Crystal Visions: The Beginning
Author's Note: Welcome to the first chapter of my serial story about Luminita Dalca, a homeless runaway who finds shelter with an elderly optometrist that is more than he appears. I plan to continue writing this fictional story throughout the year, so check back often for new chapters and commentary!
The Beginning
Her naked arms burned as the brick wall bit into her flesh. She knew that tomorrow a strange pattern of lines would remain, but tonight all that mattered was remaining quiet, still and as small as possible.
He was coming.
She could hear him from several blocks away. After three years on the run, Lu knew the distinctive clomp of government-issued work boots by heart, and she could pick the sound out of the cacophony of city noises.
Her heart was racing, but she forced herself to breathe in through her nose, and slowly release her breath through her mouth. There was no reason to think he had seen her grab that hotdog from the cart. Even if he had, the owner knew her and wouldn’t press charges. But she had heard stories about what he did to the other homeless brats he caught, especially the girls. She hadn’t believed them at first. After all, she had fond memories of the officers who came to check on her in the years following her mother’s murder.
She had shared a special bond with two of the officers in particular who had been there on that terrible day, and who were responsible for her placement at the Sacred Covenant Children’s Home and School instead of being thrown into a state-run facility. Unfortunately, Sacred Covenant didn’t have the funding to care for older children, so Lu began bouncing between foster homes and state-run facilities at age 10. Some of the families she stayed with were wonderful, but Lu had quickly learned not to get too attached. She never managed to stay in one home for more than a year. Although the women were typically amazing and caring, in most cases, a foster father, brother or uncle would try to sneak into her room in the evenings. But after the first attack, Lu had begun sleeping with a knife. Inevitably, she gained a reputation for violence and she was placed in fewer and fewer foster homes.
It’s politically incorrect now to call the large group homes for children “orphanages.” But in those facilities, Lu felt more alone than in any of the foster homes. She never made friends with the other kids because they all knew they might not be around for long. The staff had read her file and knew that there were several complaints of violence. Unfortunately, the fact that she showed no violent tendencies actually made it worse for her than if she had gotten into fights. The adults all agreed she was a ticking time bomb and encouraged her isolation.
At age 14, she became fed up and decided to run away and live on the streets. If she didn’t have stability, at least she had the ability to choose where she would go or what she would do every day. And though she wouldn’t trust any of them as far as she could throw them, Lu had formed a weird sort of family with the other runaways and homeless kids. They had shared information about which shelters could be counted upon to provide a hot meal, which vendors would look the other way if a small amount of food or clothing went missing, and which public restrooms provided free showers.
But when anyone spoke of Detective Stephen Brewster, it was in hushed, haunted tones. Lu had seen the most hardened neighborhood toughs allow the fear to shine through their eyes whenever the detective’s name was mentioned. Detective Brewster worked the narcotics and vice beat, but word on the street was that he planted evidence on more than one of the perps he arrested. There were also rumors about what happened to the kids he caught, and none of them ended happily. So when Lu saw him following her, she put as much distance as she could between them. Then, when she was sure he had lost sight of her, she ducked behind a rusting old dumpster to hide.
His footsteps were getting louder, so Lu closed her eyes and tried imagine she was nothing. Lu had learned how to empty her mind of thought and to ignore her physical needs from a foster mother who had been into meditation.
I am nothing, Lu thought. I am weightless because I have no body. I am only spirit and air and I am one with the universe.
A breathy chuckle startled her out of the self-induced trance. Started, she looked up just in time to see the black boot come toward her and make contact with her ribs.
“Thought you could just run away and hide, and I wouldn’t notice?” Detective Brewster asked. He wasn’t a tall man, but he absolutely reeked of authority. After one more kick knocked Lu over, Detective Brewster grabbed her ankle pulled. Lu felt a piece of glass from a broken bottle slice through her arm as the detective yanked her out from behind the dumpster.
