Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~7~

The next day I went down in my pajamas with my sleepy head down. I turned on the coffee maker for dad and made myself a cup of tea. I grabbed some yogurt and sat down at the computer. I really had to see how I should cycle to Bas and Eva tonight, or maybe dad would like to take me. I looked up the route. It was on the other side of the city, I estimated it would be about half an hour by bike.

I had received an email from Matthijs. He wrote about my old school and friends. How nice of him to think of me. He was curious how my first week had gone. I had written back to him about school, the teachers, and detention. Also about our beautiful house and about Eva and Bas and that I had a Halloween party tonight.

I thought back to the last time we saw each other. It seemed like months ago, but it was only two weeks ago. It was a nice kiss. I liked it, but the feeling was different than when I talked to Lucas, maybe because I've known Matthijs all my life. Oh no, there was Lucas again. I really had to stop with this. I hardly knew that boy. He could be a crazy madman.

I went back upstairs to shower and get dressed. I tried to be gentle for Daddy, because he was still in bed. He was really overtired, because he never slept in. I walked back downstairs and my eye fell on the driveway. No car.

How could that be? I walked back upstairs and listened to Daddy's bedroom door. Nothing.

I opened the door softly and the bed was empty. No one.

Angry, I slammed the door shut again and stormed down to the phone. Surely this wouldn't be true. He wasn't back at work, was he?

I punched in the number and it rang a few times.

"Detective Lelieveld," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Dad with me, are you back to work now?" I heard a big sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. A new suspect was arrested last night following new findings. I'm afraid I'll be stuck at the desk for a while yet."

I could hear in his voice that he was really sorry, but what good was that to me? Alone again. I was sick and tired of being alone.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Dad. See you later." And I just threw up the receiver. Immediately I regretted it. What a bitch I could be. He didn't deserve this. I called him back but he was busy. Shit, I texted that I was sorry. Hopefully he will read it.

It was still early. It was still a long time before it was tonight. Still, I went to the mall to see if there was a nice costume somewhere. After asking three times I had found a party shop.

Well what a party. It didn't put me in a good mood. I could choose between a nun costume and a bunny costume. Well it wasn't going to be.

Once at home my playlist went on the highest volume and I tried to get into the party mood. Luckily it worked, in no time I was rocking all over the house on ACDC. I took my soldier's suit out of the closet and looked at it carefully. It was a beige military-style blouse with matching hot pants. I still had fishnet tights and matching pumps. We had name tags made for the sketch, so the package was still complete. I put it on and looked in the mirror. It's actually quite wrong. I chuckled to myself. The blouse was just a bit too tight so the top button had to open and the hotpants were really hot. Suddenly it occurred to me that there was such a cute hat with it. Yep, there it was. I attached it with pins and I was done. All ready for the party. It looked a bit like the 1930s with that hat.

The party started in an hour and the invitation stated that food would be provided. What a luxury. I was really curious about their house.

Half an hour later, Dad still wasn't home, so I left him a note saying I was at the party with the address.

I put on the trench coat that had belonged to my mother. So hopefully I stayed a bit warm on the bike.

It was a bit longer than I thought. After 40 minutes I arrived at Hill Park. It turned out to be a housing estate. There was a kind of toll booth at the beginning with a barrier. I got off my bike and looked around. Then I heard a deep voice next to me.

"Good evening miss, can I help you with anything?"

A tall, dark man stood by the open window of the toll booth. He looked a little condescendingly at my bike.

"Oh hello, yes, I'm coming for the Rondebal family's Halloween party."

"That's right, do you have an invitation and ID with you?" He had probably already had more children at his barrier, because the enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. I took the invitation and my ID and handed it to him. He went away from the window for a moment and came back with the papers. "It's all right, if you turn right at the end of the road, it's the last house on your right. Good evening."

"Thank you!" I smiled at him and he nodded back. I jumped on my bike and rode the designated road. My, what a houses, I had never seen anything like it. I thought we lived in a big house, but compared to this our house was a shed. Moments later I arrived at the party. It was not to be missed. A large baroque iron gate was lit with lanterns. The driveway was laid with yellow bricks and wound through the trees to a house not yet visible. The trees were lit with hundreds of tiny lights. It was a magical sight. As I rounded the bend I saw that the avenue ended in a circle with a fountain in the middle. The house was incredibly beautiful. It was like a small version of the White House, which I only knew from TV.

I looked around in admiration. In front of the house and the fountain was a large pond between the trees, with a gazebo completely covered with roses next to it. And everything was as magically lit as the driveway. I had never seen anything so beautiful. I enjoyed the view for a while and parked my bike at the platform. I walked up the wide staircase decorated with hollowed-out pumpkins that led to the large front door. There was already music and buzz coming from behind the door. I pressed the bell. I was shocked. The bell sounded like a loud scream. A moment later the door opened and a laughing and dancing Eva stood in the doorway. She was dressed as Madonna. Blonde wig and all. She looked fantastic. "Hey, there you finally are! Did you find it a bit?" She took my hand and pulled me inside. "Yeah fine, you look fantastic!"

