Chapter 172 – All things in Due Time – Holly Hayfield

We were unable to meet the Friday night deadline set by Lilith’s aunt. Fortunately, we were wise about which chores we handled first. All the cleaning in the main building was finished. All that was left was the guest quarters, which was its own separate building on the property.

The social event was already happening in the main building. Guests had been arriving all morning, with Mrs. Wilson welcoming the new arrivals. Lilith and I had this time period to finish preparing the guest rooms before occupation.

It helped that some of the guests wouldn’t be staying here for their two-day meeting. Most of the visitors rented independent hotel rooms or lived close enough to drive home. The guest quarters had twenty dormitory style bedrooms, only half of which would be needed for tonight.

That still would’ve been a lot of work for me and Lilith alone. Thankfully it wasn’t just the two of us anymore. With a little help from Sam, we effectively called in the cavalry. It wasn’t hard to convince her girlfriends to partake at the promise of getting to sleepover in the mansion next weekend.

Since Mrs. Wilson was a social butterfly, she was able to help us reach out even further. She talked to Naomi’s parents on our behalf so that she could join us. The main two people not with us were Val and Jay. Both of whom I assumed were working today.

With so many volunteers involved, my main task was about keeping everyone coordinated. The list of remaining tasks was filled out quickly with so many helping hands. Instead of settling for refurbishing ten guest rooms, we decided to do all 20. That would save Lilith and her aunt some trouble in the future.

Even with the extra rooms, it didn’t take much time to wrap things up. Mrs. Wilson promised to pay everyone for their contribution. Lilith didn’t argue since this was very affordable compared to the original plan of hiring professionals.

I was putting some cleaning equipment away in one of the utility closets inside the main building when I heard two people laughing from a nearby room. It was coming from one of the mansion’s many bathrooms. I knocked on the door curiously when I heard girlish giggling from inside.

“Is someone in there?”

“Holly!” Naomi said as she poked her head out from behind the door. “Zara and I have something we want to show you.”

“Why do I get the feeling that it’s going to be something bad?”

“Oh, come on now, Holly! You’re too negative!” Naomi said, suppressing more giggling.

I rolled my eyes at her.

“You’ve given me plenty of reason to be from experience.” I said. “What is it you want to show me?”

She opened the door all the way and took a step back to stand beside Zara. She and Zara were wearing old-fashioned maid uniforms instead of the casual clothes they came in with. There was an ornate trunk full of expensive looking clothing sitting on the ground behind them.

“How do we look?” Zara asked while laughing.

“Ridiculous.”

They both laughed at me.

“There’s no need to be jealous.” Naomi teased. “If you think we look irresistibly cute, then you should just come out and say so.”

“The only thing I find irresistible is my urge to smack you with something.” I said. “Where did you even find that trunk of clothes?”

“In a closet inside one of the guest rooms!” Zara said.

Lilith was walking over towards me as Zara was talking. She was carrying more cleaning supplies to return to the closet that I was just using.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

Zara and Naomi walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway to better show off the clothing. The clothing honestly fit them quite well. Not only were both maid dresses the right size, but they looked gorgeous, yet simplistic in their design.

“Oh, those old things…” Lilith said. “My mom was thinking about selling them long ago. She wasn’t able to find a buyer and gave up on the idea.”

Zara gave her a surprised look.

“Did you have real life maids at some point?” Zara asked.

“No, I never did personally. The clothes you’re wearing predate my birth. Be careful with them.” Lilith said. “My great grandparents had maids, but from there it was a downward spiral for this estate. All the workers my parents hired were temporary. It was part of the reason my family moved out.”

“That’s such a waste.” Zara said. “Normally I don’t like wearing dresses, but this…”

That’s when Lilith’s aunt came from around the corner and saw Naomi and Zara in their outfits.

“Oh! How cute! Don’t you two look absolutely adorable!” She said excitedly.

Naomi and Zara beamed with pride. I just laughed, knowing that this was exactly what Naomi wanted.

“I’ve got a great idea!” She said. “Why don’t you two help me serve drinks in the main conference area? You’ll be like two real maids!”

“Sure!” They both said.

Then Margaret’s wide eyes turned to Lilith, and I could already sense what was coming. Lilith probably did too. That’s why she started to back away one step at a time.

“I’m sure we must have one in your size, Lily! You’d look so cute in…!”

“No!” Lilith shouted and ran off.

