Timeless Read Online Free

Black.

     
    Alexandria pulled up outside Witchwood, squinting through the windshield at the roof of the house in utter disbelief. She rubbed her eyes, then looked again. Still there, so she was not having a full-blown hallucination; surely that had to be a good thing. There really was a girl sitting up on top of the roof, waving at her in a morose kind of way, and she looked exactly like the girl she'd seen walking along the side of the road.
    Alexandria climbed out of the car and shielded her eyes with her hand, Bran momentarily forgotten. "What are you doing up there? Please come down," she shouted in a panicked voice.
    The girl stood, her long black dress billowing around her legs. On her lapel was pinned a blood-red rose. She walked confidently down the slope of the roof with ease, not bothering to watch where she was putting her feet.
    Alexandria began to relax. "Good. You are doing great."
    Suddenly the girl lost her balance and she gasped. Her left foot slipped on a loose tile and she began sliding down the roof at an alarming pace. Alexandria clutched her throat, her heart bounding. "Nooooo," she shrieked.
    Then just as suddenly, the girl came to an abrupt halt on the rusty guttering of the house.
    Alexandria caught her breath.
    Then to Alexandria's complete horror, the girl in black bent her knees, as though she were preparing to jump.
    "Nooooo," Alexandria shrieked again, louder this time.
    Andrew came storming through the front door, disappearing as soon as the sunlight hit him.
    The girl in black smiled, then promptly jumped off the roof...
    Alexandria's heart stopped beating, her hands flying up instantly, creating a mountain of white, fluffy pillows to break the girl's fall.
    The girl in black dropped like a stone, landing in the centre of the pillows. On impact, an eruption of white feathers exploded into the air, then floated down to the earth like soft snowflakes, obscuring the girl.
    "No, no, no, no," Alexandria repeated over and over. She ran through the plume of feathers. Kneeling down, she searched blindly with her hands, feeling for the girl but finding nothing.
    Behind her, someone cleared her throat, and Alexandria stood, turning around.
    The girl in black stood there, a tight smile on her face.
    Alexandria glared at her. "What the hell were you thinking? Why did you do that? You scared the bejesus out of me." She folded her arms, waiting for an answer.
    " B ejesus, really?" she asked, taking the rose from her lapel and twirling it in her hand.
    "Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want? Did you really try to kill yourself just now?"
    "You know all the questions are going to be really annoying, really fast if we are going to reside together? And no, I was not trying to kill myself. The thing is, I've never been afraid of heights. I was in the circus, once, you know. A trapeze artist, in fact, so I am quite adept at landing on my feet from a great height."
    "Annoying? Reside together? What are you talking about?"
    "Just for your information, repeating everything I say is going to get really annoying, too. Now, let's try this again. This is a boarding house, is it not?"
    Alexandria's arms dropped to her sides. "Well, yes. That is the plan. But—"
    "But nothing. It is either a boarding house or it is not. The sign in the town centre said it was, so here I am. Do you have an available room in this boarding house of yours?"
    Alexandria nodded. "I do. I have one room, but—"
    The girl in black glared at her.
    "Yes. I have a room," Alexandria said.
    "Good," the girl in black said, toying with an antique silver cross hanging on a long chain around her neck. In the center gleamed a blood red, heart-shaped ruby. "I will take it immediately. My name is Nina Rosenberg ."
    "Nice to meet you," Alexandria said with a questioning look. "My name is—"
    "I know who you are," Nina said, dismissively. After a short moment she added. "It was on the advertisement. I don't suppose you would be kind enough to