Page 52 of Havenfall Harbor
This is about her being human, it has to be. Someone is trying to scare her with the more brutal aspects of the supernatural lifestyle, but their methods are almost childish.
Quinn
Evan twiststhe doorknob freely in his hand. “Tech isn’t really my specialty, but we might be able to get the keyless entry up here.”
“I really don’t want you to go to any trouble. I was thinking a deadbolt with a fresh set of keys.”
“That won’t help if someone is picking the lock.” Evan meets my eyes. “The keycard has a digital record, logs when the door is opened and the card that opened it.”
I bite the corner of my lip, thinking it over. I hate to be a bother, but that does seem more secure, and might help me feel safer since I can’t get into another room. “It’s not too much trouble?” I half wince.
“No, might take a day or two though. Like I said, tech isn’t my thing. I need to make sure we have the right equipment and find the right person to do the installation.” My face falls at Evan’s words, not that I really expected there to be an immediate solution, but a couple of days?
“What should I do until then?” I rub my hands on my jeans.
“You can use my place. I can—I can stay with Evan.” Griffin’s voice startles me and I spin. I didn’t even hear him approach. He’s leaning against the wall near his room. My eyes eat him up, even as I get a sour taste in the back of my throat.
“No, thank you,DirectorStone.” My tone is chilly. If he wasn’t my boss and I didn’t want this job so badly, I would lay into him for purposefully misleading me. But his games aren’t worth losing my position over. I might be able to do some real good here.
“You really don’t have a lot of options,Quinn,” Griffin challenges.
“I’ll talk with Alice, it’s not your concern.” I turn my back to him, unable to see his stupidly handsome face and not want to holler at him. I feel so obtuse that I didn’t know, but how could I have?
“It is my concern. I am thedirector, after all. This is my facility.” I purse my lips and close my eyes. It only takes me a moment to regain my control. I’m used to dealing with people who like to get their way. I learned early on all you have to do is let them believe they got what they wanted. My mother rarely made a fuss if I yielded to her, seldom even checked to make sure I was following her edict. If I just let her have the satisfaction of thinking I bent to her will, she would move on and find some other cause to champion.
“Thank you for your kind offer, sir.” My voice is hollow. I’ve been here before.These kids are worth it, just like my dream was worth it.That thought plays over and over in my head like a broken record.
Evan places his hand on my shoulder and leaves it there. It’s not the first time he’s touched me, but it’s the first time he hasn’t pulled away immediately. “We’ll get to work on it right away. In the meantime, you’ll be safe.” His dark eyes meet mine. “I forgot to tell you, Jacob was hoping to see you today, Riley too.” Some of the ice chilling my veins melts away with the mention of the young boy. “I could take you over to their room, they should be done with class, we might catch them before dinner.”
I nod and a grateful smile curls my lips for just a moment. “Yeah, that would be great.” I appreciate Evan and the effort he’s making by changing the subject and offering me an escape.
“Do you need anything before we go?” Evan’s eyes scan me quickly.
I pat my back pocket out of habit to make sure I have my phone and fist the lanyard around my neck. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Let me just close this up.” Evan pulls my door closed. “Are you sure you don’t want to take anything out of there before we leave?”
My eyes are drawn to the slight gap in the door with the broken knob, there’s nothing to keep it closed. I catch a glimpse of Griffin still leaning against the wall. I was hoping I could find a way to run intoAlice and ask her if I could crash with her, but if I take my stuff now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it back from Griffin’s room without it turning into an ordeal. But I do have a few things I don’t want messed with. “I guess I could grab my stuff first.” I sound defeated to my own ears.
“I’ll wait, take your time.” Evan pushes the door back open and motions for me to enter. I tuck my hair behind my ears and swallow. I’m leery of going in, but I lift my foot to take the first step.
Griffin pulls himself off the wall, drawing my attention, and before I know it, he slides past me and enters my room. My steps falter, not expecting how quickly he moves, or the fact that he just cut me off to get inside.
I want to be mad, feel angry that he’s being so pushy. But I’m not. If I wasn’t worried about looking like a baby, I would have asked Evan to go in with me. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, especially after what happened here. My space was violated, not feeling safe is a normal reaction. Those are all the things I’m telling myself, things I learned from all the psych classes I took, but I still didn’t ask.
When my feet get moving again Evan is at my back, tagging along right behind me. My eyes are drawn to the ground even though I know the mess is long gone.
Stepping in past the small entry and into the living area, I spy Griffin nosing around the kitchen. With him and Evan in here, this place feels small.
“I’ll just be a minute.” Griffin’s head jerks up when I speak, but I ignore his eyes on me and head down the hall to my room. The bathroom is dark as I pass by. I flick my hand over the switch because it feels as if there’s someone in there watching me, but it’s just my imagination playing tricks on me.
I lift a few heavy sweaters, looking for another bag to place some things in. I have no idea what happened to the bag I came home with last night. Probably trashed with my clothes.
I snag my smaller suitcase and toss a few personal items inside—a picture of me and a couple girls from school, one of me holding my diploma from the spring and a small bag of jewelry I rarely wear. Bras and panties go in next, and I reserve a few to take with me for the next day or so.
Once it’s half full, I glance around to see if there’s anything else lying about I don’t want to get stolen or ruined if someone were to come back here, but there’s not much. I roll the bag back into the small closet and grab a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweatshirt for tomorrow. One good thing about this old place is it’s always a little drafty, even though it’s near the end of summer and it’s still rather warm outside. I’ll probably need more layering pieces for winter.
I’m not too concerned with looking unprofessional, comfort is my main objective. It’s not as if my boss hasn’t seen me in much less appropriate attire, like his shirt for example.
