Excellent Danielle speaks to Noah His Silence : His Silence - Chapter 48 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. I push open the kitchen door, early morning sunlight warming the back of my neck. There are sweat patches already under my arms. I only bloody showered ten minutes ago. I grit my teeth. Mary’s standing by the sink chatting to Abigail, a mug of tea in her hand. She glances across to me, and switches her gaze back to Abigail, not even bothering to say morning. She’s thinking about finding my in the hallway last night. I keep picturing Oliver, lying awake in bed, listening to me head out of the annexe, and returning after my confrontation with Mary. I have no idea if he heard me or not. I swallow. I drift into the living room, easing the door open, keen to get out of Mary’s space. Callum’s already sitting beside Eve at the table. They’re leaning in close together. My skin bristles. ‘Morning, Callum,’ I say, taking the empty seat beside him. He looks around. Eve’s face pinches tight. She’ll be remembering our conversation in the utility room. ‘Oh, hi, Grace,’ he murmurs. I stare at him. I thought he wasn’t going to call me Grace. ‘Sleep well?’ I ask, helping myself to some orange juice. I take a sip, and the sharpness of the fruit stings my throat. ‘Yeah,’ he says, leaning back in his seat. ‘Oh, I haven’t interrupted anything, have I?’ I ask, grabbing some toast. ‘No, no, it’s fine, we were just talking,’ he says. ‘Yes, I could see,’ I say. ‘Eve would you mind passing the marmalade?’ She smiles, although it’s a little tight, grabs the jar, and passes it across to me. I’ve a feeling if Mary was here she’d be tearing me away from them. ‘Looking forward to your dinner this evening?’ Callum asks a hint of jealousy to his voice. I spread a thick lump of marmalade on my toast, but to me it looks sickly now. I put the toast back onto the plate. ‘Feeling a bit nervous about it if I’m honest,’ I reply. Eve widens her eyes. ‘Grace, you know how lovely Oliver is,’ she says. ‘You’ll have a great time. I know the place he’s taking you to. I used to go there years ago, before, well, you know what happened.’ I shake my head. ‘I don’t get it though, why is he taking me?’ Eve smiles. ‘I’m sure he’ll explain everything to you later, I’m jealous, I wish I was going.’ The door to the living room opens. Noah half-stumbles into the room. His eyes are bloodshot. Perhaps what Mary was saying about him was correct. ‘Sorry, excuse me one sec,’ I say getting up. I can feel Callum and Eve’s eyes on me as I cross the room. Noah sits at the other end of the table, but makes no effort to help himself to food. I wet my lips. ‘Noah, hi,’ I say. He looks up at me. ‘What are you doing?’ he hisses.   ‘Can I sit down?’ I ask. The silence stretches out between us. My heart pounds. He’s going to say no. ‘OK, sure,’ he replies. I take the seat beside him. ‘I hope you’re feeling better.’ He picks up the tray filled with scrambled eggs, and heaps a ladleful onto his plate. ‘Feeling a little more sprightly this morning, but not one hundred per cent there,’ he says. ‘There was no way I could’ve made it down to dinner last night.’ I shift in my seat. ‘Abigail came to see me yesterday,’ I say. Noah fixes a fierce gaze on me, and grips his fork tight. ‘You didn’t tell her we’d spoken, did you?’ I shake my head. I eye Callum and Eve, they’re watching me now. Damn. I look away. ‘No, of course not, I . . . she spoke to me about Callum and Eve, she wants me to help put the two of them together, but how can I when . . .’ ‘What do you expect me to do about it?’ Noah says through gritted teeth. I stare at him. ‘Can’t you speak to her? You’re her cousin, she’ll listen to you, you’ve got to tell her they’re not suited for each other, they’re not . . .’ His jaw tightens. ‘And you think she’ll listen to me?’ Noah says, keeping his voice low. ‘I’ve already told you, she thinks the world of this place and of Oliver and Mary, the only people she’ll listen to is them.’ Eve and Callum are still watching us. ‘But, Noah, I . . .’ ‘I’m sorry, Danielle, I said you made a mistake coming back here. There’s nothing I can do.’ Noah gets up, the table juddering, and takes his plate through into the kitchen, leaving me sitting on my own at the table, my heart beating fast. Author Notes Characters: Danielle (protagonist) Callum (Danielle's best friend) Harvey (Danielle's brother) Michael (Danielle's adoptive father) Emma (Danielle's adoptive mother) John Cole (Danielle's biological father) Laura Cole (Danielle's biological mother) Ian Jones (third person who Harvey killed) Max Hardy (podcaster) Luke (works with Oliver) Oliver Adams (Raven House owner) Mary (works with Oliver) Abraham (Raven House resident) Abigail (Raven House resident) Isaac (Raven House resident) Noah (Raven House resident) Eve (Raven House resident)

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