"That's it then!" the dance instructor shouted above the sound of the music.
Everyone on the dance floor did a bow and moved towards a rail where their towels hung.
Gillian heaved a sigh of relief. Now she would be able to talk to Mishka and maybe get her fears dealt with. Maybe there was nothing wrong with what grandma Myrtle did, but it had to be discussed.
"It just could be that Mishka doesn't know about this, especially in the way that they've been living with one another for the past couple of years," Gillian told herself.
"Maybe they know little about one another's hobbies because they're simply not interested in each other, so they could be ignorant about some serious issues concerning one another," Gillian thought.
"One thing for sure, I am gonna tell my parents about the nursery rituals here tonight. They need to know about this, especially if my Mom wants to help Mishka by taking her grandmother on. One should know one's opponents," she told herself as she smiled at the dancers who were all sweaty and ready to head for the showers.
"I'm gonna change before we go to the nightclub, but I think we can go for dessert for now," Mishka suggested as soon as she reached Gillian's side.
Gillian was not even looking forward to the dessert which Mishka's family cook usually made so wonderfully.
"Okay then, let's hurry because we have very little time from this point on," Gillian responded.
"Lucky I didn't dance long enough to become sweaty," she added with a half-hearted smile.
As they walked down the hallway again, she listened for the chopping and chanting sounds from the basement. There was nothing now. It was as if it had never happened.
"I know what I heard and saw. I'm going to talk about it," Gillian told herself firmly.
"Great! There is our dessert already on the table, just as I hoped," Mishka remarked when the two of them walked into the empty dining room.
"It's gonna feel really weird sitting at such a long table with just the two of us here," Gillian responded.
"Oh, I'm used to sometimes sitting and eating here alone when everyone else is out," Mishka responded as she walked around the table to sit with her back towards the window so that she could face the door.
"Lucky my grandma's asleep now, so it's another one of those rare occasions when I can sit and eat in peace," she continued as she lifted the glass lid off the container in the middle of the table.
"I wonder how true that can be. She would have to have gone straight up to her bedroom from the basement and then jumped straight into bed for that to have happened," Gillian told herself inwardly.
"Great! How divine!" she remarked. "My favourite strawberry cheesecake with chocolate on top," she continued with a delighted smile on her face.
"Help yourself," Mishka responded with a nod and a wave of her hand. She was smiling at the desert herself.
"This is great after that home-cooked meal at your place and the vigorous dance routine now," she remarked.
"So, we're gonna dance all this off again at the night club," Gillian remarked as she began to munch on her slice of cheesecake.
"Oh, definitely," Mishka responded.
By the time that they drove out of the driveway, Gillian could not contain herself anymore.
"So, did you do better with your dance routine today? Was it a bit less challenging than at other times?" Mishka asked.
"Oh, it was just as tough, so I went out a bit. I needed the bathroom too," Gillian replied.
"Oh yes, I noticed that," Mishka responded.
"But then I came across something very strange," Gillian remarked.
"What happened?" Mishka asked looking at the road ahead. The rain had stopped and the wet scenery in the streetlights looked charming.
"Your grandma can't be asleep now, Mishka," Gillian stated in a clear tone of voice.
"Why do you think so? She can't still be awake at this time. Besides, if she was awake she was gonna call me to her room and ask all kinds of questions," Mishka responded as she frowned at Gillian, shaking her head.
"She was too busy with her own stuff to even notice your activities tonight," Gillian continued as she kept her eyes on the road.
"In fact, how much do you and your grandma actually know about one another's activities, Mishka?" she asked, taking her eyes off the road briefly to look at Mishka as she spoke.
"I don't understand. Are you saying that I don't know about my grandmother's activities? I then know everything about her during all the years that we live together," Mishka responded as she looked at Gillian in confusion.
"Alright then, do you know that she's busy down in the nursery while you're having dance classes with your dance group?" Gillian asked with another quick glance at Mishka.
"She works in the basement at night?" Mishka asked frowning in confusion. "But, why would she do that? We never need flowers during the night.
But then again, maybe she remembered some of her eastern herbs down there," Mishka continued.
"I don't think that she was fetching medicine there," Gillian responded with a very serious look in her eyes.
"I don't understand. You seem to think that she did something else in the nursery. But, did you actually see her there tonight then?" Mishka asked in concern.
"Yes, I heard chopping sounds, so I thought it was one of the servants busy with a project. So, I went down out of curiosity. I wanted to chat a little," Gillian replied.
"You heard chopping sounds and then found my grandma in her nursery," Mishka remarked. "So then, she must have been busy chopping at some herbs. But so late at night? Couldn't she wait until morning? It must be a sign of old age," she added shaking her head.
"No, she wasn't chopping herbs. She was busy with some religious ritual or other, because before I reached there, the chopping sound was replaced by chanting," Gillian responded. She did not want to admit to her friend that the sounds actually sounded like witchcraft to her.
"She was chanting? Since when did she now include chanting into her eastern medicine routines? Well, maybe it all works together," Mishka responded with a shrug. She looked clearly surprised.
"I don't know, but you know what?" Gillian asked.
"What?" Mishka responded with a frown as she studied Gillian's facial expression.
"I think that it's no eastern ritual. I got the uncanny feeling of something sinister going on there," Gillian remarked.
"You mean to say that my grandma was acting spooky?" Mishka asked with a worried frown between her brows.
"Like I said. It felt unholy. Scary and shocking," Gillian responded.
"So, then, what did she say to you? Didn't she ask what you were doing there?" Mishka asked with an intrigued look on her face.
"Luckily, she was so engrossed in her routine that she didn't notice my presence behind the door," Gillian replied.
"You sound rather serious. Are you really thinking that she wasn't busy with something innocent? Mishka asked with a concerned note in her voice.
"Are you thinking that she could be up to something dark?" she asked with a serious frown.