She waved her hand. "I know." She did a pirouette and started laughing. I laughed with her. "Now let's see what you're wearing." She looked at me curiously.

"The store only had a nun costume and a bunny costume, so just an old suit I had left." I raised my eyebrows and smiled at her. I took off Mama's old coat and hung it on the coat rack.

"My girl, you look great! My brother should see this."

I looked at her confused. "Your brother? Bas is here tonight, isn't he?"

"No, not Bas, my older brother Daan. He's in the army. He would love this. Come on, everyone's having their picture taken tonight." And she picked up a camera.

I posed next to a life-size skeleton.

"This way for the party!" she yelled as she entered a large room on the right.

The room was lit only by many small lights and candles. There were cobwebs, skeletons everywhere and there was a steam engine in the corner.

"Wow, you really put a lot of work into it!" I was really impressed. She laughed.

"Yeah, great, we've been working on it all day." She took my hand and dragged me to the back of the room. There was Bas dressed as a cowboy. A tough looking cowboy. It suited him very well. A horde of girls in sexy costumes surrounded him and he loved every second of it. I chuckled to myself. I waved at him and he waved back enthusiastically.

"He enjoys all that attention, doesn't he." I winked at Eva.

"Yes, he's a real charmer." She rolled her eyes.

"It's really busy. Who have you all invited?"

“A lot from school. Mom and Dad think it's important that the children get along, also from the other classes, so that's why." She shrugged her shoulders. My stomach immediately jumped. I wondered if Lucas would be there too. I looked around the room but it was hard to find among all those costumes. Some also had masks on. Probably Eva saw me looking.

"Who are you looking for?" She raised her eyebrows with a smile. "A boy?"

I might as well be honest, I thought to myself. They are all so nice.

"How do you guess?" I said mischievously.

"Only a week at school and already a boy in mind. Geez, you do that better than me. I haven't succeeded yet and I've already had it for three years."

"Yes, but you know everyone, so the good things and the bad things too."

"That's true," she said pointing back. "Now, tell me who it is?"

I looked at her for a moment. She was really curious, she was just barely jumping back and forth with enthusiasm. I laughed.

"It's not that I'm in love with him, we've only talked twice, but he's just nice."

"Yes, yes, you don't have to justify yourself, well come on, tell me!"

I had to laugh at her impatience. Well go ahead then.

"He's a senior and his name is Lucas."

She thought for a moment and then looked at me in disbelief.

"Lucas Lucifer?"

"Yes, I think so. Are there any others named Lucas?"

"No, but I'm a bit surprised."

And indeed, she was still looking at me in disbelief.

What could be wrong with her looking at me like that? Do I have the wrong idea of ​​him?

"How so?"

"Well, he came to school here for the summer, but we don't really know much about him." She shrugged her shoulders.

"He's quite private and doesn't mix with the other students. Almost all the girls in the senior and junior year have tried to ask him out, because of course he is such a hottie, but without success."

She looked at me wide-eyed.

I actually had to laugh a little at that last one. He is indeed a super hottie. But how strange. I could tell he was on his own, but we got to talking easily. Maybe because I'm new to school too?

"So you talked to him? And how is he?"

She looked at me expectantly. Just like when she wanted to know who I was looking for. Her eyes twinkled more than I'd seen them do in the past week. I couldn't help but laugh at her again.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I haven't talked to him that much, but he seems nice. And he is indeed a hottie." I winked at her for a moment.

Now Eva had to laugh too. Geez, how did I miss that. Just having a good laugh with the girls.

"Well, go for it I'd say." And she put her hand on my upper arm for a moment.

"What you need to know. Of course he came new last school year and because he keeps so aloof, people start making up gossip. So don't believe what everyone says about him, okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

"You know what, I'll ask Mathilde if she knows anything. She knows everything about everyone. Pretty scary actually." She gave me a wink and wanted to walk away.

"Wait, you don't have to. It's fine this way."

But she didn't hear me anymore and was gone in the festivities.

I walked towards the buffet.

I didn't like it at all that Eva was going to inquire about Lucas. I didn't want to know any gossip or anything like that. Eva's story may have made it just a coincidence that I chatted with him, and if I got to know him better, which probably won't happen anyway, I'll be able to judge him myself. No one else has to do that. Oh well, we'll see what Eva comes up with.

The buffet looked beautiful. The food was made in the Halloween theme, really funny. I had a savory tart and some bowl of salad. I think it was supposed to represent a bowl of entrails. I grabbed a glass of juice that looked suspiciously like blood.

