Chapter Seven:
Chapter Seven:
Terrian was standing in a chair changing a light bulb when Rhoswen reached the first upstairs bedroom. He was wearing jeans and a plaid button-up shirt with short sleeves. His feet were bare, and it was the first time she had ever seen him without his hair pulled back. His glasses on the bed and his hair falling across his shoulders made him almost look like something from the cover of a romance novel. Rhoswen was surprised that he could be so handsome.
When he noticed her, he jumped down from the chair and grinned, instantly shattering the previous image as he was missing a few front teeth, a result of the attack on the clinic, and suddenly looked very ridiculous. He pulled on his glasses and reached for a package on the bedside table. He reached it to Rhoswen with a wide smile.
She opened it and reached her hand in, pulling out the pieces one at a time and laying them across the bed. Among them was a short black skirt with white ruffles underneath and a small black top with white lace trim. There were black stockings, white gloves, and a black choker-style necklace.
“Go on, try it on!” Terrian said brightly.
Rhoswen gave him a dirty look. “It’s disgusting.”
”It’s adorable! Didn’t you see how cute Anna looked?”
”You’re such a pevert.”
”Oh, come on. Give an old man something pretty to look at while he bides his time.”
Rhoswen frowned. “You’re twenty-nine.”
Terrian laughed and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Rhoswen locked it, then changed into the costume. It really wasn’t as bad as the girls made it seem. In fact it actually was cute. But complaining endlessly about the uniforms he picked out was just another way to joke around. Another way to keep their minds from thinking about the world around them.
She walked outside, where Terrian and Anna were waiting in the hall. Terrian practically squealed with delight when she emerged, hugging her tightly.
”So what do we have to do?” she asked.
Anna shrugged and looked at Terrian.
He reached both girls a sheet of paper. “That’s your list of chores. Do them together or split up, it’s up to you. Just finish it by the end of the day!”
The girls groaned as they looked over the list. It was huge and full of lengthy tasks. They decided to do the work together, and as they scrubbed down the bathroom walls, Rhoswen told Anna about Vartan.
Anna dropped the rag she was holding. “So he’s staying at your house? Sleeping on your couch?!”
”Yeah.”
”And you’re okay with that?”
Rhoswen stopped working. “I don’t have much choice, do I? You said it yourself, we owe him big time. He came to me for help. I couldn’t just make him leave.”
”That’s true. But be careful, he’s still dangerous.”
”He... uh, promised not to do anything to me.”
Anna’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
”Yeah,” Rhoswen replied, “and he explained why half-breeds are such hormonal monsters. Turns out they’re not allowed to mate with each other, and they were raised to believe that all humans want is sex.”
”Wow. That does explain a lot.”
Rhoswen picked up Anna’s rag and reached it to her, then picked her own up and returned to scrubbing the wall. “Anyway, I guess he’ll be staying with me for a while.”
Anna was still watching Rhoswen. “Are you falling in love with him?”
Rhoswen faced her. “Of course not! He’s a half-breed!”
”But he’s different. Haven’t you noticed? He acts almost... human.”
”Yeah, maybe,” Rhoswen answered, focusing on the wall again.
The day carried on and the girls worked hard, cleaning and scrubbing and dusting. In the afternoon Terrian called them to the kitchen where he gave them lunch. Rhoswen explained the situation with Vartan, and all he had told her, to Terrian.
”You don’t seem very surprised,” Rhoswen said when Terrian had little reaction to her story.
He laughed nervously, “Oh, it’s very surprising. I just didn’t know what to say.”
The girls looked at each other suspiciously, but then shrugged and returned to their work. They made their way through the upstairs bedrooms, and at the end of the hall came to a set of stairs leading to the third story of Terrian’s house. Anna looked over the sheet of paper. “The third floor isn’t on the list. I don’t think we have to clean it.”
”Maybe he just forgot to write it down,” Rhoswen said.
”Or maybe he doesn’t want us up there.”
Rhoswen looked at Anna. “Why not? You think he has secrets?”
Both girls stared at each other for a moment before grinning. “Okay, we have to go up there now!” Anna said, starting up the stairs. Rhoswen glanced back down the hall to make sure Terrian wasn’t around, then folowed her friend.
The third floor was dark and dusty, and all the doors were shut. They looked as if they’d been closed off for years. Rhoswen felt a tiny bit guilty for exploring an area he hadn’t told them to enter, but then again, he hadn’t specifically told them not to go up there either. Suddenly Anna nudged her.
”Look, there’s light coming from under that door.”
The very last door on the right side of the hall was closed, but indeed there was light visible beneath it. The girls crept up to the door quietly and pressed their ears against it. They listened for a moment, hearing nothing.
Before another second passed, a female voice from the other side of the door said “Terrian?”
The girls jumped back, looking at each other in shock. They nodded to each other, and Anna slowly twisted the doorknob. She then flung the door open and both girls stepped inside. They gasped, their hands over their mouths.
