I crossed the room and moved beside of him. “Daniel, will you talk to me about this?” Gently I placed my hand over his heart.
The expression on his face was now grimmer than ever. He shook his head, and then ran his fingers through his hair. His hazel eyes narrowed into a glare. My heart fluttered. This was bad, worse than before, and it was written all over his face.
He sighed. “We have a lot on our plates right now.”
“Daniel, we will get through this.” My heart hoped he would tell me this torture he was enduring. Something happened and I knew it. Daniel was withholding it from me.
Hope failed me as Daniel moved away from me. He paused and gave me a kiss on the forehead. From there I watched as he slowly walked back into the living room and out onto the patio closing the door behind him. A feeling of dread washed through my heart. Something else was bothering Daniel. The fear that washed over me was more or less if he knew if Richard was here again. The need to eat had left me and he was my concern now. I did what any woman would do…I went after him. He was standing on the patio, leaning against the railing.
The chill in the air swept over me, sending a shiver down my spine. Daniel was staring out into the woods; he turned his head slightly to side as I touched his back.
Raising his arm, he slid it around my back. I looked into his eyes and my heart shattered.
Daniel‟s teary eyes met mine. He was in pain, a very deep emotional pain.
“Julie,” He began. My heart pounded loudly to the point my ears were ringing. “I want you to know I love you more than my own life.”
“I know.” I spoke softly.
“I could not bear it if anything happened to you. When Dad told me about the mall, I immediately had flash backs of Casey. I could not handle it if they did something like that to you. You do not understand what would happen to me, if they hurt you that way.”
“Daniel,” I wanted to say so much, but the words caught in my throat. Still I felt he was not telling me something. “We will get through this.”
“I know we will.” He sighed again then turned back to look out through the woods.
His arm slid away from me and returned his hand back on the wooden railing.
The heart inside my chest broke as I turned around and went back into the house.
“Julie?” Daniel‟s voice was soft yet there was a brokenness I heard clearly.
I turned to face him, he hadn‟t moved one inch. “Yes?”
“I just want you to be happy.” The words were barely above a whisper, yet they rang loudly in my heart and ears. For a split second, I felt as though I was losing Daniel.
Hot tears streamed down my face. The heart inside my body shattered into a million pieces. What had I done? I brought my trembling hand to my mouth, to cover any sound that I may make. Did he not realize I loved him more than my own life?
Could he not see I would die for him? I stood frozen for a moment consumed by the overwhelming pain I was feeling. Daniel never moved. He stood motionless with his back turned to me. I didn‟t know what to say. I needed to put some distance between us.
I pushed my way back to the kitchen to clean up. It was making no sense to me. Tears continued to stream down my face, I needed answers, but this wasn‟t the time. My heartfelt the crushing waves again, tearing at my soul. A gush of air erupted from my chest as the tears continued to flow. I raised my head and looked around the kitchen.
Chills prickled down my spine, I loved Daniel so much. A certain amount of guilt swept over me concerning Richard. How could this have happened?
Heather and I were in the kitchen when Daniel made the announcement he and Jason were going to see Thomas. I was ready to go with him, when his weary eyes looked into mine and said the words that tore through my heart.
“Not this time, Julie.” The hurt in his voice matched the pain in my heart. “I want you and Heather to stay here until we come back. There are some things I need to discuss with Thomas and the Council. Please be careful. We may be back later than expected, so don‟t wait up for me.”
Those were the last words I heard from Daniel before I went to bed. As my eyes closed, I couldn‟t help feeling the distance between us. What could be creating this? I wondered if it was because I kissed Richard. Then it dawned on me; Daniel could have detected Richard‟s scent in the room. Why didn‟t I think of that before! Maybe I should have told him Richard came over. I turned over in the bed again.
The argument continued within my mind, until I finally became too exhausted to continue with the war. There had to be some other explanation as to why Daniel was doing this?