“Thought you could steal from someone who actually contributes to society? This is my city, and each of you disgusting rats should be exterminated,” Detective Brewster said as he continued to kick Lu with the steel end of his boots. She tried to crawl away but any movement made the blows come harder and faster. He was targeting areas of her body that would cause pain, but wouldn’t necessarily cause her to die. This wasn’t the first time Lu had been cruelly beaten, and she knew any sound would only encourage her attacker to continue to grow more violent. But she couldn’t help the whimper that escaped when he changed tactics and kicked her stomach. This small noise startled the detective and he suddenly stopped his attack to study his prey. He yanked Lu to her feet and locked eyes with her the way a snake might hypnotize a mouse.
Somehow, in that moment, a surge of adrenaline flooded Lu. Riding the adrenaline wave, she pushed the detective with all her strength, knocking him to the ground. For a second, she could have sworn there was a flash of light before the impact of hitting his skull on the pavement caused the detective to lose consciousness. Lu took advantage of the opportunity to escape and ran out of the alley and down a series of streets until her energy dissipated. She had reached the medical district.
Although she longed to find a hiding spot, Lu knew that she would be in greater danger if her injuries went untreated. The free clinic would be the best place for her to go, but as she limped past gray office buildings on Dogwood Avenue, the edge of her vision began to darken. She decided to head toward one of the buildings that had an illuminated door. Exhaustion overtook her and she stumbled, twisting her ankle. Gritting her teeth, Lu crawled the remaining three feet to the blue door. A flash of light on metal caught her attention, and Lu noticed a small, bronze doorbell just to the right of the door. She reached out and pressed the button. She had just a moment to notice the gold lettering on the adjacent window that read “Crystal Visions Eye Care” before her hand dropped like lead, and she passed out in the circle of soft yellow light.
....................................................................................................................................................................
Lu awoke on a small couch in what appeared to be an exam room of some kind. She tried to sit up, but her bruised ribs and abdomen screamed in protest.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” a deep, gravelly voice proclaimed. A pair of bespectacled brown eyes appeared above her. “I was going to take you to the hospital, but I wasn’t sure whether the person who did this to you had followed you. Here, drink this.”
Lu tilted her head forward to sip the clear liquid, expecting water, but nearly spit it everywhere when the taste of blueberries hit her tongue.
“Now, now. None of that. You need to drink the medicine or it won’t work,” the old man said with a chuckle.
Lu forced herself to swallow, figuring that if it were poison, at least she wouldn’t hurt anymore. She was shocked when a warm feeling immediately spread through her, dulling the pain. As the strange liquid traveled through her system, Lu found she could now easily sit up with no assistance. For the first time, she was able to see that the older gentleman beside her wore a white lab coat that appeared bright next to his dark skin. He had no visible hair, and his deep brown eyes seemed huge behind the round glasses he wore. There was a spark of something mischievous there, but she didn’t feel threatened by it in anyway.
“Alright child, how are you feeling?” he asked.
To her amazement, Lu found that all of the pain had disappeared. She looked at her arms where the detective had kicked her several times, and could swear she saw the bruises fading before her very eyes!
“Better,” Lu croaked. “May I have some water?”
The man chuckled and grabbed a water bottle off of an end table. He handed it to her, and she drank deeply, finishing the bottle in less than a minute.
“Thank you,” Lu said as she found her voice returning. The old man smiled and Lu was surprised by how white his teeth were, nearly matching his lab coat. After three years on the streets, the only people she encountered without yellow teeth were on posters or on the television shows she occasionally glimpsed at the shelters. There was a name embroidered on his lab coat, but as Lu squinted to read it, the man chuckled.
“It appears I may be of further assistance to you,” he said. “My name is Dr. Adeyemo Kluge, but you may call me Dr. K. If you will take a seat over here, I would like to examine your eyes.”
“My eyes? They’re fine. I swear they’re the one part of me that didn’t get beat up,” Lu said, puzzled by the strange chair with all its attached contraptions.
“You are squinting. That means you are having some trouble with your vision. Have you ever been to an eye doctor before?” He asked kindly. Lu shook her head. The only doctors she ever saw were pediatricians for her annual checkup or those working in the free clinic when she managed to get hurt or sick living on the street. “Well then, forgive me for asking, but can you read, miss…?”
“Luminita Dalca, but everyone calls me Lu. And yes, I can read,” she replied softly.
