HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 9

The weeks that followed were unquestionably the best of my life. Carefree and happy. I cherished these feelings during this time. School and classes could prove torturous sometimes, but every second with Thomas was a providence, a pure moment of delight. Sam hadn’t left the area for a while, and we had decided to see each other as little as possible in his apartment, preferring to give priority to Olivia and Eric who, apart from this place and a hotel room from time to time, had no other place to see each other. I longed now to find myself alone with him. Sam had just planned to leave the following weekend, but, for lack of being alone for the moment, we squatted at a table in the refectory to devour each other with our eyes. We had to come to our senses when a throat-clearing told us that Johnny was standing there impatiently, and we hadn’t noticed. Once he had achieved the desired effect, he set up his tray next to us.

“You two are borderline creepy,” he grumbled, obviously in a bad mood.

“Why do you say that?” said Thomas with a smile.

“Well, it’s amazing how crowded it feels when I’m in your company.”

“Stop it, Johnny! You’re always welcome!”

“Yeah, so you say, handsome! In the meantime, stop your libidinous looks and let me eat my food without imagining you having sex.”

Thomas laughed as he got up from his chair. He placed one hand on my forehead, tilted my head back, and covered me with a long kiss. When he walked away, I was all cheered up and turned my eyes to Johnny, who displayed his most impassive face.

“Eve, erase your silly grin, please! I’m in a slack period right now and you’re not helping me here.”

“Oh! Excuse me. So it’s over with Jonathan?”

“It’s been a damn month! You’re really in your own world!”

He was right. Recently, I’ve been thinking only of Thomas. It was lamentable. I only had in mind the moments spent with him or wondering when I would meet him again or what he was doing, thus discarding the few friends I could count, Olivia and Johnny. Olivia had the privileged status of best friend, but I hadn’t spoken to her on the phone for a week, a record! I needed to call her in the evening. I told myself that a phone call of at least an hour would do the trick to catch up.

“I’m sorry, Johnny, I don’t have much time with Thomas…”

“Not much time! But you’re always together, Eve! Sometimes I feel like you’re going to end up getting laid in front of everyone! It’s crazy, I swear! Also, Olivia is going through a mixed bag right now, so shake your ass, girl.”

“What’s happening?!”

“Oh! It’s not much, it’s Eric. She thinks he doesn’t love her and it drives her crazy.”

“Are you serious? I had no idea...”

“Obviously! You’re glued to your boyfriend’s mouth! Do you agree that their relationship isn’t as… extreme as you and Thomas?”

I thought back to the way they behaved together. They rarely kissed in front of us, and even though they shared the same classes, they still didn’t show their intimacy. No one would have known if it hadn’t been for Johnny the Gossip. But despite all that, I remained convinced that Eric cared about Olivia. After all, not everyone necessarily feels the need to be demonstrative. I must admit that Johnny was right, Thomas and I were overdoing it, but I had no intention of stopping.

“I’m going to call her tonight and schedule a get-together,” I said firmly.

“Yeah, that would be cool. Well, I must leave you, sweetie, geography is waiting for me, and it pisses me off.”

“Have a good afternoon!” I replied, amused by his ever-elegant verbiage.

I went to join Thomas in the yard. He was leaning against the porch of The Roundhouse, always sumptuous in his slightly threadbare jeans and aviator leather jacket. I approached him slowly. He was biting his lower lip, his eyes fixed on mine, and he grabbed my face and leaned down to kiss me. His way of doing this was sensual. I loved it. Even joining him in the yard was a moment of ecstasy for me. Well, okay, I had something wrong with me.

In the evening, I called Olivia and asked her to spend the evening with me. When she arrived, displaying her inexhaustible jovial air, it took me about ten minutes to finally detect the flaw. She had mentioned Eric’s name, and a shadow veiled her azure eyes for a moment. Moreover, she didn’t dwell on the subject, which was certainly not a habit with Olivia.

“Eve, I think I’m going to leave Eric,” she said.

“What?!”

All the same, I was far from expecting that! I hadn’t realised it was that bad.

“But why? I thought you liked him!”

“Yes, I thought so, too. But it’s him… he’s sometimes very distant, he’s hiding something from me, and I don’t know… I wonder if he’s thinking of someone else.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I hadn’t noticed it was that serious.”

“Look, Eve, it should be me who apologises. When I was with him, I spent a lot of time avoiding you .”

“What?!”

I thought my relationship with Thomas had affected our friendship, and I felt guilty to death. And now I learned that it was she who was avoiding me!

“But why?”

“I hope you don’t mind me saying,” Olivia continued, her eyes dark, “but I suspect Eric… of being in love with you.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, I know, it’s weird, but look, I started having questions when we heard you… in the bedroom. It didn’t seem like much, but Eric was way too pissed, and that was my first warning signal.”

“Because you had others!”

“Yes, many times. For example, at home, sometimes, he was sulking, and when you went to the apartment to see Thomas, his face lit up as if by chance. Or when I caught him looking at you while he was kissing me, that was the hardest thing for me to take, but the most telling. Well, it only happened three or four times, but I saw him do it, I’m sure. Also, he’s hiding stuff, I’m sure. He’s by far the weirdest guy I’ve ever met.”

