The Enchanted

Chapter-16

I was at work when Ms Andrews came to inform me that the office would be closing early.

"Why?" I asked, feeling a little surprised. There wasn't any special occasion today as far as I knew.

"Oh, you don't know? I am quite surprised!" she said, raising her eyebrows. "The town council has decided to hold a meeting in the main square, to discuss all these murders. It's such a dreadful business really..."

I tuned her out, twirling a pencil in my hand as I tried to force all thoughts about the creepy dreams from my head. I wondered whether I should go to the town meeting. It sounded interesting and I had been too alone lately. Sabrina and Caleb were preoccupied with Sharon's death and were usually together. I didn't feel like intruding on them during this tough time. I needed some new friends to get my mind off things.

I hadn't decided what to do about my dreams yet or who to tell so I'd just stopped thinking about them. Or tried to.

Two hours later, I found myself standing in the crowded main square. The buildings all around were gorgeous and quaint and the weather made everything look too pretty. It was quite unbelievable that such horrible things were happening in this beautiful place.

Suddenly, big raindrops started to fall and everyone was ushered inside the huge town hall. Several members of the town council made speeches about safety while others warned everyone not to worry. I could tell that people were scared. The meeting dispersed after about an hour and people started milling around and talking, helping themselves to doughnuts and coffee.

I poured myself a glass of coffee and made my way towards the window. Leaning against the window I watched the rain pour down in torrents. The weather had changed abruptly and it was freezing. Wrapping my cold hands around the warm cup, I found myself thinking of my dreams again. They were true, I knew this much. But I was no closer to identifying the killer which worried me. I sighed and nearly jumped out of my skin when a low and rich voice spoke near my ear.

"Enjoying the view?"

I whirled around and saw it was Ethan.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said.

He raised his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I wasn't sure if I could confide in someone who was apparently a black belt in karate. So I simply shrugged.

"Nothing."

He inched closer. Again, I was surprised by how unique his blue eyes were. I felt myself getting lost in them again and blinked abruptly. Averting my gaze, I looked down into my coffee cup instead.

"Talk to me, Adriana. What is it?" He said softly.

To my surprise, I found myself wanting to break down. Instead, I held up my chin stubbornly.

"You're asking me all this because you think I look like a mess, right? I just didn't put on makeup today, that's all." I snapped.

He quirked his lips in a small smile.

"What?"

"You don't even wear makeup."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

I sighed. It might be good to talk to someone instead of keeping it all bottled up.

"I can't tell you," I said, my voice cracking.

His face grew serious.

"Is it that bad?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I can't sleep," I whispered.

"Adriana..." he began softly when my phone rang, startling both of us. It was my mom. I took a step back from Ethan. I had plenty of reasons to distrust him but I couldn't seem to stay away from him.

"I have to go," I said abruptly, walking away from him. Drinking my coffee in a single gulp, I threw the cup in the dustbin. I would need coffee tonight. I was nearly out of the door when I looked over my shoulder. Ethan was still standing where I had left him, staring at me.

Walking to my car, I drove over to the herb shop. It had been two or three days since I had last been there. Perhaps Sarah's grandma had returned by now. I really needed to talk to her and see if she knew about any of this.

It was raining really hard now and the wind made me shiver. Rubbing my hands close together, I stopped the car in front of the herb shop.

I was hit by a gust of hot air as soon as I opened the door but this time I had been expecting it. What I had not been expecting was how busy the shop was. It took me fifteen minutes just to get Sarah's attention.

"Crazy, huh?" she yelled at me, grinning. "We haven't been this busy since New Year."

I smiled back at her slightly.

"I'm here to see your grandma."

"Oh, she isn't here," she said, frowning. "She got hurt at her friends house and is going to stay there for some more days."

I bit back my disappointment and said goodbye to Sarah. There was no way to confide in anyone. I walked towards the front of the shop. I was about to leave when suddenly I smelled the familiar smell from my dream again.

Sniffing as hard as I could I looked at all the plants around the front door. Smelling all of them made my head spin and I nearly forgot the smell from my dream. Groaning in frustration, I sniffed around again but the smell I was looking for was doused by the stronger scents of other plants. I sniffed and sniffed but I couldn't find it again.

Opening the door, I was about to head out when I smelled it again. Looking up, I saw tendrils of a plant covering the inside of the wooden door. I was angry I hadn't seen it before but it had been easy to overlook in all the greenery inside the shop.

As far as I knew the plant wasn't a creeper, so someone must have set it up there themselves. Standing on tiptoe, I reached out a finger to touch it when a thorn pricked my skin, drawing blood. For the fragrance I had smelled in my dream was that of a rose.