“Well Miss Dalca, I have a feeling we can make reading significantly easier for you, let’s take a look at those eyes of yours,” he said, leading her to the strange chair. As he performed the exam, Lu was shocked by the way the various lenses she stared through made what originally looked like black smudges sharpen into tiny letters.
“I thought so. Miss Dalca, you are very nearsighted and will need glasses,” Dr. K said. Sighing, Lu stood up and walked back to the couch.
“Thank you, but I can’t pay for the exam or for glasses. I really appreciate your help, but I should be going. I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” she said.
“No need to worry about the exam, but do you have any parents I can call? Or perhaps a guardian? I don’t know who or what beat you, but I don’t think it’s safe for you out there.”
“Oh um, no I’m on my own. But I’ll be fine, I swear,” she said as she moved for the door. “Thanks again for everything.”
“Miss Dalca, Lu, you look hungry. Before you go, I hope you’ll allow me to at least share my breakfast with you? I always make too much and it would make me feel better if you ate with me,” Dr. K said, pointing to a back room. She was about to say no when her stomach betrayed her by gurgling loudly. Dr. K laughed loudly and held open the door to what appeared to be a staff room. Silently, she followed him in. A table was setup with endless plates of foods. Fluffy, golden, scrambled eggs; sourdough toast; pastries with different sorts of fruit fillings; gleaming red apples and plenty of bacon, sausage and ham. Seeing how much was laid out made her feel less guilty about taking from the man who saved her life, so she sat down opposite him and dug in.
Whether it was the food or the fact that he had been so kind to her, Dr. K was easy to talk to and Lu found herself spilling out her whole life story to him over the delicious breakfast. When she got to the part about the night before she met him, he seemed to go suddenly still. He looked positively murderous when she spoke about Detective Brewster.
“But seriously, don’t worry about me,” Lu said. “I’ve spent three years on my own and I’ll be fine.”
She picked up another piece of the delicious sourdough toast and slathered butter on it. This was real butter, not the substitute stuff she usually had when she could afford a cheap meal at a diner. Dr. K seemed to be studying her, and then nodded his head as if making up his mind.
“My front desk assistant, Kenda, is pregnant, which means that she soon be gone on maternity leave. If you are willing to be trained by her and to work here, I will allow you to stay in one of the apartments above the office and provide you with the glasses you need,” Dr. K said. He held up a hand before she could protest. “Don’t think you’re getting off easily. Until my assistant leaves, you’ll mainly be doing janitorial work. And after she does leave, you’ll have twice as much work. I will pay you, of course.”
“Food, a job, a place to stay and you saved my life. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is that you must abide by my rules. No drugs, no alcohol, and no other vices you may have picked up from your time on the streets. You must keep yourself and your apartment clean, and I will have the right to randomly check in on you. There will be no stealing, and you must show up on time for work. We start early and work late. I also expect you to continue your education. If you won’t go to school, then we’ll get you set up with a home-schooling program. Do we have a deal Ms. Dalca?”
“Ok, but I have a few rules of my own. No one touches me without my permission. I get at least one day off per week, and I am allowed to come and go as I please, no following me and questions asked,” Lu said.
“I will respect your privacy if you will respect mine,” Dr. K said. “We have a bargain.” With that he clasped her hands and she felt a weird sort of energy run up her arm. “Now that’s settled, let’s get you set up in your apartment.”
He turned away from her and walked to a discrete door in the corner of the break room that opened to reveal a narrow metal staircase. It may have been her imagination, but as she followed him up the stairs, his shadow seemed to change shapes. It seemed hunched and the ears seemed exaggeratedly pointed. She blinked, and the shadow seemed normal again. Chalking it up to paranoia and an overactive imagination, she continued to climb the stairs until they reached a hallway with four ornate doors. Dr. K pulled out a key and walked to one that was carved with roses, peonies and other flowers.
“This will be your apartment. The door with mountains carved into it leads to mine. My assistant and her husband live behind the one with sea creatures, and that one with the sun, moon and stars on it is my private office. As we discussed, I will thank you to respect my privacy and not go snooping around in there. Here is the key to your apartment. You will find another stairwell leading from the bedroom to Sycamore Street if you prefer not to leave via the office. Will you need to gather anything from wherever it was you were staying before?”
