Moonlight bay, p.14
Moonlight Bay, page 14
“Well that’s something. You see, your first day wasn’t a complete shamble.”
The explorer pulled into the garage and Alan shut off the ignition. Selena quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, opening the passenger door.
Alan cleared his throat to pause his daughter’s departure.
Selena stopped and looked him.
“What? The car is stopped and you turned off the ignition before I opened the door?” She ran through the safety checklist in her head.
Alan reached inside of a plastic bag on the floor behind his seat and tapped something that made a metallic hollow sound.
“What’cha got?” she said with curiosity.
“Take a look.”
Selena knelt on the passenger seat and bent over to access the plastic bag in back. There sat a large and a small paintbrush resting on top of a gallon of black paint.
“You said you were not fond of Mr. Menae’s painting, so I thought you could maybe make it your own. Let’s say, maybe add a total eclipse over it.”
Selena’s face lit up with delight. She gave her father a hug that bounced his head off the driver’s side window.
“Ouch.”
“Oh, sorry Dad,” she said releasing her embrace.
“No, it’s never a problem getting a hug from my daughter.”
“Thank you so much. Now I can paint over that thing. It gives me the creeps.”
Her father started laughing as he reached for his briefcase and stepped out of the truck.
“What? What are you laughing at Dad?” she asked in a defensive tone. She carried the paint supplies and followed him into the house.
“Just that most daughters would want jewelry or something really nice to get them excited. My daughter gets a gallon of black paint and she’s thrilled.”
“Hey I’m low maintenance. Besides, I’m keeping tally of the money you’re saving in my teen years so I can hit you up for something really good later. You’re not getting off the hook that easily, Dad,” she said as her father kicked his shoes off in the mudroom.
“So there is a plan.”
He then whispered into her ear so her stepmother wouldn’t hear.
“Do me a favor, bring those to your room and don’t mention what I bought you to your mother.”
“No problem,” she answered about to head to the stairway.
“Selena, no word about this to Mr. Menae this evening, either.”
She stood there repeating her glare from earlier.
“No Dad, I’m going to tell him that his artwork is creepy,” she said sarcastically. “Come on, man. Give me some credit.”
Selena disappeared then he heard her run up the stairs.
“Sorry, my mistake,” he whispered to himself.
Alan laid his briefcase on the kitchen table. He smelled something burning on the stove. He could see smoke simmer from a lid of a large metal pot with black marks on the bottom. Quickly, he shut the burner off and lifted the pot from the stove, burning his hands in the process. After a swipe of an oven mitt, Alan removed the lid, exposing the overcooked contents of a chicken and vegetable stew.
“Hey honey?” Alan called out to his wife.
There was no response. He began to dump tomorrow night’s dinner into the cold running water and down the garbage disposal.
“Emma, honey?” he called out again.
He ran his palms under the cold water to ease any chance of a blister. After leaving the pan to soak in soapy water, he dried his hands with a towel and wandered the floor for his wife.
“Emma?” he continuously repeated, first searching the family room and then by the den.
His anxiety increased as the search for his wife triggered memories of the day Selena’s mother disappeared. Alan could remember the phone call. His life paused in time, the moment he picked up that receiver.
The police requested him to come down to the precinct and answer some questions. Of course, he had to go through the horrific chore and responsibility of identifying the body. They dragged him to the precinct, firing questions at him. It seemed they were already accusing him of ending his love’s life.
For the next two months, they continuously pried into every avenue of his life, trying to create a connection of proof to prosecute him. They never could prove anything, but they never tried to link anyone else to his wife’s murder. They left him a hollow man that they further abused by wrongfully accusing him, then leaving him a shell to explain to his daughter that her mother will never be coming home.
He tried to be the best father he could. His world was his daughter. Nothing was ever done for himself. Until the day he met Emma. She rescued him. Alan realized that Selena would have a difficult time accepting Emma, but he needed her to put the pieces of himself back together.
“Emma, are you there?” Alan repeated as he reached the top stair of the second floor.
He could see Selena’s door closed, assuming she was lying on the bed with her iPod cranked to its loudest possible volume. Alan looked down the hall where he saw the door to the master suite cracked open slightly. A light was illuminating a small path on the hallway carpet floor. Alan slowly walked towards the slightly opened door. He could feel his heart pound harder with every step. His palms perspired. He clenched the doorknob with a moist hand, fearing the worst.
A flicker of light caught his eyes. The shadows from lit candles danced on the ceiling. When he reached the corner of the bedroom, he saw her. Emma lay on the bed with red silk lingerie exposing her generous cleavage and an inviting slit up her thigh, hinting the curve of her ass.
“Welcome home,” she said in a provocative way.
Alan rubbed his eyes, witnessing a side of his wife unfamiliar to him.
“Emma, are you feeling okay?” he asked, watching her run a hand through her long wavy blond locks that draped over her shoulder.
The candles’ flames continued to sputter as she teased Alan with her finger in circular motion on the lower part of her stomach.
“I’m getting lonely. Don’t you want to keep me company over here?”
