The Cruel Dark by Northwick Bea

Author:Northwick, Bea
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Northwick Books LLC
Published: 2023-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Sleep didn’t find me until dawn wept through the latched window, but when it came at last, it was dreamless. When I awoke, it was early afternoon and my insides immediately began to roil with worry over what had transpired the night before: my sleepwalking, my sensual encounter with the professor, and the disturbing fact that I was sure I had seen something, someone, in the room, even when I had been fully awake.

At ten till one, Ms. Dillard opened my door without even a knock and barged in with a tray, exclaiming I’d missed breakfast and lunch and that she wouldn’t allow anyone to become a skeleton on her watch. I was uncomfortable with the extra attention, but the woman didn’t listen when I insisted I was all right.

She bustled around the room, pulling the curtains farther open and stoking the fire, her demeanor as stony and inscrutable as ever. I climbed out of bed, and Ms. Dillard immediately whisked a robe to me.

“I was awake all night worried you’d caught Felicity’s illness. How is your stomach? You say you’re not hungry, which I take as a bad sign. Sit, eat.”

She hadn’t waited for me to tell her the status of my insides, which were somewhat hollow but fine. My head, however, was pounding. I expected that this was due to unruly thoughts, not a malady. I did as she said and ate the plain oatmeal provided without a hint of sugar or cinnamon. She then demanded I drink a glass of orange juice and a strong cup of coffee, no cream.

As I ate, she began straightening things, and to my horror, she picked up the journal I’d thrown right where it had fallen, pages splayed open. She didn’t even glance at it more than to take it in her hand, close it, and place it on the dresser where Callum had nearly defiled me.

I flushed, fidgeting.

“The professor is in town all afternoon making last-minute preparations for tonight, so don’t bother yourself with going anywhere. Stay in bed.”

I couldn’t stand the idea of sitting in this room. The dinner wasn’t for another seven hours.

“Are you sure Professor Hughes didn’t leave me any work to do while he was gone?”

“What should I know about that?” she snapped, suddenly cranky for reasons I couldn’t fathom. She seemed to realize she’d been too abrupt, and gentled.

“You need to rest.”

Her concern touched me, or what I assumed was concern. It was hard to tell with Ms. Dillard.

“At any rate, it’d be a shame for you to miss the dinner.”

The acridity had returned to her tone, and again I was confounded. Lack of sleep and general unease made me ill-tempered, and I turned in my chair and confronted her directly.

“Ms. Dillard, did I do something to upset you? Or is it my mere presence making you angry with me?”

The woman stopped short, looking not at me but at a distant spot on the wall across the room. Her attention to this area was

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