Chapter 2: Revelations

I rush along the corridor and harder than i should push open the door. I jump when the door is caught swiftly by Christophe who now looks his age as a deep frown covers his face. This man is weird and rude and i have no intention of staying here.

"Miss Renoit, please, come in why don't you?"

A smile flicks across his face but it doesn't reach his eyes. How did he know i was coming back? I don't know but he has some impeccable timing.

My dad seems to have regained his steely composure that i've grown accustomed to and i breathe out a sigh. Maybe everything will be okay.

I sit back down next to my dad and for the first time since this morning he looks me in the eyes and he gives me an apologetic smile. A smile i'm so very used to of recent.

It's all back to business when Christophe sits in his chair and regards me frankly;

"Miss Renoit, this must seem all very strange to you and you are confused about why this building, which you assumed was a school, is empty."

How does he know exactly what i'm thinking? Good at guessing? Psychic?

"To settle your mind, you are correct this isn't a school or at least at present it isn't. I've just recently relocated to this building and it suits my needs as it will, eventually, suit your needs."

And what exactly are my needs? A creeping thought returns to my brain: we didn't book into a hotel and we left so abruptly. On the drive here i thought it odd that my father kept checking the mirrors. This is no coincidence. I feel my stomach sink and i know that this isn't going to be like the other moves.

Christophe shakes his head in what, sadness? Annoyance?

"I really wish that you had been better briefed on the situation but i now know that you've been kept in the dark since you were born. There is no need to sugar coat the situation, your dad will be leaving and you will not be going with him"

I feel my world collapse around me. I feel as though I'm having an outer body experience like this is happening but at the same time it's not.

I'm seventeen going on eighteen and i am no way ready for any of this. Since birth it has been my Father and I. It wasn't the conventional upbringing, constantly being on the move but we were a family us two and that's what most of my classmates had. To think that i am to lose my only family, I say faintly:

"Dad...why..."

I feel tears prick my eyes and i find a resolve in me. This can't be happening. I won't let it happen. I am not a child anymore, i can make decisions about my future. I may be young but i'll soon be an adult i don't need to stay here if i don't want to.

"Rosie, believe me if there was any other way..."

I cut him off

"No dad. No. I'm not staying here. All these years of changing schools I've never once questioned you. Even though it was a day to day struggle i always obeyed and left everything for you. I've never had any true friends..."

The air in the room suddenly freezes deathly cold and my body shivers. I watch as my breath comes out and evaporates into steam. Looking for comfort i turn to my dad but he isn't moving. i reach out to him and grab his arm but my hand is swatted away. Christophe is by my side creating a wall between my dad and i. I feel his intense gaze on me;

"I wouldn't touch him. When time stands still there is no knowing what damage you can cause."

I am frozen too but not in the same way. I swear my heart would stop beating if it wasn't my in-built survival instinct beating it for me. No thought or words form.

I become hyper aware of the presence that is Christophe in front of me. His hand gently rests on my shoulder and i jerk away causing my chair to fall backwards and my head to hit the floor with a bang. I scramble to get up but my head throbs. I protectively throw my hand out to protect myself expecting the worst to happen. Every muscle in my body stiffens. My brain does not work quick enough to react to Christophe grabbing me by the hand and pulling me to my feet.

"Sit. Now. I cannot hold this for much longer."

I am in two minds, fight or flight or rather flight or sit back down. My options are limited so i choose the safest one and sit back down though i grip the armrests till the blood drains from my hands. I mentally chastise myself for not being fast enough to react. My heart bangs against my chest so much that I feel as though it'll explode. I am in between wanting to scream or to cry but instead I stay paralysed to the chair.

The thoughts running through my head float away unexpectedly as quick as they came and my heartbeat slows. I feel a calm over me that appears from out of the blue and i mentally thank my brain for working with me as opposed to against, even if the sudden mood change comes from nowhere. In a different situation I would have been proud of myself. Christophe regards my mental state and decides to continue to talk:

"Thank you...I apologise...i do not want to scare you, in fact i was hoping to have the complete opposite effect. I now recognise that you are smarter than you look and i'll need to remember that in future. I know it's difficult but please do not be alarmed. What you are witnessing must have you really confused and frightened"

I nod my head and start to feel a deep apprehension of what is about to come next. Christophe assesses my now calm state and sits back down. He trusts me not to try and run: not that i could being frozen to the chair.

"I do not want to overload you with information but unfortunately it is unavoidable. Like i said before, this isn't a school. Your dad brought you here because he realises that he can no longer protect you and as unbelievable as you might think, your dad doesn't want to constantly have to move you about. He has his reasons which will all be known to you when it is time but it is his wish that you stay here with me."

My brain, although slow at first, starts to process what has just happened and i begin to verbally talk myself through it:

"So i am to stay here, with you, a complete stranger, in a abandoned stately home and you can somehow magically freeze time in order to tell me this because my father can no longer protect me?"

My emotions overflow and i start to laugh and laugh. Tears slide down my face and they are from a mixture of fear, sadness and the complete absurdity of the situation. I cannot deny what i have just witnessed.

Suddenly the heat returns to the room and my dad looks at me strangely as the river of emotions flow. He reaches out to me and i grab his hand. He squeezes it tightly and i feel like i am five years old again playing in the park. Happier times. The conversation continues as before:

"I know it's been hard for you, more than hard but this is the best place for you. In time you will come to see this. I've always done what i thought was best for you, please believe me Rosie."

I do believe him but it doesn't make it any easier. How has this happened? One minute we were in the hall in what i thought was my new school and now all this? It doesn't make any sense. I wipe away the tears from my laughing fit. Christophe interrupts our conversation.

"Miss Renoit what you have just witnessed in this room i showed your father little over a half hour ago when you were standing in the hall. To you it went by in seconds. You would have noticed and felt something strange happening but couldn't quite put your finger on it. I wanted to show your father that i am who i say i am. Your father is fiercely protective over you and so he should be. What you are needs to be protected from those that would seek you out for their own uses. Do not think that he has taken this decision lightly. Our kind need to be together, safe. "

"Our kind?"

"I will explain but all in due time Miss Renoit but now please say your goodbyes to your father."

This is really happening. The unfamiliar feeling passes through me and it makes me feel comfort in the decision. Christophe's influence i suspect.

How to say goodbye to someone I've lived with for seventeen years of my life? Better to get it over and done with it isn't as though i have a choice at least not right now. I was never really great at long goodbyes anyway.