Alan could not help smiling. He already felt aroused. He began to unbutton his shirt revealing the less than impressive physique hidden under it.
“Come on, hurry up tiger. Oh, I’m burning inside,” she moaned.
Alan thought he was in some sexual fantasy that he would awake from at any second. This didn’t seem like it could be reality. He crawled over to her and gently kissed her on the lips. She countered with her tongue as her hand began to massage the bulge in his crotch. Alan’s breath was sucked from him as she kissed him deeper. He heard his fly unzip, and she began to stroke him in a pleasing way. He broke the kissing embrace and began to kiss the nape of her neck. Her back arched up while she let out a loud sigh.
“Oh Alan. I’m getting too hot and you’re just teasing me.”
Emma sat up, pushing Alan back on the bottom of the bed. She quickly unbuckled his belt and pulled his trousers past his knees, when she took him in her mouth. Alan’s eyes widened, staring at the ceiling, and then closed to endure the pleasure.
He was amazed. She was never willing to do this before. He could hear her moaning below as he gripped the blankets.
“I need you, I need you inside me!” she commanded.
He looked up at her, as she lifted the silk nightgown, revealing her nude bottom. Emma boarded Alan, shifting and grinding on top of him.
“Come on, that’s it. Harder, come on, deeper inside me.”
Emma continued rocking and riding him harder.
“Yeah, that’s it.”
He watched her command him sexually like she had never done before. She looked at the ceiling while she continued rocking back and forth with her head facing upward. Her movements quickened with a swivel movement thrown in when she looked down at him.
“Come Alan. Fuck me harder!” she commanded.
Her hands grabbed his chest with her nails slowly piercing the skin. A light trickle of blood formed and Emma rode him faster and faster.
Selena glanced over at the clock. The time was five o’clock. It was time to get ready for this dinner party. She turned off the iPod, depositing it back into her nightstand. Selena sat on her bed when she heard another strange noise from her bedroom. This time it came from the hallway. She heard moans, as if someone was in pain. Selena approached her closed bedroom door and pressed her ear to the surface. A muffled voice could be heard crying out.
“Right there. No not yet, harder.”
She cracked opened the door. The sounds of moaning came from the end of the hallway. Selena tiptoed to her parent’s door. The door was not closed all the way. There she saw something she could never envision. Emma screamed in ecstasy as she swiveled her hips in circular motions.
“Yes, that’s it. I’m there.” Emma cried out, collapsing on top of Selena’s father.
Selena withdrew back into hallway. A quiver trembled throughout her body, repulsed at what she had just witnessed. She quietly crept back towards her bedroom door, when a new sound entered the hall. The sound of crying came from behind Bobby’s closed bedroom door. She entered the room to check on her little brother. As she turned on the light, she noticed he wasn’t in his bed. She looked around and saw he wasn’t in the bedroom. The crying continued from the closed closet that was sealed by a chair lodged up under the doorknob.
“Are you kidding me?” she said to herself.
Selena tilted the chair and cast it to the side, opening the unblocked closet door. There, Bobby sat on the closet floor looking up towards Selena with tears in his eyes. She lifted her brother into her arms and sat on his bed rocking him, until his crying stopped. After a few minutes, she tucked Bobby into the bed and gave Bobby a kiss on the forehead.
“Dry those eyes and take a little nap,” she whispered to him. “You can stay by my side all night.”
Selena gave him a little wave and made sure the light stayed on and the bedroom door was left slightly open before she exited the room. She crossed the hall towards her door, and glanced with distaste at the master bedroom door down the hall. Selena stood in the middle of the hall with a devilish grin. She crossed her arms and took a deep breath.
“Dad, it’s five ten and dinner is at six. Don’t forget!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Selena then escaped behind her bedroom door, and slammed it behind her in disgust.
CHAPTER 20
The bell echoed throughout the luxurious setting of the Menae home. Lazareth strolled past the Grecian columns that welcomed visitors into the marble foyer. He paused and waited patiently in the main hall, staring at the wide staircase that encircled up towards the second floor. The tight woven red carpet runway invited newcomers to venture up to the second floor surroundings. Lazareth visually measured each of the family portraits hung on the walls over the carved railings of the stairway.
The bell sounded once more, granting Lazareth permission to open the door. Lazareth always made it a habit that the first arrival needed to ring the bell twice. This was his way of teaching a polite lesson to insure the first arrivals were of no one special.
Lazareth’s right hand turned the knob to opened the door with his left arm resting behind his back in a right angle like that of many gentleman servants.
“Good evening, Lazareth.” The tall and dark shorthaired man removed his long coat and thin white scarf. He assisted his wife with the removal of her cashmere coat.
“It is a pleasure to meet your arrival Mr. Strovich.” Lazareth greeted them, taking their coats.
A young girl entered shortly after them.
“My dear, please give Lazareth your coat,” the distinguished man said to his daughter.
“Vladimir, I’m so happy you’re here. We have so much to talk about,” Adolfo called out with his hand extended and Pandia by his side.
Vladimir Strovich was an elegantly spoken man who was entrusted with operating the water plant for the island.
