Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 2-1

I headed for my bedroom, exhausted from this past week, exhausted from having cried so much. It had been agreed with the Mattew family, as well as with the teaching staff, that I would go back to class the following week. I couldn't help but display a gloomy pout just thinking about going back to the world of the living and face the curious looks to which I would be entitled in the hallways of the university. With a sigh, I pushed open the door to my room and suddenly solidified.

"Hi, Zoe."

William stood by the large windows in the room, his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing here? The funeral was this morning!" I said in a tone full of reprimands.

His gaze turned to the floor. It was the first time I'd seen him so distraught, so fragile.

"I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I assume you were with Ray and...Faïz?"

He nodded as the only answer, still staring into the void.

"What were you doing?"

At that moment, he finally deigned to look at me and a silence settled between us. I then noticed his wound around the brow bone. His gray shirt was stained with multitudes of dark marks.

"Will, this is... What happened?"

"Just a slightly complicated imperative."

He slowly approached me and I felt my legs let go at that moment. He caught me just in time, before I collapsed.

"Zoe, I'm here. I'm sorry for today."

His arms hugged me tight. His smell, that I knew so well, brought me gently to the present moment. I then pushed aside my face to observe his tortured, almost annihilated look and decided to leave it there for today. William looked like he had been shot by his day.

"I am going to bed. I really need sleep," I said as I walked over to the edge of my bed.

"Yes, I'll leave you. I need to talk to Charles and Lily. They, too, are waiting for explanations."

I watched him go, but just before he walked through the door, I decided to call to him.

"Will, David found something new. We have to get together to talk about it. Can you organize the meeting?"

I knew things would go faster if I let William take care of it. He was one of the few who could still approach Faïz. Since the death of his sister, no one in his family had been able to contact him. Me, even less. There was no doubt that in his eyes I was responsible for her death. Deep down, I didn't blame him for hating me.

"You can count on me, I'll take care of it," declared William sincerely. "Call me if you need anything, day or night."

I thanked him for his kindness with a slight smile, the first in what seemed like forever. He looked at me for a few seconds with a look that spoke volumes, as if I had just put a little burst of light in his miserable day, then he left.