Tomorrow would be another day and hopefully, a day of answers. My plans would be to seek out Richard, then confront Daniel. I only prayed the answers wouldn‟t be as bad as I feared.
Finally, my thoughts faded as I drifted off into a deep sleep. The darkness covered me as my body relaxed. Yes, tomorrow was another day.
The new day started off with a bang. I was still sleeping soundly when Daniel woke me. Wednesday, the week was almost over and I still had a lot to do. My grumbling and protests didn‟t stop him as he pulled the warm bed covers off me, exposing me to the coolness of the house. I glanced at the clock; it was only five thirty. My eyes peered through narrow slits to see him standing before me already showered and dressed. The irritation on his face was probably due to my disagreement from waking up so early.
“Julie, we have house guests, come on! We need to get breakfast started,” he snapped.
Wearily, I rolled off the bed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I pushed his arm away and padded toward the bathroom. Yes, I knew we had guests, but I was not a morning person, at least not before I had my first cup of coffee. Five thirty, I thought, I was standing in the shower at five thirty. I finished, dressed and found Daniel in the kitchen. He cranked up the griddle on the massive gas range. The coffee was ready, with a second pot ready to start brewing when needed.
I stumbled my way to the coffee, grabbed a cup and glanced around the kitchen. He shoved a carton of eggs and bowl toward me on the prep island. I didn‟t speak, still in my stupor, and broke the eggs into the bowl. He cooked the country ham and bacon on the griddle and then chopped the onions for what looked like hash browns. I took another sip of coffee then beat the eggs once I had emptied the entire carton. Reaching for the salt and pepper, I held them over the bowl and suddenly he slapped my hand away and yelled at me again.
“NO! Do not put salt and pepper in those!”
I glared at him a moment, trying to decide what I was going to say. “I thought you wanted scrambled eggs.”
“I do,” he sneered at me. “But I also need an egg batter for the French toast. Here”
He shot out at me as he tossed me the French bread and slammed the carton of cream down in front of me.
I went to grab another bowl, and another carton of eggs. Returning to the counter, I pushed the first bowl aside and broke open another carton of eggs.
“What in the hell are you doing?” he yelled as he walked over and looked into the bowl.
“You said you wanted a batter for the French toast.” I replied.
“Julie, Damn it! Use the one you started for the batter! What is wrong with you?” he snapped again.
Okay, have it your way
! I grabbed the cream and poured it into the bowl, followed by the vanilla and stirred it. Setting the bowl aside, I grabbed the knife and cut the loaf of French bread into slices. Fate help me if I cut them wrong. So far, he was intent on watching the meat cooking. I continued with the French toast until I had it prepared for him. Then I went back to working on the scrambled eggs.
“Start the grits, will you?” he snapped.
I grabbed a pot and proceeded to start the grits. Placing it over the burner, I turned it on.
“Got those eggs ready?”
I paused a moment to look at Daniel, irritation was the first word that was coming to my mind. He glanced at me and then back to the food he was working on.
“When did this become „Hell‟s Kitchen„?” I snapped as I turned to finish the egg mixture.
“Well, if you would keep up and concentrate!” He snapped back.
That was it! I slammed my hand down on the counter. “What in the hell is wrong with you this morning?! You have been acting like an ass ever since you woke me up!”
“Julie just get the damn eggs scrambled! I really do not have time for this shit!” he roared at me.
“Shit huh?” I snarled back at him. I grabbed the egg carton, held it high in the air, and turned it sideways allowing all the eggs to fall into the bowl breaking. “THERE!”
Daniel turned around and stared into the bowl, then looked up at me. His eyes were now black as midnight. His jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth. Then a cold expression crossed his face.
“You need to get out of this kitchen before I do something I will regret,” he said in a low and steady voice.
I turned to leave the kitchen when he took a couple of steps and grabbed my arm squeezing it tightly. Something I never expected; his proceeded to jerk me back to face him.
“Julie, I just want to know something!” he growled at me. “You called Richard‟s name out in your sleep last night! I am sick as hell of smelling his scent on you! Are you fucking him?” Daniel roared.
