Chapter 8

• LYRA
• Did I mention I hate Professor Lucien? Well I do. Like hell he knew I wanted nothing to do with that woman but still, not only did he sit us face to face in his office but he had honey juice made for us. That drink was the one thing mother never forgot to make for I and Jason, when things were still good.
• The memories it brought back, was very precious to me. Perhaps he thought it could help soften the mood. Well he was wrong, 3mins after he presented the honey juice, I was fuming with anger and waiting for any chance to punch something.
• Professor Lucien finally took a seat next to mother, on the sofa. They both looked at me. They held that concerned expression they always had whenever I got hurt as a child. It made me sick.
• “What the hell is this?” I pointed at the juice and then at them. “Are you trying to make a statement or prove some kind of point by making me nostalgic? Well, news flash it’s not working.”
• “Lyra, this isn’t some mind game. This is about your safety.” Said Professor Lucien. His tone had a hint of distress but, mixed with his deep yet slightly blunt tone; it made him sound a bit sultry in my ears.
• I avoided his gaze. Hoping that looking away would ease the tension he was building up inside me.
• “I don’t need any of your help to be safe.”
• “Lyra, please don’t be hard-headed about this. Back home the police are still looking for you. They are still certain you hurt that girl. If you don’t want to come and explain that to them, I understand but you have to explain it to me. Convince me that you aren’t at fault and you won’t enter into such kind of danger again.” Mother spoke lengthy words, airing her innermost desire to understand me.
• I scoffed, my face twisting in disgust. “Honestly, you should have been an actress. Suits your better, Mother.”
• Professor Lucien stood up, he eyed me. “Mind your words Lyra. She is still your mother.”
• I rolled my eyes. “Oh please.”
• “Lyra.” He snapped. Mother grabbed his sleeve immediately, tugging on it and signalling him to let it slide. She would handle it.
• “Lyra, I know we are not on good terms so just picture this as someone asking your about your safety. Lyra,” she stood up slowly. “I really cannot rest it easy whenever I think of you. It gives me heart aches.”
• I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes and looked away. I murmured “I hope it kills you.”
• “Lyra!” Professor Lucien called me out, visibly angry even though he remained impeccably handsome.
• I clicked my tongue and grabbed my school bag, attempting to leave his office.
• “Lyra do not walk out of here.” He ordered. I ignored him. I heard mother telling him to let me be but he was adamant. I reached for the door ledge but he grabbed me. I spun around but he was stronger, faster.
• He threw me against the sofa and he slapped one hand on the head of the seat, leaning in so close that I pressed myself tightly on the softness of the seat just to avoid our faces colliding. He stared into my eyes. His blues almost piercing into my soul. I felt my body tremble under the weight of his influence.
• He spoke as stern and direct as a military general. “Tell me why you won’t behave and listen to what we are saying?”
• I pursed my lips, letting out a long sigh. I wanted to shut up but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t fight his power over me. I couldn’t fight the way he made my heart beat so fast.
• “Because I don’t want anything to do with her.” I finally replied, flashing mother a glance. “That woman must have given you an ear full of how sad she is for me and how much she wants to be a mother for me, but did she ever tell you what she did to lose her position as a living being in my eyes?”
• I saw mother cringe, hiding her face and biting back a sob. Her sadness compelled me to go on. I wanted to see her in pain.
• “When Jason died and I was arrested, guess what happened?”
• I’m a lousy guess.” He said, gently licking his lips. I gulped, sensation rippling through my body. He really didn’t have to do that.
• “She was convinced I killed him. I mean I always envied Jason, I was in the room the night he died, I had a bad temper, I was good at covering my tracks; Yeah, she pieced all this together and convinced herself I was the one. Even when the police cleared me, I was still the one in her eyes.”
• Professor Lucien pulled away, standing straight. His expression unreadable but I could tell he was beginning to regret labelling me as the bad guy.
• “What, the story hasn’t finished.” I relaxed nicely on the sofa, crossing my legs.
• “Well after I returned from the station, I thought I was coming home to a place where the ghosts would be locked out. Apparently they were locked in. Day after day, she either hit me or accused he of killing Jason. More than three times a week, she did both. It was only late last year that I finally found relief. It was about the same time she got this her new fancy smancy job. That was when she stopped.”
• I scoffed. “Apparently the damage had already been done. I had already decided to hate her for the rest of my life and nothing will change that. She deserves to know-“ my gaze shifted to mother’s. “That you can never be forgiven simply because you are a parent. Some sins have no redemption.”
• Professor Lucien was silent the entire time. He held no expression in his eyes but I didn’t need him to. It was obvious that he understood me loud and clear. Never was I going to have anything to do with mother.
• He heaved when I finished talking and then he turned to mother.
• “Please excuse us.”
• Mother’s eyes widened in bewilderment. Her lips parted but she couldn’t utter a single word.
• I grinned.
• Professor Lucien opened the door and showed her out. Then he shut it and turned to me.
• “She is gone. Now will you tell me what happened back home and prove that it won’t happen here to. That you will stay safe here.”
• He returned to sit opposite me, pinning my gaze and keenly waiting for my answer. I frowned, obviously disliking the fact that he was about to make me have to talk about that.
• I drifted my gaze to the fluttering curtains in his office and I began slowly. “Lionel and I had been dating since I got into high school. He eagerly provided the love I most certainly was not getting. In exchange he got to make out with the hottest girl in school.”
• “The both of you kissed?”
• Professor Lucien’s eyes grew dark, narrowing on mine. I felt my skin crawl and turned his way. That was when I saw the look in his eyes. I gulped.
• “No we didn’t. I paid the hottest girl in school to kiss him and I paid other girls to let him touch them but eventually he...” I looked away from Professor Lucien again. He made me really uneasy telling this story. Like I had committed an abomination by dating someone... Else.
• “Go on.”
• I cleared my throat a little. “He confessed to me that he didn’t like those girls, he liked me. He made me feel like I was worth something in someone’s eyes for a change. I rejected him and he kept coming back. I said the relationship would be platonic and he eagerly accepted. For the first time I was wanted and I guess I gave him my h
• eart.” I mumbled the last part, feeling slightly ashamed.
• “You slept with him?!”