Lu shook her head. She had learned to only carry around what she might need, so the clothing she wore and the small locket around her neck from her parents were the only possessions she ever cared about. She kept the silver locket hidden so that the other homeless wouldn’t try to take it off her to pawn it while she slept. She thought there might be a picture of both of her parents inside, but the lock was welded shut for some reason, and she didn’t have the heart to break it open just to see what was in it.
“Very good. Well, you will be safe from that Detective Brewster now, but I wouldn’t leave the apartment today just in case. Get some rest, and I’ll have Kenda come up to check on you. We’ve used this apartment for guests in the past, so you should find the bed has clean sheets and some toiletries in the bathroom. I will be downstairs working should you need me.” With that, the doctor walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Lu was still in shock at how her life had taken such a sudden turn in just a few short hours. The little apartment was made up of a bathroom and a bedroom with an attached kitchen/dining area. There was a huge palladian window that had a nice view of the little park across the street. Lu was thrilled to see that in addition to a shower, she had a large garden tub. The bathroom already had fluffy yellow towels hanging up, so she quickly filled the tub with warm water, stripped down and got in. She hadn’t had the luxury of an actual bath since the last foster home she stayed in.
Although Dr. K’s medicine had dulled and healed the worst of the damage, Lu could tell that there would still be some bruises marring her lily-white skin. Sinking into the water, she felt herself relax and a tension she didn’t realize that she held slowly began to release. She didn’t believe in fate, but she had no other way of explaining how she could possibly have passed out on the doorstep of exactly the right person to help her.
After soaking for what felt like far too short a time, the water began to chill, so she decided to get out and wrap the fluffy towels around her. Warm, full and happy, Lu began to feel the edge of sleep creeping up on her. She walked over to the window and stared out at the tall trees and well-manicured shrubs in the little park. A movement in the northern corner caught her eye. A knot formed in her stomach as the shadowy figure moved closer to Dogwood Avenue. Although he was too far away for her to see, Lu knew exactly who he was from the way he carried himself and his distinctive swagger.
Detective Brewster had found her.
She had been betrayed.
The Beginning
Her naked arms burned as the brick wall bit into her flesh. She knew that tomorrow a strange pattern of lines would remain, but tonight all that mattered was remaining quiet, still and as small as possible.
He was coming.
She could hear him from several blocks away. After three years on the run, Lu knew the distinctive clomp of government-issued work boots by heart, and she could pick the sound out of the cacophony of city noises.
Her heart was racing, but she forced herself to breathe in through her nose, and slowly release her breath through her mouth. There was no reason to think he had seen her grab that hotdog from the cart. Even if he had, the owner knew her and wouldn’t press charges. But she had heard stories about what he did to the other homeless brats he caught, especially the girls. She hadn’t believed them at first. After all, she had fond memories of the officers who came to check on her in the years following her mother’s murder.
She had shared a special bond with two of the officers in particular who had been there on that terrible day, and who were responsible for her placement at the Sacred Covenant Children’s Home and School instead of being thrown into a state-run facility. Unfortunately, Sacred Covenant didn’t have the funding to care for older children, so Lu began bouncing between foster homes and state-run facilities at age 10. Some of the families she stayed with were wonderful, but Lu had quickly learned not to get too attached. She never managed to stay in one home for more than a year. Although the women were typically amazing and caring, in most cases, a foster father, brother or uncle would try to sneak into her room in the evenings. But after the first attack, Lu had begun sleeping with a knife. Inevitably, she gained a reputation for violence and she was placed in fewer and fewer foster homes.
It’s politically incorrect now to call the large group homes for children “orphanages.” But in those facilities, Lu felt more alone than in any of the foster homes. She never made friends with the other kids because they all knew they might not be around for long. The staff had read her file and knew that there were several complaints of violence. Unfortunately, the fact that she showed no violent tendencies actually made it worse for her than if she had gotten into fights. The adults all agreed she was a ticking time bomb and encouraged her isolation.
