Lorna's eyes looked around her for her room. She figured she'd taken just about every bit of cash that she could find. Lorna wasn't the type to hide lots of money. The girl probably trusted in banks, was saving up for something silly like a house or something. Stupid girl.
She'd found around $100, which wasn't ideal, but it was enough. It should be enough to get her to her rendezvous point. She only had a few hours to make sure that everything worked.
She rolled her shoulder. She'd noticed the injury the night before but, of course, couldn't feel the damn thing. After Alex had mentioned she should rest for a while, she'd actually done that. Bodies tended to wear out quickly, and she hadn't exactly gotten this one in mint condition.
Again, she didn't have much time, but she figured she had enough. All she had to do was avoid people for the next few hours. They were already noticing things off about her. Thank goodness she'd snatched someone who was emotionally unstable. The people here were sharp, but they were very considerate. It was the only window of opportunity that she needed.
Now all she had to do was wait until after the classes were over. It was definitely the weirdest school that she'd ever seen, but she wasn't going to risk discovery by exploring. Lorna was supposed to be resting, and she had to play the part.
She walked to the bathroom and examined her face again. The freaky green eyes were slightly bloodshot, but she figured it had come from the girl's tears. Her teeth still seemed fine, which was odd, because some sign of decay should have set in around the gums. Maybe Lorna was sturdier than she'd expected.
Smiling to herself she opened the bathroom cupboard. There were the usual medicines, which was great. She took out a few and began grinding them together. It was coarser than she would've liked, but it would be easy enough to fix that over the next half hour or so.
There was a knock on the door. She swore and quickly cleaned up the mess around the bathroom sink.
"Coming!" she called.
She walked to the front door and opened it. An older woman was there, looking tired. She quickly tried to figure out who the hell this woman was. Her mind flicked through the pictures in Lorna's room. There were one or two of her with this older woman. When she took in the woman's face, the similarities between her and Lorna's, she figured that this was her mother.
Great.
"Hey sweetheart," she said, "I...I wondered if we could talk."
She looked down, trying to look regretful. Lorna had obviously had a hard night, and usually that worked with people. However, she had the feeling that it hadn't quite jived with Alex's view of Lorna. Sinister had warned her that these people might be perceptive.
"I know it's been difficult," her mother said, "But...it might help to talk."
Her eyes flicked over Lorna's mother. She was in a heavy state of distress, her make-up smudged and her eyes haunted.
Who? she thought, Her or you? Do you just want to phrase it like she'd like it because you don't want to be the selfish one? How idiotic.
However, slamming the door on the woman would look suspicious. Lorna had sounded like a real sweet person, and she couldn't have too many people thinking something was wrong. They might start talking together, and she'd been in those situations before.
"Come in," she said.
Lorna's mother nodded and came in. She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking around nervously. Good grief, she hadn't thought this through, had she? With another look at Lorna's mother, she closed the door and leaned up against it.
"I wish we could've told Alex in a better way about everything," she said, "I never wanted things to be difficult for you."
Tell him what? The mystery thickened.
"And I'm sorry for being down there," she said, "I knew that they wouldn't want me, and I knew you trusted them but...too much happened when you were younger."
Had this woman come for some sort of validation? She really didn't have time to deal with people like this. Even if she hadn't been possessing this woman's daughter, then she figured that she would dislike her. There was some sort of holier-than-thou aura that these people pushed off.
Now though, now the woman expected her to say something.
"It's okay," she said, "It...things got a little out of control. Nothing we really could have done about that."
"But there was," her mother said, "You always forgive everything, and you shouldn't have to."
She shrugged in response. Was this Lorna some sort of emotional martyr? Ugh.
"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices," she said.
Her mother got up and put a hand on Lorna's face.
"But they shouldn't be yours," she said.
Her touch made her want to shudder. Good grief, skin felt so weird sometimes. She shrugged again and she thought she saw Lorna's mother's brow crease. Being Lorna was probably the most difficult mission she'd been on.
Unlike other people, these people actually might be able to figure out what was going on.
"I'd like to be alone for a little bit," she said, "Can we just...talk about it later?"
Her mother blinked and removed her hand.
"Yes," she said, "I...that's...that's your choice."
She nodded, feeling a little grateful that had worked. She forced herself to put a hand on Lorna's mother's shoulder and steer her out into the hall. When she opened the door, she saw Alex at the other end of the hall.
