7. Callign

I stood in the hall and waited as Zeik closed the door, my heart puttered a bit as the last chance to change my mind revved it’s engine and drove off down the winding driveway and into the darkness of the night.

"So where exactly are we going to be shooting?" I inquired, trying to cove my nerves.

"We have a sun room made mostly of glass. Don't worry it's heated.” He added after seeing the look on my face. “It looks beautiful with the full moon casting its beams over the plants and marble. Anyway, Mary's room is upstairs, go left and it's the last door." I nodded and followed his direction.

When I entered the room, I immediately felt a shiver go down my spine. I could smell the dominance in the air like a perfume, but where as others might find it an attractive scent, I found it bitter, and my mind immediately bucked it, by rolling my shoulders against it. A voice in the back of my head told me I wasn't supposed to be in here, this was not part of my home and I had not been invited. I cringed but forced myself to the closet. Inside was a wealth of clothes. I sifted through them trying to find something that would fit me. I found a low-backed white dress that fit fairly well. I looked at myself in the mirror.

The gossamer material of the dress fell over my figure in a way that emphasized my curves; I turned and saw that the dress was low enough to show my birthmark. It looked like a scar with its jagged, grizzly white lines, located between my shoulder blades. It was in the shape of the crescent moon with a star inside it. I tried hard to cover it but whenever I moved, it just revealed itself again. I finally gave up and went back downstairs.

Zeik stood, waiting, at the bottom of the stairs and as I approached, he let out a low whistle.

"You clean up nice." He stated as I rolled my eyes. His words were said jokingly but I could see the attraction he was trying hard to keep banked in his eyes.

"So where are we doing this exactly?" I asked looking around the house, anything to get the focus off me

"Tis this way, follow me." He commanded grabbing my arm and leading me through the house, which was empty of life, aside from the plants.

"Where are your parents?" I asked realizing just how empty the house seemed and feeling rather uncomfortable.

"There out running errands. It's ok they should be back by the time we finish." By this time I was already wondering what we would be finishing when they came back. He stopped outside a large door and pulled out a key to unlock it. When it was opened the scent of decaying leaves wafted into the air along with a warm moist feeling. I stepped through and saw that they owned a rather large green house. It was warm, despite the winter snow outside, and beautiful.

"Come with me." Zeik said and walked deeper into the green house. He started setting up near a stone bench in a clearing filled with grass and small flowers. The moon shone bright and full through the glass, which was surprisingly clean. Zeik asked me to pose any way I could think of. My first was simple; I sat on the bench with my ankles crossed leaning forward just a little. I was looking up dreamily. Zeik showed me the digital preview; I was surprised at how pretty it was. Zeik took more pictures as I struck different poses. I laughed sometimes, as I became more and more used to the whole scenario, and as I experimented with poses and a few props I found within the greenhouse.

I was playing with the idea of one pose when Zeik stopped me. I turned to face him.

“Turn back around,” He said twisting his hand indicating the way I should move. I turned my back to him. “Lift up your hair.” I rolled my eyes but listened. I heard him approach slowly. I was confused until he touched my birthmark on my back. I jerked around and used my hair to cover my back.

“Are we done then?” I asked before he could say anything. He nodded.

“My parents should be home soon. We’ll wait for them in the kitchen. Are you hungry?” As if on cue, my stomach growled so ferociously, a lion would have coward away. Zeik laughed then led me to the kitchen

à à à

The kitchen was beautiful, not at all like the cramped spaces I was used to working with. An island sat in the middle a range positioned to one side and a sink on the other. A floating pan rack hung from the ceiling above it and large stoves were set into the wall behind it. A stainless steel behemoth of a fridge and freezer were to the left of the island.

“Your family must cook a lot.” I said as I sat on one of the benches at the island.

“Our favorite room is the kitchen; we spend most of our time here,” He answered as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a left over steak and popped it into the microwave. The contraption looked ancient and made a lot of noise, I assumed that they didn’t tend to have a lot of leftovers, but the smell of the steak was amazing.

“I guess you do a lot of home cooking?” I asked looking to the microwave almost fearful that it may explode.

“Only way to eat, I’ll invite you sometime when the whole family’s here.”

“I’d like that.” The microwave dinged and Zeik placed the steak in front me with a fork and knife. I dug in hungrily. I could taste the sweet onions and peppery Worcestershire sauce. When I finished I sat back and licked the juices off my lips. I smiled up at Zeik.

“Did you like it?” He asked mockingly.

“It was a little done for my taste, but delicious.”

“How do you normally like your steaks?” He asked. I smiled knowing most thought my tastes were disgusting.

“Bloody rare,” I waited for him to respond. He just smiled.

“I like mine that way too, but the microwave always over cooks the meat.

“Microwaves overcook everything, but it was good, thanks.”

“Well I’m glad you liked it deary.” Mrs. Remer stated as she bustled in. I hadn’t noticed that Zeik and I had leaned closer to one another until we both pulled back. I dropped the fork and knife onto the counter.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Remer,” I said a little embarrassed, “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Nonsense Dear, and please call me Marsha.”

“Thank you Marsha.”

