She waited for a response, but none came. Nervously, she continued to engage, "I'm really sorry if I scared you."
"…Virginia?"
Virginia detected no sign of anger or fear from the voice anymore, but after she thought about it for a moment, that voice sounded familiar. She placed her hands through the trap door and onto the bell chamber floor. Then, pulling herself up, she stuck her head out of the trap door. She turned towards the sunset and saw Charles leaning his back against a pillar of the chamber, the back of his arms wrapping around it for support. He wore the same pair of blue jeans and hiking boots that Virginia identified below. He also wore a white, long-sleeve shirt and his brown leather jacket. In his left hand, he held a spiral-bound notepad.
"It is you!" he exclaimed.
Motioning towards the center of the chamber, he placed his hands firmly on the floor and crawled over to meet her.
"You gave me quite a scare!" he said, chuckling. "I almost fell off the edge a second ago."
He extended his hand to help her.
Virginia reached out and took hold of his hand. With a strong lift of his arm, he helped escort her out of the opening in the floor.
"Watch your head," he said, placing his other hand on her crown.
She looked up and realized she had almost hit the bronze bell above her.
"It's not very big up here, is it?" she said while crawling on her elbows underneath the large bell.
"No, it sure isn't," he replied. "No bigger than about fifteen feet in diameter."
Virginia finished crawling out from under the bell and looked around for a moment. The bell chamber floor was an octagon base with a pillar in each corner. Above her, supported by the pillars, was a large dome from which the bell was suspended. Still holding her hand, Charles led her to the pillar beside his.
"Be very careful up here," he said with extreme caution. "Do not stand up. I tried it once; I nearly fell off by a gust of wind."
"I'll take that to heart," she said.
She sat beside the pillar that Charles led her to. "What are you doing up here, anyway?"
Charles turned back towards the setting sun and placed his legs over the edge again. A slight red blush crossed his cheeks. "Oh, nothing."
Virginia glanced at the notebook in his other hand and turned her head as if to stare at him with one eye. "You climb to the top of a clock tower in the evening to watch the sunset, bringing a notebook up here with you, all for nothing?"
Charles gave a little smile at her analysis. "I was writing."
"I guessed that. Writing what, might I ask?"
Charles froze for a moment. He then turned his head towards Virginia and replied sheepishly. "Poetry."
Virginia raised her eyebrows. "Poetry?"
"Yes, indeed."
Virginia leaned back against her pillar, a bit surprised at what she had just heard. "So, you volunteer to help my uncle on our ranch. Judging by how much you wear those hiking boots, you obviously can't wait to go explore something new. And now, to top it all off, you write poetry, also?"
She was on a roll. "For a guy who looks like he hits the gym every day of the week, I would never have thought you—" She did not catch herself in time. I didn't just say that!
Her strong, dominating spirit vanished, leaving her helpless and exposed. Charles looked up at her with a humorous expression on his face. Virginia felt like she could jump off the tower.
"Correction," he finally said. "As much as I would be there for your uncle any day, I work for him, and he pays me fair wages. These hiking boots are my favorite shoes, and I would not trust another brand to take me on those new explorations. And yes, I do write poetry."
He gazed back at the sunset, a look of humor on his face.
"Oh," he added, "And I only 'hit the gym' four days out of the week."
He smiled and shook his head, trying not to laugh.
Virginia felt a little relieved that he was still talking to her. "Well…good to be corrected."
She leaned her head up against her pillar and gazed at the sunset. Even in the cold of the day, she could feel the sun's warm rays softly touching her face. Still, the wind was stronger higher up, and her hoodie was not enough to endure the mountain weather. She tried to hold it in but could not help from shaking.
Charles looked over and took notice of her condition. Without a second thought, he removed his leather jacket, leaned over, and placed it around Virginia's shoulders.
"No, it's okay," she said. "I'm fine."
Charles gave a warm smile. "Take it. It's freezing out here, and that hoodie of yours is not meant for this kind of mountain weather."
Leaving his jacket on her shoulders, Charles leaned back against his pillar.
"But won't you be cold?" she asked.
"Nah, I'm used to this kind of weather. I grew up my whole life here."
Virginia pulled the jacket over her shoulders like a blanket. She unfolded its collar to cover her cheeks when she noticed a faint aroma about her. She pulled the collar close to her nose and found his scent resting on the jacket.
