All of the lights were on. It was the only way Flora felt safe.
It's not that she was afraid of the dark, she just didn't like being alone when it was dark and stormy. She could have avoided this, she had that choice. Before her caretaker left for America to visit Luke he offered to take her along. She declined though, saying she wanted to work on her garden out back. She asked him to give her regards to the Triton's and to extend her apologies for not being able to go. He obliged her easily.
The truth however was that she was afraid of water. She couldn't swim, and due to a traumatic incident from when she was younger, she was never able to learn without freaking out. Ever since then, she was wary of water.
He couldn't sense this though, so instead he tipped his hat and they said farewell. With that he left and she was by herself for the next two weeks.
She knew that if she asked, he would buy plane tickets for the both of that. But she couldn't do that, Luke had sent boat tickets for each of them. She was already putting one to waste by not going, she refused to be a burden by making both of them useless.
So she stayed back, and tonight it was stormy. To quell the thunder, she put on a record and poured herself a cup of cranberry juice. The record that she was listening to was by the famous singer Jenis Quatlane. Flora recalled that she was a former student of the Professors. They had met her once when Jenis, (or 'Janice' as she was really called) came to visit the Professor after Luke left. Back in those days they had a lot of visitors. Now she was alone...
Right. Next, she dug out her favourite novel 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She had to hide this novel after Luke found her reading it one day.
"It's because you keep reading stuff like this that you're so jumpy." He nagged.
"That's not fair Luke." She protested. "I've seen you read this before."
"Well, I'm not jumpy over it."
She hated to admit it, but one thing she did not miss about Luke was his overprotective nature. Well, his and everyone else's. It irked her, she wasn't as fragile as everyone thought, she had a lot to learn about the world, but how could she learn when they kept guarding her?
Now she was riled up. She sighed and opened her book. Hoping to relax, she began to read out loud.
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those infrequent occasions when he was up all night…"
She was not but half way through the chapter when the knocking started.
It was a 'rap rap rap' sound that startled Flora and it caused her to drop her cup of cranberry juice. It splattered onto her white night gown and onto the cream coloured rug that was the living room floor. She 'tsk'ed and immediately ran to grab a towel to salvage the rug while she could. The knocking started again. It was more persistent this time.
'Goodness me' She thought 'Who could it be at this hour?' Giving up on the rug she stood up and faced the door. "Who is it?" She asked.
The person at the door continued to knock but they gave no answer. Flora sighed, it was probably a case for the Professor, she would have to turn them away. She shut off the record and made her way there, thinking of offering them some tea, at the very least.
But half way, she froze. It was late, she was alone. She was a young woman,and she was in her night gown. She remembered all of the times she was in danger all at once and her breath hitched. She stood there frozen for what was probably only a few seconds but it seemed longer. She waited for them to leave, but they already knew that she was home. She even asked 'who is it?' like some idiot.
Flora did the only sensible thing one could do. She ran to get her housecoat, and a knife.
When she came back, she just stood there lamely, too afraid to answer. Mentally, she began going through a list of who it could be behind the door, her first thought was Don Paolo, her second was-
There was a thunk and then the knocking stopped altogether.
"Help!"
It was boys voice. A child's voice.
Flora quickly tossed the knife on a nearby table and ran to the door, opening it.
It was the Professor, and Luke was trying to pick him up.
With the light of the door flooding his face, Luke looked up at Flora.
"This was the only place with its lights on." He whispered.
A/N: Hey! I'm not sure how to introduce this, but uh…here's my first fanfiction :"D If there's any mistakes or if something's described incorrectly (i.e The lingo is wrong.) Feel free to correct me. And I know the ending is a bit abrupt but it was the best place for me to end It, (you'll see why next chapter) This was originally supposed to be a one-shot but I'm dividing it. Since this chapter is short, this will (probably) be updated before the end of the week. Anyway, let me know what you think and I will see you next time~!
~Second-Symphony~