I got up from where I was sitting and Elise did the same. I looked down at Oliver again and he got up looking worried.
"What happened?" he asked placing his hand on my shoulder,"Did something walk through you?"
"Are you possessed?" Markus asked and my momentary shock disappeared.
"I'm fine. I just want to....sleep." I said looking at Elise who had her normal blank expression back on her face.
Oliver and Markus turned to look at Elise as if they were asking if it was okay for us to leave without doing what we came to do. I started to walk away and the boys quickly followed behind me. I went straight to my room but was surprised to see my wardrobe had been moved, again. It definitely wasn't me this time so someone must have come to my room from the convent or someone was going to the convent. Markus went to peep into the little passage and when he took longer to come back Oliver went to join him.
"There was someone there." Markus said,"The he person just vanished."
Oliver came back to my side while Markus pushed the wardrobe back in it's place.
"Will you be able to stay here alone?" I heard Elise ask from behind me.
"Yes. I'll manage."
"We'll need to tie you up in that case." she said dismissively as she pulled out a rope from behind her back,"For safety reasons."
"You could just sleep here. There's no need to tie her up like she's a mentally unstable brute." Markus said taking the rope from her.
"She doesn't want me around, can't you tell?"
"Then do the thing you did with the salt when we went into the tunnel." Ollie suggested.
Elise was quiet for a while then she left my room and came back a minute later with a water bottle filled with salt. The cap had a hole in it to let the salt out and she started drawing lines. The boys moved some of the furniture around so she could really have the whole room with a barrier. She didn't say anything when she left and later the boys followed after wishing me a good night. I lay awake in my bed wondering if I'd dream about Elise and my brother's past little romance. It would definitely be... sad and the sadder thing is that Elise can remember it all.
When I finally shit my eyes to sleep I heard the soft ringing of bells and then singing.....from behind the wardrobe. I kept my eyes shut and tried not to concentrate on the words being said. What I need now is a pleasant noise to distract me. Phone! I quietly got off the bed, still wrapped in the blanket and when I reach for the handle of my drawers it hit me; the phones were with Elise. Ahhh! I walked back to the bed and pushed my fingers into my ears to keep out the noise and I shut my eyes as well in case I started seeing things. I stayed that way for about two minutes and then unblocked my ears first. When there was no singing or chanting spells of sorts I let myself open my eyes.
Nothing. I slept on my side to look at that exact corner where the passage was and saw that there was nothing their either. I can finally sleep with ease.
"Olive." I heard Elise call out to me,"Olive."
It was morning. I stretched on the bed and Elise moved away from the bed as if she was avoiding me. I was going to say something to her but she told me to go down for the bath immediately then....she was gone. I went down to the bathroom and on my way I saw Oliver and Markus going to take their own baths. I didn't greet them because I knew if I stopped them they would be late. I bathed quickly and I attempted to speak to Elise again but she left the bathroom early. What did I do? Throughout the day my mind kept going back to Elise but I didn't see her the rest of the day until it was bed time but even then she didn't give me a chance to say anything because she walked right past us we went up the stairs.
"What's wrong with her?" Oliver asked seemingly worried,"It's like the two of you had an unspoken argument in the cornfield."
"I want to talk to her but she keeps avoiding me." I said in my defense.
"I'll talk to her." Oliver said running to catch Elise as she opened her bedroom door.
He pushed her in when the door opened and then he followed and closed it. I'm worried now...
"I hope no one saw that." Markus whispered,"Let me keep you company while we wait for Oliver to come back out because I don't think you'll be able to sleep while he is in there."
"Okay. Shall we wait in your room or mine?" I asked.
"Yours." he answered and then winked.
I must have blushed because he started smiling. We went to my room and sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"It has come to my attention that we barely know each other." Markus stated and I nodded in agreement,"Why don't you tell me about yourself."
"Well...things like what exactly? I really don't do well with theses kinds of conversations." I replied honestly.
"Nor I. It's a match made in heaven I guess." he said lying down on the bed,"I could try to start though."
"I'm all ears."
"Well to start with I'm an orphan."
"What?!" I exclaimed then I corrected my tone and continued to say,"My condolences. I had no idea. Since when?"
"My mum died three hours after my birth and dad died five days after I turned two." Markus explained sadly.
"I can't imagine being alone for that long. A two year old baby forced to grow in a short time."
"Two months not years." Markus corrected me with a smile on his face.
"Two months?! Why didn't you mention that earlier before I made a fool out of myself?"
"I wanted to see this expression on your face." he answered with a light chuckle.
"You're mean."
"But you like that, I presume?"
"Just a little. Who raised you?"
"My aunt."
"I'm guessing that is where you met Jake or rather where you were raised with him. Why don't you guys get along?"
"He's annoying and we have totally different areas of interest." Markus said with pouted lips,"I'm sure you and Ollie have disagreements as well."
"All the time. He's so overprotective and overreacts about everything especially when a guy hits on me. It's cute sometimes but it is a big disadvantage when I like the guy." I said lying down on the bed next to him.
"What are your cons? You only talked about Ollie."
"I don't have cons. I'm an all round advantage."
"Mood swings are also prons when it's you I guess." Markus said turning to lay on his side where he could see me.
His gaze made me feel naked for some reason and I started pulling my clothes closer to my body. To make things worse the lights went out and the room became dark but instead of making me comfortable it made me feel like I really was naked. Markus' heavy breathes filled my ears and I found my body temperature rising.
"What's wrong? Your breath is sounding like an elephant's trumpet." Markus said.
"No... nothing. We should check on Elise and Ollie." I said trying to laugh off my embarrassment.
Markus sat up and I did the same but then neither one of us made an effort to leave the room or even the bed.
"Liv?" Markus called out to me questioningly.
"Yes. There's nothing behind me is there?" I asked starting to imagine Jen standing on my side of the bed.
"No. I wanted to ask for....a kiss." he said sounding shy.
I smiled to myself in the dark and then my body moved on it's own and I found myself crawling to him shamelessly. I pushed him back down onto the bed and planted a kiss on his lips. He sighed into the kiss and for a strange reason it made my heart skip a beat....or two. Markus made me sit on top of him and he squeezed my thighs on either side of him then the door opened and Markus quickly rolled us off the bed to the side of the room hidden by the bed.
"It's me." Oliver whispered,"Quick reflexes but you fell with a kaboom."
Markus was on top of me but he had put his hand under my head as we fell. Even though I couldn't see him I know he looked beautiful.
"Are you guys alive or do you think I'm a nun impersonating your brother?" Oliver asked.
Markus and I finally got up from the floor and he left with Oliver.
"What did you and Elise talk about?" Markus asked.
"No explanation. I won't tell." Oliver answered.
"Who's that walking around at night?!" boomed the voice of Sr Patronelle and I heard the loud footsteps of Markus and Oliver running to their room and shutting the door.
I jumped into bed and threw the blanket over myself and pretended to be asleep as best as I could.