She smiled. His smell is still on it.
She looked up over the bridge of the collar at Charles, who was staring right back at her.
"Thank you," she said.
"My pleasure," said Charles, smiling. He then looked back at the sunset in the distance.
Virginia, however, continued to stare at Charles. The light of the setting sun gave a new look to his Native American features. His dark brown eyes were sharp as they stared into the distance. A darker tan contrast in his skin was illuminated more as the light of the setting sun broke out into a deeper red tone. His high cheekbones were distinguished more, and his long, straight, jet-black hair blew across his face in the wind's current.
Virginia pulled the jacket collar closer to her face to hide her blushing cheeks. She turned her eyes and stared at the sunset while continuing to relax in the fragrance of his jacket.
Virginia soaked in the vast, beautiful landscape around her, absorbing the entire scene; it seemed to be the first time she had allowed herself to do so since she arrived. The mountains on either side of the valley were flush with trees of yellow, red, and orange leaves. The school below her did not look as bad when seen from above. The leaves blowing in the wind added a mysterious touch to the atmosphere. The sunset in the distance brought it all together, covering the valley in a blanket of bright layers of gold, orange, and red.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Charles.
Virginia gazed at Charles from the corner of her eye and then looked back at the sunset. "Yes. It sure is."
Charles turned his head back to Virginia. "If I may ask, what are you doing at Mason High this late in the evening? Most people usually are thrilled to leave this place as soon as they can."
Virginia was unsure as to how to answer that question. The warning Rose Cohen had written in her diary always followed her, causing her to make sure that she did not say anything that could lead to the discovery of the book.
"I was in the library," she finally said. "There was a place that I had heard about here that I thought existed, but after a long time of looking, I came to a dead end."
"Yeah? What's this 'place' that you've heard of?"
Virginia cautiously responded, unsure if her next words should be uttered. "Alaythia…I thought it was a real place. I did some research on it in the school library, hoping to find something that could lead me to my next point, but I came up empty-handed."
"Where did you hear about Alaythia?" he chuckled.
"So, it is fake, then."
"I'm not saying anything. I am asking where you heard about Alaythia."
Virginia paused for a moment. "My…my uncle told me about it."
"Ah! That would make sense. Your uncle knows most about the many stories of old."
Virginia became even more depressed. All hope was gone.
Charles saw her expression change. "What's wrong?"
"It was just a stupid hiding place for rebellious lovers," replied Virginia, almost in tears.
"I'm confused," said Charles. "What was?"
Virginia was too emotional to think clearly anymore. "Oh, what does it matter anymore now? It was written by a woman who was obviously just a great, thrill-seeking poet."
Ignoring Rose's warning, Virginia opened up to Charles. "I found this diary in my uncle's house. It was written by a teenage girl named Rose Annemarie Cohen. It contains her life, her adventures, and the love that she experienced in this vast, unknown land called Alaythia. I tried so hard to find it for myself, but—"
"Virginia! Stop!" interrupted Charles.
His eyes were wide and worried. He spied over the edge of the clock tower. He turned and looked at the opened trap door on the floor. He then gazed down at the parking lot and glanced at every corner of the school campus.
He looked back at Virginia. "Careful what you say."
Virginia was now worried and confused. "What? Why? What is it?"
"Just trust me. There is a lot to talk about, but please, don't bring that up out here."
Virginia just took Charles's instruction and let the subject go.
Charles then looked back down at the parking lot. "Isn't that your Bronco down there?"
Virginia looked down with him. "Yeah. Sure is!"
"You left your lights on."
"What?" she looked closer at the vehicle and saw the faint lights barely on. "How did you see that? It's not even completely dark yet, and my lights are the weakest beam of light ever known."
Charles just smiled. "Oh, it's just who I am, I guess."
"Well, the lights won't matter now anyway. The engine wouldn't crank."
Charles looked at her. "It wouldn't?"
"Yeah. I called my uncle about thirty minutes ago. He's on his way to pick me up now."
Charles pulled his feet back up from the ledge. "Well, then, shall we go and wait for him?"
Oh, no. I don't want to. This is the best time I've had in forever! "Well, I guess we could."
"Here, let's go down and take a look at your truck, and we'll wait for your uncle to arrive in the meantime."
Virginia smiled. "Okay."