Excellent Danielle is reacquainted with the residents of Marsh View His Silence : His Silence - Chapter Twenty by Jacob1395

Background When Harvey murders his parents, he refuses to say why he did it. Twenty years later, he's finally ready to talk. ‘Sorry I didn’t respond to your messages, Mary took my phone off me last night,’ Callum says, taking a sip of his orange, the sharpness of the juice reaching my nostrils. Oliver insisted I try some earlier, when I came down to breakfast; telling me it was freshly squeezed. ‘I tried to hang onto it but she got a bit shirty with me, so I felt I needed to hand it over. She didn’t threaten me as such, but I could see it in her face. Did she not take yours off you?’ I shake my head, balancing my elbows on the soft white table cloth. ‘No, I thought that was a bit weird, if I’m honest, like with my door being left unlocked. Oliver says that could’ve been a mistake, but there’s something about the way he said it that doesn’t quite make me believe him. It’s OK though, Oliver told me Mary would’ve taken your phone, so I realised that you weren’t, well . . . I thought, I thought you were ignoring me at first.’ ‘I’d never ignore you,’ he says, looking at me with pleading eyes. ‘When did you end up speaking to Oliver?’ I glance down the table. There are a couple of people seated at the far end still eating breakfast, but that’s it. I eye the woman with curly red hair, her face is turned away from me; she’s sitting beside the person I saw chatting to Mary at dinner, with the tattoo of the bird on his neck, a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. Oliver went back out to the annexe half an hour ago, telling me he needed to meditate. He’d spoken to me a little bit earlier about coming back to live here, and then he’d given me his and Luke’s phone number. ‘It was at three a.m. in the morning. I woke up, thinking someone had been in my room. I went downstairs to find you, and that’s when I found Oliver, sitting in the kitchen.’ ‘You thought someone was in your room,’ Callum says, leaning closer towards me. ‘I thought there was. It doesn’t mean anyone was though.’  ‘You should’ve woken me,’ he says, keeping his voice low. ‘I tried I was banging on the living room door. Didn’t you hear us when Oliver unlocked it?’ He shakes his head. ‘Strangely enough I slept really well on the sofa. Normally when I sleep on someone else’s sofa it takes me ages to get to sleep. So do you think it was Oliver then, who was in your room?’ ‘I told you, I could’ve imagined it.’ Mary wanders into the room from the kitchen with a big smile on her face. Her seaweed green eyes flicker over to me. ‘Did you sleep well, Danielle?’ she asks, drifting over to us. I get a whiff of honey, like I did yesterday. Does she know about me sitting in the kitchen with Oliver last night? I shudder. ‘Um, yep, I did, thanks,’ I reply. ‘We really hope you’ll come back and take up your old room here,’ Mary says. ‘How did you sleep Callum? I hope the sofa wasn’t too uncomfortable for you.’ ‘Yes, fine, thanks.’ He rubs the back of his neck. Why do I get the sense she’s come over to us to try and work out what we’re talking about? I shift in my seat. ‘I think we’re going to head off in about half an hour or so,’ I say. ‘Oliver’s kindly given me his phone number, so I’ll let him know soon if I want to come back.’ ‘Wonderful,’ Mary says. ‘Well, I hope you have a safe journey home and I hope very much to see you back here again soon.’ Mary drifts towards the kitchen. Callum mouths, ‘weirdo,’ at me, I have to resist the urge to laugh. ‘Right, we can leave in half an hour, can’t we? I’m just gonna go upstairs and grab my things,’ I say, getting up. ‘Yeah, that’s fine with me, I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get out of this place.’ ‘Shhsh,’ I hiss at him, keeping my eye on the other people still sitting at the other end of the table. If they hear us talking like this, it’s going to spread around the place like wildfire. I pick up my empty bowl and take it through into the kitchen, the smell of freshly baked croissants hitting me as I step inside. Everything’s stacked on the worktop waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher. I think back to how clean it was last night, when I was sitting in here with Oliver. ‘Morning, Danielle.’ I spin around, clutching my bowl tight. A blond curly haired man, dressed in white clothing, saunters into the kitchen, through the door leading into the hallway, carrying a yellow mug in his hands. I’d put him in his early to mid-forties. His eyes are a deep, icy blue; there’s something unnerving about them which makes me tremble. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to speak to you yesterday, I’m Abraham.’ He takes a step closer towards me. There’s a hint of tension in his voice. I frown at him. ‘You all have very religious sounding names here.’ ‘It’s something we choose when we join,’ he says. ‘But not Oliver?’ I ask. Blond strands of his hair, flick to the left and to the right as he shakes his head. ‘No, Oliver kept his name for personal reasons, and for other reasons that will become clearer to you. Have you enjoyed spending time here with us?’ ‘Yep, sort of. It’s a bit weird coming back here after the all this time, I don’t have many memories of my time here.’ ‘That is such a shame,’ he says shaking his head. I place my bowl with the other stacked items. I don’t like the way he’s looking at me, it’s like he’s trying to work me out. ‘Were you here at the time when I was living here with my brother?’ ‘I joined shortly before your family left,’ he says, taking a step closer to me. I back up against the worktop. A couple of plate’s crash into each other as I disturb the pile. He places his mug on the worktop. He’s getting too close to me. My chest tightens. What the hell is he doing? ‘I was only twenty-five at the time, a similar age to you are now. They took me in, Oliver and Mary. I’d been in prison, you see, my family had rejected me, they didn’t want anything to do with me when I was released, no one wanted me. This place has been my lifeline. You are so like your mother. It’s a shame I didn’t get to know you when you lived here before, I hope you don’t make the same mistake your parent’s did.’ He’s leaning in so close; his warm breath tickles my nose. He’s not going to kiss me is he? God please don’t say he’s going to try and kiss me. ‘Abraham,’ Mary’s sharp voice reaches my ears as I’m about to say something. I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s standing behind him in the hallway door, the features on her face pinched tight. Still Abraham doesn’t move. He keeps his eyes fixed on mine. What had he been in prison for? My heart bangs in my chest. ‘I’m sure Danielle would like to get ready.’ Abraham’s shoulders drop, he turns and smiles at Mary before he turns to me again. ‘Of course, I hope to see you again very soon, Danielle.’ Abraham nods towards Mary, heads out of the kitchen, keeping his hands clasped behind his back, and into the garden. A cool breeze flickers against my skin as he opens the door. I rub my brow. Mary keeps her eyes fixed on me for a few moments, before she too leaves the kitchen, following Abraham. I dart into the hallway and hurry up the stairs to my room, my heart thudding. What mistake did Abraham seem to think my parent’s made?

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