“No, you’re imagining it! It’s Thomas and Eric; they’re brothers!”

“If you came down from your cloud for two seconds, my old woman, you would realise there was something fishy with this story. You’ll notice that they never talk about their past. In any case, they never dwell on the subject. I want to believe that they didn’t have an easy childhood after the death of their parents, but all the same, it’s strange. They don’t have any pictures of themselves or their family, and other than us, they don’t have any other relationships. It’s weird, isn’t it?”

Hearing these words, I took a hell of a slap. I had not thought about the question, yet it wasn’t for lack of seeing inconsistencies here and there. I hadn’t put the events together until now, and besides, I had one last argument that Olivia wasn’t aware of: the guy behind the elevator doors, a gun pointed at Thomas.

“I hadn’t thought about it, but they sometimes behave strangely.”

“You surprise me!” Olivia nodded. “Thomas’ life is all about high school and you, this connection between you…, that’s weird too, Eve.”

“Oh! You’re not in any position to comment!”

“Listen, I’ve been with Eric for three months, and he’s amazing every time. I swear he’s absolutely hot. But Thomas and you, it’s downright creepy. It looks like you tuned into his s*x frequency from the start. It’s not normal.”

“We’ve not been able to do much for a while, and…”

“Yeah, except for the school stairs!”

Olivia burst out laughing. I was mortified.

“Once!”

“Twice, liar!”

She knew.

“How...?”

“Don’t worry! Johnny covered it up.”

“Ah, uh… Okay.”

“Honey, you’ve gone crazy. But I like it! Now, it pisses me off that Eric is connected to you.”

“It’s nonsense, Liv. You rely on signs you pick up because you’re completely paranoid.”

“No, Eve! You know as well as I do that I’m not a paranoid person, but that’s how I feel about Eric, and I hate it. Tomorrow, I’ll break up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not happy with him. Too bad, he had something… Mmm!”

And so it was on the mention of Eric’s something that we ended this conversation before going down to dinner with Sam.

A heavy silence reigned around the table, Sam had surprisingly turned off the television, and I felt a cold wind coming from his direction.

“I need to talk to you girls.”

Sam seemed anxious and communicated it to the whole table. Olivia sent me a look to let me know that she had detected the discomfort, too.

“I must tell you about your friends, the Panchak brothers.”

“Oh no, Sam,” I said, fearing the worst. “You did your research again, although you promised me you wouldn’t.”

“Sorry, sweetie, but it all sounded way too good to be true, and after a little digging, it turns out I wasn’t wrong.”

What was I going to discover in his revelations? Olivia was all ears.

“I couldn’t find anything about them.”

Phew!

“Wow, I’m relieved!”

“No, you misunderstood me. I couldn’t find anything about them. There was no birth certificate or passport. The school registration form contains copies of false identity documents, and their social security numbers are bogus. They don’t have a driver’s license, yet they drive around in Audis and Golfs. I don’t know who these guys are, Eve!”

“What? You mean… what?!”

Sam glared at me and flicked a finger in my direction.

“I don’t want you to see him anymore.”

“No way!”

“I warn you, my dear, I’ll be glued to your coattails. Gone are the weekends when I was absent. After Saturday night, I’ll no longer schedule external meetings. I know you want to spend more time with him, but that’s not going to be possible under my roof, young lady.”

“Do you want me to break up with him? You want me to be alone again and unhappy. Is that what you want for me, Sam?”

The tears started to flow. In anger, I immediately wiped them away. Olivia remained surprisingly silent, her right index finger resting on her mouth. At the time, I didn’t understand this lack of interest in my situation. I couldn’t leave Thomas. I had chills just thinking of it, almost sweating. I was suddenly hot. The TV turned on. Olivia jumped. Calm, Sam gazed at me for a moment, and his face softened.

“I know I’m hurting you, Eve, but remember, it could be worse. If I don’t report them, it’s for you girls. These Panchaks don’t inspire confidence in me, and the evidence is there. Their very existence is a mystery to everyone.”

“I won’t give up on him, Sam.”

“I know you well. I also know that he loves you, my dear, but there are too many questions that I cannot ignore. I’m itching to talk to them…”

“No!”

“You’re right, Eve, because you’re the one who will explain it to him.”

“I will, of course,” I shot back, falsely resolute.

His eyes darkened. The disappointment was on his face. He didn’t believe me.

“So be it. I don’t want to see him here again. You’ll have to tell him to meet you outside this house, and if he does you any harm, it’s simple, I’ll kill him. You’ll have to tell him how it is. Is that understood!?”

“Yes, Sam!”

“This doesn’t make me happy, Eve.”

“I’ll let you watch your TV. I’m going up. Are you coming, Olivia?”

“Olivia will stay with me for a while.”

“I’ll follow you, Eve!” she said to me.