At age 14, she became fed up and decided to run away and live on the streets. If she didn’t have stability, at least she had the ability to choose where she would go or what she would do every day. And though she wouldn’t trust any of them as far as she could throw them, Lu had formed a weird sort of family with the other runaways and homeless kids. They had shared information about which shelters could be counted upon to provide a hot meal, which vendors would look the other way if a small amount of food or clothing went missing, and which public restrooms provided free showers.
But when anyone spoke of Detective Stephen Brewster, it was in hushed, haunted tones. Lu had seen the most hardened neighborhood toughs allow the fear to shine through their eyes whenever the detective’s name was mentioned. Detective Brewster worked the narcotics and vice beat, but word on the street was that he planted evidence on more than one of the perps he arrested. There were also rumors about what happened to the kids he caught, and none of them ended happily. So when Lu saw him following her, she put as much distance as she could between them. Then, when she was sure he had lost sight of her, she ducked behind a rusting old dumpster to hide.
His footsteps were getting louder, so Lu closed her eyes and tried imagine she was nothing. Lu had learned how to empty her mind of thought and to ignore her physical needs from a foster mother who had been into meditation.
I am nothing, Lu thought. I am weightless because I have no body. I am only spirit and air and I am one with the universe.
A breathy chuckle startled her out of the self-induced trance. Started, she looked up just in time to see the black boot come toward her and make contact with her ribs.
“Thought you could just run away and hide, and I wouldn’t notice?” Detective Brewster asked. He wasn’t a tall man, but he absolutely reeked of authority. After one more kick knocked Lu over, Detective Brewster grabbed her ankle pulled. Lu felt a piece of glass from a broken bottle slice through her arm as the detective yanked her out from behind the dumpster.
“Thought you could steal from someone who actually contributes to society? This is my city, and each of you disgusting rats should be exterminated,” Detective Brewster said as he continued to kick Lu with the steel end of his boots. She tried to crawl away but any movement made the blows come harder and faster. He was targeting areas of her body that would cause pain, but wouldn’t necessarily cause her to die. This wasn’t the first time Lu had been cruelly beaten, and she knew any sound would only encourage her attacker to continue to grow more violent. But she couldn’t help the whimper that escaped when he changed tactics and kicked her stomach. This small noise startled the detective and he suddenly stopped his attack to study his prey. He yanked Lu to her feet and locked eyes with her the way a snake might hypnotize a mouse.
Somehow, in that moment, a surge of adrenaline flooded Lu. Riding the adrenaline wave, she pushed the detective with all her strength, knocking him to the ground. For a second, she could have sworn there was a flash of light before the impact of hitting his skull on the pavement caused the detective to lose consciousness. Lu took advantage of the opportunity to escape and ran out of the alley and down a series of streets until her energy dissipated. She had reached the medical district.
Although she longed to find a hiding spot, Lu knew that she would be in greater danger if her injuries went untreated. The free clinic would be the best place for her to go, but as she limped past gray office buildings on Dogwood Avenue, the edge of her vision began to darken. She decided to head toward one of the buildings that had an illuminated door. Exhaustion overtook her and she stumbled, twisting her ankle. Gritting her teeth, Lu crawled the remaining three feet to the blue door. A flash of light on metal caught her attention, and Lu noticed a small, bronze doorbell just to the right of the door. She reached out and pressed the button. She had just a moment to notice the gold lettering on the adjacent window that read “Crystal Visions Eye Care” before her hand dropped like lead, and she passed out in the circle of soft yellow light.
....................................................................................................................................................................
Lu awoke on a small couch in what appeared to be an exam room of some kind. She tried to sit up, but her bruised ribs and abdomen screamed in protest.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” a deep, gravelly voice proclaimed. A pair of bespectacled brown eyes appeared above her. “I was going to take you to the hospital, but I wasn’t sure whether the person who did this to you had followed you. Here, drink this.”
Lu tilted her head forward to sip the clear liquid, expecting water, but nearly spit it everywhere when the taste of blueberries hit her tongue.
“Now, now. None of that. You need to drink the medicine or it won’t work,” the old man said with a chuckle.
