CHAPTER FOUR: LATE NIGHT CONVERSATIONS (Draft 1)

Cherry and Silver quietly set the dinner table with Silver’s Aunt Lucy. Cherry slowly placed the cutlery while Silver positioned the water glasses. James and Tim had returned with the groceries not more than an hour ago and in no time had Aunt Lucy prepared a feast for all eight children. 

Aunt Lucy smiled warmly at her niece, 
“Silver, could you call them down for me please?” 

She laughed nervously, 
“Of course!”  

Silver nervously looked up the flight of stairs, and hoarsely called, 
“Dinner’s ready-” 

Cherry noticed how anxious the girl was and decided to help her. She whistled and called for her sisters, 
“Guys! Time for dinner!” 

Silver stood in shock as she motionlessly watched the quadruplets speedily run down the stairs and towards the dining table. Not far off was James and Prince, and behind them was Tim, who slowly made his way down the staircase, taking his time. 

As James and Prince passed the pair, Cherry gave Silver a friendly smile and followed them. Silver stood at the bottom of the staircase staring at Cherry, as Tim reached down, 
“By the way, why were you ignoring my texts?” 

Silver shook her head, snapping herself back into reality, 
“I was a little busy...” 

She then made her way towards the rest of their family. 

 

After dinner, everyone made their way back to their rooms. The Gemstones hid themselves away in their crowded bedroom, while the older siblings had to share with one another. 

Tim sat in the corner of his bed, quietly reading his thriller novel, his eyes glued to the pages, completely invested in the storyline, while James lay on his bed, across the room, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in his train of thoughts. 

Meanwhile, with Silver and Cherry. Silver sat at her desk, aggressively typing on her laptop, as if she were trying to find something, opening, closing, and switching between tabs. Silver inhaled sharply and put her head down when she was unsuccessful. Whereas Cherry sat quietly in a corner, meditating. 

 

Flame lay on his bed, wide awake, not knowing why he was unable to sleep. All he could hear was the slow ticking of an old grandfather clock’s hands with every passing second that echoed through the empty hallway. There was no grandfather clock. Flame violently shook his head; he couldn’t let his imagination take over. 

Suddenly he heard an angry voice say, 
“What do you want from me Max?” 

It was his aunt. 

Flame jolted up from his bed and noticed a bright light creeping from under his door. He frowned and tried to listen to the conversation outside. 

“It’s 2.30 a// for God’s sake! Couldn’t you have waited until morning?” 

“And risk letting our daughters wonder why I’m here?” 

He crawled towards his door and noticed the voices getting fainter and fainter until he heard a door close. ‘They must have gone into her study...’ he thought to himself. He slowly opened his door and stepped out into the hallway. He winced at the sudden flash of light. He stood in the same position until his eyes adjusted to the light. He treaded slowly towards his aunt’s study, hoping not to make any noise. As he reached the study, he kneeled by the door and placed his ear against the door. He heard a man’s voice, 
“What about the Garnet fire Alex? How do you explain that?” 

‘Chloe’s father. What’s he doing here?’ Flamed frowned. Chloe Banker was his cousin’s best friend. Her father, Maximillion, the police chief and old friend of his aunt’s. 

“The fire was an accident, Max!” 

“No, it wasn’t, and you know that!” 

‘Why are they arguing?’ Silence. ‘What’s going on?’ Flame scrambled, trying to listen for more. He knew eavesdropping on his aunt was wrong, but this argument was so unusual he had to find out more. ‘I thought she didn’t like to talk about the Garnet fire...’ 

Mr. Banker spoke; 
“You and I both know she did it, Alex! Now if you’ll just listen-” 

“She’s dead Max! She has been for 12 years, and she’ll stay dead!” 

Flame felt confused as he wondered who his aunt was talking about... 

“Don’t lie to yourself Alex! You know she’s still alive...and you know she’s back...for him.”  

 “So what? She left him! I was the one who raised him for 12 years, not her! I treated him like my own son! So, what if she tries to take him back? Who do you think he’ll go with? His aunt who loved and cared for him, or his murderous mother?” 

Flamed gasped and clasped his hands over his mouth. His aunt and Mr. Banker went silent. He stumbled to his feet and sprinted back to his room and into his bed. He heard the door of the study open. 

“Who’s there?” 
His aunt called. 

“Probably the wind.” 
Mr. Banker suggested. 

Flame hid himself under the covers, breathing heavily – millions of thoughts that raced through his mind: ‘Why were they talking about my mother? Are they accusing her of killing the Garnets? Is this why Aunt Alex is so indifferent whenever I bring her up? She called her murderous...who calls their sister a murderer? Was my mother a murderer? Was she a criminal? Why did Aunt Alex and Mr. Banker sound so afraid of her?’ 

He wanted answers. 

 

Cherry lay on her bed, fast asleep, while Silver sat on her own, whispering to her phone, 
“What do we do Sarah? We found nothing.” 

“I suggest either confronting the mayor or hacking into the police database.” 

“Hacking into the criminal database is both risky and illegal, but it sounds a thousand times much better than confronting Ms. Speed.”  

Suddenly, 
“Who are you talking to?” 

Silver jumped, almost dropping her phone. Cherry had been awake the whole time. Luckily, Silver caught her phone on time, and asked wearily, 
“How long have you been awake?” 

Cherry sat up and smiled, stretching her arms before speaking, 
“Well, pretty much the whole time... I don’t really sleep-” 

Silver frowned thoughtfully, 
“How do you function throughout the day then?” 

Cherry simply widened her smile, 
“I have no idea. I suppose I get it from my mother. She practically never slept when she was my age either. Come to think of it. That's how she met my father.” 

Silver laughed nervously,  
“Is it like... insomnia or something?” 

Cherry continued to smile, 
“Forget that. Why are you awake?” 

“Uhh...stuff?” 

“That sounded like a question.” 
Cherry glanced at Silver’s phone, 
“Who’s on the other side of the phone?” 

Silver glanced at her phone as well and inhaled sharply, 
“It’s... uhm... it’s- It's a long story.” 

“Go on, I'm not going anywhere.” 

Silver bit her lip nervously, 
“Promise me you wouldn’t tell anyone?” 

Cherry nodded as Silver took a deep breath...