I ran upstairs in such a rage that I had to lean against a wall to catch my breath and control my shaking legs. Palpitations in the temples, my head hurt like hell. Everything vibrated around me, but I slowly regained my senses and breathed normally. I waited impatiently for Olivia to come upstairs, but it was Sam who showed up in the doorway of my room.

“Olivia left. I was the one who asked her to leave. I apologize, but I wasn’t in the mood for company tonight. I still wanted her to hear the truth about the Panchaks.”

Without thinking in the least about my cousin’s rantings but rather about how I would fix things, I turned over in bed, unable to fall asleep.

Until the following Saturday, I had deliberately put aside what Sam had revealed to me. I decided to talk to Thomas during our night alone at home and not in the middle of the school playground.

The time seemed long until then, and I was convinced Thomas had guessed something was wrong, but if so, he had never mentioned it. I hadn’t seen Olivia again, and she hadn’t called me either. So I didn’t know whether or not she had broken up with Eric.

On Saturday evening, I experienced Sam’s departure as a huge relief. After days of intense tension, I would finally be left alone, and an hour later, Thomas would join me. The week seemed endless as the atmosphere was heavy at home. Now I could savour my solitude. This solitude that I preferred to share with Thomas, of course. Sam’s ultimatum was far from bothering me at the time. And to be honest, when Thomas set foot in the house, I didn’t think about it at all.

“Finally alone!” he said, placing his hands on my hips.

“I thought you’d be here by now.”

“Yes, but I watched for Sam. I waited ten long minutes. It’s not so bad, right?”

His face was engulfed in my hair, at the base of my neck.

“Thomas, do you think it’s normal, this attraction between us?”

“Sure! Why do you ask me that?”

“I mean… have you ever felt this way about someone else?”

“No. Never. But I don’t see where the harm is. I’ve got you under my skin, and that’s enough explanation for me.”

He had cut short the discussion and was now examining my outfit. I had taken care to put on a simple dress, its only originality being its plunging neckline in the back. I loved this dress, yet it only lasted a minute before Thomas’s hands knocked off the first strap. My senses boiling, he lifted me with disconcerting ease before placing me on the kitchen counter and slipping between my legs. A flush of heat ran through me to the roots of my hair.

“Everliegh!”

Sam had just made a sensational entrance so embarrassing that, in a second, my face went from pinkish-purple to white as a sheet. Flooded with tears, I could barely contain my shame and anger, but Sam’s face calmed me down immediately. There was fury in his eyes, but that was nothing compared to his disappointment. I immediately pulled the dress over my chest and found that Thomas seemed perfectly calm.

“Eve, go up to your room now!” Sam ordered, furious.

I ran for the stairs, leaving Thomas alone with him. He nodded in approval, so I left without another word. I would have liked to lose myself in the depths of my sheets to hide my humiliation, but I stayed behind the bedroom door listening. Sam started.

“Leave her alone, Panchak!”

“I can not.”

“Do you think I don’t know who you and your goddamn brother are?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sam.”

“Don’t take me for a fool. You’re one of them.”

“No! And I’d rather we talked about it somewhere else.”

“Get out of here!”

“You need to know something. We’re sure they are after her.”

“What?” asked my cousin in a flat voice, all anger momentarily gone.

“Please come to my home, and I’ll explain everything. Eric will be there, we have proof of what we are saying, and Eve has started her transformation.”

A heavy silence hung in the room.

“Yeah…I know,” Sam said, overwhelmed.

His voice revealed his dismay. I couldn’t hear anything for a few minutes. They must have been whispering, and when the front door slammed, I knew they were both gone. I cried for an hour before getting up and slipping into the shower. I came out a little calmer but in a state of extreme confusion.

I went down to the living room. Prostrate on the couch, frozen. I was only thinking of Sam. I had disobeyed him for the first time in my life, and the worst thing was that he had caught me in a delicate position with Thomas. Finally, he left with him after a discussion I hadn’t understood a word of. Except now I was certain; they were both hiding something from me.

It must have been another hour before the front door opened again. I had my legs curled up with my head resting on my knees. My tears had dried, but my eyes were still puffy when Sam, Eric and Thomas appeared in front of me. Sam sat down on the chair, looking dispirited, Thomas was standing on his right, and Eric had taken his place on the other chair. I stared at Sam, and a wave of guilt assaulted me.

“Sam, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lie to you. I had decided not to see him again at home after that night. I’m sorry, I swear!”

My voice was becoming more feverish, and the tears began to flow again when he looked sadly at me.

“Eve, there are things the four of us need to talk about tonight.”

Why all four?! I didn’t want to spread out my private life in front of Eric! I was humiliated enough as it was to add to it in front of him. Before I could object, Sam continued:

“If Thomas and Eric are here, it’s not by chance. We will have to talk to you about something I’ve always tried to hide from you, sweetie. You’ll be very angry with me afterwards, but I ask you to listen to us until the end. It’s important. Thomas will start.”

Thomas became solemn and carefully avoided looking me in the eye.

“You too. You hid things from me…,” I said.

“Yes.”

“I don’t care. I know who you are.”

“No, you don’t, Eve. But I knew who you were long before I met you.”