“Good evening, Adolfo. Mrs. Menae you look lovelier than ever.” Vladimir spoke, kissing Pandia gently on the back of her hand.
“Ria, it is so good to see you.”
Adolfo embraced Vladimir’s wife along with a peck on the cheek, followed by a polite cheek-to-cheek embrace by Pandia.
“And this must be Lara. I understand you just started Atharia High the other day. How do you like it?”
“It’s fine sir.” Lara said hesitantly.
“My boy Phelan will be starting tomorrow. He will be down shortly,” Adolfo said. He gestured to Pandia to entertain some of the guests in the other room.
“Now Ria, if I might steal your husband away for a little while? Please follow Pandia into the great hall and I’ll have Lazareth attend to your needs.”
Adolfo guided them in through a marble archway that led into an enormous room. Carved stone columns and gold moldings highlighted the little intricacies hidden in the detail of the carving. A grand fireplace stood eight feet in height and ten feet across. A man could walk into an inferno if the metal screen did not secure the blaze. The windows rose tall and half way up the great walls of the hall, each cracked open at the top to control the temperature of the fire with the cool air from outdoors.
“Now if you excuse us ladies.” Adolfo said.
Vladimir smiled and gave Ria a little kiss, before following Adolfo from the great hall. They strolled into the library. There he pulled a candelabrum on the wall that triggered a bookcase to roll out and to the side, exposing a secret entrance.
“That never gets old.” Vladimir said tapping his bottom lip.
“I know everyone from the council knows about this room. I probably should just take the bookcase out and install some French doors,” Adolfo explained entering a rectangular red room. A long mahogany table was set in the center with twelve chairs around it.
Adolfo took a seat at the head of the table and Vladimir sat at the foot. The doorbell sounded once, and then a second time as the guests of the council began to arrive.
“So Vladimir, how is your daughter settling into Atharia?” Adolfo asked while they waited for the remaining council to join them.
“It’s new to her and will take some getting used to, but like everyone else has done, she will adapt thank you,” Vladimir responded.
“Well if there is anything I can do…” Adolfo offered.
Vladimir nodded in appreciation to his gesture. “And how is your son finding his new surroundings.”
“The boy is special. He will do quite well here.” Adolfo sat back with an arrogant expression.
“Really?” Vladimir sat tapping his finger on his lip. “That’s wonderful.” He added, not realizing he even responded. His thoughts began to wander.
“Good evening gents.” A bald portly man entered the meeting room.
“Demetrius, it’s so good to see you.” Adolfo rose to shake his hand.
Vladimir walked half way by the table to meet his old friend.
“It’s good to see you Demetrius.”
“We have much to talk about Vlad. We have much to address, indeed.” Demetrius whispered into Vladimir’s ear.
“Yes, yes I know. Please, just have a seat and we will wait for the rest of the council to arrive.”
Demetrius took the seat to the left of Vladimir, but soon had to rise as other council members began to arrive. One by one, they entered, shaking hands with polite and casual greetings. After all twelve chairs were occupied; one last final person entered the room.
“Ah, I believe everyone remembers our good and trusting Chief of police, Olaf.” Adolfo introduced him, while offering a quick embrace.
Olaf nodded to each member individually with a smile then took his place in a stance directly behind Adolfo.
“Thank you for coming this evening. I know some of you have questions and the twelve of us will do our best to resolve any matters that are between us. The same way we have done for the many years before to keep this community a safe and happy home.
Please, we know whatever is said will stay in this room and any ill-tempered feelings will as well. Therefore, I offer the community our ritual new moon dinner as a peace offering afterwards for any discord at the meeting. So council, without any further comments, the floor is yours.” Adolfo finished and took his seat as Olaf pushed his chair in.
Demetrius cleared his throat in the room as he attempted to speak.
“Well yes. Thank you, Adolfo. There…there are a f..few things of concern here.” Adolfo stared into his eyes intently while the remaining members seemed to clench their jaws tighter so no sound would escape.
Olaf stood with his arms folded, exposing the massive biceps threatening to split his shirt. The scowl on his face intimidated Demetrius and made him stutter and slur his words further.
“W..well. There are s..some people allowed on A..Atharia that don’t bbbelong. W..what I m..mean to s..”
“What my friend means to say Adolfo; is it wise to let this family on our island? You’re inviting bad things to happen.” Vladimir interrupted, rescuing his friend.
The remaining ten faces turned to Adolfo, looking for an answer.
“I have everything under control. I will take full responsibility.” Adolfo answered.
“Yes, but you did not seek opinion of the council.” Vladimir responded.
“Well, isn’t that what I’m doing now?”
“B..but they are already on the island.” Demetrius added.
“Yes, I guess they are. In fact they will be here tonight.” Adolfo said with a smug expression.
“What?” Vladimir shouted. “You invited them to this party. Are you insane or arrogant?”
“Careful Vladimir, remember who you are speaking to.” He warned.
“Oh of course Mr. Menae, you’re the great one. How could we all forget? Maybe some of the rest of the council may fear you, but I do not.” Vladimir pounded the table.
“Take a breath Vladimir, before this gets out of hand.” Adolfo warned.
