Chapter 2

The huge iron bell atop the tower in the campus quad gonged ten o'clock as throngs of students criss-crossed the square on their way to class. Overhead, the Monday morning sky filled the day with a deep blueness, peculiar to the late fall season; the air was fresh here outside with a new crispness about it that made everything around seem new and exciting. But inside Miss Hendrick's office the atmosphere was like that of an old neglected library, musty and dry.

Thea Carter felt nervous and tense. She adjusted herself in the chair, making a determined effort to relax the area between her shoulder blades as she talked to Miss Hendricks about the accident.

"It all happened so suddenly that the funeral arrangements have already been set for Lisa's parents. The most difficult thing I face right now is breaking the news to her, and as her Aunt, I'm here to see that she is spared as much shock as possible. In the mean time, I've made plans to take her back home until she is ready to return to school again." Thea paused and brought her right hand to her eyes in a gesture of despair. "I can still see the horrible mutilated bodies at the morgue when they called me in for the identification... They said their car lost control on a curve, hitting the stone pillar of the bridge." She brought her eyes back to face Miss Hendricks, "They were both killed instantly."

"Try not to dwell on the past," Miss Hendricks gently interrupted, "let me go get Lisa. You can talk to her in privacy here in my office while I make arrangements to temporarily check her out of her classes." She started to make her way for the door then hesitated and placed an understanding hand on Thea's shoulder in sympathetic condolence. "Is there anything I can get for you before I go get Lisa? You look exhausted."

"No, I'm fine,... really. I guess I'm still not over the shock of the news yet," she responded as the older woman left the room.

Thea stood up and stretched her legs as the door closed behind her. Smiling a little, she moved to one of the tall narrow windows that framed the background behind Miss Hendricks' desk. At thirty-nine, Thea Carter was still a beautiful woman, as she had been a lovely girl. One large flaw, however, was the hard determined line of her mouth, unfeminine and bold. But Thea prided herself on being hard headed and it would be a necessity now if she were to carry out her plan successfully.

She had never married, though she had loved once. She could remember years back to the time when Lisa's father used to constantly badger her about finding a husband and settling down, but Thea had other plans. She spent most of her time caring for her invalid father, planning on the day when she would inherit the family estate. She had never been highly sexed to begin with. Men were not a necessity to her, at best they were unreliable, at worst devouring parasites sucking your emotions dry. The one affair she had been involved in had ended when her lover left her with a casual indifference. After that she avoided emotional situations of any kind, remembering the devastating breakdown she had suffered when he was gone. Gradually, slowly and steadily she lost her capacity for love or compassion. Although she had a few scattered sexual experiences, she had never had an orgasm, and if at times she felt a vague restlessness within her womb, she told herself sharply that it was not hunger for sex, but probably a nervous condition brought on by the deep sense of insecurity she had felt since her father's death.