Chapter 24 You are so beautiful
Hendrik passed by her, then knocked on the door rhythmically. The knocking was quite complicated and Izabella doubted she could remember it. A second later, the little slot was opened. A pair of brown eyes peered through, gazing at Hendrik first, then at Izabella.
“She’s with me,” Hendrik said importantly.
“Is she…” the voice asked, but Hendrik didn’t let him finish what he wanted to say.
“Yes,” he quickly interrupted.
The slot closed with a loud slashing noise, as if someone waved a saber against the wind, slitting the air. The noise reminded her of the last time she and Brandon had to fight vampires. The only weapons they had at their disposal were some unused old sabers from an old war and, at first, she was skeptical but her own weapon was taken away from her and she had to improvise. She was surprised how handy that saber was eventually.
The door opened with a screech and Izabella felt as if the two of them were in one of those old black and white, horror movies and they were now entering a haunted house. Even the inside of the Bunker strengthened that impression. It was all makeshift. There were candles hanging from the sides of the walls, illuIzabellating their path, which was made of dirt and gravel.
Hendrik shook hands with the doorman, who, Izabella saw, was just another student. He looked so menacing behind the little slot, like a demon guard, watching the door to the
Underworld, but now, he was just one of them. There was nothing mysterious or demonic about him.
Without saying a word, Hendrik continued walking. Izabella rushed after him. She was curious about the doorman’s question about her but she didn’t ask. Who did he think she was? Did Hendrik mention her already? Maybe they all had to pre-approve a possible newcomer before he or she appeared. It sounded a bit too much but people sometimes liked that shit. It made them feel more important.
They were walking down a long corridor and Izabella felt like they were going deeper underground. The path was narrow, almost enough for two people to walk together side by side. However, she was always one step behind Hendrik, who didn’t really turn around to see if she was following him or not. She wondered if he could hear her footsteps.
The light of the candles flickered as they passed them. She tried to imagine how dark it would get here without all those candles. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen such darkness. She didn’t want to. Total darkness was, to her, a world without her brother. He’d always been her light. He knew how to make the worst days sunny again. And, here she was, following this guy, like a stupid girl in love. She knew how wrong this was and, yet, she was unable to turn back. Her heart was following him, obediently, like a little puppy, and a part of her was happy that her brother wasn’t here to see this.
Suddenly, she stopped. He took a few more steps before he realized that and then he turned to her.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” she said, not really knowing why.
In essence, she wanted to be here. This was a small clique and she might be able to infiltrate it easily. This could give her access to more places around the school and, most importantly, new info. Plus, the fact that Hendrik was drop dead gorgeous didn’t hurt either but that was the last thing she wanted to focus on right now.
“Why the change of heart?” he asked, and she couldn’t tell if he was indifferently curious or he really wanted her here.
“I don’t know…” she told him the only reply she knew of.
He got close to her. He stopped just as the tips of his shoes touched the tips of her closed sandals, which all of the girls were forced to wear. She was still wearing his hoodie, only now, she felt like a mouse and wanted to hide her entire self inside.
“Are you scared?” he asked, as if he was daring her to do something.
“No, I…” she replied, not moving back.
Usually, she’d know exactly what to say. She’d have the strength to push him away from her for being such a cocky ass, but somehow, she couldn’t do that with Hendrik. She could imagine herself pushing Raphael away easily but not Hendrik.
So, she allowed him to remain close to her, their breaths merging in the air that surrounded them. There was no one around. For the first time, she heard a faint sound of music but it wasn’t very loud. Amazing what good acoustics these places had.
“Yes?” he kept prodding, as if he knew there was something she wanted to tell him but couldn’t. At least, not yet.
“What if they don’t like me?” she asked and only when she heard the question out loud, did she realize how ridiculous it was.
Who the hell cared whether they liked her or not? She was there with Hendrik and she wanted to be there, despite what she was so desperately trying to convince herself of. Her heart knew what it wanted and it wouldn’t accept no for an answer.
“I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t like you,” he whispered, then his hand lay gently on her cheek, caressing it softly.
This was the moment she’d anticipated ever since she’d laid eyes on him. She wanted to gaze into those eyes, she wanted to feel his arms around her, like someone whose only desire in life was to love and nothing else. She had only read about those passionate romances and even though she gave it a try a few times, she realized that conventional romance just wasn’t for her. She wanted something else, something that many people didn’t understand. Usually, what they don’t understand, they condemn, so it was easier just to lock her heart away and expect never to find true love, the way she understood it to be.
Izabella was polyamorous – she’d finally came to that conclusion one day. That was also the same day that she broke up with her current boyfriend, as it wasn’t fair to him. He was old fashioned, too old fashioned to understand that someone wanted several partners, and was able to love and cherish each and every one of them equally. Izabella didn’t want to explain herself too much. She felt like she wouldn’t need to explain herself when she met the right one, or better yet, the right ones.
So, Hendrik was now standing right in front of her. She wanted nothing more than him to press his lips against hers and to feel his beating heart with her open palms, as she rested her hands against his chiseled chest but, it wouldn’t stop there. It never did. She might like him too much or it could be the other way around. Usually, guys liked her more than she liked them, hence that unwillingness to share, so to say. She herself never saw it as sharing. Or perhaps, it was sharing love, of which she had more than enough to go around.