466Chapter XX: Blacked Out
I would like to dedicate this chapter to both Chocolate Gun and L'Archange, both of whom have reviewed this silly story so persistently, encouraging me.
SUMMARY: Lea and Lyle are next door neighbours, and all throughout childhood poor Lea had to put up with Lyle's physical and verbal bullying. At the age of 12 however they stopped meeting each other, mainly because a terrible incident caused them both to get amnesia. Through fate and luck they recently got in touch again, and are currently at the Halloween Fete, the biggest festival in Sparrowick. Lea finds out that Lyle is the heir to noblesse, but that his cousin Lillian feels she is more suited to inherit it. Some other stuff happened, and now Lea has found herself locked out of the Sparrowick castle and stranded on a balcony...
The balcony door was locked from the inside, as my incessant but futile handle-turning indicated.
Lyle Parker had abandoned me in the great outdoors while I wore nothing but my Sailor Moon pyjamas. I might have kept warmer had it been Sailor Mars (guardian of fire) on my shirt, but nooooo it had to be the blonde dumpling hair girl.
I had to stop myself before I went on yet another tangential rant. It didn't matter which of the Sailor Moon girls were on my night dress. What did matter was the fact that half an hour had passed by and there was no sign of Lyle. A peek into the connecting room revealed the emptiness of the castle. When I looked more closely, I found the room to be dedicated to weapons, mostly rifles and manual bear traps. There were a couple of axes lying about in a careless yet menacing way. Stuffed deer and bears were hanging off the walls. I sincerely hoped that this was all part of the Halloween decorations, but all-in-all the room really resembled a hunting den. The creepiness of the room coupled with the general Halloween atmosphere had my bones shivering against my skin.
A terrifying thought struck me.
Lyle had left me out here to die.
And then, he'd cut me up and taxidermy the guts out of me, literally. He'd probably place my stuffed body in the corner between the still-life fox and the lamp. It all made perfect sense now. I could almost see the expression on my lifeless figure imploring the inmates of the castle to free me from my prison of doom.
No…the cold was addling my brain. I knew that Lyle was a little different from the rest of us, but wantonly cruel he was not. Two weeks ago I would have readily agreed that Lyle Parker was the kind of neighbour to gut his neighbours alive. Now I knew he had a human side, and his violent quirks merely made him more special.
I could faintly hear the Sparrowick bell tower ticking away my life. Time was progressing very slowly, and my sense of neglect was starting to increase exponentially. As much as I wanted to trust Lyle to be back soon, I had to assess the cold hard facts.
He had abandoned me at the top of the highest tower in Sparrowick Castle. Even if I shouted for help nobody would hear me unless they were on the balcony too…and that would sort of defeat the point a bit. I sorely began to wish I had long hair like a certain Rapunzel. That girl had better hair-styling sense than Garnier and L'Oreale put together.
Nearly an hour had passed, and the night was getting icier. I scrunched my body up into a ball and rubbed my forearms. Maybe if I rubbed hard enough I'd start a fire, and that was bound to get some attention from the city. Thoughts of Lyle's mocking smile began invading my brain, and I felt a strong urge to punch it.
Then, iridescent lights began colouring the sky, followed by loud 'bangs'. The fireworks display had started. I badly wanted to be down there with Daya and Mum, enjoying the display. Instead, I was stuck here with nobody but a scurrying cockroach for company. And believe me, he was pretty boring. I wished Lyle would come back so I could push him off the edge of this terrace. But though I was raging at him, I found that the more I thought about him the more I felt like pulling him into a rib-crushing squeezy hug. I wanted to fill my olfactory senses with his smell, a mix of masculine shampoo, old furniture and the blood of some small animal he had just killed. I wasn't stupid enough to think that he reciprocated, or even felt any human emotion towards me. In his eyes I was similar to a new toy – fun to abuse for a while, but hard to develop any attachment towards. My clarity of thought disturbed me in that I didn't actually care, I just wanted Lyle next to me. Where he belonged. Maybe Daya was right after all. Being together with Lyle would be the end of a particularly twisted fairy tale, but a fairy tale none-the-less.
I'm being crazier than usual...it must just be the cold talkingI reflected as the wind decided to rattle my bones once more just for the heck of it. Looking at the animated world below me made me feel so far away I might as well have been on the moon. People laughing, ooo-ing at the fireworks, eating...chatting to Lyle...
Wait...Lyle was down there? Part of the revelry? While I was stuck in my pyjamas three hundred feet above the ground?
He hadforgotten me after all. What a surprise. Oh, wait, was he trying to make his way back, getting rid of a pushy brunette in the process? It certainly looked that way.
Of course, I didn't want to get my hopes up high only to have them pummelled down by Lyle the incredible hulk. So I decided to think about why peas grow in pods, whereas potatoes don't. I was so absorbed in thought I didn't notice the sound of a key grating against a lock.
"Quite chilly outside, don't you think? Why didn't you come in?" Lyle asked in a mock innocent tone.
"You...you locked the door on purpose!" I replied. I fought the simultaneous urge to both kiss and punch him in the gut.