In a bed in the center of the room laid an incredibly beautiful half-breed. Her hair was auburn, hanging long in soft waves that dangled from the sides of the bed. One eye was aqua blue and the other was so dark brown it seemed black. She was dressed in a black frilly night gown, something Terrian had obviously chosen. But the horrifying part was that from the knees down, she had no legs. There was an iv hooked up to her right wrist, and she looked frighteningly weak.
Her eyes grew large when she saw Rhoswen and Anna. She reached a hand toward them, and the girls shrieked and dashed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. As they ran back to the second floor, they faintly heard a small voice calling for them to wait.
They stood on the second floor, panting. “Who was that?!” Rhoswen asked, still unable to get over the shock.
”It was a half-breed, but she looked so weak! Do you think Terrian is holding her prisoner here?”
Rhoswen shook her head. “No, he’s not like that! He always makes excuses for half-breeds. He wouldn’t hurt a flea!”
Anna had flopped down into a sitting position on the stairs leading to the first floor. “We think that but, what if we’re wrong? What if she’s the half-breed who killed his father or something? What if he captured her and he’s performing experiments on her to learn about half-breeds and ultimately take revenge?”
Rhoswen’s hands were on the sides of her head, clutching her hair. “And what if, now that we’ve seen her, he’ll kill us to make sure we never tell?!”
Terrian stepped into view at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them. “What are you girls talking about?”
Anna jumped up and they eyed him nervously. “Nothing,” she said, “we’re not talking about anything.”
”Oh? But I thought I heard-“
Rhoswen took a deep breath. “Anna, we should tell him. She’ll tell him anyway if we don’t.”
Terrian’s eyes widened. “She?”
”We saw her,” Anna said, looking down.
”Her?” Terrian asked, sweat beads forming on his brow.
”The half-breed,” Rhoswen answered, “The one you keep on the third floor.”
Terrian paled. He looked as if he were about to pass out. He gripped the railing on the stairs. “Oh... God... you really saw her?”
”I’m sorry!” Anna said, “We shouldn’t have gone to the third floor without asking you! We promise we won’t tell anyone!”
”Yeah, we’ll never breathe a word of it to another soul!” Rhoswen cried.
Terrian suddenly seemed to regain his composure, and he began walking up the stairs, his eyes downcast. “Well, it’s too late now. You’ve seen her.”
The girls looked at each other in horror. Then watched as he approached. They flinched when he reached them, but he simply walked on by, toward the stairs leading to the third floor. He turned to look at them over his shoulder. “Come on up, we’ll explain everything.”
”We?” Rhoswen asked.
”Nariah and I.”
They glanced at each other again before slowly, cautiously following him back up the stairs. They ended up back in the room they had found the half-breed in, and she looked up brightly when they entered the room. “Oh, Terrian, so you know they found me,” she said.
He nodded, smiling to her. “It’s alright. They won’t tell anyone about us.”
He looked back to the girls. “This is Nariah,” he said, gesturing toward the half-breed, “And Nariah, this is Anna, and that’s Rhoswen.”
Nariah smiled at them. “I’m glad to finally meet you. Terrian has told me so much about you two.”
They were stunned. Anna was speechless. Rhoswen struggled to find words. “Terrian... what is she doing here?”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and took Nariah’s hand. The casualness of it all made Rhoswen feel dizzy. “I found her in an alley two years ago. A group of half-breeds had torn off her legs and left her there to die. My first instinct was to walk away and pretend I hadn’t seen her. One less half-breed to worry about, right? Back then, I was still bitter. But something told me to help her. I secretly brought her to my home and bandaged her wounds. She was unconscious for three days, but when she awoke, she explained her situation.”
Nariah took over from there. “I got into an argument with several of my kind, and they called me a traitor. They intended for me to die in the alley, and I feared that if they ever found me alive, they’d immediately kill me. That’s why, when Terrian offered to let me stay here with him, I accepted.”
”Nariah isn’t like other half-breeds,” Terrian told them, “Well, she was at first, but over the past two years she’s become so much more human than Pagoda. I hardly think of her as a half-breed anymore. To me, she’s just a woman who needs caring for.”
Nariah smiled up at them, and to Rhoswen they resembled a couple who had been married for years. Anna’s hands were shaking. “That’s why you always defend their behavior. That’s why you feel more comfortable around them. You’ve been living with one all this time.”
”Anna,” Terrian started, but Nariah placed a hand on his arm to stop him.
”Terrian has told me much about you, Anna. He told me you’re a strong, courageous girl who has survived many horrors. I don’t know the details, but I know you were hurt by my kind. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. But Terrian has been hurt by those like me as well. At first, he didn’t trust me. I didn’t trust him. He only tended to me when it was necessary to keep me alive. But the more we talked, the more we came to understand each other. He has taught me much about humans, and I understand now how wrong I was in the past. Please forgive me. Please forgive Terrian for keeping such a secret.”
Anna stared at her, her frown melting slowly away. “No, I’m sorry. It’s none of my business anyway.”
She turned and left the room. Rhoswen glanced back at Terrian and Nariah, who looked worried. “I’ll talk to her,” she told them, heading for the door, “And it was nice to meet you, Nariah.”
Rhoswen made her way through the hallway and down the stairs to the second floor. Sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall was Anna, her face buried in her knees and her body shaking with sobs.