Lu forced herself to swallow, figuring that if it were poison, at least she wouldn’t hurt anymore. She was shocked when a warm feeling immediately spread through her, dulling the pain. As the strange liquid traveled through her system, Lu found she could now easily sit up with no assistance. For the first time, she was able to see that the older gentleman beside her wore a white lab coat that appeared bright next to his dark skin. He had no visible hair, and his deep brown eyes seemed huge behind the round glasses he wore. There was a spark of something mischievous there, but she didn’t feel threatened by it in anyway.
“Alright child, how are you feeling?” he asked.
To her amazement, Lu found that all of the pain had disappeared. She looked at her arms where the detective had kicked her several times, and could swear she saw the bruises fading before her very eyes!
“Better,” Lu croaked. “May I have some water?”
The man chuckled and grabbed a water bottle off of an end table. He handed it to her, and she drank deeply, finishing the bottle in less than a minute.
“Thank you,” Lu said as she found her voice returning. The old man smiled and Lu was surprised by how white his teeth were, nearly matching his lab coat. After three years on the streets, the only people she encountered without yellow teeth were on posters or on the television shows she occasionally glimpsed at the shelters. There was a name embroidered on his lab coat, but as Lu squinted to read it, the man chuckled.
“It appears I may be of further assistance to you,” he said. “My name is Dr. Adeyemo Kluge, but you may call me Dr. K. If you will take a seat over here, I would like to examine your eyes.”
“My eyes? They’re fine. I swear they’re the one part of me that didn’t get beat up,” Lu said, puzzled by the strange chair with all its attached contraptions.
“You are squinting. That means you are having some trouble with your vision. Have you ever been to an eye doctor before?” He asked kindly. Lu shook her head. The only doctors she ever saw were pediatricians for her annual checkup or those working in the free clinic when she managed to get hurt or sick living on the street. “Well then, forgive me for asking, but can you read, miss…?”
“Luminita Dalca, but everyone calls me Lu. And yes, I can read,” she replied softly.
“Well Miss Dalca, I have a feeling we can make reading significantly easier for you, let’s take a look at those eyes of yours,” he said, leading her to the strange chair. As he performed the exam, Lu was shocked by the way the various lenses she stared through made what originally looked like black smudges sharpen into tiny letters.
“I thought so. Miss Dalca, you are very nearsighted and will need glasses,” Dr. K said. Sighing, Lu stood up and walked back to the couch.
“Thank you, but I can’t pay for the exam or for glasses. I really appreciate your help, but I should be going. I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” she said.
“No need to worry about the exam, but do you have any parents I can call? Or perhaps a guardian? I don’t know who or what beat you, but I don’t think it’s safe for you out there.”
“Oh um, no I’m on my own. But I’ll be fine, I swear,” she said as she moved for the door. “Thanks again for everything.”
“Miss Dalca, Lu, you look hungry. Before you go, I hope you’ll allow me to at least share my breakfast with you? I always make too much and it would make me feel better if you ate with me,” Dr. K said, pointing to a back room. She was about to say no when her stomach betrayed her by gurgling loudly. Dr. K laughed loudly and held open the door to what appeared to be a staff room. Silently, she followed him in. A table was setup with endless plates of foods. Fluffy, golden, scrambled eggs; sourdough toast; pastries with different sorts of fruit fillings; gleaming red apples and plenty of bacon, sausage and ham. Seeing how much was laid out made her feel less guilty about taking from the man who saved her life, so she sat down opposite him and dug in.
Whether it was the food or the fact that he had been so kind to her, Dr. K was easy to talk to and Lu found herself spilling out her whole life story to him over the delicious breakfast. When she got to the part about the night before she met him, he seemed to go suddenly still. He looked positively murderous when she spoke about Detective Brewster.
“But seriously, don’t worry about me,” Lu said. “I’ve spent three years on my own and I’ll be fine.”
She picked up another piece of the delicious sourdough toast and slathered butter on it. This was real butter, not the substitute stuff she usually had when she could afford a cheap meal at a diner. Dr. K seemed to be studying her, and then nodded his head as if making up his mind.
