Episode 20

The scent of fried calamari and garlic bread still clung faintly to Emily’s clothes, a comforting reminder of the Friday night ritual. Her father, a man of quiet routines and predictable pleasures, had been mid-sentence about the merits of perfectly crisped mozzarella sticks when the waiter, a young man with an unnervingly solemn expression, had materialized beside their table. He’d leaned in, a hushed whisper directed solely at her father, his words lost to the restaurant’s gentle hum. Emily had watched her father’s brow furrow in confusion, then a flicker of something akin to awe, before he’d nodded slowly, his gaze then settling on her with a newfound gravity. “An important man wishes to speak with you, Emily,” he’d said, his voice softer than usual. The rest of the meal had been a blur, a strange, anticipatory silence replacing their usual boisterous chatter.

A few days later, the mundane rhythm of her all-girls’ high school was shattered by the arrival of a gleaming black limousine. It was an anomaly, a creature of an alien world parked incongruously beside the drab brick building. From its depths emerged a figure draped in flowing white robes, his face obscured by dark, impenetrable sunglasses. He moved with an air of quiet authority, a leather pouch clutched in his hand, and proceeded directly into the school, his destination the Headmistress’s office. Within minutes, Emily’s name was called. The Headmistress, her usual stern demeanor softened by an unreadable expression, informed her that an important gentleman wished to speak with her. The encounter, brief and formal, left Emily more bewildered than before.

Now, a few more days had passed, marked by a restless unease. The phone call from her father had come that afternoon, his voice tight with an urgency she’d never heard before. “Emily, listen to me. Stay away from the house for two hours. And don’t ask why. Just do as I say.” The command, so out of character for her usually open father, had prickled her curiosity into an unbearable itch. Two hours. Two hours of what? Of being banished from her own home?