Inspiration Point (18 page)

After a while, my mother poked her head around the
door looking fresh from her shower. 

“The boys said we could have first showers,” she said
as she towel dried her hair. 

“If you hang your towel over the shower screen it will
block the camera from those men.”

“That’s a good idea, I think I might have a rest after
that, I didn’t get much sleep last night,” I said.

“No, none of us did.  At least we will have our
beds now,” she said as she sat next to me.
 
“I'm
sorry about Tyler, that must have been a terrible shock for you,” she said.

I nodded, I didn’t want to talk about it yet. 
She put her arm around me and drew me closer to her, sensing my
reluctance. 

“You’ll feel better after a shower Hayln,” she said as
she stood to leave the room.  “And if you need to talk you know you can
come to me don’t you?”

“I do, thanks Mum,” I smiled as I grabbed my
things.  It was true, I actually did feel I could talk to her when I was
ready.

Mum was right about the towel, with it hung on the
screen they wouldn’t be able to see anything.  I got dressed in there as
well, I figured it would be easier than trying to find somewhere to hide in my
bedroom.  When I got back to my room, Emin was waiting for me.

“What’s going on?” I asked a little concerned.

“Nothing, I just thought you might want to talk about Tyler,”
he said, but he seemed a little off.

I tilted my head trying to read his expression.

“It was Zeke’s idea actually, he thought you might
prefer to talk to me than him about this subject.”

“That was thoughtful of him,” I commented.

“Oh yes, he is such a darling,” he said rolling his
eyes.

I shook my head at him, he obviously still has some
issues with us seeing each other. 

“I’d rather not talk about it though, if you don’t
mind.”

“That’s okay with me,” Emin said.  “I’m not sure
I can be very objective when it comes to him at the moment anyway.”

“Can I ask you your opinion about something?” I said a
little uncertain.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer this
question.

“Go ahead,” he looked at me with an understanding
expression.

“Do you think he was telling the truth when he said he
wasn’t pretending to be my friend.”

“He seemed pretty convincing, but I don’t know
Hayl’s.  I mean he has been lying to you about just about everything for
the last two years.”

I put my head down and nodded slowly, accepting his
answer.  I could tell he wanted to know what I was thinking.  Emin
and I always found it easy to talk to each other without pushing.

“I guess I thought it might make me feel a little
better, to know I hadn’t been completely fooled,” I admitted.

“It might have been the truth, but like I said Hayl’s
he's not one of my favorite people at the moment.”

“Mine either,” I sighed.

“I might go have a shower, are you okay for now?” He
asked.

“Yeah, I think I must just have a nap and try and
catch up on some sleep.”

He nodded and headed to the door.  “After the
shower, I’m going to go down to keep an eye on Davis and Ian.  Maybe I can
figure a few things out.”

When he left I closed my curtains, as I did I
remembered this was how Zeke got back in our house yesterday.  I looked
out my window, it wouldn’t have been easy, there was a pretty hefty gap from
the window to a branch strong enough to hold Zeke.  I was impressed.

I got into bed and held his medallion in my hand, it
didn’t take long before I faded into sleep.

I woke after my nap and could smell something cooking
downstairs.  I got up stretching, I felt a lot better.  I dodged the
lounge room hoping that’s where Davis and Ian would be and headed straight to
the kitchen.  All my family was there including Zeke and were talking
quietly.

“Smells good,” I commented.

“I’m afraid it’s probably not up to your standards,
but I'm sure it will be alright,” Mum said.

“Can I help with anything?”

“You could finish off the salad,” she said pointing to
the bowl on her left. 

I went to the sink and started washing the lettuce
then whispered to Mum. “What are they talking about?"

She leaned a little closer to me while she turned the
steaks in the pan.  “Just talking about what to expect tomorrow,” she said
as she looked over my shoulder to the entrance to the lounge.  “And what
our best options are to sort this out.”

“Any good ideas yet?”

“There will be a solution, there always is.  It’s
just not always easy to see,” she smiled at me.  “Is that ready?”

I nodded and took it to the table.  Mum handed me
two plates for our henchman.  I put some salad and steak on the plates and
took them into the lounge and walked away without saying anything to
them.  I heard one say thank you, Ian I think, but I didn’t respond.

We ate in silence, we couldn’t really talk about what
we wanted to with Davis and Ian in earshot.  I was nearly finished my meal
when I heard some movement from the lounge, and then Ian came into the kitchen
carrying the empty plates.

“Thank you Mrs Knox, that was lovely,” Ian said
politely.

“There is more steak and salad if you are still
hungry,” Mum answered.

“I am actually, thanks again,” he said smiling.

We all looked at each other as Ian left with his
second helping.  Since when did they become so friendly?  Mum sensed
our confusion.

“A way to any man’s heart is through his stomach, and
it doesn’t hurt to be friendly,” she said.

“They're holding us hostage,” Emin snapped. 
“Besides, I wanted seconds”

“There is still plenty there Emin.”

He and Zeke got up and helped themselves.  I was
full and was only really playing with the last of my food. 

“What are we all doing tonight?” I asked.  Since
I had slept for a good part of the day I was pretty wired.

“Zeke and I are going to my room to play some games on
the computer.” Emin said.

I remembered from earlier that he wanted Zeke’s help
with something, so I was sure they weren’t playing games, but I didn’t argue.

“I need to start getting things ready for tomorrow,”
my Dad said solemnly.

“I guess that leaves us then Mum,” I said feeling
strangely positive, my sleep obviously had helped my mood. 

