Falquen's Nest

Chapter 6

Janie made her way into the kitchen and took a deep breath. The uneaten portion of pizza remained on the counter along with the dirty wine glasses, and suddenly the sting of Falquen's teasing hit her again. She was aware of his presence behind her but remained silent.

"I'll put all that away later," he said, making his way towards his latest unfinished canvas.

Feeling oddly at a loss for what to do with herself, Janie self-consciously studied her hands again. She should talk to him, let him know that she didn't appreciate his making fun of her, but well... he was busy mixing paint, and she didn't want to distract him.

"Is there something else?" he asked without looking up from his paint pallet.

She hesitated and shrugged. "No, I guess not. Umm... I'll be in my room. I need to finish unpacking," she said determinedly.

Once in the privacy of her little room, Janie exhaled deeply. What a day! Not exactly smooth. Not exactly the way she wanted to start out. She sat down on her bed and checked her cell phone. There were messages from Charlotte and from her mother, both of them wondering how her big move went.

She would call them tomorrow. Yes, perhaps by then she would have better news for them. Tonight she was way too tired and emotionally drained to talk to anyone. She wanted everyone to think that she was happy. They would only have to hear her voice to know that she was far from happy. That would mean she had failed. She couldn't let anyone think that. No matter how lonely and miserable she felt.

After a while of aimlessly rearranging her room, Janie felt herself getting tired. She stretched and yawned. No wonder she was sleepy, she realized checking the time. It was almost midnight. Poking her head out of her room, she noticed Falquen was still hard at work on his latest masterpiece, his only source of light being the dim lamp above the stove. He sure liked the dark. She shuddered as she looked over his shoulder at the latest gruesome image on the canvas.

Without calling attention to herself, she turned and made her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Grabbing her toiletries from her room first, she tiptoed across the hall and closed the door.

She stared at the doorknob for a moment. Surely, he would know she was in there and not unsuspectingly come in. She stressed about it for a few minutes and then decided to hurry up and take her chances. If she was quick enough, she would be done before anything could happen. She would definitely talk to him about a lock tomorrow.

Tomorrow... she daydreamed as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Tomorrow, she would go out and buy some groceries. Maybe a nonstick frying pan, too. Oh, and she would talk to Falquen about setting up a space for her watercolours.

Tonight, she'd try and get some rest, she resolved as she quickly made her way back into her room. Easier said than done. Having slept away most of the afternoon, she was quite wide awake and restless.

Funny, she imagined having to sleep in a strange bed might be a challenge. But having spent so many recent nights on a cramped couch made her appreciative of the comfort of her own bed even though it was only a twin. She was just glad that she finally had a place of her own, somewhere she could call home. Her parents would be proud. Charlotte would be too. Janie smiled bravely as she closed the bedroom door and undressed.

If only she could get over her fear of the dark. Less than a minute later, she got up and turned on the light. Even that wasn't good enough. She couldn't shake the images of the day from her mind, the skulls, the burning of her hands, the cackling laughter of Moira and her creepy posse.

Frustrated, she opened her door a crack, turned the light off and lay down again. She could hear Falquen moving around in the background and strangely it comforted her to know that he was there.