Lilith really wasn’t joking when she said no. She turned around and sprinted away at full speed. It was rare that she ran so fast.

“Oh well.” Margaret said regretfully and turned towards me. “Holly?”

I smiled politely. I wouldn’t mind wearing one privately, but there was no way I was wearing a maid outfit in front of a group of strangers.

“I’ll pass. Most of our friends that volunteered already left. I need to finish gathering the leftover supplies and putting it away.”

“Okay then.” Margaret said before turning back to Zara and Naomi. “You two, please come with me. I’ll treat you to something nice today for all your help.”

They went off to the main hall together, leaving me by myself. I did a few stretches before returning to my task. I planned to ask Alyssa if she wanted to hang out together later. She was busy all week, helping Silver and I with separate goals. A chill sleepover at her place sounded like a nice way to relax.

Coincidentally, Alyssa found me before I could walk out of the mansion’s main building. I stopped when I saw her enter the hallway in the distance. She was carrying her helmet with her and panting like she just got finished running. She closed the distance between us by running over.

“I found it!” She said excitedly. “I found it!”

“Found what…?”

“The hideout…!” Alyssa said, stopping in front of me to pant some more. “The information you translated was correct. Someone is definitely living in the top floor of that building. I didn’t risk getting too close to the building. Her car wasn’t there, but I could see light coming from inside.”

“So it’s true then…” I whispered to myself. “She really issued a challenge to The Killing Cat through Jacob. How populated was that area? Did you see anyone else on the street while you were there?”

“Not really... That defunct campus is virtually a wildlife park by now. Some of the buildings are overgrown with plants and aren’t even fit for habitation anymore… I thought Autumn Eden had it bad, but it has nothing on this place.”

“I’m surprised the police haven’t searched the area yet. That was one of the locations mentioned in Angel’s notebooks.”

“Maybe they haven’t got to it yet?” Alyssa asked. “There were a dozen other suspicious places in her logs. They could be combing through those other places as we speak.”

“Maybe… If that’s the case, we may have to strike sooner rather than later.”

Alyssa finally caught her breath and gave me an attentive look.

“What are you going to do?” She asked. “Have you made up your mind about her?”

I clapped my dusty hands together and thought about it. I didn’t want to think about Crystal Gray right now at all. Right now I just wanted to take a shower and lie down. Why was she calling me out for a fight? It was fishy.

“I don’t want to go in knives flying blindly. She’s calling me there for a reason and I don’t want to blunder into her territory without knowing why.”

Alyssa frowned.

“So you haven’t made up your mind?” She asked. “I was sure that you’d be burning with vengeance after what she did to Sarah Rivera.”

“I was, for a while. Recent events forced me to take a deep look at myself, past and present. I’d like to say I’ve resolved to do things differently, but that’s less certain with Crystal than it was with Sarah. In the end I’m stuck looking for a second option again. I don’t want to be the villain of this story.”

“You aren’t a villain! The Killing Cat is a hero! No one who knew the truth about you would ever consider you a villain.”

I put a finger over my lips to warn her to lower her voice. She suddenly realized how loud she was being and nervously looked around us. There was no one around, but it was better to be cautious in a setting like this.

“The problem is that no one aside from us, Helga, and Silver knows the full truth.” I whispered. “That’s my greatest motivation to do things differently.”

“I was afraid you might say that…” Alyssa admitted. “I really wanted to see her punished brutally after revoking your mercy.”

“She’s going to get what’s coming to her. You don’t have to worry about that.” I assured her.

While talking to Alyssa, I saw Valentina enter the far side of the hallway. I waved her down since she was clearly searching for us. Her eyes widened and she smiled the moment she saw me. I was surprised to see her here since she told me she’d be busy with something this weekend.

“Holly! I’m glad to see you!” Val said as she approached. “And Alyssa, I heard you helped Silver talk with Brittney recently?”

“Yes, but I didn’t personally get involved. That was mostly Silver.”

“Still, good job. It’s a good change for the school.” Val said. “Do you mind if I borrow Holly?”

“I mind! I got here not long before you did.”

“Alyssa…” I said.

“F-fine… I’ll go say hi to Lilith while I’m here. Where is she?”

“She’s in the guest quarters. It’s that building straight through this door. I’ll be heading that way soon to help Lilith move things.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you over there.” Alyssa said.