He was looking at her strangely, his eyes going from her mother to her. She ducked her head when she saw him, but not before she saw suspicion flash in his eyes. She stepped away from Lorna's mother and closed the door.
Immediately, her mind went to the pills she'd been grinding in the other room. It looked like she'd have to move her timetable up.
Alex watched as the door to Lorna's room closed. Magda spotted him and ducked her head. It was a motion that he'd come to expect from her. She was still adjusting to the world that she had gone into, and she'd just had some unwelcome reminders of her past.
It was not something that he expected of Lorna. One of the things he'd loved about her was that she'd always faced problems head on. She'd never tried to hide from them, and it was rare that she couldn't meet his eyes. Perhaps he was reading into these things too much, but he'd added the head ducking to the odd behaviors.
The latest was what he'd just noticed. Lorna had rather unceremoniously dumped her mother in the hall, without so much as a goodbye. Magda was obviously distraught, and he doubted that she would just dump her like that.
He needed to find out what had happened in that room. So, trying to keep his face as though he didn't think that anything was wrong with Lorna, he walked up to Magda. Her eyes were wide whens he saw him, and a little shy. The past few years had created cracks in her that she'd never quite been able to fill by herself.
"Hey," he said, "I was wondering if everything was alright."
She nodded, her eyes flicking to the door.
"Lorna just doesn't want to talk right now,' she said, "That's all. I can't blame her after last night."
He inclined his head. No need to worry her with what he was thinking. Alex made a gesture to the other end of the hallway, and the two started walking.
"She's been acting off all day," he said.
"Not really surprising," Magda said.
"I suppose not," said Alex, "It was a long night."
Magda shrugged. He wondered if she was too upset about the night before to notice if anything was wrong with her daughter. Alex wished she could just tell him something, anything that would help him cooberate what he was thinking, but he couldn't just outright ask.
He'd have to try and be sneaky.
"Just, never seen her quite like this before," he said.
"Me either," said Magda, "Not since she was little."
Bingo. That had actually been easier than he'd thought.
"She never used to isolate herself like this," said Magda, "Even when she didn't come to me, she would go to one of her siblings."
"Hm," Alex said.
Magda looked at him then, and he suddenly realized how that sounded.
"Alex, I know she was going to tell you," she said, "And I know that it couldn't have been fun having to deal with all of our dirty laundry-"
"Magda, can I stop you there?" he said.
While this particular information wasn't part of his suspicions, it needed to be said. Magda was obviously worried. She probably didn't want Lorna's life ruined by her siblings any more than it already had been. The feeling was mutual, but, again, Alex didn't know the whole story there.
He'd ask Lorna, but his suspicions were already starting to point him in a direction that he didn't like. He'd have to be damn sure of it, so he'd have to find a way to prove it. He didn't want to add 'having an asshole boyfriend' to the list of Lorna's problems.
This though, this he could take care of.
"I want you to know that I don't care where a person's come from," he said, "I don't care about their pasts, only how they plan to spend their future. Lorna's past with her siblings, it shocked me, but it doesn't change anything between us."
"And...how are things between you?" Magda asked tentatively.
Alex paused, and swallowed. He hadn't expected to get an interrogation from her mother, but it was something he would have to answer it sooner or later. Hank and Charles had a way with words, but he didn't. He'd have to settle for blunt truth.
"I love her," he said.
Magda started and stared at him.
"I know it hasn't been that long, not even a year, but I love your daughter," Alex said, "I've never met anyone like her before, and I can tell you that my intentions towards her are honest, if that's what you want to hear."
For the first time in hours, Magda smiled. She wagged a playful finger.
"Now Alex, she's only twenty-one," she said, "Don't go marrying her too soon."
Alex chuckled.
"I don't think we're quite there yet," he said, "So you don't have to worry about that for a while. I'm not going to marry someone I've only known for a few months, and I don't think Lorna is either."
Magda nodded in approval. He felt that now wasn't the time for him to tell her that he thought the two of them were rapidly headed down that road. Alex had never had someone understand things the way Lorna had.
"I'm glad that you love her," Magda said, "She needs more love in her life."
He gave her a sad smile in response, and thought of the woman a few doors down. Yes, he did love her. And remembering that made him all the more determined to figure out what was going on.