"… My name's Peter Knox. I was a friend of your mother's."
Diana sat in stunned silence for a moment before she eventually asked, "You uh … you knew my mother?"
"Yes. I knew her when she was your age," he explained, taking another step closer to their reading bench. "I'm sorry, this is so rude of me, I just … you look so much like her that I had to say something."
"Oh, um … that's okay," she assured him. "You caught me off guard, that's all."
Diana knew there was more to the unease that was churning in her belly than just being caught off guard. Something about the man standing in front of her didn't feel right, and the way that he'd gone about introducing himself came across as far too rehearsed to have been genuine. Besides, what were the odds that an old friend of her mothers would just happen to run into Diana in the library that afternoon, so soon after her encounter with Ashmole 782.
"I apologize for that. Maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee one day to make up for it?" he offered. Diana had just opened her mouth to decline his offer when a smug smile began curling at the corners of his lips, and Knox added, "Or maybe you'd prefer tea, like your mother used to?"
All of Diana's instincts were screaming at that moment for her to get the hell out of the library and as far away from Peter Knox as she could. The man in front of her radiated carefully controlled danger in a way that she'd never felt before. Diana shot a brief look over to Gillian, hoping that her friend would provide her with some kind of backup, but Gillian simply offered her a small, reassuring smile before turning her attention back to her work.
Diana was smart enough to know that packing up and running away wouldn't help her case right then, so instead, she did her best to fix what she hoped was a polite smile on her face, as she gave Knox an answer. "I like both. And I'm uh … I'm a little busy at the moment with school, but if you have a card, maybe I could call you sometime?"
Diana had absolutely no intention of ever using that card, but Peter Knox didn't need to know that.
"Of course," he agreed, his smile faltering slightly at her rejection as he fished inside his breast pocket for a small, white business card. When he handed it over, Diana took a moment just to scan the information on it, and her heart sank when she saw what was written there.
"You work at the university?"
"Just in a guest capacity. I specialize in studies of the occult, so I'm occasionally called upon to offer my experience to some of the students whose educational paths lead them in that direction. The university has been kind enough to provide me with resources to help with that."
Diana should have guessed that his academic area of specialty would end up being just as creepy as the man standing before her. And with him assisting students on campus, she knew that avoiding Peter Knox wasn't going to be as easy as she'd first thought it would be.
"Then I'm sure our paths will cross again soon," she stated, because she was confident Knox would ensure that. "But right now, Mr. Knox, I really need to get back to my work. I have a meeting with my advisor later this week and I want to have the rest of this section done before then."
Knox's smile fell a little further, but he recovered quickly and took a small step back from the table as he did. "Of course. I remember how important Rebecca's work was to her. It's only natural that you'd have inherited her drive and passion in that area. I hope to see you again soon, Miss. Bishop."
Diana felt a little nauseous uttering the words, "You too," but she did so with a smile, hoping that would be the last she saw of Peter Knox for the foreseeable future.
"Did you think that was a little odd?" Diana asked, as she and Gillian left the library two hours later with a few thousand more words down on paper.
"Huh?"
"Peter Knox. Didn't that whole thing seem a little off to you?"
"In what way?" Gillian asked. "He seemed nice enough to me."
"I dunno. I guess I just … bringing up my dead mom seems like an odd way to start a conversation," she explained, because now that she was talking it through with her friend, Diana was starting to worry that maybe she'd overreacted to the entire meeting. The unease she'd felt from opening Ashmole 782 still lingered in the pit of her stomach, and Professor Clairmont's words still echoed around the edges of her mind.
Was it possible that she'd just been projecting all of that onto someone who was simply trying to be nice to her?
"I thought he seemed pretty sweet. Clearly, your mum made a huge impression on him if he felt the need to come and introduce himself to you." When Diana's frown didn't budge, Gillian hastened to add, "Maybe this is one of those cultural divide things? I don't think you need to read too much into it, Diana. I honestly think Mr. Knox was just trying to be friendly. He knows that you're an American in a foreign country. He's probably just trying to make you feel more at ease here."
Diana didn't like the sheer about of guesswork that was present in Gillian's attempts to reassure her. But if her friend wasn't overly worried about the strange man that had approached them that afternoon, she was going to do her best not to be either. So Diana stamped down on the apprehension building inside of her to join her friends as they left the university's campus and headed for their favorite local pub.
That feeling of weightlessness that came with being on the water was a soothing balm to Diana's soul as she glided under the Donnington Bridge. Sleep hadn't come easily for her the night before, but the smell of freshly cut grass that tinged the air, and the cool breeze that washed over her face, was far more relaxing than a full seven hours would ever be.
Diana was so lost in that rhythmic push and pull of her oars that she didn't even realize the usual coldness that would accompany her morning workout was gone – until it was replaced with something much harsher. Her eyes snapped open as her movements faltered, and Diana turned as best she could in the small shell to survey her surroundings. She couldn't see anyone on the embankment, but she knew someone was there.
She knew exactly who was there.
As her mind began whirling with all of the different possible actions she could take at that moment, Diana forced herself to begin her strokes again as she carried on taking her usual route down the river. She needed to get home, behind the safety of a locked door, before she did anything about her newest stalker. The best way to get there without alerting him to her awareness of his presence was to behave as if everything was normal.
Diana's strokes came a little harder and a little faster as she turned her shell in the widest part of the river and then began heading back to the boathouse. His gaze was more prominent there, so she hurried to put away her equipment and grab her jacket before heading back to New College at a slight jog. Whoever was watching her was following, and their eyes on her form felt like a red-hot dagger had been plunged into her back.
The moment she had the door to her room closed and locked behind her, Diana allowed herself a moment to sink back into the wood as she tried to force her racing heart to calm down.
"… I just want to make sure that you're safe."
The words came from nowhere to shatter the panic building inside of her, and suddenly, Diana knew what she had to do. She pushed herself away from the door and made her way over to where her crowded desk was standing in front of the largest window in the space. It took her a few moments of frantic searching through books and under notepads to find what she was looking for, but when she did, the unease in her stomach finally settled into something more manageable.
Diana pulled her cell phone from her bag and quickly tapped out the number printed on the small piece of card before hitting send. When the line connected she didn't even allow the person on the other end of it to speak before she voiced what was on her mind.
"Professor Clairmont, it's Diana Bishop. I think I need your help."
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