I thought you were there, but it was just my imagination.

Every time I looked.

The Seven Days Project

Chapter 2

The following two days were not of importance as it happened to be a weekend: Saturday and Sunday. I do not remember much but having hung out with the guys and with Trajan. However I only discovered after a week that it had become clear that my best friend distanced from me. In first instance I blamed it all on him and the situation. After all, what could I do about it? We never got to choose the project members ourselves! As days progressed I started realizing I did the same to him. For darker reasons our falling relationship as childhood friends did not come to me. One of these had to do by focus on another but him. I could not help it. So it was all lost, even now.

Day 2: Monday

Constantin, the group member who had gotten ill on Friday, did not respond to our calls on his cell phone before weekend. At school on Monday we managed to get his home number. His mother had responded to the call, and according to Silvia, the boy had caught flu; Constantin would recover soon and we would pay him a visit on Tuesday.

I went home, before heading to the library. After entering my room I dumped my school accessories on the floor, then immediately departed. After a short five-minute walk, close to the library, I turned around the corner finding myself bumping into Trajan.

"Yo Trajan." I said, not too enthusiastically as he looked a bit peeved. If I remember correctly he was furiously radiating with envy again.

"Oh hi Andrei." Trajan replied dully. Obviously I could hear he was in a bad mood. I couldn't help wondering what just happened.

"So what's up?" I asked him.

"Doing fine, just… fine." He said after a short painful silence. Then he closed the distance between us, our shoulders made contact. I tried to think of something to say back, but only stared into his seemingly tired eyes. "I just met up with him, he's waiting for you."

After these words I started to sprint to the library as fast as I could. After arriving in front of the entry I realized having forgotten about Trajan. I gazed back to the place where we met, but he seemed to have left already. At that moment I started to feel so incredibly stupid. What's going on with me? What a friend I was! Though, I decided not to go after him as I had to meet up with the others. Wondering why Trajan would not even say his name, I entered. That was the last time I ever thought about my friend again.

"Andrei!" A female voice called.

It was Silvia.

"Hey." I said to her cheery. "You're early!"

"I live nearby, Andrei, and so does Nicolae." She answered rather proudly, then grinning. I lifted an eyebrow.

"Speaking of him... Where is he?" I said while observing the area. Usually the place was packed with scholars, students and elders, however this time the library had a peaceful atmosphere.

"Oh, he's checking the catalogue." Silvia responded rather uninterested, her voice fading away slowly.

"Allright then, let's go to him."

The girl turned and I followed her to the computer area a couple of meters up. Nicolae seated in front of a computer, intensively typing in from what I could assume were keywords. The blond glanced away from the screen to see us arriving. Before rising from his chair he unplugged a memory stick from the computer.

"Come, let us go upstairs."

We arrived in one of the plenty study chambers on the second floor with the elevator. Apparently Nicolae got hold of what seemed to be a rather obscure student-only area. Perhaps obscure because I had not been there before even after visiting the library many times. The place had an expensive feeling to it and any object in it could be classified as brand new. Decorative plants were set up for the final touch to the white-painted walls and the crystal clear mirrors. The afternoon rays shone in through the windows before Nicolae turned on the lights. Now the size of the room seem to begin it was bigger than it actually was. In the centre stylish silver tables with six very comfortable eyeing chairs were placed. Simply said, if there was a heaven in the world of interior, this would be it. I must have skipped a heart beat as I saw at what kind of place he had brought us to; in such an ordinary day of a Romanian high scholar.

Silvia, who was full of admiration as well, strolled through the chamber, observing and gasping like a little girl. I made my way to a pair of slick computers.

"Marvelous. How were you able to get this room?" I asked him as he seated in the chair close to me. It seemed like a home to him.

"Oh, I have contacts here." Nicolae answered rather proudly and gestured me to sit down. "It was my wish to claim a property in this modern building."

"Really? You're so lucky to have this!" Silvia exclaimed as I took seat next to him. The auburn haired girl had halted in front of the tall windows, through which could be seen the breathtaking view of the town. I had forgotten how beautiful Cluj could actually be.

"Luck is at my side, I presume. I felt incredibly honored that the authorities answered to my request. Please have a seat."

"Nicolae, so what do you use this room for?" I asked, ignoring the last sentence. His blue eyes flickered briefly before answering.

"In general I use it to get quick access to the library. See that?" Nicolae pointed at the collection on another table next to the shelves. There were about ten books stapled. All varied in sizes and colors. "I already collected the most relevant books to our chosen subject."

The tree of us went to the book staple and skimmed through them.

"Nice found, Nicolae. Thanks."

"No problem. Take a couple of these."

"Let's have Constantin some read too." I said, reserving our ill team member two books. "Mind if I look at these shelves?"

"Go ahead Andrei."

I went to the shelves in the corner as Silvia and Nicolae went to read the chosen books. In the collection there were encyclopedias, business and cultural books of which most were in the English language.

After a while I discovered Nicolae seemed to be learning some languages. I recognized French, Russian, Spanish, English… Chinese and Arabic? I had been interested in the latter before and for the first time I observed a book of that kind. After a couple of pages I noticed Nicolae had been keeping an eye on me for a while. I put the book back to its place and glanced to the right for the rest of his collection.

…black books, and so…

"Andrei?" Nicolae asked. I looked up and saw the blond standing next to me.

"Hm?"

"Shall we read them at home? Tomorrow we can sort out the relevant parts."

"Sounds fine."

Silvia and I left the library rather quickly. After saying goodbye to her I walked up some further and then turned facing the library. On the second floor in that obscure corner there were lights on. Was he going to stay there? Then I moved on.