Alyssa went out the door beside me and left me alone with Val. Valentina had an unusual getup on. She was wearing mechanic’s coveralls. I assumed that she was either getting off work or preparing to go to it. Probably the latter since she smelled like she recently got out of the shower.

“Is this your work uniform?”

“This…?” She asked, tugging at her outfit. “Of sorts… I mostly wear it because it’s convenient. The built-in attachments are great for holding tools. Also, it matches my brother’s outfit and that makes him embarrassed when people ask him about it. It’s great.”

I smiled.

“I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“I didn’t expect to be here. I went a little out of my way, to be honest. I only have half an hour before my shift begins.”

“So what brought you here?”

“You did… Well… A picture I saw of you, rather.” Val said. “Maybe I should start from the beginning…”

“Yes, please do.”

Valentina paced in a small circle while thinking about how to begin things. My smile never left my face. She was wearing a bandana over her hair, with most of her hair pulled back into a low ponytail. The tools on her belt clanged as she paced. She’d hate me for saying it, but she was kind of cute like this.

“Okay. I’ll start by telling you about how I made a new friend.”

“Congratulations.” I said flatly.

“Shut up.” She said. “There was this moody brat that came into the workshop the other day when her dad dragged her along against her will. I watched her for a while as she miserably skulked the shop while her dad was busy talking to my brother.”

“You did say this person was your friend, didn’t you?”

“I’m getting to that.” She said. “Anyways, I managed to scare her a bit when I caught her off-guard. She was pretending to ride one of the motorcycles like a four-year-old at one of those coin operated kiddie rides.”

“How cute.” I laughed.

“So I took a picture of her from the side before she noticed me and used it as blackmail to bait her into a conversation.”

“Yes, that sounds like something you might do.”

“We talked for a bit, and I realized that she was a deeply troubled girl. She was unnervingly stoic and cold at first. She had a certain look on her face… I can’t explain it well… It was like a stone mask hiding her true feelings. I knew I had to help her break free.”

I held one of Val’s hands and pulled her near the wall so that we could sit down. After cleaning for so long I was a little tired of being on my feet. The floor was clean enough for us to sit down next to each other. I leaned against her shoulder to hear out her story. I wasn’t sure where this was going but I could see that her heart was in this. That made me inclined to hear her out in full.

“That’s sweet of you.” I said. “What did you do?”

“What do you think? I teased her mercilessly until she talked to me.”

I laughed.

“That’s a unique way of handling the situation.” I said. “So what was her name?”

“I told her a little bit about myself first. That helped ease some of her tension and she shyly asked for my phone number. We kept meeting for the next few days after that. She and her dad kept coming back to the shop after school. She’d always come over to quietly watch me work like a wallflower.

“What was her name?”

“Eventually we finished working on her dad’s car. I drove her back to her place in it and I stayed there overnight. At first, I was only planning to talk to her about shop-related things and a movie I wanted us to watch together… But when I saw you holding hands with her in one of her picture frames…”

I shot up off the ground and backed away a few steps. I gave Val a wide-eyed look. She returned my look with a friendly, casual expression. She wasn’t joking, was she?

“You met Ellie?” I asked in a whisper.

“I vaguely recall you mentioning the name ‘Ellie’ to me before in passing, but I had no idea that this was the same Ellie. I didn’t know that she was your ex-girlfriend when we first started talking.”

I covered my mouth with my hand in disbelief.

“And what did she say about me?” I asked nervously. “Did she tell you why I got kicked out of school.”

“She only said that you saved her at great personal risk to yourself. She said that when you two split up, something split inside her too. That’s why she’s had a hard time healing since then.”

I frowned at Val. So Ellie was this broken over it?

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but it seems to me that this splitting went both ways.” Valentina said as she stood up. “You were hurt just as badly as she was, weren’t you?”

“I…” I started to say, searching for an appropriate response. At this point I had no alternative but to tell the truth. “It’s true. Our separation… Well, the separation from all my friends haunted me for a long time. My relationship with Ellie was special. I loved her. It’s why I…”

“Yes…?”

Once again, I was searching for the words that wouldn’t lay everything bare.

“It’s why I became a troubled girl.” I said.

Valentina walked over to where I was standing and pulled me into a hug. She rocked me back and forth and I rested my head against her.

“I want to help you.” Val said. “Both of you.”

I looked up at Val curiously. She stared down at me with a serious look and stopped rocking me back and forth.

“If I set up a meeting between you and Ellie, will you come?”