Chapter ten
2170 Words
“Scarlett! Phone!” cried my mother.
Her voice had the effect of a cold shower.
“I'm coming!”
I put aside my torturous thoughts and the handsome Elgin Sutherland to get the receiver.
Who could call me at May's? Jacob maybe? I took the phone. “Hello?”
“Scarlett?” said a female voice.
“Yes.”
“It's Gwen. Gwen Fisher, from Magiki!”
Elgin's face immediately came to mind.
“Gwen?” I repeated, surprised and embarrassed.
“I'm sorry to call you like this, but you forgot your umbrella at the store the last time you came. As you paid by credit card, I saw your name and I looked for it in the directory. There’s only one Rittel family in Wick, so it wasn't hard to find you!”
“Oh. Thanks, I'll drop by to pick it up some time.”
“Well, exactly, there’s an event! A friend of mine is exhibiting her paintings in the back room of the French restaurant on Wick Bay. This is her first opening. The theme is Occult dreams. What she's doing is awesome and I think you'll find it very informative.”
“I don't know...”
Spending time with Elgin's girlfriend wasn't what I most wanted to do right now.
“Look, we won't be staying long, and I would really like you to see it!”
Her ability to start a friendship was amazing. We had only seen each other once in her store and she spoke to me as if she’d known me for years. The shrewd side of me finally took over. I decided to accept her invitation. Maybe I can find out more about Elgin?”
“Ok, why not. At what time?”
“Half-past nine. Shall we meet in front of the French restaurant?”
“Ok, see you later.”
I hung up and, butterflies in my stomach, I decided to eat something quickly before getting ready. At the same time, I would ask mum if she would drop me off at Wick and come back to pick me up a little later.
This situation was painful. I kept asking for lifts here and there, I couldn't wait to get my driving license to be a little more independent. My few savings would allow me to buy a small used car that would make my life a lot easier.
With my stomach full, I went up to my room to get ready. How do you dress for an exhibition? I had never had the chance to go to this kind of event. In Paris, I instead visited public museums which didn’t impose any dress code.
I rummaged through my closet to pull out a simple flared little black dress—the only one I had. I only wore it very rarely, but tonight was an occasion.
A hot shower, a blow-dry and a little mascara that I stole from my mother—a first!—and I was transformed. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, satisfied. I looked older and it didn't displease me, because it wasn’t uncommon for me to pass for fifteen!
I put on my little black ballet pumps without heels and went down to join my parents in the living room.
“Wow!” my mother exclaimed. “It changes you so much! Are you sure you don’t have a date with a boy?”
And it’s starting again!
I stuck out my tongue at her with a mischievous look.
“No, tonight I'm going to meet the members of the BDAOMCG.”
“The what?” my mother cried, confused.
“The Blood Drinkers and Other Monstrous Creatures Group!”
She looked dismayed and wondered if I was joking or not.
“It's a joke! The theme of the exhibition is Occult dreams. You can imagine that the guests are surely not going to look like perfect Parisians! I imagine them all kind of gothic, like Gwen.”
“Is Gwen gothic?” she worried.
“Yes, but she’s very nice.”
“And that's why you're dressed in black?”
“Nah... It's just because I have nothing more to wear than this! Are we going now or do you want to tie some garlic cloves around my neck before leaving?”
My mother smiled at me knowingly. Sometimes I felt like I could make her believe anything. My father always said she was totally gullible. And tonight, I had the perfect demonstration.
When the car arrived in front of the French restaurant, Gwen was already waiting for me.
“Will you phone when you want picking up? Whatever time that is, Scarlett, promise? But still not after midnight please.”
“Okay, Mom, I promise, I won't let myself be vampirized after that hour!”
She drove off and waved at me before leaving. Gwen had an explosive look. Her black hair was backcombed and held up with red ribbons. Her gorgeous hazel eyes were overly underlined with eyeliner and her lips were made up in blood red. She wore an extremely short little black and red plaid kilt, black opaque tights, and a pair of heeled boots that went up to below the knees, making her at least four inches taller than her normal height. And her little top showed so much cleavage that even I could hardly look away. Next to her, with my dress on, I looked like a nun! It was really surprising. I thought Elgin had a much more subdued style that didn't fit well with Gwen's.
“Hey, Scarlett! You are super-elegant!” she said welcoming me.
“Thank you. And you are... exuberant!”
“Thank you, that's what I was looking for! Here, your umbrella,” she said, stretching out her arm.
I took it and immediately put it in my bag before following her. You had to go through the French restaurant to access the exhibition. I heard experimental music filtering through from the back room, it made my hair stand on end.
“Did the restaurant organize the opening?” I asked.
“No, not exactly. Stephanie, the artist, is French, And I imagine that the owners wanted a bit of patriotism. They loaned her the room for the evening.”