She looked a little flustered with red tints in her ample cheeks. She hung a coat on one of the hooks next to the kitchen door. After her, a dark-haired man walked in. He looked me over once, the corners of his lips turning down just minutely. He didn’t seem overtly disapproving so I shrugged it off and smiled anyway. Three young kids shot around his legs, the tall man caught two of them by their collars but the third jumped right into my lap and sniffed my hair. He squirmed a little trying to find balance on my thin legs, after a bit he stilled and then just stared at me. I knew he was trying to look serious and intense, but his face was just so cute that I couldn’t help it when a small giggle and smile escaped me. Three pre-teened kids followed them but stopped at the door.

“Sorry dad,” Said the oldest looking one, “We tried to keep them with us but they got away.”

“Jonny, get down from there,” Mrs. Remer commanded but the boy sat stubbornly, sticking out his tongue when she looked away.

“You have dark, soft hair, like Nox.” Jonny said reaching up to touch it. Everyone went silent and waited for me to speak. I laughed and tickled the youngster out of my lap. They all seemed to take a large breath. I turned to Zeik.

“Who’s Nox?” I asked.

“What’s that?” A little voice asked as cold tiny fingers roughly traced the lines of my birthmark. I looked down to see that the other two young ones had gotten away from their father and were looking at me, an odd glint in their eyes. I looked around and saw that everyone had stopped all that they were doing and listened intently to what was about to be said.

I became A little uncomfortable with all the attention, but I smiled as I told the children that it was a birthmark. They ran off giggling the three young teens followed after them yelling. Mrs. Remer grabbed the plate that had held my steak and smiled before cleaning it.

I got the feeling that I almost belonged here, until the back door flew open again and Mary stepped inside. She looked flustered as the others had, but not unbeautiful. Her eyes scanned the scene before her, they rested on me and I saw a little resentment flare behind them. She smiled tightly and stared at me challengingly.

I stared back into those hateful amber eyes, I was unsure of what I had done to make her hate me so, but regardless I wouldn’t let her frighten me. I heard a low rumble issue behind me and still I didn’t look away, it intensified and Mary blinked dropping her eyes to the floor. I smiled smugly as Mary mumbled something about going to her room.

It wasn’t until I turned around again that I noticed that I might have done something wrong. Everyone was staring at me again not in challenge but in respect. The young children ran into the kitchen. Jonny took me by the hand and pulled me away from the staring eyes.

“Come on,” He said and tugged harder when I slowed. He took me through the house to the back rooms on the main floor. “I want to show you something.” He pulled me into a little room with the typical space theme for little boys. He dove into his closet and rummaged through the mess. He reappeared something enclosed within his hands. He opened them to show a smooth, round, black stone that had been polished, to a near perfect shine.

“Look into it.” He ordered anxiously. Before I could, Zeik appeared in the doorway. He nodded and stood there waiting to see what would happen. I looked down at the stone in my hands and saw a vision of the full moon. It wasn’t until I turned to look away that I noticed it wasn’t really the full moon but my face.

I stared at the stone and turned it over; the same vision was there, I tried to figure out how it worked. I didn’t notice that Zeik had moved until he stilled my frantic hands and turned the stone to my face. I looked at his face and saw the shadow of a slow forming smirk. I had seen enough smirks today and was tired of them.

“Are you going to tell me what that look is for?” I asked.

“What look? I just thought your face looked pretty reflected in the stone.” Zeik answered smiling. Jonny pulled the stone down so he could see.

“Is it the moon?” He whimpered, “Is it Nox?” I stood getting frustrated.

“Who the hell is Nox?”

“Nothing, a myth, and a fairytale we tell the young ones.”

“Nah-hah! Nox is real, you’re a liar!”

“Shut up Jonny!” The little one looked up at his brother while tears lined his eyes, his lower lip quivered a bit and he ran off calling for his mom in such a high shrill that he sounded like a dog whimpering. I followed him, throwing the stone to the ground. I ran into Mary’s room to gather my clothes. A low growl issued from behind the door and I ducked as an arm lashed out to strike me.

“What are you doing in here?” She sneered.

“I came to get my clothes so I can leave.” I answered leaking as much acid as I could into the small sentence. She turned from me and went into her closet she returned carrying my clothes in pinched fingers as though they were a poisonous scorpion, she dropped them at my feet and pointed to a door.

“There’s the bathroom leave my dress on the floor, I don’t want you ruining my other clothes with your putrid scent.” She turned away and lounged on the bed. I stomped my way into the bathroom and quickly changed. I buried her dress deep into the confines of her dirty clothes hamper.

Before I left, I noticed a little laundry basket with clothes folded neatly in it.

I reached in and pulled, from the bottom, a nice little pink shirt. I wadded it up and dunked it in the toilet, swiping it around the rim before folding it and placing it back at the bottom. I washed my hands and left the room silently going out the door that led into the hallway. I rushed down the stairs and was heading towards the door when Mrs. Remer called to me.

“Are ya leavin’ dear?”

“Yes,” I called back over my shoulder, “it’s getting late,” I added as the grandfather clock in their living room tolled out the chime for ten o‘clock. “And my mother will be worried.”

“Alright then I’ll see ya tomorrow.” I left then closing the door behind me. I was trying to think of what direction home would be when I looked up and saw a red Ferrari parked right in front of the Remer’s house. Richard sat in the front seat smiling at me.