Timeless Masters | boyxboy | (Book Two: The Master Collection)

Chapter VIII - Breathe Me In

It had taken an hour until Quinn finally joined Oliver and the Ladies back at the dress shop, and with how much time had passed, Oliver had only grown more and more suspicious and wary of the dark-haired boy. As Oliver sat across the sunny room, he kept to himself, his hands folded together, eyes dreary and on the floor. Quinn was stood on the opposite side of the shop. He'd attempted to speak to Oliver about the incident, but was given the cold shoulder each time a word left his mouth, so he decided to give Oliver the space he seemed to need right now.

Speaking with the shopkeeper, Darcy took the box holding the contents of her evening gown, and all of them started on their way. The women hadn't seemed to notice the distance between the two boys until Juliette called for Oliver and he didn't budge.

Quinn watched as she neared him and tapped his knee, getting his attention. "We're all leaving now," she said to him.

At that, Oliver gave her a smile and followed.

Quinn fell behind for a couple minutes as the four headed back to the stagecoach, and Alfar prepared to take them all back to the manor. Quinn was trying to think of the right words to say to Oliver, of how he could possibly apologize for what had occurred at the furniture shop. Alice, she had not been someone he expected to see on this trip. Then again, that was only because he'd gone and forgotten about the girl. If he'd have remembered of her existence, of the role she'd played in his past, Quinn was confident he would not have come to Banemount in the first place just to be sure an incident like this didn't take place. An now, he'd walked straight into it.

Speeding up his pace to walk beside Oliver, Quinn touched the boy's hand discreetly, getting his attention for a second before the boy tucked his hands away and looked forward again. "We must talk about this," Quinn kept his voice down.

"Oh, we are going to talk about this," Oliver made clear.

When Darcy and Juliette entered the rear of the coach, Oliver was about to follow suit until he stepped away, and said, "I'm going to ride up top."

The Ladies didn't see anything wrong with that and continued inside. Quinn just figured he might as well ride on the inside as well. It wasn't as if he and Oliver were going to be able to speak with Alfar mere inches from them anyway. Climbing in, he sat across from the Ladies, and Darcy said, "How was Banemount? I couldn't help but notice Oliver returned rather quickly without you for a good while."

Quinn thought of Alice, of the hidden shock within Oliver eyes upon seeing her and her reaction to him. "It was fine. I got caught up with someone I knew, is all."

A few minutes passed as the ride drew on, the Ladies quiet as well until Darcy broke the silence. "Quincy, if you don't mind my asking, you've visited the village of Grigory before? Juliette here mentioned you said such."

The mere name of the place churned Quinn's stomach, "Yes, I have."

"I see, I see." She paused, "Juliette told me you witnessed terrible things during your stay there."

Quinn nodded, "Although I would classify them as something much more than terrible...yes, I did. Thoughts of the place and what I've seen never fail to bring me nightmares. It does not matter that it happened ten years ago, for the event still plays awfully clear in my mind."

"Hangings, yes?"

"Correct."

Darcy and Juliette held their breath; Darcy then saying, "It must be horrible to have to live with such a memory plaguing your thoughts each day."

"Quite," Quinn agreed, "There is too much I remember that I wish I could forget at will. I try my hardest to suppress the images when they burden me, but nothing works to keep them back. I even remember the name of one of the boys."