"So, a little to your liking?" Suddenly Bas was standing next to me with his twinkling eyes. He clearly had already had some beer. He hit my hip with his hip. "Nice suit, by the way." And he raised his eyebrows.

"You don't look bad yourself." And I winked at him. "Did you manage to shake the girls off you?" I asked with a laugh.

"I'm taking a break." And he winked back.

I laughed so hard at that boy. Somehow he had something mischievous about him, yet very innocent at the same time. It was fun to flirt with each other in such a playful and innocent way. I'd only known him for a week, of course, but I saw him more as a good friend than real boyfriend material.

"I think that break will be over soon, because your fans are already coming back." I nodded at the group of girls walking towards us. They looked very suspiciously in my direction. "I don't think they like it very much that I keep you busy," I told him. He looked up and started laughing.

"Jesus, can't those girls enjoy themselves for a while? Come on."

He pulled me by my arm towards a door, pushed me through and quickly followed behind and locked the door.

"We lost that one for a while."

I looked at him questioningly. "What are you doing right now? I thought you liked all the attention from those girls?"

“Yeah, but it's so tiring. They are so stupid. I have to explain everything four times." He turned and clicked on the light. I think we were in the Rondebal family's private library. It also functioned as an office, as there was a large old wooden desk. Bas sat down on an old leather Chesterfield sofa. I followed his lead and sat down on the other sofa.

"Would you like to tell me what we're doing here in this ridiculously beautiful room?" As I said that, I looked around the room admiringly, for it was truly beautiful. I had only seen rooms like this on TV. Bas started to laugh and looked at me triumphantly. “I needed to escape the party crowd for a while, like I said. I'm getting tired of all those girls."

"Ah, but just to be clear, I'm a girl too." I gestured with my hands to my body.

"Yeah duh, do you think I didn't see that? You're even a nice girl." He said, pointing his finger in my direction.

"Say Bas, I think you've had a bit too much beer?"

"No seriously. At least you're not chasing me like those other girls. I think we can become good friends."

And started laughing.

"Well that's a good thing, because I hope we'll be good friends too." As I said that, that twinkle came back to his eye.

"Great, then that's clear." He got up and sat down next to me and gave me a big hug and a kiss on my cheek. I looked at him in surprise and started laughing. "Shall we go back to the party? Hopefully those girls have found another victim."

And before I could answer he took my hand and walked back to the door. He unlocked the door and opened it. We formed ourselves again under the festivities. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice that we were coming out of the library together, otherwise we would probably have started chattering. I was walking back to the buffet to finish my meal when suddenly an enthusiastic, wide-eyed Eva turned and looked at me.

"Do you want to know what I heard?" She didn't even wait for my answer and started talking right away.

"So it seems that Sandra Parel has started some gossip. It turns out he declined her invitations. And since she obviously can't have that, she pretended to know him better than the rest and thus spread gossip. Typical Sandra."

She crossed her arms and gave a nod. I had to say she found out quickly. She was probably right. He had said during detention that Sandra is the enemy.

"Well what do you think?" she asked impatiently.

"I believe you completely. Thanks for checking in!"

She looked proud and took a peeled grape from my bowl, which was probably an eyeball, and ate it.

"Let's go to the other room, the movie starts."

"Movie?", I said surprised, I thought it was a dance party.

"Yes, we do that every year. We have put up a big screen in the other room and are going to watch a horror movie there. That's laughing!"

She walked over to the sound system and took the microphone. "Hi everybody! It's time to get spooky with the latest movie "Zombie from Hell"."

Everyone cheered and followed her.

Oh no, if I wasn't waiting for something, it was a film with a lot of blood in it. Ever since mom died, I've avoided all the movies that had a lot of blood in them. While I was always fond of such films. I hesitated a little, so that I was one of the last to enter the room and sit at the back. With a stomach ache, I sat in the back, behind a group of boys who were a head taller than I was. Luckily, I wouldn't see much of it then.

I wrapped my arms around my torso to hold myself together a bit.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Eva's voice appeared behind me. "I've reserved a spot in the front for you. You can't see any of this from here!"

I looked at her a little apologetically. "That's very sweet of you, but I don't really like movies like that, so I actually sat in the back on purpose."

“Oh are you silly, it's not real. Come on, you can sit on the side next to Bas." She stretched out her hand to me. "If you really can't take it anymore, you'll be out of the room in no time." She looked at me with such hope that I had to. "Go on then," I said with a big sigh.

I sat down next to Bas. I was indeed at the exit of the room, which was reassuring. But oh god, what did I think about this? I skipped a round of drinking because I couldn't get anything down my throat.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you suddenly so quiet?" Bas asked me.

"Oh, I just don't like scary movies," I said. I shrugged to make it look casual.

"Oh, don't worry, if you're scared just cuddle up close to me, I'll protect you," he said with a wink. "I'll hold you to that." I tried to make it sound like a joke, but it didn't quite work out.

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