Sentinel

Chapter 10: Payment

The afternoon was nice and relaxed. Thankfully, Hana didn't bring up our argument from that morning. Instead, we enjoyed our last evening of summer watching TV and snacking on the couch.

I went to bed around eleven thirty, trying to get in the habit of going to bed at a reasonable hour on school nights. But I woke up thirsty at three. I quietly went to the kitchen and was grabbing a glass out the cupboard when I heard the doorknob rattle. I froze. A few seconds passed and the noise came again.

I walked over to the door and looked out of the peephole. Sure enough, I could see the top of Ronan's head. He was bent over the doorknob, probably trying to pick the lock again.

When I opened the door, he jumped back, startled. He must have found a shower and some new clothes because he was free from the dirt and blood he wore before.

"Sorry," he said and for a second I thought he was about to run. But instead, he looked down uncomfortably at his feet as he muttered, "I thought you'd be asleep."

As if that makes me feel better about you sneaking in my house. I kept the words in, not wanting to frighten him off. "What are you doing here?" I asked softly.

"You should be asleep. You have school tomorrow," he said, his words strangely echoing Will's. 

"I'll go to bed once you tell me why you're here," I told him.

Suddenly, Ronan's head snapped to the left. His eyebrows drew down over his eyes as he stared off at something in the distance. I tried following his gaze but there was nothing to see except for more apartment buildings.

Ronan slowly turned his attention back to me. He pulled something out of the pocket of his jacket and held it out to me.

I stared at him for a second before opening my hand to receive whatever it was he was holding.

He placed a crumpled piece of paper and a necklace with some kind of red stone in my hand. "Thanks," he said and before I could ask any questions, he was running down the stairs.

I stood there stunned for a moment and then retreated back to my room to take a better look at the items he had given me.

On my bed, I laid out the necklace. It had a long gold chain and the red stone that hung off it was way bigger than anything I'd ever wear. Other than that it didn't look that remarkable. I flattened out the piece of paper to see that he had written a message in messy cursive.

Take to school. She will find you. –RB

He must have been planning to sneak in and leave the necklace and the note for me to find in the morning. He had signed with his initials. He must not have realized I didn't know his last name. Not that it would have been that hard to guess it was him. The list of people who would break into my house to leave me a note wasn't that long. I wished he wrote more or at least told me who 'she' was. And how would 'she' find me?

I sighed and decided that I'd find out tomorrow. I slipped the necklace and the note into my backpack, then got back in bed and waited for sleep.

***

I pulled into the school parking lot five minutes before my eleven o'clock class. I doubled checked my sword was safely tucked under the passenger seat and then fast walked through the academic side of campus to the math building. With each step, I felt the soreness from yesterday's fighting lesson.

The math class was one of two I was taking this semester. Fortunately, they were on alternating days. Hampton was a liberal arts college so I was also taking two electives outside my major, early American art history and some movie media studies course that Hana wanted to take together.