Grandma goes back to her house late at night, she is not going to be able to come stay with me tomorrow so I’ll have to kill time by myself. I go to bed but I am unable to sleep, I miss Leopold too deeply, I see his side of the bed empty and my heart aches. I wish I could be in the hospital with him.
At dawn, I turn on the TV and I change the channels distractedly, nothing piques my interest until I get to the news channel. The words SHARKS INFECTED on the screen in red letters make me gasp. I turn on the volume.
“Ten Sharks have died in the last four days due to the Virus E virus. Many more are still fighting for their lives at the General Hospital, among them, Commander Leopold Mortensen, our national hero,” the news anchor says.
I feel a void inside of
Later I take out the trash. I throw the garbage bag inside the container and the second my hand is free someone grabs me by the waist and presses me hard against his body. I startle, but I immediately know who it is.“My sweet Aubrey. I can’t stop thinking about you,” Zack whispers to my ear.I hit him on the ribs with my elbow to force him to release me. Zack takes his hands off of me but just momentarily because as soon as I try to walk away he grabs me by the shoulders and forces me to face him. He leans his head to be closer to me, I can feel his fresh minty breath on my face.“Zack, are you insane?” I whisper because I don’t want anyone to hear us. “Do you know what will happen if someone sees us? Zack, I have told you a million
A whole day goes by and I’m still thinking about my encounter with Zack, I can’t decide whether he is truly an Eel or not. I try to think about what happened without bias, but it’s too difficult, even after everything that has happened, I still appreciate Zack and looking at him as an Eel seems inconceivable. The only thing I’m sure of is that I will never denounce him without having solid proof, I won’t allow anyone to go through the same things I went through in vain. Even suggesting he might be an Eel will ruin his life forever and I don’t want that in my conscience.There is something else bothering me aside from Zack’s issue, I am kind of annoyed by the fact that Jareth hasn’t come by to tell me how Leopold is doing. I wish I could go to the hospital myself and not just wait for someone else to tell me what is going on. I turn on the TV but there is no m
Leopold sleeps for hours, the sun goes down and he still soundly asleep. I decide to prepare his favorite meal for dinner in case he wakes up. I go to the kitchen, I take out two steaks from the freezer and I start to boil water to prepare mashed potatoes. Baxter is so happy to have Leopold back that he doesn’t even come to the kitchen when the smell of food reaches the upper floor. The dog stays beside the bed waiting for his owner to wake up.The doorbell rings. It’s probably Jareth checking on us. I leave the food and I open the door with a big smile. Outside I find a short chubby middle-aged woman with gray hair and a scowl on her face. The woman is wearing a sky blue Bearer dress and is carrying a big suitcase. The woman looks somehow familiar although I can’t determine why.“Who are you?” The woman asks looking at me up and down with a furrowed brow.
Mabel stays for hours chatting with Leopold inside the bedroom. I stay downstairs feeling annoyed, I’ve missed Leopold so much these last few days and now his mother is here I can’t spend time alone with him. At some point, she comes downstairs with the empty tray and the dirty dishes for me to clean them.“Girl, once you are done with the dishes go unpack my suitcase. Be careful, I don’t want you to ruin anything,” she orders me.“Yes, ma’am,” I reply frowning.Unpack her suitcase? Does she think I’m her personal maid? I snort angrily but I go to the guest room to do as she told me. After all, she is one going to be here for a few days, and then Leopold and I will be left alone.I open her heavy suitcase and I am surprised by all the clothes and perso
Now that Leopold’s mom is staying with us, I have no excuse not to go to the Bearer Center. Even though I dread to go back, I am received by some interest changes: thanks to Leopold’s close experience with death, the Matrons have decided to forgive him for yelling at Mother Addison and regard him once more as Estermond’s hero; this turned out to be a good thing for me because they are kinder to me; but it’s not just the Matrons who have changed, Alice is so thankful for what I did with the Andersons that she now treats me in a friendly manner, her change of heart is noticed by the rest of the Bearers, and so they decide I am no longer a pariah in the group. I go from being Aubrey the Eel to just being Aubrey, another Bearer from group 11. Eliza is also back, although she keeps to herself all of the time and barely talks to the rest of us. Fiona and I have tried to talk to her about her absence but she refuses to say anything.
I spend the days leading to our getaway wondering where Leopold is taking me. He refuses to give me any clues and tells me I do not have to pack anything because he has arranged everything himself.The day finally arrives, I feel excited and nervous at the same time. We leave at dawn, I get in his car without the slightest idea of where we are going. Leopold kisses the palm of my hand before starting the car.“Are you ready?” he asks with a sly smile.I shrug, I do not know what to expect. He drives and drives, and we leave the city behind us and drive through the Equality Forest. I used to come here to camp with my friends. Is he taking me camping? Leopold doesn’t seem like the kind of man that likes to camp and I am definitely not the kind of girl that li
The dress Mabel chose for me is breathtaking. I have never seen a dress like this before. I was expecting for her to sabotage me in some way, choosing a cheap fabric, an unflattering design or giving the dressmaker the wrong size, but none of that happened, the dress is spectacular and it fits me perfectly. I think it is safe to say the my mother-in-law is finally starting to accept me. Mabel even offered me to help me do my hair and she did an amazing job making it into a waterfall braid that suits my features just right.“Keep in mind that this is a very important day, Leopold is going to be in front of his superiors and all the family has to rise to the occasion. Please, girl, do not make a fool of yourself during the event, do not embarrass my son,” Mabel reminds me as puts the final touches to my hairdo.
I go to the nearest restrooms and change my dress. Luckily, Alice and I are the same size. Alice’s dress is not as spectacular as the one I had, but it is cute and, the best part, the design is original. I toss Grace’s dress to the trash, furious at Mabel for what she did.I walk back to my group. Mabel’s face reddens with anger when she sees me coming.“What happened to you, girl? Where is your dress?” She asks angrily. “Alice’s son spilled grape juice on it and it got ruined, she gave me a spare she had as an apology,” I lie not able to hide a joyful grin.“Oh, what a shame, it was such a nice dress,” Grandma exclaims. “But this one is pretty too.”Mrs. Jordan smile