“My front desk assistant, Kenda, is pregnant, which means that she soon be gone on maternity leave. If you are willing to be trained by her and to work here, I will allow you to stay in one of the apartments above the office and provide you with the glasses you need,” Dr. K said. He held up a hand before she could protest. “Don’t think you’re getting off easily. Until my assistant leaves, you’ll mainly be doing janitorial work. And after she does leave, you’ll have twice as much work. I will pay you, of course.”
“Food, a job, a place to stay and you saved my life. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is that you must abide by my rules. No drugs, no alcohol, and no other vices you may have picked up from your time on the streets. You must keep yourself and your apartment clean, and I will have the right to randomly check in on you. There will be no stealing, and you must show up on time for work. We start early and work late. I also expect you to continue your education. If you won’t go to school, then we’ll get you set up with a home-schooling program. Do we have a deal Ms. Dalca?”
“Ok, but I have a few rules of my own. No one touches me without my permission. I get at least one day off per week, and I am allowed to come and go as I please, no following me and questions asked,” Lu said.
“I will respect your privacy if you will respect mine,” Dr. K said. “We have a bargain.” With that he clasped her hands and she felt a weird sort of energy run up her arm. “Now that’s settled, let’s get you set up in your apartment.”
He turned away from her and walked to a discrete door in the corner of the break room that opened to reveal a narrow metal staircase. It may have been her imagination, but as she followed him up the stairs, his shadow seemed to change shapes. It seemed hunched and the ears seemed exaggeratedly pointed. She blinked, and the shadow seemed normal again. Chalking it up to paranoia and an overactive imagination, she continued to climb the stairs until they reached a hallway with four ornate doors. Dr. K pulled out a key and walked to one that was carved with roses, peonies and other flowers.
“This will be your apartment. The door with mountains carved into it leads to mine. My assistant and her husband live behind the one with sea creatures, and that one with the sun, moon and stars on it is my private office. As we discussed, I will thank you to respect my privacy and not go snooping around in there. Here is the key to your apartment. You will find another stairwell leading from the bedroom to Sycamore Street if you prefer not to leave via the office. Will you need to gather anything from wherever it was you were staying before?”
Lu shook her head. She had learned to only carry around what she might need, so the clothing she wore and the small locket around her neck from her parents were the only possessions she ever cared about. She kept the silver locket hidden so that the other homeless wouldn’t try to take it off her to pawn it while she slept. She thought there might be a picture of both of her parents inside, but the lock was welded shut for some reason, and she didn’t have the heart to break it open just to see what was in it.
“Very good. Well, you will be safe from that Detective Brewster now, but I wouldn’t leave the apartment today just in case. Get some rest, and I’ll have Kenda come up to check on you. We’ve used this apartment for guests in the past, so you should find the bed has clean sheets and some toiletries in the bathroom. I will be downstairs working should you need me.” With that, the doctor walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Lu was still in shock at how her life had taken such a sudden turn in just a few short hours. The little apartment was made up of a bathroom and a bedroom with an attached kitchen/dining area. There was a huge palladian window that had a nice view of the little park across the street. Lu was thrilled to see that in addition to a shower, she had a large garden tub. The bathroom already had fluffy yellow towels hanging up, so she quickly filled the tub with warm water, stripped down and got in. She hadn’t had the luxury of an actual bath since the last foster home she stayed in.
Although Dr. K’s medicine had dulled and healed the worst of the damage, Lu could tell that there would still be some bruises marring her lily-white skin. Sinking into the water, she felt herself relax and a tension she didn’t realize that she held slowly began to release. She didn’t believe in fate, but she had no other way of explaining how she could possibly have passed out on the doorstep of exactly the right person to help her.
After soaking for what felt like far too short a time, the water began to chill, so she decided to get out and wrap the fluffy towels around her. Warm, full and happy, Lu began to feel the edge of sleep creeping up on her. She walked over to the window and stared out at the tall trees and well-manicured shrubs in the little park. A movement in the northern corner caught her eye. A knot formed in her stomach as the shadowy figure moved closer to Dogwood Avenue. Although he was too far away for her to see, Lu knew exactly who he was from the way he carried himself and his distinctive swagger.
Detective Brewster had found her.
She had been betrayed.