Fire burned inside of me, as I jerked my arm away and slapped him as hard as I could. When Daniel‟s head turned back around, he was enraged. He leaned forward, closer to my face. Fear shot through every nerve in my body. Daniel‟s lips had curled back far enough over his teeth to expose the now extended canines. Dear Fate, he had lost it, I thought as I stood frozen in my own fear. A lowly growl erupted from him, as he was only inches from my face.
I suppose it was the instinct of the wolf that came forth inside of me. I turned my head, keeping my eyes lowered as my heart pounded loudly. Before I knew it, he ripped himself away from me and marched toward the kitchen door. Another thing I never expected he took his fist and hit the wall. With the powerful hit, he managed to punch a hole through the wall. I immediately took advantage of the moment and ran. I needed to get away from him before he did something to me.
Daniel followed behind me. “Julie!” He called out behind me.
I grabbed my purse and headed out the front door. Daniel ran up behind me, his fingers grabbed for my arm but before he had the chance to grab it, I turned and threw myself into a punch that sent him sprawling backwards on the ground. I fled to my car and locked the doors, then started the engine and burned rubber leaving down the driveway.
Through my painful tears, I glanced in the rearview mirror, to see Daniel standing alone in front of the house.
Damn him
! I cursed as I drove faster. I had no idea where I was going but I needed to get away from him. Daniel had never shown any signs of this type of anger toward me. I knew he was mad and upset, I guess it settled a little deeper than what I imagined. He had every right I thought to be mad and hurt because of me.
I didn‟t know where to go that he wouldn‟t find me. If I went to the Maxwell home, he would find me. There was only one place he would not find me, Richard‟s home. I remembered he lived in Villanow, located off Route 136. It would be hard to follow the scent once I was near the house. The decision was made as I turned the car onto another road. I was going to get at least one answer this morning.
I drove for a few minutes and found myself passing the exit sign for Route 136, Villanow, Richard‟s home. Without thinking, I took the exit. I vaguely remembered the box address. But there was one way I could find him. I rolled the down the car window.
The cool air rushed in. I inhaled deeply. Nothing. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. What was I doing? I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to find out what Richard knew about my mother. Also, I wanted to know if he could really find out what was hidden in the mountain.
My actions or reasons had nothing to do with him though, and I couldn‟t see Daniel‟s point. Richard wove a spell over me, at that one moment. That was it. It wasn‟t like I was thinking about him all the time. Or was I. Closing my eyes, I realized Daniel may have been telling me the truth. Richard‟s obsession was becoming my addiction.
“Are you lost?” A voice came from the left side of the car.
I jumped. My heart pounded, my ears rang and my breath froze. I turned. Oh Dear Fate, it was Richard.
“I…” I tried to force out. My mind was jumbled. Thoughts ran wild. To do or not to do; that was my question.
He leaned against the car door. “Julie? Are you all right? Is something wrong? You look distracted.”
“Yes, I mean no, I mean…” I was still in an array of confusion.
“Can you drive? I live just down the road here.” He motioned up ahead.
I nodded.
“Then follow me there.” He turned and walked back to his car.
How could I have been so deep in my own thoughts that I never saw him approach my car? I never heard him pull up behind me. What was wrong with me? I felt as if I was losing my mind.
Richard pulled the manly Mustang around my car. I put my car in gear, and followed him down the road. We turned left into a long driveway, one much like my own, long and wooded. It curved and then I found myself pulling up in front of his home. It was larger than the one I lived in, probably about the same size as Thomas‟s and Charlotte‟s. The home was very modern and stylish and appeared to be only a few years old. It was a two-story home. Most of the windows were down stairs. The upper part of the home had large windows, but I could tell they were hidden by dark drapery.
I pulled up behind Richard and cut my car off. Opening the door, I reached for my purse and stepped outside. As I stood, I noticed the beautiful foliage in front of the home. Even in the fall months, it was still beautiful and green.