Claimed by the Desert

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

The clacking of plates and silverware echoed from the kitchen as Vera stumbled into the house. Her head throbbed painfully and all she wanted to do was go up to her room and lie down.

"Vera!" Halsten called from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

She hissed in response to the loud noise, like a cat bristling with hostility. Glaring in his direction she ignored the question and continued shuffling upstairs.  She made it about halfway before he poked his head out the kitchen door and spotted her on the stairs.

"Where are you going?" he inquired at her retreating back. "Come back downstairs. One of your friends from the dig site is here."

Her foot slipped on the stair and she went down hard on her knees, her chin clipping the bannister on the way down. She shook it off, but didn't move to get up.

"A friend from the dig site? Do you mean Kareem?" she asked him with dread welling in her stomach.

"Yes, I believe that was his name," he replied. "He seemed worried about you. He said you weren't feeling well earlier."

He walked toward her and looked at her more closely. "In fact, it looks like you're still not well. What's the matter?"

"Headache," she mumbled, laying her head down on the stair and closing her eyes.

"Why didn't you say so? You know we have medicine for that and even if we didn't I could have gone to the physician to fetch some."

He walked away; his steps thunderous and painful to Vera's ears. When he returned with the medicine she took it greedily, hoping that Dr. Peters was wrong and all of this would soon start making sense once her headache went away.

"You should start feeling better soon," Halsten told her. "Until then why don't you come sit with me in the kitchen?"

She groaned, knowing that was Halsten's way of getting information out of her when he didn't want others overhearing. It was rare for anyone else besides the two of them to be in the kitchen. She pulled a stool up to the counter and laid her head down as he worked on making dinner.

"So that Kareem seems like a nice young man," he began, turning away from her when she looked up at him in surprise.

"...A nice young man? Are you sure you're feeling well?"

He frowned. "Of course I am, what makes you say that?"

She stared at him incredulously. "Perhaps because you never speak well of anyone until after you've known them for several years? Or maybe because you are overprotective of me and suspicious of all the people I am friends with?"

"This one is different. I like him," he replied.

"How?" she asked, standing up and turning him around to face her. "How is he different?"

Halsten shrugged. "He just is. I don't know how, or why, but I like him."

Something was wrong, just as Dr. Peters had said. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but it was true. Halsten would never say those things. He always had definite answers for things and he never ever made a decision about something if he was unsure of his reasoning.

"You're not acting like yourself," she told him, watching his reactions closely.

"Don't be ridiculous, silly girl," he said, laughing. "Your headache is making you delirious."

She glared at him. "No, it isn't. I know Halsten. He's my best friend and he would never call me a 'silly girl' or say I'm being 'ridiculous.'"

The Halsten imposter started to speak, but she talked over him. "And do you know what else? It seems like all of this keeps leading right back to Kareem!"