My idea of BDAOMCG wasn’t far from the truth. The guests were mostly dressed in black and red, in the same spirit as Gwen. Some had even powdered their faces to appear whiter than they were. Most of them had brown or red-dyed hair. It was clear that with my natural red hair I certainly looked like an alien!
A rather bony young woman and very small approached us with a wave of the hand.
“Gwen! I’m so glad you came! she said with a very pronounced French accent. “It’s a huge crowd and I’m drying up like an old fig from talking!”
“Hi, Steffy. This is Scarlett. She's French, too. But she's a regular at Wick, she comes every year.”
“Hi!” she said without really paying attention to me. “Follow me to the buffet or I’ll dry up in the blink of an eye if I don’t drink something right away.”
With a glass of wine in hand, Stephanie told us about the way she had approached the theme she was presenting. The places that had inspired her, the books she had read. She seemed inexhaustible and complicated. Finally, when she had nothing more to say, she gave us a small pamphlet containing the list of all her works.
“I'll leave you,” she declared theatrically, putting a hand to her forehead. “There are still so many people to see!”
She sharply turned on her heels, twirling the ruffles of her long black dress.
“Scarlett,” said Gwen. “I see someone I know here. Shall I let you start the tour without me?”
I nodded and picked up my little pamphlet. Let's see... The tone was set: blood, blood and blood! The first painting had been named Of sweat and blood. The shadow of a standing figure raised a scythe to cut the black grass at his feet. From it spurted bloody jets. What was the idea of painting such a thing? I was baffled. When I got to the second piece, Gwen joined me.
“Excuse me. I’m also taking this opportunity to promote the store! It’s only fair. Do you like the exhibition?” she asked, perky.
“It’s... surprising.”
“And that's the point. Stephanie has a very personal approach to art, she only transcribes what is hidden. She went into exile here a few years ago because France didn’t seem ready for this kind of artistic perspective. Occultism is still very badly perceived there.”
Without even thinking, I changed the subject and asked her point-blank:
“Your boyfriend didn't want to come with you?”
She laughed frankly.
“If only there was one! The latest one returned to his mother's petticoats when I showed him my collection of bat skulls!”
Even if this last sentence should have surprised me, it wasn’t the one that I gave priority to. Gwen had no boyfriend and as sad as it was for her, I received the news with great joy. Having said that, I still tried to sympathize.
“Oh, sorry. Is it Elgin Sutherland who ran away?” I said.
“Elgin?” she said laughing. “Surely not. Elgin is like my brother! We have always been neighbours. Where did you get something like that from?”
“No, it's just... Forget it, it doesn't matter,” I stammered, embarrassed.
“I didn't know you knew him.”
“I just met him once or twice. He showed us around the lighthouse with my grandmother today,” I explained.
“Oh, okay! But you know, Elgin is very mysterious, he never tells me anything! Look at this painting,” she said, changing the subject. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Gwen showed me a large canvas. A shadow that I couldn't identify was hidden behind a thick fog. In the centre, were painted a very bright halo and a simple green dot. I consulted the pamphlet and read the name of the work. The shine.
“What’s it supposed to represent?” I asked.
“Lupus. In other words, a wolf.”
“A wolf?” I repeated, surprised, for I saw nothing indicating the animal.
“Yes, look at the shadow.”
I studied the drawing more carefully. Concentrating a little, I was able to make out the head of a wolf with its mouth open.
“And you see the light? His eyes are sparkling because he feels an intense emotion. Look, the eye is the green dot there,” she said, pointing to it. “All of this is explained in the book you bought. Look up lupus, you'll see, it's exciting.”
"Certainly, I will for sure," I replied politely.
I looked at the canvas again, puzzled. How could so much weird stuff boil in the brain of a human? Stephanie had to be seriously enlightened to paint such things. We finished looking at the exhibit thirty minutes later. I couldn't have taken more of it, anyway. There was too much blood and weirdness. I was confirmation of what Stephanie had said, that the French weren’t ready for this form of art. On the other hand, I enjoyed Gwen's company very much. She was fresh and alive, unlike the paintings in this exhibition! She had managed to lighten the mood I had found so heavy here.
While we were both waiting on the sidewalk for my mother to pick me up, she offered to meet me one evening for a game of pool. I gladly agreed although I couldn't imagine for a second Gwen playing pool in her mini kilt!
Ten minutes later, I wallowed with delight on the seat of the car. This evening had exhausted me, the experimental music had emptied me much more than the works.
When I got to my room, I undressed and went to the bathroom to remove my makeup and brush my teeth. A visit to the powder room and I was ready for the night.
This time, I hesitated to tell Kaley my day, she was going to think I was crazy with my fireworks story. Yet I was tempted. What had happened was still strange, right? Yet I was sure I had seen something, I hadn’t imagined it. Okay, maybe I'll talk to her about it... We'll see.
- Writer