“Yes, well maybe after we tidy this up we could watch
a movie or something?” She suggested.

“Nothing beats watching a movie while being held
hostage,” I said sarcastically.

I picked up my plate and put the scraps in the
bin.  The boys finished their second helping, as did Ian, and they all
went their separate ways leaving Mum and I to clean up.  It didn’t take
too long and then we headed to the lounge. 

“What did you want to watch?’ I asked.

“What about the Sound Of Music, you used to love that
when you were little, do you remember?”

“Yes, you got sick of having to watch it with me,” I
smiled.

“Well I think we are due,” she said as she sat in
front of the television.

I searched for the movie, it had been years since I
had seen it, but Mum seemed keen, and it was a long movie so at least it would
help kill some time.  I ended up finding at the back of the cupboard, I
put it in and grabbed the remote before I sat down next to Mum.  As the
movie started I remembered singing these songs over and over with Mum.  It
was before the divorce obviously, they were happy memories.  Somehow in
the last few days things have started to change for us.  Not back to the
way we were in those memories but on the right track just the same.  It
felt good.

About halfway through Davis started whining about our
choice of movie, saying the singing was driving him mad.  Another reason
to keep watching I thought to myself.  We were up to the wedding scene
when he lost it again, and told us to turn it off.  Ian calmed him down,
saying we weren’t causing any trouble and to leave us alone.  Mum smiled
at him and then at me, proving that it does pay to be polite I suppose.

By the time the movie was finished, Mum could barely
keep her eyes open.  I told her to go to bed.  I decided I might need
a little help after my nap this afternoon.  I went upstairs to see how the
boys were doing.  The door was closed so I knocked and went in.

“How’s it going?” I asked, not actually knowing what
they were up to.

They both looked around to check who was with me and
then relaxed when they saw I was on my own.

“Alright I suppose,” Emin said.  “What are you up
to?”

“Our movie just finished, Mum went to bed, but I was
going to make some milk before I went, to help me sleep.” Emin looked at me
impatiently waiting for the point of my story, but Zeke was smiling at me.

“Well I was wondering if either of you would like
some?”

“Milk?” Emin asked me, like I was an idiot.

“Um, yeah,” I said starting to feel stupid. 
Maybe I should have just left them to whatever they were up to.

“I’d love some Hayl’s,” Zeke said.

Emin rolled his eyes and spun back to face the
computer screen.  “Of course you would.”

“I’ll be down in a minute okay,” he said.

I closed the door and went downstairs to get our
drinks ready.  The kitchen was empty, I grabbed the mugs and milk and
started the warm them.

“What are you making now freak?” 

I span around to see Davis in the doorway.

“Just a drink,” I said nervously, he had taken me by
surprise.

“You better get to bed soon, we are all expecting big
things from you tomorrow,” he taunted.  “The other science experiment will
be back then as well, which I am sure will make you happy since you are such
good
friends.” 

“Why don’t you leave her alone and go back to watching
us on your televisions,” Zeke said.  He walked straight past Davis to
stand beside me, seeing that I was getting upset.

“Don’t get touchy lover boy,” he said smirking at
us.  “You know I really don’t get it, I mean she’s pretty and all, but
once you found out what she was - how could you still want to be with her?”

I tried to grab Zeke, but he moved too quickly. 
But so did Davis, he backed away before Zeke could get to him.  Ian was quick
to join us as well from the lounge and stood between them now.  I grabbed
Zeke pulling him back towards me.  Ian pushed Davis back into the lounge
room, telling him Spencer would be pissed if anything went wrong.  This
seemed to get Davis’s attention so he gave in and went back with Ian.

“Are you okay?” Zeke asked while pulling me into his
arms.

“Of course, but you shouldn’t pay any attention to
him.  I think he is itching for a fight.”

“I’m not going to let anyone talk to you like that,”
he confirmed.

“Well he’s gone now, so how about that drink?” I said
smiling at him.

He let me go and sat down at the table while I
finished up and sat down beside him.

“Emin said you didn’t want to talk to him about Tyler
this afternoon,” he said still trying to calm himself down from our moment with
Davis.

“I don’t really know what to say, I mean he lied to me
about everything.”  I didn’t try to hide my disappointment with him, I was
ready to be honest.

“I don’t think he lied about everything Hayl’s, well, not
in the end anyway.”

“What do you mean?” I asked confused about what he was
getting at.

“Well I don’t know him that well, but I know what I
saw the other night.  He wasn’t pretending at the Sweat Room, believe me,
I wish he was.  And he wasn’t pretending when you were saying goodbye to
him.  His feelings are real Hayln.”  I could see it hurt him a little
to be defending him.

“That doesn’t really change anything though, he turned
us over to them after he had spent two years spying on us,” I insisted.

“That’s true and believe me, I could have thumped him
when he came in today, but maybe we are judging him too quickly.”

“Too quickly?” I asked in disbelief.  Shouldn’t
Zeke be on my side I thought to myself?

“I know you're angry Hayl’s, and you have every right
to be – I am too.  But he said he didn’t have any choice, and maybe he
didn’t.”

I shrugged not quite knowing if that made a
difference.

“And his past – it sounds as if he had a pretty rough
time.” He paused to see if I would argue, but I didn’t I let him continue.

“His mum died when he was thirteen after she handed
him over to a scientist for experiments.  He never knew his father who has
now been killed by the man who is taking care of him.  And he is being
monitored on a daily basis.  Sounds pretty awful to me.”