Till The Clock Strikes Gone

13 | a helping hand

William was surrounded by the mess that was supposed to be his home during his stay in Lunavale. The house which he got was a one-bedroom, bathroom, and an attached kitchen. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of a small bed covered with a white sheet. He was astonished to see nothing prepared beforehand, which was something he wasn't used to. He scanned around to spot a kitchen counter a few feet away and straight ahead of him was the door to a bathroom. There was a cupboard on the left of the front door, again, covered with a white sheet and there was a small desk and a chair placed by the window. The whole place was covered with dust and William understood why Felix LeBlanc, the owner of the house, never got a tenant. No-one wanted to live in a house with such a peculiar arrangement.

What made William more frustrated at the sight was the fact that he would have to arrange all of these things before he could go to sleep. Lorna had delivered for him a whole package of clothes, brushes and other necessities. Among them, William had also found a notebook and a set of multicoloured pens.

At least he had one thing to enjoy.

He got rid of his shoes and socks and placed them at the side of the door.

Folding his sleeves to prepare himself, he got up to clean the mess when the sound of the door opening made him freeze. The lights were on but William still feared to turn around. It wasn't like he was afraid of being the victim of a late-night burglary but he was afraid of yet another unknown entity visiting him. He heard footsteps, they stopped right beside him and he turned his head to see Eliza standing beside him, taking in the mess.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he almost shouted at her. It was too late for her to be roaming alone on the streets.

Eliza turned to him, her eyebrows coming together in a frown.

"Don't yell at me William Ray," she said. "I have come to give you this." She put a hand on her pocket and took out a pallet of pills. She showed it to him and he took it.

"Papa asked me to give this to you. He said you suffered from migraines. He wanted to come by himself and was hell-bent on not letting me go but I managed to convince him with my puppy dog eyes," she informed him, blinking innocently, which William presumed were her 'puppy dog eyes' look.

"Thank you. But you can go now." He directed her, pointing towards the door.

"Uh...I don't think so," Eliza said and William looked at her, amused. "Papa is asleep probably. He can't stay awake very late, some kind of a middle-age problem he says. I'm free, I can help you."

"You..." William pointed at her. "...will help me?" he finished, pointing to himself.

Eliza nodded.

"You will help me after all your little 'I will make sure you regret being here William Ray' speech?"

"Look, I sometimes take very hasty decisions, Mr Ray," she began. "You should understand that I'm just a little bit protective of my father. He is alone and I don't want anyone making a fool out of him but that doesn't mean my feelings of thinking you as an unnecessary addition to my life have changed. I just think it will be a good thing for my human nature to help you in a condition like this. We have school tomorrow and if you get a migraine doing all this work, you won't be able to attend it-"

"Nice speech but please get out." William stopped her from continuing.

Please go back. I can't stay with you in the same room and not touch you - he thought as he took her in.

"No. I am staying. I need to keep an eye on you. I can't trust you with my Papa. What if you're here to spy on him and then kill him if he is successful in his...whatever he does inside his workshop?" Eliza argued, placing her hands on her hips.