"Did I? Oh, how clumsy of me..." Lyle was many, many things but seventeen years of experience told me that 'clumsy' was not one of them. I tried to shove Lyle out of the doorway so I could embrace the warmth of the hunting den, but he insisted on acting as a blockade to my comfort.
"Move!" I said firmly, teeth chattering all the while.
"Did you miss me?" he asked, ignoring my order as he was accustomed to doing.
It had been the longest half-an-hour of my life. And during it I found myself consistently meditating upon Lyle. It was almost as unwanted as dirty socks, but the sad truth was that I had slowly fallen in love with each of his quirks. The initial repulsion I held for him was slowly evaporating away...
"No."
"Wrong answer. Try again."
I remained silent, furiously trying to hide my blushes in the dark. Unfortunately Lyle has the eyes of a nocturnal bird of prey. He laughed at my squirming.
"Come on, Lea! You can either answer my question correctly, or live on my balcony for the rest of your life. I'm fine either way," Lyle said threateningly. I could feel his deep, velvet voice penetrate straight into my belly. The way it always used to – but now I knew the reason why.
"I'm waiting-" he started. I immediately interrupted.
"I did miss you Lyle. I was waiting for you this whole time. I thought we'd watch the fireworks together like real friends, but you left me here to die!" I said with the emotion of a jilted woman on a daytime soap opera.
And then something happened that was as unlikely as candy falling from the sky – Lyle was taken aback. I used this to my advantage.
"I felt like a princess trapped in a tower!" Except princesses have access to central heating thanks to guardian dragons. I had no such luck, but after a peek into the hunting den who knew what creatures hid in there?
"That's disappointing," replied Lyle, still blocking the entrance, "I was going for 'animal-in-captivity' sort of thing."
So he had purposefully left me up here. Wouldn't have expected any less. Perhaps this had been his unique way of proclaiming his feelings towards me? Yeah, right. Ordinary guys don't lock their loved ones out in the cold while they go off to enjoy life. But this was no regular bloke – this was Lyle we were talking about. His communication with me was as alien as a toddler attempting to speak ancient Greek. And yet, I felt like I could instinctively grasp his gestures. Maybe because we had been together since our early childhood days.
"Still, it worked out better than expected. You were thinking of me the whole time weren't you? For half an hour, I had completely taken over your mind..."
Well, not quite. I didspend about two percent of the time thinking of Sailor Moon. Somehow I didn't think Lyle Parker would be interested in knowing that.
I side-stepped his comment by asking a question.
"Did you manage to talk to your father?"
Lyle took a step backwards, allowing me to finally enter into the room behind us, a refuge from the ice winds blowing outside. I stood close to him for extra warmth, and was relieved to see that he did not push me back. His chest felt like a blanket to my freezing hands.
"Your hands are cold," Lyle remarked.
"Your fault," I retaliated, "So, did you meet Mr Parker?" I should have addressed him as 'The XVIII th earl of Sparrowick', but the title sounded so formal.
"I did. It was a touching reunion between father and son. Almost cliché," he replied revolted, "He said nothing about why he left five years ago or what he had been doing all that time. It was utterly dissatisfying. It just reinforced the idea that it was all my fault...that something I did disgusted him so much he escaped from us. A father is meant to instil confidence in his sons...so why do I feel so...broken...so...lost...?"
He hugged me closer. Physically we were only millimetres apart, but I couldn't endure the closeness of the raw sentiment that Lyle was pouring into me. It was too much – one minute he's playing the role of the dominant man and the next I see into the depths of his very soul. And his soul was aching.
"He asked about you, Lea. He asked if you remembered when you used to sit on his head," Lyle gave half a laugh.
I finally arrived at another conclusion. One I should have come to years ago.
Lyle was human. All this time I believed him to be a monster disguised as a human, when in reality he just needed someone close. Although to be fair I did have other clues. He bled when cut, he ate when hungry, he laughed when entertained (usually at my expense), and he shared when he was troubled.
I pulled myself closer to his neck and tried to articulate a few words of reassurance. Instead, a frog insisted on inhabiting my throat, and the dam that usually held my tears back gently broke. I had not cried once since my father's funeral until today. Two tears plopped lightly onto Lyle's pale neck.
"Are you crying?" Lyle asked in an unfathomable tone. When I didn't reply he held me at shoulders length. My tears were mature and silent, but Lyle could not tear himself away from my face. The stares continued for a full minute. He then held out a masculine hand as though to wipe my cheeks, but stopped midway.
"Stop it," he said, but it wasn't his usual imperious order. It was more of a plea, and that broke my heart even more.
"Why?" I asked as my tears slowly abated, "I thought you always wanted to see me vulnerable and crying." Who else would make statements like 'I'll trap your tears in a bottle and drink it with breakfast'?
His fingernails dug into my shoulders.
"You should not cry for me. Stop," he resumed his normal voice and tone.
"What?" I was momentarily surprised.
"I do not want you to cry for me. I'd rather you cry because of me."
I used the sleeve of my pyjamas to wipe my face and smiled at Lyle. He did not return it, but looked desperately at me, holding my face in his hands. He held me with the delicacy of a wrestler trying to cross-stitch, but none-the-less, it was an intimate gesture.
