Chapter 7
When we arrived, Will escorted me into the restaurant. The seating hostess soon arrived.
"Do you have a table reserved?" She asked.
"Yes, we're part of the de Graaf party." Tori replied.
"If you can follow me." We followed her to the table. I felt Will lean down to my ear.
"Why do you guys have a different last name?" He whispered.
"We thought it would be better if we took our mother's maiden name." I whispered back.
"Did it work?"
"Sort of. Though Claudia liked the separation we put up, it didn't change the fact that her husband had another family." We approached a group of people I recognized instantly. The peach, lavender, and salmon colours of Andromeda. The dark blue, indigo, and burgundy aura of Draco, although there was a black mist around him indicating he had a big secret. The gold, mauve, and golden orange colours of the late Claudia de Graaf. The jade, fuchsia, and golden orange aura of Helena de Graaf. And finally, the gold, burgundy, and plum colours of Pater Henning de Graaf. I saw Claudia stand up as we approached.
"We're so glad you could make it, Mr. Benedict. Please, sit." I watched her come towards Will, and pull him away to the seat between her and Andromeda. "This is my daughter, Andromeda." Oh jeez, she's trying this? I felt someone grab my arm and looked to see Tori.
"Come on. Let's go sit down." He sat me next to Draco, sitting down on my other side. I looked at Will, and saw Claudia pawing him.
"I can't believe Tori and Gemini never told us that they were friends with a Benedict. Not that I can blame them, it's pretty unbelievable." Hoo boy.
"Well, it's not a really special thing, you know." Will protested. Claudia gave a haughty laugh.
"Well, aren't you so modest." I resisted the urge to ease the migraine in my head. "So what kind of work do you do?"
"Right now, I'm doing odd jobs. I'm trying to get a degree in law actually."
"How exciting!" My eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Wow. I never would have thought that you were the lawyer type." I confess.
"Do I have that look about me?" Will asked.
"No. You just don't seem like the suit type." I heard Tori chuckle.
"She's got you there Will, you can't deny it." The waitress came around and served us water, as grandfather ordered.
"From what I've heard of the Benedict family, you don't seem to be all that impressive." Grandfather pointed out.
"Pater, he's a guest. Treat him with respect." Helena scolded. I covered a smirk. Helena de Graaf was definitely someone you didn't want to cross.
"So Aries." I turn to Andromeda. "How is your art going?"
"Fine. My art dealer adores me, for my paintings." I replied.
"I saw a few from my friends. They were amazing."
"They are quite extraordinary." Will commented. The tone of his voice implied admiration, and something else. Which made Claudia upset. Time for a break I think. I pushed my chair back.
"I need to go to the bathroom." I said rising.
"I'll take you." Draco announced, standing up. Surprised, I let him take my arm and guide me to the bathroom. I went to the sink and splash water on my face. Rubbing my eyes, I sighed.
"I need to get some sleep." I said, closing my eyes and resting my hands on the counter.
"Something keeping you awake?" I opened my eyes a little and looked at Draco.
"Yeah. A yank who, I recently discovered, wants to be a lawyer."
"He doesn't seem that bad."
"He's an idiot, but never mind that." I turned around and leaned against the counter. "What's on your mind?" I watched him come towards me, an extension of himself coming reaching towards me.
"Someone sent this to me. No note." I reached out, palm up. He placed a metal pendant in my hand. I frowned at the familiarity of the pendant, and turned it over to feel the face. My eyes widened with fear as my thumb glided across the the surface. A sun with a spear in the middle. Rand's trademark medallion. Maybe I did see him. I closed my hand around the medallion.
"Something on your mind?"
"Only impossible things. I saw Rand by my house."
"That's not possible."
"He was there for a second. So clear and distinct." I felt Draco's hands on my shoulder.
"Aries listen to yourself. Rand is dead, remember?"
"It was him, I know it."
"Aries, you killed him. There is no way he could have been there." I narrowed my eyes in anger.
"The only way that this, could have gotten to you, is if someone knew you were there that night." I gestured the medallion as I talked. "Only three people were there that night, you, me, and Rand. Unless someone is able to talk to the dead, the only way this could have gotten to you is by Rand." Draco let go of my arms.
"Even if you were right, how could he be alive again? Why wouldn't he send the medallion straight to you? And why now?"
"It's not impossible to bring someone back from the dead, especially if you have the ability to do it." Like Linda Klug.
"And the medallion?"
"It's a message. To let me know that he is alive. If it was sent to me, I would have passed it off as someone else."
"So why now? That was over five years ago." I reopened my hand and felt the surface again.
"I don't know."
By the time Will and I got back, it was almost midnight. I sighed wearily as I took off my shoes.
"Are you alright? You've been withdrawn the entire evening." I turned to him, and saw his curiosity.
"Just bad memories resurfacing." I replied, walking towards the staircase.
"Wanna tell me about it?" I stopped at the base of the stairs. I wanted to say no, but couldn't. I didn't want anyone who didn't know my dark secrets to know about them. Instead, I turned around and sat on a step.
"Five years ago, I was in a relationship with a long time friend. I guess you could call him a typical bad boy, but I didn't realize how dangerous he was. Eventually, Draco managed to make me see my friend for what he truly was, and I never saw or heard from him ever again." Good enough story.
"What brought this on?"
"Draco received something that reminded him of my friend. He wanted to talk about it."
"Is your friend the reason why you are the way you are now?" I nodded. I felt my eyes itch and rubbed them.
"I'm tired. See you in the morning." I stood up and turned around to climb the stairs.
"Aries." I groaned inwardly, and narrowed my eyes at him. "Am I the only friend you've made since then?"
"No." I answered innocently. "You'd be the second."
