“Where is your room located? I thought the students’ rooms are on the fifth floor.”
“Mine is in the basement.”
“Oh! Why?” My question was left unanswered.
“It is on the third basement actually,” he added.
A wrought-iron cage style antique elevator brought us to an inner entrance. He opened the door and we got inside a luxurious hall of an Art Deco apartment, decorated with gold and pink marble.
“Wow! Swanky,” I exclaimed after a quick look around the full-of-antiques hall.
I followed Arthur in a spacey living room, decorated in a more modern style, in contrast to the hall which resembled an antiquary. Across an exposed brick wall, there was a red couch, and a bar trolley placed in the middle of the room. After we passed by a marble staircase, we reached a brick-and-stone kitchen. Once there, Arthur took a couple of bowls with creamy crayfish soup, a bowl of green salad and a bottle of ginger ale. After he placed the bowls with the soup in the microwave, he opened the bottle of ginger ale.
“I did not expect we’d have dinner.” I felt awkward.
“I thought that you’d be starving after all you’ve been through,” he said. “And I want you to feel comfortable because right now, the safest place on earth for you is in here.”
“Why do you believe that I am in such danger? I do not feel that I am in trouble,” I scrunched up my face.
“You are in danger. Believe me,” he said cutting his food. “The man I killed tonight was sent to kill you.”
“What!” My mouth dropped open. His mouth spread into a wide grin.
“Exactly,” he said calmly. “If I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be alive now.”
“But... why? Why would he want me dead?” My hands were shaking so bad that I could not hold the spoon anymore, so I placed it back on the table and I stopped eating my food.
“Because you have a special gift,” he said. “And because they know it. They came for you once, they will come for you again. And I want to be sure that they will not hurt you. That is why we are going to come up with a plan and stick with it. All I want from you is to trust me. Don’t you like your food?”
“I suddenly lost my appetite,” I said trying not to give away the state of shock I was in, although I was sure he already knew. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him, that I did not even know where to begin from.
“Why don’t you start with asking me who those people are?” he said.
“You said you won’t read my thoughts again without my permission,” I scowled.
“I did not read your thoughts. Okay, I may I have read just a bit of what is going in your mind right now.” He filled his glass with ginger ale.
I did not have the energy to argue with him. “Well, who are those people? And why did you kill them? You are supposed to be an Avallon Academy student, you are not supposed to be a vigilante.”
He placed his fork and knife on the empty plate. “We’ll have this conversation tomorrow. Now it is too late and we both need some rest. All you need to know right now is that you are safe here. Any other questions?” He smiled.
“How long have you been telepathic?”
“Since this morning. I do not expect it to last, though.”
“Are there any other telepathic people in here?”
“Absolutely.”
“Have I met one?”
“You met Merlin. But there are more of them. Anyway, this is a long story. We will talk about this another time. Now, get some rest. I will show you to your room.”
“What is this place? And why are you allowed to stay here?”
“Some secrets should remain secrets.” He smirked.
I followed him up a flight of stairs, after which we reached the landing and entered a beautifully decorated bedroom with a violet duvet set on a queen size bed. White furniture and pink lamps filled the room.
“If you want to shower, the bathroom is there.” He motioned towards a door across the room. “You’ll find clean towels and toiletries in there.
A few seconds passed before I realized that I was staring at him. Having felt the weight of my gaze, he looked at me, making my pulse race. With an unexpected move, he reached over and slid a few strains of my hair off my face. “Sweet,” he said softly, and my heart flipped over.
“Do you want pajamas to sleep in? I have a couple in your size,” he said, and his lips curled up on a soft smile.
“No, thank you. I do not wear pajamas when I sleep. In fact, I don’t wear anything.” I tried to pull a straight face, despite my need to laugh hard waiting for him to feel uncomfortable.
“Good to know,” he smirked, and gave me a look that made my stomach go fluttery before he got out of the room and closed the door.
“Oh my...,” I muttered.
I needed a shower to cool off. And there was a bathroom entirely mine. That was an opportunity that could not be missed.
After I had a shower, I crawled into the bed with the violet duvet set to sleep. My stay at the Academy could not have been weirder.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE door of the bedroom opened with a screeching sound. I jumped up off the bed, fists clenched, and stood in the middle of the room. Through the door opening, Arthur appeared with a tray in his hands.
“Great, you’re up,” he smiled as if he had not noticed the defending position I had taken. “I thought you’re hungry and I made you a croque madame.” He placed the tray on the table and drew the chair and invited me to sit down.
“Bonne appetite,” he said as I placed the plate on the table.
“Would you like to join me?” I said and