"Lea, all this time, for all these years I've truly come to-"
Unfortunately he was interrupted by the clack of high heeled shoes as someone kicked open the door to the hunting den we were in. A tribal princess viciously biting at an apple.
Lillian.
"Hey you lovebirds. Stop whatever X-rated activity it is that you're doing up here in the creepy room and listen to me. You two won't be so cuddly once you hear this juicy piece of news," Lillian said, flicking her tresses.
"You alright, Lillian? Where's Daya?" I greeted her casually, but Lyle held my back and shook his head at me. Apparently things were about to get too serious for my taste. One solemn event a day is more than enough for Lea Dupont.
"Who let you into my house?" Lyle questioned in a raw, severe tone.
"Who says it's yours?" Lillian smiled back cockily, "Oh, your friend Daya has just discovered the cocktail 'Vampire's Blood', so she's a little busy. Although, has anyone told her that vampires don't have a blood circulation system?" I sagely nodded my head, agreeing with Lillian. I know very little about vampire anatomy, despite hanging out with Lyle so much.
Lyle did not bother replying. He decided his time would be better spent examining a particularly sharp skinning knife that he picked up from a mahogany table. That got Lillian's tongue loose.
"I'm finally going to get my revenge for you breaking my wrist, you twat," she said, eyes glued to the knife, "and take back what really belongs to my family. Perhaps that will get my mother to notice me..." she added quietly. I managed to hear her thanks to my bat-like senses.
"You can try whatever you want, cousin. You and that filthy mother of yours will neverget your hands on the Parker property and title," Lyle replied viciously. I was shocked by this appellation of Lillian's mother.
"It's because of my mother that you Parkers will soon be ejected from Sparrowick. So shut up and listen to your countess," Daya retaliated, choosing to maturely ignore Lyle's overly harsh words.
I was a silent but horrified observer throughout this atrocious argument. I wondered if I could distract them using my 'Hey-look-a-window' remark, but that amazing trick normally doesn't work twice.
"Taboo!" I screamed out in a desperate attempt to break the tension.
Both Lillian and Daya stared at me like I had four arms. Coming out of my bottom.
"Scrabble!" I continued. They still stared as though I needed immediate medical help, but at least they had stopped with the dispute.
"At least say yes to Monopoly!" I implored.
"You want to play a children's game while we hash out an age-old dispute?" Lyle asked me, unimpressed.
"No! Yes! Just, stop shouting, both of you. There was a time when we all played together. Why can't we repeat that anymore?" All of this was going way over my head. Like, higher than a man on stilts on a plane.
"Lea...you have got to stop living in that deranged fairy tale. Is that brain purely for show? Start usingit," Lyle addressed me.
"Yeah, he's actually right, you know? I gave you the chance to be on my side, but because you didn't think you're going to lose out big time. I mean, do you really want to play Monopoly with a killer?" Lillian said, leaning against the mahogany table.
Both Lyle and I looked at Lillian through narrowed eyes.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Lillian said feigning innocence, "Lyle's been accused of homicide! Here's the document that proves it," she continued gleefully, throwing a piece of paper in our face.
It is hard to believe that the contents of a tiny piece of paper managed to chill me more than half an hour of arctic winds with nothing on but pyjamas. It is even harder to believe that upon reading the only four lines in it all my pent up memories came rushing back to the front of my brain with a force so strong I blacked out. And it is nearly impossible to believe that this little legal document, postmarked from merely a few days ago, would change me forever.
Evidence of the actions leading to the death of Leonard Dupont has been confirmed. The fingerprints on the revolver (marked item# 000589) found at the scene of crime have been perfectly matched. The accused was found to be a resident of Sparrowick, Lyle Parker (Aged 12 at the time, currently 18, second-in-line to the Sparrowick title and fortune). Begin tribunal immediately.
In the few moments before the memories came gushing back, I saw Lillian leave the room, an imperceptible smile over her shoulder. Lyle began to shake uncontrollably as he curled his fist over the knife that casually lay on the table. In the midst of the storm in my brain I casually wondered what Lyle would do with the knife. Was he the one trembling? ...Or was it me? And were my eyes failing to function, or was the room actually going darker...?
That's right, you can kill me too if you want.
I had been right all along. Lyle was never human – he was a murderer.
END OF PART ONE
Sorry for a slightly longer than usual delay - WHAT IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS? Why did nobody tell me?
Well, actually...that's not true. Thank you so much for all the reviews I have received during the past six months I was inactive. I mean, seriously, each review is like a light that never goes off in my dark heart. Wow, that was pretty cliche huh? But unfortunately it's completely true. So please don't forsake me! Leave a review! If you can't think of anything or are pressed for time, just leave the word 'Ghoul' - I'll understand :)
So, this is the end of the first part, but don't worry, I'll actually upload the next chapter pretty soon (no more hiatuses-hiatii? no idea what the plural is).
Again please please review, and thanks for reading this far!
EDIT: I made a few changes to the latter half of the chapter to clarify some things as a reviewer pointed out (thanks Jed Drake!). Am writing the next chapter, it involves a timeskip. It's really fun to write.