Elise rolled her small suitcase out of her grandparents’ front door. Turning she kissed them on the cheek and smiled. The cab behind her honked and her grandparents hurried her out of the door.
“Be safe.” He grandfather reminded her for the 20th time.
“And have fun.” Her grandmother hugged her and whispered, “Patch things up while you’re there.” She let go and smiled.
Elise smiled and climbed into the cab. She rolled down the window and looked at her grandparents one more time. “I’ll try.” She said softly. She turned to the cabbie, “Train station.”
When she reached the station she boarded the earliest train to Liverpool, England. After rolling her bag to an empty booth she stuffed it on the compartment overhead and sat down with her iPod, sketchbook and pencil, and the Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. Figuring she was going to Liverpool she started playing her 185 songs by The Beatles. She looked out of the window as the world rushed by.
“Elise.” She heard a whisper and turned to see a little boy sleeping on his father’s lap across of her. She looked back to the window hesitantly and sighed. “Elise.” The voice whispered again, causing Elise to whip her head around again. The boy woke up and gave her a look. She smiled awkwardly and looked away.
Don’t worry Elise, you are just hearing things. She thought to herself, trying to shake away the feeling that she was being watched. She took out her pencil and tried to sketch the world whizzing by outside. About halfway through young woman with jet black hair, slicked into a bun, and fair skin with dark expressive eyes passed her and stopped in front of her. Her dark black dress fell to her knees in a graceful curtain. “That’s quite beautiful.” She said in a soft voice.
‘Thank you.” Elise muttered quietly and looked up at the woman whose bright red lips curled into a smile. “It’s nothing special. Just a bunch of lines.” She shrugged. The woman motioned toward the empty seat across of her. Elise nodded and the woman sat.
“I think it’s more than a bunch of lines.” She placed her clutch on the table and looked at Elise’s drawing with admiration. “It’s very expressive. The shading is superb.” She spoke as if she were an art curator.
“Thank you.” Elise looked down at her drawing. She was ‘okay’ in her opinion, others though differently. Her grandparents had hung many of her paintings in their home. Elise didn’t believe that she was that great at art but she loved doing it. “I guess its interesting.” She muttered.
“What is?” The woman’s voice was as smooth as silk.
“That it can move so quickly out there. Like the blink of an eye.” She looked out the window at the moving world. “But someone can capture it and save it forever.” She looked down at her drawing with a small smile.
“It is very interesting.” The woman smiled. “You have a very bright future Elise.” She said with a smile as she took her clutch and stood. She turned and walked down the hall.
“Thanks…” Elise was still looking at her drawing when she realized she hadn’t told the woman her name. “Wait,” She looked up to see the tail of the woman’s dress flowing down the hall. “Wait!” She said a little louder, looking down the walkway to see that she was not there. She had disappeared. “What the-“ she muttered as she sat up again and looked down at her drawing. There was a lipstick mark, the same bright red color that was on the woman’s lips. She had kissed the corner of Elise’s drawing and wrote, “Big things are coming your way!”
Elise blinked a couple of times and closed her sketchbook. She pushed it to the other side of the table and looked around. Everyone acted as if nothing happened. She opened her sketchbook again and the lipstick mark was gone. The drawing was just as it had been before the lipstick mark. Nothing had changed. Elise knit her eyebrows together and took her pencil out and signed the corner of her drawing. Was she going insane?
It wasn’t long until she reached the Liverpool station. After gathering her things she stepped off the train, and in no time she called a cab. The driver stuffed her bag into the trunk as Elise climbed in. “Acrefield Road.”
The cabbie drove up to Acrefield Road as Elise requested to be dropped off before her house. She handed the cabbie the right amount of pounds and stepped out of the cab, retrieving her bag from the trunk with reluctance. She turned up the road and sighed. She walked toward her house.
Elise walked up the small driveway and stared at her father’s house. The white paint looked dull, then again white was a safe and respectable color. It represented purity and virginity. Elise’s eyes fell to the garden, in perfect shape. Not a leave or branch out of place. She could tell this was the same house, even though she hadn’t been to it in 10 years. Breathing a heavy sigh she walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
“Mr. Black’s residence, can I help you?” A petite woman answered the door wearing a black dress and an apron. No doubt a maid.
“May I see Mr. Black?” She asked politely.
“Mr. Black is very busy right now. He won’t be able to come to the door.” The maid slightly pursed her lips and Elise knew she was lying. She had learned to read people’s ‘ticks’ when she played poker with her grandfather.
“How about Kirk Black?” She asked in a sweet voice, accompanied by a sweet smile.
“He is busy as well. I’m very sorry, but if there is nothing more I can do for you then-“
“And what if I were Elise Black?” She asked whiled she adjusted her black cotton gloves, looking up to see the maid’s dumbfounded face.
“Ah, I am very sorry Miss Black. I did not know-“ She stumbled over her words.
“Quite all right.” She smiled, knowing she had made the maid look like a complete and utter fool. “May I come in? It’s awfully cold out.” She smiled. Her light brown hair falling just below her shoulders is slight waves.
“Yes, of course.” The maid stepped aside quickly as Elise stepped in, the door closing behind her. No turning back now. “I will go inform Mr. Black of your arrival.” She started to hurry off.
“That won’t be necessary.” Elise stopped her. “Will I be staying in my old room?” She asked pulling off her gloves and scarf.
“Yes ma’am.” The maid nodded nervously.
“Then I shall retire there. I’ve just been on a train for 6 hours, I need to freshen up before I present myself in front of Mr. Black.” She hung her scarf on the rack on the wall and unbuttoned her black trench coat revealing her black skinny jeans, long sleeve gray cardigan and white blouse underneath. “Do you mind bringing up a spot of tea?” She asked sweetly as she picked up her bag.
“Not at all.” The maid hurried off the kitchen. Elise smirked and carried her bag up to her room.
Opening the door very quietly it revealed the same bed with white linens and plenty of pillows. There was one pillow in the center with her name stitched on it. She sighed and placed her bag in the closet. Looking around and the pristine white room she realized what her father had done. He had turned it into a guest room.
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