He stared at me for a moment, his eyes still in a sapphire fury. He had the same chagrined and sorrowful glare in his eyes that he had the day we were on the beach. Something dreadful was going to happen. I knew it was crazy, but it was true. He took a deep breath and closed the door behind him.
I walked toward the fire and looked closely at the painting, still in a daze. She didn't wear my necklace, but she had a rare diamond around her neck. I looked for the date on the painting and there was no date, but I could tell the painting was at least three hundred years old, maybe older. I sat back on the bench looking at the ivory keys, stupefied, when I heard hushed voices just in the other room. I walked to the door, but it was locked. I eavesdropped.
Martin. I recognized his voice, but I was more concerned about what he was saying.
"You killed her father, and then you kept her prisoner for ten years because you didn't have the guts to kill her."
Oliver? His voice was furious but hushed.
"How many times do you have to watch her die?" he continued. "You loved Marie with all your soul. Shouldn't you be fighting to be with her rather than trying to kill her?"
"I had no choice," Martin said in a hushed voice. "I love her. That-"
"That's why you want her dead," Oliver cut him off. "No, Martin, I love her, and I had to stand by and watch you with her. What would Marie do if she knew the truth about you? If she knew that you killed her!"
"You love her?" He seemed surprised. "Annabeth?"
Annabeth? Wait-what? I was speechless and in agony. Who was Marie? Martin was in love with two different women. My knees wobbled. I strained my ears, but they had fallen silent. I couldn't picture Martin being a player. Had I made up the strong attraction between us? No, it couldn't be. Why three women? I felt my head swim with confusion, and a great overwhelming despair swept over me.
Suddenly, an ominous silence fell upon the house. There was no sound or movement from the great hall. I was wondering whether everyone had left the party already, or if I was trapped in one of my vivid dreams again. Pauline wouldn't leave without me, and Martin wouldn't leave me here without warning me that the party was over. So why did I feel alone? A dreadful chill and a sick feeling grew inside of me, and my breath became an icy fog. The hair on my back and arms stood, and I felt a ghastly chill run from my head to toes. They were coming for me, and someone was going to die.
I couldn't get out of my mind the conversation Martin and Annabeth had in the boutique. She called him honey. How stupid I had been. It was a big scheme. I couldn't get it out of my mind, but I had to. There was too much to think about. They were coming for me, and I had to run.
Suddenly, there was thick smoke coming from under the door, and I found myself coughing. The smoke began to fill up the piano room quickly, clouding the whole room.
I ran for the door. It was locked. My head was throbbing with fear, and I began to panic as I heard a massive noise, like a huge crack of thunder, and the music room shook violently as if it were tumbling down and then just as violently righted itself. The wood floor shuddered.
"Help!" I cried, pushing the door with all my inhuman strength. The door didn't budge. "Help me! Martin! Oliver! Pauline! Oh God, help!"
The dark wood floor was slowly splitting in half, making an unbearable windmill noise. An invisible force yanked me away from the door and over to the piano, narrowly missing the edge of it with my head, and I felt nearly out of my mind with horror. I scrambled to my feet, breathing hard, and ran to the other side of the room, airborne, so I didn't fall in the void. Everything was locked. The house was creaking and groaning as if ready to collapse on my body.
I pushed the door with all my strength until I became weak and feeble. I panicked with the weight of the terror I felt churning inside my gut. The way out was closed. The smoke had saturated the room quickly, and my lungs were filled with it. I was coughing, and my eyes were watering. The smell of smoke was strong; it was almost impossible not to breathe. There was an explosion. The ground was opening even wider. I could see nothing but darkness in the hole where the earth opened. I flung myself against the wall as the floor under my feet began to slide, and the wood floor tumbled into the chasm. I held on tightly to the wall as hard as I could, moving my feet backward so I didn't fall down.
I needed to escape or die. I shrank back, and for a moment, I stood trembling against the wall, feeling doomed. I suddenly felt faint from the terror surrounding me, and I was drenched in smoke. Suddenly, the door flung open as a pair of white dragon wings emerged from the hole, and the abyss closed all at once, but the smoke didn't vanish.
"Fleur!" Oliver said, running toward me. He grabbed my hand. "This way! Keep awake, Fleur."
We ran out as fast as we could toward the exit. Smoke had spread everywhere inside the house. The great hall was empty. Everyone had fled.
"Martin-where is he?" I said. "And Pauline?"
"Don't you get it, Fleur?" he said. "We need to go."
Once we were standing in the doorway, I looked for Pauline and Martin through the anxious crowd, but they were nowhere to be found.
"I have to go find Martin and Pauline," I said, pulling my hand free from his grip.
"No!" Oliver said, holding my shoulders. "That's what he wants. He was trying to kill you, Fleur."
"Lies," I said, pushing him out of my way, and I ran inside.
Inside, the house was extremely hot and wholly dark, but I managed to find my way by squinting through the chaotic darkness. I looked first for Pauline. I couldn't see anything more than a foot ahead. Suddenly, I heard coughing. It was Pauline.
"Pauline?"
"Fleur," she coughed. She was half-conscious on the floor next to the long table.
I carried her outside and ran back inside to look for Martin. Walls of smoke barred my way, and I felt as if a trap was closing about me, but I did not lose heart. Sweating and burning and yet chilled, I looked harder and everywhere for Martin. I was beginning to fear for my life more than his; nonetheless, I was determined to find him or die.
"Martin! Martin!" I called.
Quailing terribly, I looked around wildly for Martin, opening every single door and searching every room on the lower floor. My skin was seething. I had to find Martin before I collapsed and turned to ash. I saw nothing but thick dark smoke when I reached a long wide passage. There really was a blaze when I got into the kitchen, and I could see flames everywhere. I couldn't go on anymore, and I was beginning to lose courage. Maybe Martin was already outside, and maybe I should go back where it was safe. But at the thought that Martin might be somewhere inside the blazing house and suffocating smoke, I steeled my nerves.
I opened a door to a large empty room and tried to reach the door at the other end of the room but then stopped; a chill that had nothing to do with the fire was gripping my heart. I closed my eyes, staving off my terror, and then forced myself to reach for the door. At that moment, I began to shiver at the thought of dying alone in the monstrous darkness.
"Martin!" I called one last time before collapsing on the floor.
As my doom arrived, I saw a bright light cutting through the thick curtain of smoke moving slowly toward me, and I felt a little safer. The way the light outshone the smoke, it almost looked like a pair of illuminated golden dragonfly wings. I was on the verge of bursting into flame when the dazzling light scooped me off the floor. He held me tightly in his arms and carried me out of the room. I fastened my arms around his neck, like a survivor of a plane crash on a desolate island. The scent of cinnamon, lilac, and sandalwood overwhelmed his body like burning fragrance oil inside a closed room. It made me think abruptly of Martin. My arms circled the stranger's waist so tightly I could feel his pulse, and my heart was beating too.
"Martin," I murmured. "Find Martin."
I fainted.
You can read the buy this book on Amazon, Barnes and nobles Nook, Lulu.com, and Xlibris. Author Name is Sarah Farmer.
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