She took out her pass and sat in the first seat, watching the bus in front. At each stop she stood, just incase, but it took five. Werneth? What was he doing here?

He crossed the road, and entered the park. It was a dark and dingy place behind that high wall, notorious for gangs of young lads...and who knows what else. What was he doing?

Heart racing, she sneaked inside and followed him through the park, which looked more like a haunted forest this time of night. As he turned the corner she was hit with the reality of her position. Girl. Alone. Carrying a shoulder bag. Wearing nothing but ripped jeans and a tie dye vest top that was too thin to mask the bullet's she now had for nipples. She may as well scream come and rape me! What was she thinking?

She hurried along. It would be fine! She could shout Luke for help if need be!

As she turned the corner she jumped back in alarm. Luke was stood, just yards ahead, talking to woman pushing a pram back and forth. He was smiling and nodding as she was talking but it was too dark to see what she looked like. Luke bent down to the pram and spoke to the child inside and then he ran his hand down the woman arm.

Bile rose to Nevaeh's throat. She turned back around the corner, tears welling in her eyes. He was having an affair? Worst still, with a woman who had a child that he was happy to speak to! How could he? She was supposed to be his world. That's what he'd always told her. No wonder he was never at home. He wasn't possessed by some dark force...he was obsessed with another woman!

Nevaeh ran through the park and caught the buss. Then ran back to her parents. She was dizzy and gasping for breath when she arrived.

'Here,' her mum said, passing her a glass of water as she sat.

'And here,' Frank said, passing Tom to her. 'He's been fretting, watching the door like a dog missing it's owner.'

Tom looked up at her, his face blank.

'Here to you, too,' Alicia said, passing Francesca to Frank, who was screaming. 'I'll get her bottle.

The volume of Francesca's high-pitched screaming made Tom snap out of his somber stare and turn toward her, his head tilting to the side as if her piercing scream was interesting.

'Does Tom still not cry for his bottle?' Frank asked as he sat rocking Francesca.

Still shaking uncontrollably, blinking away the floating little dots in front of her vision, it took her a moment to answer. 'No.'

'She always screams the place down until she gets hers...I bet you find this funny, do you, little man?' Frank asked Tom.

Tom had his arms stretched out toward Francesca, his frame wobbling as he tried to support his weight.

Frank turned her to face him. 'Is your cousin making a lot of noise?' Frank said to Tom and then turned Francesca to face him. 'Why don't you stop crying and say hello?' Frank gave Nevaeh one of his wide smiles, a smile that suggested he was deliberately holding his tongue about Luke's outburst and not prying into what had just occurred, and was instead helping her to divert her attention.

She smiled back in appreciation; it took a lot for Frank to do this, especially when he knew he would have looked right for his opinions for once.

Tom reached forward and placed his right hand on Francesca's beetroot-red face, and gently stroked her cheek. As he did, Francesca's cheek glowed softly.

Nevaeh let out a yelp, nearly dropping Tom and grabbed his hand. As she squeezed her hand over his, trying to conceal whatever the heck it was, she stared at her niece, who had now stopped screaming. Francesca's whole face, from the place where Tom had touched it, turned from red to white.

'What's up?' Frank asked Nevaeh.

He hadn't noticed! Maybe it was her imagination, her lack of fluid had made her see things? She shook her head at Frank and her heart racing, she stared down at Tom, who sat back smiling at Francesca. Francesca locked eyes with him and gave a large beaming smile back.

Frank turned Francesca back around to face him while Tom wiggled his hand which she kept trapped inside hers.

It felt ice cold. As her skin began to tingle, she opened her hand, grabbed his wrist and cupped her other hand over his to guard it from the others. Her heart stopped. Hundreds of tiny bluish bubbles of light were running under the surface of his palm. As quickly as she witnessed this phenomenon, they dissipated, and Tom's hand became warm again.

She turned to see if anyone was behind her. No one saw. She was alone, sucking in quick breaths, her head pounding with the stress. Tom had been staring intently at his hands for the last few weeks as if willing them to do something. As if he'd finally found what he'd been looking for, he now looked at them with a satisfied grin.

No, it wasn't true. She was seeing things. It was floaters in front of her vision, that was all. Nothing else! She just needed more water.

She drew Tom towards her, a thick, suffocating lump welling at the back of her throat, and broke into floods of tears. Her family instantly rallied round, her dad rubbing her shoulders, her mum patting her arm.

'Come on now,' her dad said. 'It's not like you to get upset, especially over a boy!'

She smiled at his mistake. It was an easy one to make. She used to look at girls in school like they were deranged if they got all soppy and daft over a boy, telling them not to be bothered by the things boys would or wouldn't do, especially mundane things like them not texting back. She didn't understand why girls could become so emotional over love.

Then again, she'd never been in love. Not even now. She liked Luke and cared for him, but she could never say she knew what love meant, especially if it meant you had to cry and get all daft. Maybe that was another reason why she'd stuck with Jack as her best friend; boys were less emotional.

'Yes, but,' her mum interrupted, 'they've got a baby now and, well, I've never seen Luke be rude like that before.'

'I didn't think he'd dare!' Frank said. 'But he's not worth your tears, Nev. You're tougher than that!'

She nodded and faked another smile, thankful they thought Luke's behaviour was the reason for her meltdown. If they knew the real cause of her upset, they wouldn't have a clue what to do. For that matter, with what she just witnessed, neither did she. She just wasn't willing to admit that something otherworldly had slipped into her life. There was no way she was willing to admit Tom had magical abilities or that Luke was influenced by some dark force. Luke was just having an affair! And because of that shock, she was seeing things!