Home

"Mom? Dad?" I called out as I turned on the lights in the hall, before announcing. "I'm home."

"Dear, we're in the living room." I heard my mother's voice.

"How does the project fare?" That was dad.

"We're doing great." I said in optimism as I entered the room, after dropping my bag near the stairs.

"Oh we have a guest here!" He said and then proudly. "Here he is, Stefan, my son Andrei."

Nervously I smiled at the dark haired man in a fair suit. He got up from his chair to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Stefan Badea."

"Likewise. I'm Andrei."

"I am your father's school friend. Final exams are coming right? I just heard from your parents you're doing very well in your study. One of the best, I hear. My compliments. Keep it up like that." He smiled at me.

"Thank you sir."

Day 3: Tuesday

The next day we came over at Constantin's place. I would describe him as a sickly, slow and lazy person. Yet we had a lot in common in terms of music, movies and games. Sometimes we would exchange some stuff.

Doorbell. Pause.
Knock knock.

There was a screech as he opened the door.

"Sup?"

"Pff..." The very pale face showed the obvious. No joke, so he was sick indeed.

"Hope you get better." I replied at his complaint. "Am I the first?"

"Not at all. Silvia and you-know-who just arrived."

"Nicolae?"

I could barely hear a whispered "No." as he closed the door.

"Farn." He said under his breath.

Right, I had almost forgotten he was one of the ill-fated to have a teacher living next door. Constantin absolutely hated it when the old man visited for a so called 'cup of tea'. From what I heard he kept bothering the guy about homework, particularly history, and a lot more badly… harassing his poor widowed mother. I absolutely cringed when he first told me about it. His mother even contemplated about moving. I think she never had the guts to tell Farn to get the hell out of her house, her son's school life and her own life.

Now it seemed she was out of town for the day.

"Who is it?" The old man's voice came from the living room.

"It's me, Andrei." I said to the man in the chair as I walked in, meanwhile wondering why in the world we decided to come over here. Well, there was nothing you could do about it.

"Hello sir."

The doorbell rang.

"Must be Nicolae." Mr. Farn commented.

Constantin sat up again.

"No just wait here. I'll open the door." I said.

"No let me!" Silvia added.

"It's fine. I'm not that sick."

In the end Mr. Farn, Constantin and Silvia insisted to go with me. I opened the door in embarrassment. Was that really needed? Nicolae stood there. First lifting an eyebrow at the event, but then warmly smiling at all of us, appearing to be content. Suddenly I felt something I could not imagine to feel when he gave that smile. Some kind of horror crept in me and I could not let go ever since.

"Why hello there." He greeted.

We greeted back and then the four of us resumed working on the project with Farn watching our backs. It actually was fine to have that teacher there as advisor. So it fared very well and we had a very great chance to get a high grade for the project! Our group spirit was uplifting, until Constantin fell into a series of bad coughs.

"You alright?" I asked the guy.

"No man, it just won't go away... I had 'm for weeks." Constantin dreadfully replied.

Then Nicolae searched in his bag for something.

"Hmm…"

I remember this as the least articulate I had ever heard him.

The young man handed Constantin a small sack of… spices.

"This is for against the coughs and other sickness. Add this to tea if you like."

Constantin stared at it for a few seconds, seemingly surprised. "Does that work at all?" He wondered.

"I tell you the truth." Nicolae emphasized as a 'never doubt me' and then added rather mysteriously: "It will be bliss to your soul."

"Let me, let me." Silvia chirped, picking the sack of spices out of his hand, then went to the kitchen.

"So Nicolae, is it okay if we drink along?" Mr. Farn curiously asked, looking away from the television.

"Of course. I will drink too."

In the end Mr. Farn, Constantin, Silvia, Nicolae and I all drank of the tea that was made. For some reason we started loosening up a bit… Constantin did not cough once since then and his face seemed less pale after that. It was amazing!

Home again

'How come?' I wondered by myself when I came home. 'What were the ingredients?'

I thought it might be handy stuff for my father to get…

Wow, I heard a lot of talk coming from the living room. Heavy debate. Were my parents fighting or what? Was it the tv?

"Dad?" I shouted out, still hyper of the tea. "You there?"

Suddenly there was a silence.

"Yes dear?" My mom asked. "Stefan came over to visit again." The tone of her voice indicated her bitter mood.

"Uh, I asked for dad…" I walked in and saw them at the dining table. My parents were on one side and Stefan Badea on the other side. They seemed pretty serious, the very opposite of my relaxed and joyful behavior. I held back the urge of saying an inappropriate 'Yo!'

There was a book on the table and for some reason I sensed some kind of danger. At least I thought so. Did that man have something to do with it? It seemed normal on the outside… I went to the table, facing my father.

"What is it, Andrei?" The same tone as my mom. My own mood dropped to zero.

"Well, I just got back from a friend who was pretty ill. Another guy gave him some herbals against the sickness and it seems to work greatly. I thought it might help against your weekly migraine." I told him. I knew how badly he wanted to get rid of it. Dad had this ever since he was a boy. Every Friday night he would get a headache and wouldn't be able to sleep.

"You have migraine?" Stefan asked my father. He seemed quite worried and not bitter at all.

"Yes." Dad said.

"He can heal you." The man replied. "If you believe."

What did he say? Nicolae can heal him? "Uh who, sir?" I asked kindly as possible, to be more sure.

"God."

Stefan smiled at me and I made a face of unbelief. Then my gaze went to the table.

On the center of it my eyes found an opened book.

The Bible!

End of chapter 2: Lethal Melange

TO BE CONTINUED